| Scene One
Lights up as the men gather, play cards; Lombardi stands and watches. The Doctor is sitting on a desk, writing.
|
|
| Torasso | Did you hear the scream last night? |
| Augenti | Did anybody not? |
| Rizzolli | Your turn. Black card. |
| Lombardi | She knows how to scream, all right. |
| Barri | Well, she practices a lot. |
| Augenti | I forgot, what’s trump? |
| Rizzoli | Play that bloody card |
| Lombardi | So that wasn’t dying, we assume. |
| Barri | No, I think she just fell off her broom |
| Torasso | Or they hung a mirror in the room Of la signora! |
| Barri | La signora! |
| Augenti | La signora! |
| Rizzolli | Please, a little quiet! |
| (Bugle call. Drums continue softly under as the game continues Giorgio enters to speak with the Doctor) |
|
| Giorgio | Doctor. |
| Doctor | Bachetti. |
| Giorgio | Was is absolutely necessary for me to visit her last night? |
| Doctor | Why else would I have asked you to go? I’m not some kind of procurer, Captain. |
| Giorgio | But she hardly seemed close to death. |
| Doctor | I’m sure she summond her strength for you. Her condition was precarious before you arrived. You have done her a great service. You have done a brave thing. Now it is over. Good day.
(Giorgio is going to leave the room.) |
| Rizzolli | Care to play, Captain? |
| Giorgio | No. Thank you for asking.
(He leaves; music resumes over drums) |
| Torasso | Just a bit aloof, don’t you think? |
| Lombardi | Not around the Colonel. |
| Rizzolli | Care to play, Sergeant? |
| Augenti | Never trust a man Who doesn’t drink. |
| Torasso | And he keeps a journal. |
| Barri | Eight-ball off the nine. |
| Rizzolli | Maybe, though, he just prefers his books |
| Lombardi | Not as much as he prefers his looks. |
| Torasso | Which is why he thinks he’s got his hooks Into la Signora – |
| Barri | Gentlemen, I’ll make a wager: Come the summer, he’ll be Major – |
| Rizzolli | I’ll say! |
| All | I’ll say! I’ll say! |
| (Music stops. As the soldiers disappear, we segue to the other side of the stage where the Colonel and Giorgio stroll in)
|
|
| Colonel | Captain, I cannot thank you enough. Your kindness to my cousin have meant a great deal. |
| Giorgio | You have no reason to thank me. |
| Colonel | Any attention that is paid to her means so much. Signora Fosca has always had a shortage of friends. (Fosca is revealed at her writing table) |
| Fosca | My dearest Giorgio. I am writing you even though the Doctor has forbidden it. What a joy to have someone to whom I can tell my feelings. To share my past. |
| Colonel | I was a young man when my parents died. And Fosca’s mother and father welcomed me into their house whenever I was on leave. (Music under as we go back in time) As a child – |
| Fosca | As a child – |
| Colonel | She was lonely – |
| Fosca | I was happy – |
| Colonel | Her parents doted on her – |
| Fosca | My parents doted on me – (Fosca’s Mother and Father enter) |
| Both | They said: |
| Mother, Father | Beautiful. |
| Mother | So sensitive. |
| Mother, Father | So beautiful. |
| Fosca | They told me to be: |
| Mother | Careful – |
| Colonel | Of course – |
| Mother | – Fosca |
| Colonel | – to them she was. |
| Father | A girl as beautiful as you are has to |
| Fosca | And so – |
| Father | – be careful. |
| Fosca | – I thought That I was beautiful. |
| Fosca, Colonel | And then she (I) reached the age Where being beautiful Becomes the most important thing A woman can be. |
| Colonel | An unattractive man – |
| Fosca | As long as you’re a man, You still have opportunities. |
| Colonel | – can still have opportunities. |
| Mother, Father | Beautiful … |
| Colonel, Fosca | Whereas, if you’re a woman You either are a daughter or a wife. |
| Mother, Father | A woman is a flower. |
| Fosca, Colonel | You marry – |
| Father | – you’re seventeen. |
| Colonel | – or you’re a daughter all your life. |
| Mother, Father | Now is the hour … |
| Colonel | I’d met this nice young man. |
| Fosca | I’d seen this nice young man – |
| Colonel | He’d introduced himself – |
| Fosca | – passing by – |
| Colonel | – at my club. |
| Fosca | – just below my window. |
| Colonel | So – |
| Fosca | One day – |
| Colonel | – one evening I invited him – |
| Fosca | – he tipped his hat to me. |
| Colonel | – home. Count Ludovic – |
| Fosca | I must admit that I was flattered – |
| Colonel | – this is my Aunt Theresa and my Uncle Bruno. |
| Mother | A count? |
| Father | From where, if I may ask. |
| Ludovic | Austria. |
| Father, Mother | Austria … |
| Mother | What a beautiful place. |
| Colonel | Fosca, we have a visitor! |
| Fosca | Imagine my surprise … |
| Colonel | I’d like you to meet a new friend. Count Ludovic. |
| Fosca | He was even more handsome up close. |
| Colonel | I was amazed to see the Count take such an interest in my cousin. |
| Ludovic | If I had know you where here, Signorina – |
| Fosca | “If he had known …” Of course he knew. |
| Ludovic | – I would have brought you many flowers. |
| Colonel | If I had known … |
| Ludovic | You do like flowers? |
| Fosca | Yes. |
| Colonel | I should have known. |
| Ludovic | I’ve seen you at your window. |
| Mother | Won’t you stay for dinner? |
| Father | Do. Yes. |
| Ludovic | I’ve watched you every day since I arrived. |
| Fosca | I had my suspicion. |
| Colonel | I had no suspicion. |
| Fosca, Colonel | I chose not to see. |
| Ludovic | The way you move, The way you gaze at the sky … |
| Fosca | For love had made me blind – |
| Colonel | How could I be so blind? |
| Fosca | – or what I took for love. |
| Colonel | Within a month, he had asked for her hand. |
| Giorgio | Signora Fosca has been married? |
| Colonel | Yes. |
| Father, Mother | Austria … Count Ludovic of Austria … |
| Fosca | I sensed in him a danger, Deception, even violence. I must admit to some degree That it excited me. |
| Father, Mother | Austria … Count Ludovic of Austria … |
| Colonel | Once they were married, once he’d received my uncle’s sizable dowry, he traveled a great deal, was unavailable to Fosca. |
| Fosca | He gambled away the dowry. I was forced to go to my parents to borrow from what little savings they had left. |
| Colonel | Then one day, as she was coming from market … |
| Mistress | Excuse me. You’re the wife of a Count Ludovic? |
| Fosca | Yes. |
| Mistress | You fool. The man’s a fraud, a fake. The trips he said he had to take abroad He took them so that he could be with me. He calls himself a Count, but he’s not. He’s never had a title in his life! He doesn’t have a title, But he does have a wife And a child in Dalmatia. |
| Fosca | No, you must be mistaken. |
| Mistress | Oh, yes. He only wants to bleed you Until the day he doesn’t need you. I warn you he’ll abandon you As he abandoned her and me And countless others, I’ve no doubt. I’m telling you, the man was born without a heart. You fool … |
| Fosca | I confronted him with this information, and he made no attempt to deny it. |
| Ludovic | A well, at last you know the truth, Signorina. But you as well must face the truth. I’ve no desire to deceive you any more. But do admit what you ignore: We made a bargain, did we not? And we got what we bargained for. You gave me your money, I gave you my looks If women sell their looks, Well, let us part by mutual consent and be content. |
| Fosca | I returned home, to find my parents impoverished and in poor health. |
| Colonel | Fosca’s health failed … |
| Fosca | A woman’s like a flower … |
| Colonel | She began to suffer her first convulsions. My aunt and uncle nursed her as best they could. |
| Fosca | A flower’s only purpose is to please … |
| Colonel | I spent months looking for the man. |
| Fosca | Beauty is power … |
| Colonel | By then, of course, he’d vanished. |
| Fosca | Longing a disease … |
| Colonel | To this day, I dream of finding him and realizing my revenge. |
| Fosca | My father died not long thereafter. |
| Colonel | How could I be so blind? |
| Fosca | I couldn’t face the world. |
| Colonel | It took her many months to leave her bed. |
| Fosca | It took me months to leave my bed. |
| Colonel | When her mother died, she had nothing really. No one. |
| Fosca | And so I went to stay with my cousin, who in some way felt responsible for my circumstances. |
| Colonel | Why could I not admit the truth? How could I not have seen through the veneer? I told myself, “As long as she seems happy, why interfere?” Or was I just relieved to know That somebody would want her for a wife? In war you know the enemy, Not always so in life. The enemy was love – You have to pay a consequence |
| Mistress | As long as you’re a man, You’re what the world will make of you. |
| Mistress, Mother | Whereas if you’re a woman, You’re only what it sees. |
| Colonel, Father, Ludovic | A woman is a flower whose purpose is to please. |
| All | Beauty is power, longing a disease … |
| (As we segue to the next scene, Clara enters in a robe, her hair down)
Sunrise Letter |
|
| Clara | Giorgio, I stand here staring at the sunrise, Thinking how we’ve never seen a Sunrise together Thinking that the sunrise Only means another day without you, And thinking: Can our love survive so much separation, Keep itself alive, much less thrive? If only you were here, |
| Clara, Giorgio | Giorgio, I now sit staring at the mirror – You may not believe it, but I swear As I stare there it is plain as day: A gray hair, Of which I was unaware, Which is more than I can bear, Which I’m ripping out right now And am sending on to you As a milestone of my age, As a turning of the page … Perhaps when next we meet, |
| Giorgio | Time is now our enemy …
(Unsteadily, Fosca has entered and made her way towards Giorgio; Clara exits) |
| Fosca | You came a great distance to read her letters. Are you trying to get away from me? (Giorgio doesn’t respond; he returns the letter to his pocket) Ever since I have recovered, you have made every effort to run away from me. To be free of my company. |
| Giorgio | There are times when I wish to be alone. |
| Fosca | I know that I offend you. |
| Giorgio | I won’t have this conversation. |
| Fosca | And what kind of conversation would you prefer, Captain? Something innocuous? Perhaps we could discuss your troops? Or maybe we should talk about the weather? It feels like rain, don’t you think? |
| Giorgio | I think you can be incredibly difficult. |
| Fosca | I didn’t come here to be difficult. I came here to share your company. (He notices blood on her hands) |
| Giorgio | What have you done to your hands? |
| Fosca | (looking at them blankly) I must have fallen. |
| Giorgio | (attending to her hands) You have no business being out here on your own. |
| Fosca | Do you wish me dead? |
| Giorgio | Fosca, don’t be so unfair! |
| Fosca | I know I’m unfair. I want to free you from the burden of my affection. I know the torture you are going through. I do know what it is that I am doing to you. (There is a long, painful moment of silence as they sit and stare off into space) Why is it that the daisies and violets are in blue? |
| Giorgio | They mistake the warmth of autumn for April. |
| Fosca | What is that bird? |
| Giorgio | A wren. |
| Fosca | What does it look like? |
| Giorgio | Small and grey. I think it’s the smallest of birds. |
| Fosca | You know so much. (pause) Kiss me. I know I shouldn’t ask such a thing. A woman shouldn’t have followed a man here. Well, given my appearance, I don’t behave as other women do. And so I ask you for a kiss. |
| Giorgio | No. |
| Fosca | Then I will kiss you. |
| Is This What You Call Love ? | |
| Giorgio | Is this what you call love? This endless and insatiable Smothering pursuit of me. You think that this is love? I’m sorry that you’re lonely, I’m sorry that you’re ill, But yes, I wish you’d go away Everywhere I turn, there you are Will you never learn when too far is too far, (pointing at Clara’s letter) Love’s not a constant demand, Yet everywhere I go, Call it what you will |
| (Music stops; a loud clap of thunder is heard. Trembling, Fosca sudders momentarily and crumples to the ground. Giorgio turns and sees her lying there; he crosses the stage past her and begins to exit. He stops, pauses for a moment, then reluctantly returns to her, covering her with his coat. He picks her up and carries her offstage as the lights fade to black.)
Scene Three Soldiers’ Gossip |
|
| Torasso | Both of them were soaked to the skin. |
| Rizzolli | Where had they been? |
| Augenti | On the bluff. |
| Lombardi | Were they all alone? |
| Torasso | No one knows. |
| Lombardi | You don’t suppose -? |
| Barri | Ugh! |
| Rizzolli | Gentlemen, enough! |
| Torasso | Still, it would explain Signora’s attitude – |
| Augenti | Why she comes to every meal. |
| Barri | It isn’t for the veal. |
| Torasso | And it would explain the Colonel’s gratitude. |
| Lombardi | I hear he calls him “Giorgio” – |
| Rizzolli | But nobody is that brave. |
| Augenti | No, that’s cheek. |
| Rizzolli | Nobody is that brave. |
| Lombardi | Wouldn’t you like to peek? |
| Torasso | Ugh! |
| Barri | Gentlemen, I think I’ll change my wager: He’ll be major next week. |
| Rizzolli | I’ll say! |
| All | I’ll say! I’ll say! |
| (A bed is rolled onstage. At first we can’t quite make out who’s in it: we see a clack-caped form writhing as the bed spins. The black figure lifts up: it is Fosca atop Giorgio, who struggles beneath; the Soldiers and Attendants surround this action)
|
|
| Group 1 | Everywhere I turn |
| Group 2 | Everywhere I turn |
| Group 1 | There you are. |
| Group 2 | There you are. |
| Groups 1&2 | This is not love, just some kind of obsession. |
| Group 1 | Everywhere I go, |
| Group 2 | Everywhere I go, |
| Groups 1&2 | You appear, Or I know you are near. |
| Group 2 | You are near. |
| Groups 1&2 | You are near. |
| Giorgio | Let go of me! Please! |
| Groups 1&2 | Love, Love’s not a constant demand. It’s a gift you bestow. Love isn’t sudden – It’s tender and slow … |
| Group 1 | Tender and slow … Tender and slow … |
| Group 2 | Sudden surrender … Sudden surrender … |
| (All exit including Fosca, who disappears into the shadows as the Doctor appears; we are now in Giorgio’s bedroom. The Doctor wakes him.) | |
| Doctor | It’s all right. Calm down. It was only a dream. |
| Giorgio | I feel so warm. |
| Doctor | You became ill after carrying Signora Fosca back in the rain. |
| Giorgio | When was that? |
| Doctor | Two days ago. (He put his hand to Giorgio’s head.) You still have a fever, but it seems to be low. My boy, you will recover from this illness, but it will take some time. You might as well enjoy it away from here. I am putting you on sick leave. |
| Giorgio | Sick leave? |
| Doctor | Fourty days. This is a dreary place. It can get to us all. As soon as you are well enough, you will depart for Milan. |
| Giorgio (fondly) | Milan … |
| Doctor | Don’t look so sad, my boy. I trust there is someone there who can oversee your recuperation. |