Photo by Ekaterina Nt from Pexels
Wild nights – Wild nights!
Were I with thee
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile – the winds –
To a Heart in port –
Done with the Compass –
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden –
Ah – the Sea!
Might I but moor – tonight –
In thee!
– Emily Dickinson
TIME and PLACE
Progressing from the Middle Ages to the present.
Each scene describes its setting. However, throughout all scenes the staging should suggest a delicate balance between material reality and dream reality.
CHARACTERS
DARIA, sixteen.
FRANCOIS, 30, a monk.
JESSICA, eighteen.
ANGELO, 25.
ANNA, twenty (engaged to be married).
JOHN PAUL JOHN, 40.
LAURA, twenty-two, from Munich.
MARK, 35, a farmer (and layman veterinarian).
KARL, 30, Laura’s former fiancé.
MIRANDA, forty, very blonde and eye-catching.
DOUGLAS, 20, plain.
DR. JENNER, hypnotherapist.
FEMALE PATIENT, any.
JUSTIN, 50.
KRISTINA, Justin’s mother, but also 50 in Scene 7.
SCENE 1
DARIA is running through a maze of closed wooden doors in an ancient French monastery, going from door to door, banging on them with her bare palm:
DARIA
Aide-moi!
Aide-moi!
Je vous en supplie!
Aide-moi!
Je vous implore!
Je suis perdu et j’ai peur.
Repeating.
Aide-moi!
Aide-moi!
Je vous en supplie!
Aide-moi!
Je vous implore!
Je suis perdu et j’ai peur.
Then.
Help me!
Help me!
I beg you!
Help me!
I implore you!
I’m lost and I’m frightened.
At last a door opens, and FRANCOIS peeks his head out.
FRANCOIS
Qui êtes-vous?
DARIA
Oh! Dieu merci! Thank you, God!
Je suis Daria. Qui êtes-vous?
FRANCOIS
Je suis François….
Vous êtes une jeune fille!
DARIA
Ô! mais j’ai seize ans.
O! but I’m sixteen.