GYPSY DAWN Act1 Scene 8

Scene 8

In one, the road leading to the palace. On the backdrop we can see the impressive regal gates in the distance surrounded by perfectly tended shrubbery. MARITZA rushes on from the left followed by a weary MARIANNE.

MARITZA

Hurry, Marianne! Hurry!

MARIANNE

Oh, your highness! Stop!

MARITZA

What is it?

MARIANNE

There is something wrong.

MARITZA

What are you talking about?

MARIANNE

The palace. I can't see any guards. It is too quiet.

MARITZA

Nonsense. Come along.

(Suddenly from all sides KIELBASIAN SOLDIERS appear with muskets raised. MARIANNE screams. GENERAL SHUCKENDORF enters from the left with an exaggerated bow.)

SHUCKENDORF

Good evening, your highness.

MARIANNE

Then you knew all along whose highness was who.

SHUCKENDORF

I am afraid you are under arrest.

MARITZA

How dare you, you…munitions manufacturer!

SHUCKENDORF

How did you…?!

MARITZA

You think you're fooling the world…posing as a Kielbasian general! You and your fellow munitions manufacturers infiltrating the armies of the world!

SHUCKENDORF

Soldiers! Arrest these women! Take them to Epascadoro!

MARIANNE

Epascadoro?! That is the vilest prison in all of Europe!

(SOLDIERS handcuff both MARIANNE and MARITZA and force them off to the left. Backdrop rises and we are in cell in Epascadoro. It is truly the vilest prison in all of Europe. MARIANNE sits on the floor on one side, MARITZA on the other. "A Part of Living" is played in the background as a dirge.)

MARIANNE

To think I would wind up my young life in a rat-infested prison…

MARITZA

So much for gypsy dawns.

MARIANNE

But, mum, it did work. The gypsy dawn. We did meet…

MARITZA

God gives with one hand, and puts us in Epascadoro with the other.

We search for years to find the one for us,
The one who'll be the moon and sun for us.
I used to view this all with disbelief---
I found the one, but it was oh, so brief.

Springtime,
The world full of fragrance,
The trees dressed in green.
We'd have known the springtime together---
Oh, think what might have been!

MARIANNE

Our arms
Entwined in each other's
When day has begun.
We'd have felt this rapture together---
Oh, think what we'd have done!

MARITZA

Each hour a highlight,
Our hearts are burning,

MARIANNE

Walks in the twilight,
Whispers of yearning.

TOGETHER

Romance,
A lifetime of romance,
A lifetime serene---
We'd have had that romance together---
Oh, think what might have been!
Just think what might have been.
(At the end of the song, the cell door creaks open and SHUCKENDORF enters. He goes to Maritza.)

SHUCKENDORF

Well?

MARITZA

Go away.

SHUCKENDORF

I offer you my life…my fortune…my power…

MARITZA

But at what price?

SHUCKENDORF

You reject my love?

MARITZA

I would rather die than have you touch so much as a fingernail!

MARIANNE

Oh, your highness!…

SHUCKENDORF

Then die you shall! Guards!

(TWO HUSKY GUARDS enter.)

MARIANNE

Maybe you'd consider someone from a lesser background.

SHUCKENDORF

Take these women to the firing squad…immediately!

MARITZA

But before I go, I want you to know this. There is a man somewhere in Montavia who shall expose you to the world for what you are…a vile, conniving, unconscionable, greedy munitions manufacturer, who, like your fellow munitions manufacturers, all posing as generals and admirals throughout Europe…a man who will hunt every last one of you down until you all pay for your heinous crimes!

MARIANNE

Bravo, your highness! Bravo!

(SHUCKENDORF places his hands over his ears so as to blot out the hideous things Maritza is saying and rushes from the cell. A moment passes when TWO MONKS enter.)

FIRST MONK

We have come to deliver the final rites.

SECOND GUARD

Yes, Father.

FIRST MONK

If you will leave us alone for just a moment…

FIRST GUARD

(hesitating for a moment)

Surely, Father.

(GUARDS exit. FIRST MONK rushes to Maritza, SECOND MONK to Marianne.)

FIRST MONK

We don't have a moment to lose.

MARITZA

Nikko!

MARIANNE

Vasily!

NIKKO

There is a boat leaving for America.

MARIANNE

America?

MARITZA

But Kielbasa has no seaport.

MARIANNE

Neither does Montavia.

NIKKO

We have no time to explain. Follow us. And make not a sound.

(NIKKO and VASILY exit first, then MARITZA and MARIANNE. The stage is empty. We hear the following:)

FIRST GUARD (o.s.)

Wait! Where are you going?

(This is followed by a biff, a gasp and a clump.)

SECOND GUARD (o.s.)

Hey, you can't…!

(Another biff, a gasp and a clump.)

SHUCKENDORF (o.s.)

Who are you? What the devil do you think…!

(This time we hear a biff, a gasp and a horrendous clatter. We know by the sound that Shuckendorf is no more. The strains of "A Part of Living" are now heard as a triumphant crescendo.)

BLACKOUT