BAG LADY

by van Itallie, Jean Claude

The play takes place on the streets of New York, where this “bag lady” calls home. On this day, she goes about her business, stuffing her shopping bags with assorted oddments. Suddenly assailed by voices of passersby, she responds to them both humorously and belligerently. She ruminates on the past and present, proclaiming her sovereignty as the quintessential urbanite. She is the city, with all its terrors, loneliness, filth and, in the final essence, its special majesty and unquenchable individuality.