American Playhouse1981

[after trying to audition, Helene leaves the room, sobs, and then returns]

Helene Shaw:
I'm terrible, aren't I?

George Johnson:
No! No, you're not, you're fine.

Helene Shaw:
[attempting a laugh] No, I'm not. It was awful. I...

George Johnson:
You were...

Helene Shaw:
- It's like I'm a walking ice-box or something.

Doris:
Oh, nobody could look at you and say that, dearie.

Helene Shaw:
When people get to know me, that's when they *do* say it. I don't want to be the way that I am. I just can't help it. I feel like I'm in... Well, when I get to know somebody nice, you know, like, like in real life? I feel like I'm in... Like I'm...

[She lifts her hands and mimes being trapped in glass]

Helene Shaw:
...in some, some kind of, um, a bottle, a-a-as though I can't touch that person, no matter how hard I try. I know what this play is about. I know what's Stella's feeling, I - [shakes her head] - I know I should feel it, I, I just...

[She raises her hands again, pressing against the imaginary bottle, and lowers them]

Doris:
You what, dear?

Helene Shaw:
I, I just, I don't know how to begin!