Thymus vulgaris
Subtitle: a one-act play
By: by Lanford Wilson.
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service
Published: 1982
Place of publication: New York, N.Y. (440 Park Ave., New York 10016)
Language: eng
Number of pages: 30
Description: The scene is the trailer where Ruby, a woman of indeterminate age and compliant disposition, lives amid an overgrown garden of "thymus vulgaris," an herb that smells suspiciously like methold chest rub. She is joined unexpectedly by her daughter, Evelyn, a warmhearted hooker who announces that she is the intended of Solly, the "Grapefruit King," although righ now she is not so sure that she wants to go through with it or, for that matter, that Solly does either. But the lure of all that money, and Solly's promise to give Ruby a home as well, do tug at her. The arrival of a well-built young motorcylce cop (who reminds Ruby of several former loves) decides the matter, however, as he has been sent by Solly to round up mother and daughter and whisk them off to a life of luxury. And why not? There are, as Evelyn says, the users and the used -- and every once in a while the used deserve a break too.