The Day the Clown Cried Page #3

HELMUT:

Were you really worried about me

or your stupid dinner was getting cold?

Ada is hurt by this, but knows something is really chewing

away at him ... and deals with it even more tenderly, which

only digs in deeper on Helmut.

ADA:

Sweetheart, I care about you ...

I love you ... I worry about you ...

I can't help those feelings ...

During the above Helmut is at the small bar in the living

room pouring another "blast" and gulps it down ... he hears

the words but tries to ignore them.

HELMUT:

If there is anything I don't need right

now ... it's your super-sentimentality ...

He flops down in the armchair and stares straight ahead ...

Again, Ada is hurt by his blasting her, but she's wise

enough to know this isn't the man she loves ... she has to

get what's eating him out of there.

ADA:

Helmut ... what's tormenting your soul?

Please let me help you ... talk to me ...

I don't care what it is ... I love you ...

I'm your friend ... you can trust me to

understand ...

HELMUT:

I can't trust anybody ... I don't

know how to trust anybody ...

ADA:

I'm not anybody! I'm your wife!

Helmut, hearing these words, looks up at her and sees the

beauty in her eyes, and he is affected by this. He stands

up and takes her in his arms ... almost breaking her in two.

HELMUT:

I'm sorry, my love ... I'm so sorry ...

You're right! You're not anybody.

You're my wife and I love you, too ...

So very much I just have no one to fight

back at ... I'm lost and alone, I can't

handle the disgrace of failure ... the pain

of being a has-been is more than I can bear ...

Ada knows now what's happened.

ADA:

Schmidt again? Gustav again?

When will you learn they

fear you and they know how

vulnerable you are now ...

if they can beat you down

then they needn't worry about

you coming back to haunt them.

HELMUT:

They worry about me?

Don't be ridiculous ...

they just took the last comic bit

away from me ... because of

a silly accident ... I'm now down

at the bottom, just a stooge

assisting a not-so-funny clown.

ADA:

But they can't take your talent away ...

That's your strongest force!

Walking away from her, getting angry again ...

HELMUT:

What the hell are you talking about?

What talent? And if I had any it's

being suffocated into nothing ...

And that's just what I am now ...

nothing ... No one ... just empty ...

a prop to be used and mis-used ...

how does my great talent

stand up to those odds?

ADA:

By not quitting ... You must fight!

Creative survival is even more

difficult than human survival ...

You must fight!!!

Helmut gets quiet and listens, and it makes sense ... Ada

knows she's got him now.

ADA:

(continuing)

Go to Schmidt ... Force a confrontation ...

Don't let Gustav win ...

make Schmidt see what an injustice

they are imposing on you ...

Please, my love, fight! Make your

world better by fighting for it ...

You can do it ... I know you can ...

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