| Scene One
Giorgio and Clara’s room. |
|
| Clara (quietly) | I’m so happy, I’m afraid I’ll die Here in your arms What would you do if I died like this – (She languishes across him) Right now, here in your arms? That we ever should have met Is a miracle |
| Giorgio | No, inevitable – |
| Clara | Then inevitable, yes, But I confess it was the look |
| Giorgio | The look? |
| Clara | The sadness in your eyes That day when we glanced at each other In the park. |
| Giorgio | We were both unhappy. |
| Clara | Unhappiness can be seductive. |
| Giorgio | You pitied me … |
| Both | How quickly pity leads to love. |
| Clara | All this happiness Merely from a glance in the park So much happiness, so much love … |
| Giorgio | I thought I knew what love was. |
| Clara | I wish we might have met so much sooner I could have given you – |
| Giorgio | I thought I knew what love was. |
| Clara | – my youth. |
| Giorgio | I thought I knew how much I could feel. |
| Clara | All the time we lost … |
| Giorgio | I didn’t know what love was. |
| Clara | I’ve never known what love was. |
| Giorgio | But now – |
| Clara |
And now – |
| Both | – I do. It’s what I feel with you, The happiness I feel with you. |
| Clara | So much happiness – |
| Giorgio | You are so beautiful … |
| Clara | – happening by chance in a park. |
| Giorgio | Not by chance, by necessity – |
| Clara | Surely, this is happiness – |
| Giorgio | – by the sadness that we saw in each other. |
| Clara | – no one else has ever felt before! |
| Both | Just another love story, that’s what they would claim. Another simple love story – aren’t all of them the same? |
| Clara | No, but this is more, we feel more! |
| Both | This is so much more!
(Smiling at each other) |
| Giorgio | I thought I knew what love was. |
| Clara | I’d only heard what love was. |
| Giorgio | I thought it was no more than a name for yearning. |
| Clara | I thought it was what kindness became. |
| Giorgio | I’m learning – |
| Clara | I thought where there was love there was shame. |
| Giorgio | – that with you – |
| Clara | But with you – |
| Both | – there’s just happiness. |
| Clara | Endless happiness … (Music continues underneath as they lie silently next to each other for a long moment) What? |
| Giorgio | Not now … |
| Clara | Tell me … please. |
| Giorgio | I received my orders from headquarters. I’ve been transferred to the Fourth Brigade. |
| Clara (sad) | When? |
| Giorgio | I leave in five days. (Clara takes this news in, then slowly reaches for her chemise) Clara, don’t look so sad. |
| Clara | You’re the one that makes me happy. |
| Giorgio | We’ll make the most of the next four days. I’ll steal as much time as I can. Then after I leave, we’ll write to each other ever day. We’ll make love with our words. You’ll be with me ever day, Clara. (She starts to dress while Giorgio watches her) |
| Clara | I must go. I’m expected. |
| Giorgio | God, you are so beautiful. I love to see you in the light, Clear and beautiful, memorize Every inch, every part of you to take with me. |
| Clara | Giorgio … |
| Giorgio | Your feet so soft, As if they’d never touched the ground. |
| Clara | I must go … |
| Giorgio | Your skin so white, so pure, so delicate. Your smell so sweet, your breathe so warm. I will summon you in my mind, I’m painting you indelibly on my mind. |
| Clara | Let me go … |
| Giorgio | We must fill every moment. |
| Clara | All this happiness ended by a word in the dark. |
| Giorgio | Oh my love, oh my darling … |
| Clara | So much happiness wasn’t meant to last. |
| Giorgio | I am here, I am with you I am yours. |
| Clara | I never knew what love was. |
| Giorgio | Your skin, your silken hair … |
| Clara | I always thought I didn’t deserve it. |
| Giorgio | Your breasts, your lips … |
| Clara | I didn’t know what love was. |
| Giorgio | I want you every minute of my life … |
| Clara | I don’t know how I’ll live when you’re gone! |
| Giorgio | I will always be here. |
| Clara | I don’t know how I’ll live … Giorgio … Don’t leave me … |
| (As they move away from each other, military drums join the orchestra, quietly at first, then building in intensity to a climax. This time the drums drown the orchestra, and we segue into a military formation, which takes us into the Officers’ mess hall)
Scene Two The dining quarters of the post’s commanding officer, Colonel Ricci. |
|
| Colonel | (having had enough) Thank you Lieutenant. (Torasso stops singing) |
| Doctor: | How was “Rigoletto”? |
| Torasso | Terrible. These touring companies get no better. |
| Lombardi | Nor do you. |
| Torasso | I sing to lighten the weight of your cookings. |
| Barri | (examining his plate) Sergeant, what is this? |
| Lombardi | It’s veal. |
| Barri | Again? We had veal four days ago. And from the looks of it, it was this veal. |
| Lombardi | Lieutenant Barri, if I hear – |
| (They are suddenly interrupted by a woman’s distant scream upstairs. They pause momentarily before resuming their conversation, as if nothing unusual had occured) |
|
| Rizzolli | Colonel, I’ve heard a rumor that the King is about to sign a treaty with the French. |
| Doctor | Really? |
| Colonel | I’ve heard no such rumor, Major. |
| Doctor | Where did you come by this information? |
| Rizzolli | (uncomfortable) In town. |
| Colonel | You can’t believe everything you hear in a whorehouse. |
| Rizzolli | (serious) That is where Garibaldi got much of his information, sir. |
| Doctor | Ah, so that’s why you go there! (Giorgio enters) |
| Colonel | Ah, Captain Bachetti. Welcome. We wondered when you were going to arrive. May I introduce Doctor Tambourri, Major Rizzolli … |
| Torasso | Lieutenant Torasso. |
| Barri | Lieutenant Barri. |
| Lombardi | Sergeant Lombardi |
| Barri | Our cook. |
| Colonel | Come. Come and join us. (Giorgio hands a letter to Augenti.) |
| Giorgio | Could you post this one for me? (Giorgio sits; to his right remains an unoccupied chair and place setting) |
| Lombardi | You’ll have to excuse our rather limited menu, Captain. It’s difficult to grow vegetables in this mountain soil. |
| Doctor | We’re a bit isolated here, Captain. Not only from anything green and edible, but also from life and ideas. |
| Rizzolli | I just add vinegar to everything |
| Torasso | Captain Bachetti, the Colonel has been telling us of your triumphs pinning down the Russian infantry. |
| Giorgio | I’m not sure that my actions worried your attention. |
| Torasso | Come, come. Didn’t you rescue a wounded man in the midst of fire and then carry him on your horse to camp? |
| Giorgio | Only to our battalion. |
| Barri | Say you brought him back to camp! Why settle for being half a hero when full-fledged is just a white lie away? |
| (The lights suddenly bump up; music under, agitated. Clara enters to the side of the stage, singing from a letter she holds.)
|
|
| Giorgio | Clara … |
| Clara | Clara … |
| Giorgio | I cried. |
| Clara | I cried. |
| Both | Imagine that, a soldier who cries. |
| Clara | I had to hide my eyes, so the others on the train That carried me away from you would think I was asleep. (a piano sounds offstage) |
| Giorgio | Music? |
| Doctor | That’s Signora Fosca playing. |
| Colonel | My cousin. I have no family and neither does she. She is in such poor health, it’s a continual worry. |
| Doctor | That’s her place setting, but she stays in her room most days. Perhaps soon she’ll be well enough to join us for a meal. |
| Rizzolli | She eats like a sparrow. (Torasso lets out an involuntary laugh, which is immediately stopped by a cold stare from the Colonel) |
| Torasso | (sober) My apologies, sir. The comparison has struck me as funny. A sparrow seems to eat more than Signora Fosca. A pity it is … |
| Colonel | (to Giorgio) My cousin loves to read – it’s her only passion, really. I can’t find enough books for her. |
| Giorgio | I also love reading. I’ve brought a few of my favorite books down. Perhaps I could lend them to Signora Fosca, though I can’t promise they will appeal to her. |
| Colonel | Young man, she’s been driven to reading military handbooks. I’ve no doubt she will welcome anything in print. (Private Augenti enters and delivers a few letters, one of which goes to Giorgio) |
| Augenti | Post arrived! |
| Rizzolli | Hand it round Augenti. (surprised) Nothing for me again? It’s been two weeks. |
| Augenti | It smells to me as if Captain Bachetti has a letter from an admirer. |
| (Music under; the lights bump up. Clara reappears)
Second Letter |
|
| Clara | Giorgio … I, too, have cried inside. |
| Both | You must not be ashamed of your tears. |
| Clara | I love you for your tears. |
| Both | Your absence only makes my love grow stronger. And when I cannot bear it any longer –
|
| (We hear another scream come from upstairs. Music stops as Giorgio rises, concerned; the others continue to eat, unfazed.) | |
| Colonel | Don’t be alarmed. It’s my cousin. I am so accustomed to her outbursts that I forget how unsettling they must be to a newcomer. My apologies for not warning you. |
| Doctor | She’s not been having a good day. And a doctor is always expected to help hurt, even when there is nothing one can possibly do. |
| Torasso | More lamb please. |
| Doctor | (to Lombardi) I’ve noticed you finally managed to track down some tarragon. |
| Lombardi | Yes, I’m glad you approved … (Another scream; the Colonel looks to the Doctor) |
| Colonel | Doctor. |
| Doctor | Excuse me. (He wearily rises and crosses to the stairs, which he climbs.) |
| Barri | Sergeant, are there any more carrots? |
| Lombardi | Seconds for you, Lieutenant? Can I take that as a compliment? |
| Barri | No, Sergeant, they’re for my horses. (Laughter. Torasso gives Giorgio a slap on the back. Giorgio is not amused.) |
| Colonel | In time, Captain Bacchetti, you too will get used to life amongst us. |
| (Snare drums; everyone gets up. Clara enters while the soldiers formate to a march. Clara sings from another letter, accompanied chiefly by drums and sporadic bugle calls)
Third Letter |
|
| Clara | Clara, I’m in hell, |
| Giorgio | This is hell, |
| Soldiers | Living hell. |
| Clara | Living hell. This godforsaken place – |
| Soldiers | This godforsaken place – |
| Clara | This sterile little town, these pompous little men, |
| Giorgio | This military madness … |
| Soldiers | This military madness … This military … |
| All | Uniforms, uniforms … |
| Giorgio | Military madness … |
| Soldiers | Military madness … |
| Clara, Giorgio | My days are spent in maneuvers … |
| Soldiers | Uniforms, uniforms |
| Clara, Giorgio | My evenings in discussing the day – |
| Soldiers | This is hell – |
| Clara | My nights are spent in thinking of you. |
| Giorgio | Don’t forget me, Clara … |
| (Clara exits as the Soldiers march off and the Doctor enters) | |
| Doctor | Good afternoon, Captain. |
| Giorgio | Doctor. |
| Doctor | Your troops seem to be responding well to your command. |
| Giorgio | Thank you, sir. |
| Doctor | How are you enjoying your new post? |
| Giorgio | (polite) I find everyone most hospitable. |
| Doctor | Good. Your company at meals has certainly been a welcome change for me. |
| Giorgio | Thank you. |
| Doctor | I trust the occasional outburst from Colonel Ricci’s cousin hasn’t unsettled you today. |
| Giorgio | No. What exactly is wrong with her? |
| Doctor | She is a kind of medical phenomenon, a walking collection of all possible illnesses. Her diseases are beyond science … |
| Giorgio | The screams? |
| Doctor | Hysterical convulsions. One might say that her nerve endings are exposed, where ours are protected by a firm layer of skin. |
| Giorgio | Is she in danger of succumbing to this illness? |
| Doctor | I don’t believe so. Her body is so weak, it doesn’t have the strength to produce a mortal disease. |
| Giorgio | I don’t understand |
| Doctor | The weak protect themselves. The defensive soldier often lives longer than the brave one. |
| Giorgio | Is she young? |
| Doctor | Late twenties, I would venture. |
| Giorgio | Pretty? |
| Doctor | That you must decide for yourself. |
| Giorgio | You don’t suppose that she’s the Colonel’s lover, do you? |
| Doctor | Captain Bachetti, it’s good to see you enjoy an occasional bit of gossip. (Giorgio is immediately embarrassed) No need for discomfort, Captain. We’re all human. Your curiousity is understandable. No, I’m afraid Signora Fosca’s physical state prevents her from being anyone’s lover. Good day. (He moves off; bugle calls) |
| Giorgio | Clara, don’t forget me. Keep me close to you, Clara … |
| (We segue back to the Colonel’s dining room; it is morning. Rizzolli and Barri are finishing their breakfast as Giorgio joins them and sits.) | |
| Rizzolli | Late for breakfast, Captain. |
| Giorgio | I decided to accompany my troups at their morning drill. Before their weekly maneuvers. |
| Barri | You’re a better officer than I am. I let my sergeant oversee the morning drill. |
| Lombardi | (Clearing Fosca’s place setting)
Well, it looks as if Signora Fosca has disappointed us once again. |
| Rizzolli | Why keep setting her place? (Bugle call) |
| Barri | (rises) Captain Bachetti, I’m afraid you’ll have to take breakfast alone. |
| Giorgio | We still have dinner to share, gentlemen. |
| Rizzolli | Indeed. |
| Barri | Any chance we might interest you in a game of cards tonight? |
| Giorgio | No. I’m not a gambling man. |
| Rizzolli | The boredom of this place will make a gambler of you yet. |
| Barri | Good day, Captain. |
| Giorgio | Gentlemen … |
| (Rizzolli and Barri exit. Giorgio takes out a letter, which he begins to read. Clara enters.)
|
|
| Clara, Giorgio | How could I forget you? (A shadowy figure – Fosca – appears at the top of the stairs and begins slowly descending) |
| Clara | Yesterday I walked through the park To the place where we met. Afterwards I sat on the bench Where we sat all that sultry afternoon. I thought about our room, our secret room I see us in our room, our secret room, |
| (Fosca descends the last step. She carries some books and approaches her empty place setting with an uncertain gait. As she turns from the shadows, revealing herself, we discover that she is an ugly, sickly woman: incredibly thin and sallow, her face all bones and nose, her hair pulled tightly back. Music holds) | |
| Fosca | Captain … |
| (Giorgio sees her and is momentarily stunned. Clara exits. Fosca gives a nervous, grotesque smile as the orchestra resumes, playing the piano music. Giorgio quickly rises. Fosca speaks, in rhythm to the music; her voice is lovely and elegant, but melancholy) | |
| Fosca | I hope I didn’t startle you. |
| Giorgio | Not at all. Signora Ricci, I’m Captain Bachetti – |
| Fosca | (simultaneously) – Bachetti. I know. My cousin has told me all about you. I came to thank you for the books. I would have sooner, but I’ve been so ill. |
| Giorgio | Well, now you seem to be feeling more normal. |
| Fosca | Normal? I hardly think so. Sickness is normal to me as health is to you. Forgive me. I shouldn’t speak of my troubles. I’ve been going through a period of deep melancholy. |
| (There is an awkward moment of silence as Adriana enters and pours Fosca a cup of coffee. As she leaves, the music becomes low and intense.)
|
|
| Fosca | I so enjoyed the novel by Rousseau. |
| Giorgio | Yes, it’s wonderful. It’s my favorite, really. |
| Fosca | The character of Julie is a great mystery. |
| Giorgio | You should have kept the book longer to meditate over. |
| Fosca | I do not read to think. I do not read to learn. I do not read to search for truth I know the truth, the truth is hardly what I need. I read to dream. I read to live. In other people’s lives. (Fiercly) There is a flower which offers nectar at the top, I read to fly, to skim – (Exalted) Ah, but if you have no expectations, |
| Giorgio | I assure you – |
| Fosca | No, forgive me, please … |
| Giorgio | But truly, there is nothing to forgive – |
| Fosca | Have you explored the town? It is remote, isn’t it? And provincial, don’t you think? |
| Giorgio | Yes. |
| Fosca | And everything so brown: The streets, the fields, the river even, Though there are some lovely gardens. You do like gardens, I hope? |
| Giorgio | Yes. |
| Fosca | Good, I can show you gardens. And then of course there is the castle. The ruined castle. |
| Giorgio | Ah. |
| Fosca | I find it lovely. Probably because it’s ruined, I suppose. |
| Giorgio | I didn’t know there was a castle. |
| Fosca | I like to take excursions there – When I’m in better health. Perhaps you join me and my cousin One day … |
| Giorgio | That would be delightful. I don’t believe I’ve seen a flower or a garden since the day I arrived. |
| (Fosca suddenly gets up and slowly leaves the room. Confused, Giorgio rises and, after she has gone, takes his books and begins to leave. We hear the distant sound of field drums, muffled, funereal. Fosca, just as unexpectedly, returns, carrying a small bunch of flowers, which she offers to Giorgio without a word) | |
| Giorgio | Thank you. How delightful. |
| Fosca | (Crossing to the window) I’m surprised you haven’t seen our wonderful greenhouse. |
| Giorgio | Greenhouse? |
| Fosca | Yes, we haven’t had much luck with the vegetables this year. But the gardenias and petunias are magnificent. (Giorgio joins her at the window, as the drums become louder.) |
| Giorgio | Oh look. There’s a funeral procession. I suppose they come here for flowers to adorn the casket. (Fosca stiffens and steps back, drawing her hand to her mouth, her eyes staring) It’s good to know that the dead here – |
| (Two female attendants and the Doctor rush in and reach her. Giorgio steps back, staring helplessly as they carry her off)
|
|
| Giorgio | How can I describe her? The wretchedness, God, the wretchedness And the suffering, the desperation Of that poor unhappy creature – The embarrassment, Clara. Looking at that lonelyness, Listening to all that self-pity … (Another formation of Soldiers takes us to the Garden) |
| Soldiers | The town – It is remote, isn’t it? And provincial, don’t you think? And everything so brown: |
|
|
|
| Doctor | Ah, look at how they’ve let this garden go. |
| Colonel | This is not Milan, Doctor. |
| Doctor | I’m all too well aware of that. |
| Fosca | I think it’s rather beautiful. |
| Doctor | For these parts, maybe … |
| Colonel | Doctor, may I have a word with you? |
| Doctor | Certainly. |
| Colonel | Captain Bachetti, would you lend my cousin your arm? I wish to have a word with the Doctor. |
| Giorgio | Of course. |
| Fosca | I do know how to walk. My cousin treats me like I’m a child. |
| Giorgio | All the while as we strolled, Clara – |
| Fosca | I hope I didn’t frighten you the other day. |
| Giorgio | No, not at all. I could see you reading my letter. All the while as we strolled – |
| Fosca | I’m not afraid of death. I rather think I’d welcome dying. It’s everything that follows that I dread: being shut up in a coffin, smothered in the earth, turning into dust. These images send me into a state of terror. |
| Giorgio | All I saw, all I knew. All that I could think of was you. (Clara enters, reading a letter) |
| Fosca | Even talking of this makes me … (Momentarily, Giorgio fears she will suffer another attack) |
| Giorgio | Surely if you are ill, there is every hope you will get better. |
| Clara | All that I could think of was you |
| Fosca | Hope in my case is in rather short supply. |
| Clara | How ridiculous – |
| Giorgio | Well, then one must look to life for whatever pleasures it can offer. |
| Fosca | And what might they be? |
| Clara | To be looking at her |
| Giorgio | Helping others, for example. |
| Fosca | Helping others! |
| Clara | And be thinking of you. |
| Fosca | I have worked in poorhouses, Captain. |
| Clara | How could anyone |
| Fosca | I felt no different. |
| Clara | So unbeautiful |
| Fosca | Pity is nothing but passive love. |
| Clara | Stir my memory of you? |
| Fosca | Dead love. |
| Clara | To feel a woman’s touch |
| Giorgio | To touch a woman’s hand, |
| Clara | Reminded me how much I long to be with you, How long I’ve been without you near |
| Giorgio | And then to hear a woman’s voice |
| Clara | To hold a woman’s arm To feel a woman’s touch … |
| Giorgio | These thoughts are bad for you. You must concentrate on everything around you that suggests life. These trees, these flowers, the warm smell of the air – |
| Fosca | You make it sound so simple Captain. As if a flower or a tree could somehow make one happy. |
| Clara | Perhaps it was the dress, the fragrance of her dress, |
| Giorgio | The light perfume of silk That’s warm from being in the sun That mingles with a woman’s own perfume |
| Clara | The fragrance of a woman … |
| Giorgio | There is no absolute happiness in anyone’s life, Signora. The only happiness we can be certain of is love. |
| Clara | The garden filled with you – |
| Fosca | Are you speaking of friendship? That kind – |
| Giorgio | I’m speaking of a superial kind of love – |
| Clara | And all that I could do, because of you, |
| Giorgio | The kind between two people. |
| Clara | Was talk of love – |
| Fosca | Two people … |
| Giorgio | Yes. (Giorgio sings to Fosca as Clara continues to sing the letter) |
| Clara, Giorgio | – Love that fills every waking moment, Love that grows every single day, Love that thinks everything is pure, Everything is beautiful Everything is possible |
| Clara | Love that fuses two into one, Where we think the same thoughts, |
| Giorgio | Love the same things |
| Clara, Giorgio | Live as one. |
| Giorgio | Feel as one. |
| Clara, Giorgio | Breathe as one |
| Clara | Love that shuts away the world |
| Giorgio | Love that shuts away the world |
| Clara | That envelops my soul, |
| Giorgio | That envelops your soul, |
| Clara | That ennobles my life |
| Giorgio | Your life |
| Both | Love that floods Every living moment, Love like – |
| Clara | – ours |
| Fosca | Love like -? |
| Giorgio | – like wine. An intoxication. A great blindness, if you will. |
| Fosca | Yes, I have read about that kind of love. But you speak as one who lives it. (Music stops. She stumbles slightly; Giorgio goes to aid her, but she pulls herself away) I don’t feel well. I must go home. |
| Giorgio | I’m sorry |
| Fosca | You can be incredibly cruel, Captain. |
| Giorgio | Cruel? |
| Fosca | To speak to me of love – To dangle words like “Happiness” “Beautiful” “Superior” – You can’t be that naive. |
| Giorgio | Forgive me. I have not taken – |
| Fosca | You with all your books Your taste, your sensivity I thought you’d understand. The others – well, they’re all alike. I’ve watched you from my window. (Intensely) All the time I watched from my room Don’t reject me, don’t deny me, Captain They hear drums, we hear music. (Music under, fading) |
| Giorgio | (stunned) Yes. Of course. You have my friendship (Fosca grabs Giorgio’s hand) |
| Fosca | Thank you, Captain. |
| Giorgio | Your hand is on fire. |
| Fosca | It’s nothing. I have a fever. I always have fever. (The Colonel and Doctor approach) |
| Colonel | Shall we make our way towards the castle? |
| Giorgio | Signora Fosca is not feeling well. (The Colonel goes to her and takes her arm) |
| Colonel | I’m terribly sorry, my dear. |
| Fosca | (looking at Giorgio) I’ll be fine now. |
| Colonel | Of course, but we should head back nonetheless. |
| (Music resumes as the Colonel, the Doctor and Fosca head off with Giorgio trailing behind) | |