FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE IN THE CRIMEA.
Reading edition
The tender sigh, the balmy tear, That meek-eyed pity gave, My last expiring hour shall cheer, And bless a soldier's grave.
One Female and Three Male Figures.
This tableau is one that can be easily formed for an evening's entertainment. It represents Florence Nightingale nursing a young wounded soldier in his tent at the Crimea. Florence Nightingale was one of those philanthropic and humane ladies who left their homes and the comforts of life, and resorted to the Crimea, where, on the field of battle and in the pestilential hospital, she comforted and nursed the sick and wounded soldiers. The tent can be made of white cloth, fastened to a frame of light strips of wood eight feet square, with a small flag fastened in front. A couch should be formed at one side of the tent, on which reclines the wounded soldier, with an imitation of a large wound on the forehead, a large black patch on the side of the face, and a bandage around the head; his face must be made quite white, his body supported by pillows; eyes fixed on Florence, countenance calm and tranquil; his right arm is extended outside of the coverlet, and is held by a comrade who is at the side of the bed. Florence's costume consists of a red dress reaching to the knee, a white collar, loose blue pants with red stripe, buff apron trimmed with white, a flat blue cap with gold band, a small, square, black bag, suspended at the side by leather straps passing over the shoulders, the hair arranged low in the neck; she is standing by the side of the couch, body bent slightly forward, one hand resting on the pillow, the other grasps the hand of the sufferer. On the other side of the bed is a soldier, seated on a camp-stool, engaged in reading a Bible. He is dressed in a showy uniform, and is facing the audience. The lights for this piece should be of medium brilliancy, and come from the front of the stage. Music of a military style.
