GYPSY DAWN Act 2 Scene 2

Scene 2

It is Princess Maritza's bedroom again. The time the strains of Angelu singing "Why Me?" can be heard faintly in the distance. MARITZA is asleep. MARIANNE enters. Though they are obviously the same actors we saw before, there are subtle differences in their auras. Neither resembles Jeanette MacDonald as much as before, and both appear to have far less femininity and more buffed bodies than we saw previously.

MARIANNE

Your highness… Please, mum, you must awaken.

MARITZA

Go away.

MARIANNE

But your highness, today is the day your father said you must attend the treaty luncheon in Kielbasa. It is a long journey, and you don't want to arrive late.
(MARIANNE pulls open the draperies allowing the soft light of dawn to fill the room. MARITZA stretches and yawns.)

MARITZA

I guess the old fart has left.

MARIANNE

King Gustavo!?

MARITZA

Went to fuck his brains out again and left us to take care of the Kielbasians. What the shit does he think Kielbasa is going to attack us with? Sausages?

MARIANNE

But your highness, his majesty is counting on you.

MARITZA

The old asshole did the same thing with poor dear mama. Had her go everywhere in his place so he could bang every whore in Paris. No wonder she died of the clap. What is that?

MARIANNE

What is what, your highness?

MARITZA

That music in the distance.

MARIANNE

It's one of those noisy gypsies again.

MARITZA

No. This is a girl singing as though her heart would break.

MARIANNE

Oh, mum, all gypsies sing when they're not stealing books.

MARITZA

This isn't one of those big smelly hairy-chested brutes. This is a delicate little girl who sounds as though she needs help. I wonder what she looks like.

MARIANNE

Your highness!

MARITZA

A princess can wonder, too, you judgmental slut. And look at that dawn!

MARIANNE

It's a gypsy dawn.

MARITZA

A what?

MARIANNE

Some dawns twinkle across the sky.
Some dawns thunder and jeer.
Some dawns sputter, and some dawns sigh,
And some dawns never appear.
But when you feel the whole world hum,
You know a gypsy dawn has come.

MARITZA

What bullshit!

MARIANNE

But I'm just telling you what the gypsies say.

MARITZA

Stop calling them that. They're Sons and Daughters of Freedom. All the sentimental crap you speak---you're a disgrace to your sex.

MARIANNE

(through her teeth) Whatever you say, your highness.

MARITZA

You're a romantic cliché, you know that? You represent everything that's kept women in a subordinate position since Adam forced Eve down on his dick.
(MARITZA continues berating her, but we cannot hear what she is saying, for the lights have dimmed and a spotlight has fallen on Marianne. SHE sings as she lays out Maritza's traveling clothes.)
MARIANNE I hate the very ground she walks on,
I hate the bed on which she lies;
I hate the way she sneers and talks on,
I'd love to rip out both her eyes.

What is this thing called birth?
Why should it designate your worth?
Why should she live
So royal and so rich?
Why should I live
To serve that condescending bitch?
Why should my class
Be ever ill at ease?
Why should her class
Do what they fucking goddamned please?
Man's but a tool,
Woman is less,
God is a sadist,
Life is a mess.

(The song over, the lights rise again.)

MARIANNE

Your highness, please. We must hurry.

MARITZA

I'm not going.

MARIANNE

But what will your father say?

MARITZA

Who cares what that old whoremaster says? I'm not going. You're going.

MARIANNE

Me? (a smile crosses her lips, aside) I'd make a helluva better princess than that bull dyke. (modestly) But your highness…

MARITZA

Please don't give me that your highness shit. I've seen you holding up my gowns in the mirror. I've seen you mimicking my every move. You'd love to play me for a day, so don't tell me you wouldn't. And you damned well think you'd be better at it than I am.

MARIANNE

Oh no, your highness!

MARITZA

Gimmeabreak, will ya? You and I are almost the same size, except your ass is bigger. And you love that stupid ostrich hat with the veil even if they had to kill a poor bird to make it. The Kielbasians will never know the difference since they're all a bunch of lushes anyway.

MARIANNE

But, mum, what do I do when I get there?

MARITZA

Scowl. Like you've seen me do a thousand times. Intimidate the pricks. And whatever you do, keep your hands off the soldiers' buns.

MARIANNE

Your highness! I never…

MARITZA

Your highness, I never… Do you think I'm blind? I've seen you pressing your thigh against every eligible crotch in the palace. No wonder we have an outrageous uniform cleaning bill. There's that voice again. That poor lovely voice. Now get your ass in gear.
(To a wildly accelerated "What is This Thing Called Birth?", MARITZA rips off Marianne's clothes and dresses her up in her own.)
MARITZA Off you go, you silly ditz.
(SHE pushes Marianne out the door, then breathes a sign of relief and brushes one hand against the other. SHE hurries to the bed, falls to her knees and pulls out something. When SHE unfurls it, we see they are the same male clothes she wore in Act One, only much tighter and more form-fitting.)

BLACKOUT