Dinny and the Witches

Dinny and the Witches is a satirical comedy written by William Gibson in 1948, revised in 1961. It is a parody of the Cold War and nuclear scares of the 1960s, although the actual play takes place in the early 1950s in New York City. The show includes some singing, but not enough to warrant it musical status.

Plot

First comes the curtain call, where characters enter "in order of their disappearance." (The audience is told that, in light of recent military developments - the invention of the nuclear weapon - the cast may not make it to the end of the performance.) The play really begins when three Shakespearean witches who run the world, Zenobia, Ulga, and Luella, try to take the life of Dinny. However, Dinny accidentally takes control of the world by playing his trumpet, which seduces the witches and stops the clock of time. Jump forward 100 years. The world is in turmoil because time has stopped. Someone has been giving birth for 100 years; students have been stuck in the same class for a century. Finally, the witches manage to trick Dinny into agreeing to hand over the deed to the world while telling him that they will make his love, Amy, a perfect woman. Perfection, in the form of the seven deadly sins, kills her and the second act ends in Dinny's agony at seeing his dead lover on the ground. The third act begins with a burial for Amy. After paying his last respects, Dinny is surprised to see the three witches emerge from Amy's grave. Finally, the witches retrieve the deed to the world and try to kill Dinny, but only succeed in turning back time to 100 years ago, the beginning of the play. We see the future unfold in a final singing number, with Dinny and Amy arguing lovingly over the life of their future baby.

List of Characters, in order of their Disappearance

Dawn, Chloe, and Bubbles (Algonquin 4-6099): Three devil-made, whorish, beautiful young women who come to Dinny because of one of his wishes.

Ben: A blind man, one of the first whom Dinny helps.

Jake: A homeless man, another one of the first whom Dinny helps.

Stonehenge: The banker/controller of all the funds of the world, recognized in some interpretations as the devil.

Tom, Dick, and Harry: The three kings of the world, from Atlantis, Ninevah, and Jersey City.

Dinny: The main character, a young musician who accidentally wins the world from the witches by playing his trumpet.

Amy: A waitress whom Dinny learns to love throughout the play.

Luella: The youngest of the three witches, she is dim but generally happy. She is in charge of life and has a bit of a crush on Dinny.

Ulga: The middle witch, very ugly but also very vain, who is the death witch and hates humans. She is very efficient.

Zenobia: The eldest witch, in charge of the other two, who is quite pompous and proud of her position. She is the main witch.

Song Lyrics

This is How the World was Made Pages 6-7

This is how the world was made,

In a stew, in a stew,

Toil and time and things decayed,

Spit and glue, spit and glue,

A pinch of malice a pinch of man,

Cook forever without a plan,

This is how the world began:

Stir the brew, stir the brew.

This is how a man is mixed,

In a stew, in a stew,

Toadstool heart and twenty sticks,

Spice with rue, spice with rue,

A cup of love a bill unpaid,

A dash of soul a key mislaid,

A grain of wit, a hand grenade,

Make the brew, make the brew.

This is how the world goes round,

In a stew, in a stew,

Tear of angel tooth of hound,

Me and you, me and you:

Sailors drown in a city puddle,

Lovers part and killers cuddle

Man, and mud, and mind, an muddle:

Drink the brew.

Dinny's Song Page 12

Don't know why I came here,

Just followed my nose:

Couldn't say what I'm after,

Can't wait till it shows:

Can't give you its name here,

Heard it lies in my way:

Don't know what I'm here for,

Thought you could say.

Don't know what I want here,

Can't think what it is:

Just feel like a flat beer,

Need it to fizz:

Didn't hear what it looked like,

Hangs off there like a bell:

Don't know what I'm here for,

Thought you could tell.

Cite: Dinny and the Witches by William Gibson