Throughout the whole play, the Narrator will stand DOWN RIGHT, facing the audience at an angle to the left, so he can observe the stage. He stands behind a lectern from which he reads his script, and the spotlight on him will be dimmed when he is not speaking. If this is not possible, then the Narrator may enter and exit the stage from UP RIGHT, with script in hand.
Scene One
There is a large table UP CENTRE on which is a fruit bowl and 6 bottles of wine scattered about. Some of the bottles are lying horizontally. Three rugs are placed DOWN LEFT and DOWN CENTRE where 3 men are lounging, looking full of food and too stuffed to move. Three soft chairs are positioned close together LEFT CENTRE where 3 men are sitting, leaning forward with their heads together, talking softly. There is another seat which is a reclining garden chair, on which Vashti will sit in the next scene. This is positioned further away from the others, DOWN RIGHT at an angle with the footrest pointing towards DOWN LEFT. Next to this chair is a small table and a crown/tiara on it which is hidden by a cloth.
King Xerxes is on a couch, positioned diagonally RIGHT CENTRE, with the back of his head facing UP CENTRE and his feet facing DOWN RIGHT. A glass is in his hand and a bunch of grapes is on his lap. While he is talking, he picks a few grapes up and one by one, goes to put them in his mouth, then drops them by his side.
Just before the King begins his dialogue, a servant who has been standing UP LEFT facing the king, is beckoned over to him. The servant stands with his hands in front of him, clasped together. He is the one who goes to fetch Vashti and reports back to the King.
Scene Two
As there is no time for all the props to be removed from the stage, everything stays where it is, and all the men quickly exit UP LEFT. The women come on from UP RIGHT and sit slumped down in the chairs as if they’ve had too much to eat. Vashti sits down on a seat (the reclining garden chair that is acting as a chaise longue), leans back and puts her feet up next to the table on which the crown is resting. The servant comes back onto the stage from UP RIGHT, goes and whispers in Vashti’s ear then stands far back.
Vashti suddenly sits upright and looks shocked. She remains seated throughout the dialogue and looks down at her feet while speaking. Near the end of her dialogue, she reaches for the crown and puts it on her lap, then begins to wring her hands nervously. As the servant begins to walk away at the end, she lifts her head up and watches him exit the room.
Scene Three
The king is walking around the stage swiftly. His lines are drawn out to indicate the extent of his anger, so after he says, “How…” he makes about 4 fast steps in one direction, then when he says, “dare…” he makes about another 4 or 5 steps in a different direction, and so on. He stops roughly in the CENTRE and faces the audience. He beckons his advisers by lifting his left hand in the air and flicking his wrist. Marsena and Carshena are standing sideways DOWN RIGHT, looking up at the king, and Shethar, Admatha and Memucan are standing UP LEFT looking down at the king. When the king beckons them forward from each end, they barely move but just shuffle slightly towards him. The king doesn’t seem to notice this as he’s too preoccupied with the advice they are giving him. The servant enters with Vashti from UP LEFT. He is holding her right arm. She is nervous as she has already predicted her fate.
Vashti is very sad when the king asks for her crown. She is scared by his anger and hands it to him quickly. She turns around fast, puts her head in both hands and runs off the stage towards UP LEFT.
Scene Four
The portable rack of clothes is positioned in the CENTRE. A selection of long dresses is on the rack, together with the scarves that are draped around either end of the horizontal bar. A table sits DOWN RIGHT on which are the trinket boxes. These contain the beads and one of the boxes is slightly open with three necklaces hanging out. A few brooches and rings are also scattered about the table. While Hegai is talking, all the girls except Esther, are excitedly walking around, trying on the beads and the scarves, and holding the dresses up against their bodies. They pin the brooches on and look to each other for their opinion. The rings are also tried on and when they do, the girls stand with their arms stretched out in front of them, viewing the rings from afar. Occasionally, little ‘fights’ break out when a girl has an item that another girl wants. There is lots of pushing and shoving and snatching things away from each other. While this is going on, Esther is slowly walking around the clothes rack and table, occasionally running her hand lightly over the dresses & trinket boxes. She looks thoughtful and doesn’t make eye contact with anyone except Hegai. Whenever Hegai says, “It’s going to be fun and it’s all in the making…” he puts his arms on the shoulder of a girl from behind. He chooses a different girl each time he says this rhyme and at the last rhyme, he chooses Esther. The lights dim as he stands with his hands on her shoulders and looks up dreamily. Esther’s unemotional and just looks slowly to the left and right at the wares while Hegai stands behind her.
Scene Five
As the lights go up, the 2 government officials are sitting behind a desk each, one RIGHT CENTRE and the other LEFT CENTRE. Mordecai is sitting behind a desk positioned UP CENTRE. They are all busy writing on a piece of paper.
As Haman enters from UP RIGHT, the 2 government officials put down their pens, move to the front of their desks and drop to their knees with their heads bowed. Mordecai looks up at Haman briefly and smiles but carries on working. Haman walks forward, beckons the officials to go back to work then stands DOWN CENTRE facing the audience. He clenches his fists and keeps looking back at Mordecai. When the dialogue begins, Haman squeezes himself behind Mordecai and is talking at Mordecai who does not respond to any of this as Haman is really thinking aloud. Haman’s movements are jerky as he is tense and filled with anger.
After Haman says, “You’re the doormat!” Mordecai briefly looks round at Haman who at this point, pauses to give Mordecai a hypocritical smile. When Mordecai turns back around again, Haman’s voice becomes even more agitated and gives the impression that he is tempted to strangle Mordecai right there. Haman moves back to the front as he comes to the end of the first part of his dialogue (“When my plan is complete.”)
The lights go down as Haman rushes off stage and exits UP RIGHT. Mordecai and the 2 government officials quickly leave the stage taking the pens and paper (apart from the piece of paper that was on the desk Right Centre) but the desks stay where they are. While the lights are still off, King Xerxes comes onto the stage and sits at the desk which is RIGHT CENTRE. Haman rushes back on from UP LEFT and stands in front of Xerxes who is reading the sheet of paper in his hand.
Scene Six
Esther is walking around nervously. She’s wringing her hands and often looks towards the audience as if she’s pleading for their help.
Scene Seven
The dining table is positioned horizontally in the centre of the stage. Xerxes and Haman are at either end. Xerxes is sitting RIGHT CENTRE and Haman is sitting LEFT CENTRE.
Esther is sitting in the CENTRE facing the audience. When Haman starts to talk to himself (lines 5 – 8) he looks directly at the audience.
When Esther starts to reveal her plight to the king the next day, Haman begins to pull at his collar and twist his head as if he can’t breathe. He takes his napkin and wipes his brow three or four times, then takes a large gulp from his wine glass.
As soon as the king says, “I am so angry!” he rises. Haman stares across the table as he dares not look at the king in the face. At one point, Haman looks at the audience again as if they can help him in his time of desperation. Harbonah enters the stage from UP LEFT and points towards RIGHT CENTRE when he mentions the gallows. The king leaves the stage UP RIGHT after he has said his last line. Esther is still sitting at the table. Her eyes are focussed on the end of the table, but she does not look at the audience. Haman falls off his seat and onto his knees as he says, “Here they come with my very own rope!”
Scene Eight
Xerxes is standing next to Esther in the CENTRE, and they are both facing the audience. Xerxes is on the LEFT CENTRE side. He has his arm around her shoulder, and they are both looking directly at each other. Mordecai is standing behind them, UP RIGHT and walks slowly towards them and begins his lines as he approaches Esther. He places his arm around Esther’s shoulder as Xerxes lowers his. Xerxes nods in agreement with what Mordecai is saying to Esther. Esther is now looking directly at Mordecai. Near the end of Mordecai’s lines, she looks from one to the other, lovingly.
Mordecai hugs Esther and the King comes behind and hugs them both. They turn around and slowly walk off the stage UP LEFT with King Xerxes in front and Mordecai’s arm still round Esther.
After the Narrator’s speech, the lights fade.
