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Eve’s eve
Camila Appel - 2011
TRANSLATED BY ELISA CORBETT
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CHARACTERS
EVE
STEVE
DAUGHTER (Eve’s and Steve’s daughter, approximately 30 years of age)
CHILI
DALTON
SCENERY
Living / Dinning room
Current time.
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INTRODUCTION
Dark. Spotlight is on DAUGHTER. Standing still and positioned diagonally, she looks
towards the left wing where there is a cloud of dust. She observes a house being
demolished. The music increases, following explosions. She gets covered in dust. The
scene is felt like a corpse being cremated.
Blackout.
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SCENE 1: HER HUSBAND
It’s lunchtime before Christmas Eve.
It’s the dinning room of a family with no defined social class. The family doesn’t usually
put their things away; everything they have is exposed, resulting in considerable visual
clutter for the audience.
The dinning table is set for a banquet. There is a lavishly decorated Christmas tree next
to the table and a big grandfather clock on the other side of the table.
Eve and Steve are seated at the table eating. They wear masks. Another two places are
set at the table.
CHILI, the maid, comes in bringing food from the kitchen and goes out. She moves
confidently. She thinks that, because she serves them, she has power over them.
It’s a dark day because it’s raining. Thunder, candles and a chandelier light the family
lunch. Only the sound of thunder and the clatter of silverware can be heard. The
audience can hear them eating and drinking.
Eve is very graceful. She does not trust the floor of her house very much. Therefore,
she walks as if she doesn’t trust where she is stepping. Her frailty seems to be feigned,
but it is not.
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The audience comes in while the meal scene is going on. After the third signal, the
chandelier, over the table, blinks.
Steve (enthusiastically) Aha!! The antenna is gone!
Eve: Don’t be so pessimistic, Steve.
Daughter comes in (without the dust from the previous scene). She wears a Santa hat
and a thick red scarf.
Daughter: It’s a glitch, that’s all.
Eve (to Chili): And it will keep on glitching, if someone doesn’t change the bulb.
Chili: I’m afraid of heights.
Eve (to Steve): And there she answers.
Daughter: It’s called a fuse.
Steve (to daughter): I prefer to think of it as antenna.
Eve: Leave your dad alone.
Daughter: Let it glitch. Not everything has to be perfect.
Eve (to Steve): See how intelligent your daughter is.
Steve: She takes after her mom.
Daughter (fanning herself): Is the ventilator also gone?
Steve: Your mom gave it away.
Eve: It wasn’t circulating the air properly.
Chili: She gave it to that leech that grabbed the opportunity to take the air conditioning
too.
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Eve: It wasn’t cooling the air properly.
Chili: And then the leech took the humidifier too.
Eve (happily): I like the air very dry, cracked skin excites me.
The sound of broken glass is heard. Chili goes to the door of the house sees leaves in
the entryway, gets a broom and sweeps them off. The neighbor’s TV is heard.
The wind brings the leaves back. Chili fights with the wind, looks up to the sky, and
gives up. She comes back to the living room.
Eve (incisively): There’s no way to judge such things.
Daughter (to herself): It’s too hot in here.
Steve: There’s nothing to judge. It happens.
Daughter: Can’t we open the window?
Eve: But, aren’t you saying it’s her fault?
Daughter (fanning herself): Goodness gracious.
Steve: There’s no one to blame in a situation like this.
Daughter: Only food gets cold in this house.
Eve: So stop saying it’s her fault.
Steve: I just believe that people are responsible for the situations in which they find
themselves.
Daughter: Yummm, this is delicious. What’s in it?
Eve: You never liked her.
Daughter: Rosemary, parsley or basil? Well, it’s something green.
Steve: It’s not a matter of liking, rather one of context.
Eve: Her husband died, Steve.
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Steve: That’s it, now I can’t say anything else – her husband died.
Eve: And she is my sister, not yours.
Daughter (commenting on her mother’s statement): That’s true.
Steve: Her husband died; let’s give her all the money in our checking account.
Daughter: Her husband died — it’s true.
Eve (singing in a samba beat): Her husband died…her husband is dead… here comes
the lady, whose husband died.
Steve (imitating a Rap): She, she, she, she lost her husband. He didn’t leave the
surgery table, just blinked and drowned. Come on everyone: “She, she, she, she lost
her husband”.
Eve (in opera fashion): Her huuuuuus-baaaannnnnd is deeaaaad! He’s dead...
Daughter: You are all mad.
Chili: I demand respect for Christmas in this house. It’s the birth of Christ.
Eve and Steve: And her husband’s death!
Daughter: Don’t you two have anything better to do?
Steve: Yes, we do: gifts.
Daughter: Now? It’s one in the afternoon!
Steve: Your mom prefers the eve of Christmas Eve.
Eve: No exchanging gifts at night.
Daughter: Can’t we do it tomorrow? I have a date...
Eve (in a tongue twister, to Steve): Your daughter has a fashionable fresh fiancé.
Daughter: Mom!
Steve: Is it true?
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Eve: What?
Daughter: You think everyone is engaged.
Eve: Oh, I’m sorry, this is just another one then. She goes about it like she does with
her work, always trying something new.
Daughter: Actually… it’s not just another one. This is one serious, for the first time I feel
like having a family with someone.
Eve: Aha, finally she found a goal in life!
Daughter: You don’t have to put it like that, as if I have no other. And, mom, I’ve never
changed jobs in my life.
Eve: Oh, yeah. I forgot. (to Steve) Your daughter doesn’t have the courage for changes.
Daughter (quickly): I can start right now, changing families.
Eve: Rent one, it’s easier.
Steve: This is really interesting talk, but can’t the big boy wait half an hour?
Daughter: As if half an hour would do. The way it’s going, I won’t be there before New
Year’s.
Eve: Don’t exaggerate. Is it that boring?
Daughter: Not at all.
Eve: He’ll have to wait. We have a ritual to go through in this house.
Daughter: Mom...
Eve: At least wait for your dad’s speech.
Chili gets the stairs and tries changing the light bulb in the chandelier. She is not able to
control her fear of heights and can’t do it.
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Daughter: What?!
Eve: He will make an announcement.
Daughter: Oh, you must be teasing me.
Eve: Hey, respect your dad.
Daughter: You are just too patient with him.
Eve: I think we should treat a husband with, at least, the same respect we have for a
complete stranger. Please, sweetheart...
Steve gets up with a glass in his hands.
Steve (discursively): After doing much thinking about my future, your future, all our
futures. After analyzing all the possibilities and lack of them (glancing at Chili), after
talking extensively with my hands (he puts the glass down and looks at his hands
worshiping them), these hands that go in and out of human bodies, these hands that
open thoraxes and suture skins, that hold pulsating hearts until they go to their last leap
(imitates a galloping horse) tu-tu-tu, tu-tu-tu.
Daughter: Save us the details.
Steve: I’ve decided to expand abroad.
Eve (claps): Bravo!
Daughter: Oh, I thought it was a poetry book.
Steve: I thought and thought and thought...
Daughter: People, I really have to go.
Eve: Let your dad be.
Daughter: He has been talking about this for months, mom.
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Steve: You, my love (points at Eve), will be the pin-up girl for this magnificent practice. I
already have the slogan: “Do like her… and open your heart to me”.
Daughter: Tacky, too tacky.
They try kissing through their masks.
Daughter: Oh, fortheloveofgod!
Eve: Go see your boyfriend, go on dear. Your dad and I have things to do.
Daughter: (gets up) OK.
Eve: Your brother said he’d arrive today.
Daughter: Gus doesn’t like Christmas; he thinks it’s an invention of society to feed the
system of consumption.
Eve (proud of her son): He really has a strong personality, doesn’t he?
Daughter: And the ticket for the 26th was cheaper.
Eve: I can’t understand what he sees in this Spain.
Chili has already given up on the chandelier. She puts the stairs away and gets busy
with the Christmas tree. She adjusts the decorations, constantly poking her fingers and
crying out “ouch”.
Chili (about the decorations on the tree): Who had this crazy idea of decorating a tree
for Christmas?
Daughter: I have to go. (Giving a present) Chili, I’m leaving this one with you. Mom, this
is yours.
Eve opens the parcel and takes a music box out of it.
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Eve: Look, Chili, a ballerina.
Chili: Oh, is it made of glass?
Eve: Looks like it.
Chili: Yeah!
Chili opens her parcel; it’s an electric candle.
Chili: I don’t know what to do with this.
Steve: An eternal flame.
Daughter: You are always lighting candles for some saints, one day you’ll burn down
the house.
Steve goes to the back of the room and turns on some music. When this part of the
room is lit, we see a line with three mannequins, two are dressed and one is naked.
Chili (looks ironically at the candle): Fascinating.
Daughter turns the candle on and leaves it on the table.
Daughter (referring to the mannequins): This is scary mom.
Eve: Why? Don’t you have your own toys? All those that don’t speak the same
language I do? And you are dedicated to them, changing their clothes, feeding them:
you are more concerned about your chargers than I ever was with your bottle.
Daughter: They don’t wear clothes, mother, they have cases.
Eve: It’s the same to me. When you were looking down, fiddling with these things, I had
nothing to do. I got so anxious, but now everything has changed. As soon as you all
lower your heads, I go back there.
Chili: To take care of her new friends.
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Eve (to Chili): I’ll lend you one to keep you company, honey.
Chili: I don’t need that, thank you.
Eve: Oh, Chili is into the technology universe.
Daughter: There is no “technology universe” anymore, mother. That distinction was
used in the past only. What we do have are lazy people, that don’t care about keeping
up to date.
Eve: Thank you love. I feel so cherished by you all. I don’t even know why sometimes
my heart feels tight.
Steve comes back and invites Eve to dance with him.
Steve: I know how to treat this.
Eve gets up and dances with Steve.
Daughter: Please, take off these ridiculous masks.
Steve: Your mom speaks better with her face covered.
Eve: And I love your dad with a frozen face!
Daughter: Oh, God could have given a little more patience to us, the children.
Eve: I can’t remember who brought you up.
Daughter (sighs): Mom, have you seen my blue necklace anywhere?
Eve: Go look in your room, darling. Don’t be scared of the mess. That room is mine
now.
Eve stops dancing. Steve waits for her.
Eve: I’m expanding inside this house. After each person leaves a room, it becomes
mine. Isn’t that wonderful?
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Daughter: And I’m also going to take off this stupid costume.
Eve: Oh, no, you are not!!!
Daughter: Mother, I can’t leave the house like this! I’ll freeze to death.
Eve: It’s not my fault if people don’t know how to celebrate Christmas.
Daughter: It’s because people are, usually, normal.
Eve: It’s a tradition in my family...
Daughter: Here she comes with hippie-nomad traditions.
Eve: “Gypsy”, my daughter! There’s nothing hippie-nomad about it. And you could
treasure your ancestors more.
Daughter leaves.
Eve: If it hadn’t been for their hard work, none of us would be here. (to Steve) Isn’t it
right?
Steve: Let’s workout then. Will the most beautiful retired-hippie-nomad gypsy in the
world grant me another dance?
Eve (charmingly): Oh, well, what can I do.
Steve and Eve dance.
Eve: I loooove to dance!
Steve: I know...
Eve freezes.
Eve: Everything is all right, isn’t it?
Steve: I didn’t stop to think about it.
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Eve (takes of her mask and looks at the clock): When I’m feeling happy, I get terrified
that this feeling will go away soon, and the panic will come back. And I wait for it to
come back. And when it does, it brings me comfort, because now it’s here, and I feel at
home. The worst of it has come, and I let it stay.
Steve: Don’t call back the enemy. Come dance with me.
Eve: No, I’m OK here...
Chili brings the desert.
Steve: Look there! Chocolate cake!
Eve: Don’t have too much because Gus loves this cake. Better leave it for tomorrow’s
lunch, with both of them.
Steve: Just a tiny piece.
Eve: OK.
Eve eats the cake. She smiles shyly. Her face freezes.
Steve: Put your mask back on.
Eve: No.
Steve: Put it on, Eve.
Eve: Our children have grown up; each is living in a different place... One day you too
will decide to go and I’ll have the whole house to myself. (painfully) Isn’t it wonderful?
Steve: A dream. The larger the space is, the smaller we get. (changes his tone) You
know I’d never leave you.
Eve: Never?
Steve: Never. And your daughter will soon give us grandchildren — the house will be
full of mini yous.
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Eve (trying to cheer up): It’s true, isn’t it? Several miniatures running around...
(melancholic, looks around) Look how many things in this house. They get even scarier
in the dark.
Steve: They are not real.
Eve: But that’s what scares me, Steve! (She turns pointing to the objects in the room: a
doll, the grandfather clock) This is not real, this is not real, (she points to Steve) this is...
(Steve takes off his mask) Oh my gosh, Steve! I can’t take it anymore. Help me!
Steve: Turn everything on, my love! All the lights, the sounds, everything!
Eve (as if he had solved all the problems of the year): Oh, that’s why I married you!
Eve turns the lights on while Steve turns the TV and radio on. There’s visual clutter (due
to the amount of things in the room) and noise disturbance. They both frown and shade
their eyes bothered with so much light and noise.
Eve: What a relief! I can breathe again!
Steve: After the panic attack you had on the day we got married, I learned how to deal
with anything.
Eve: My hero!
Steve: You do what you have to do.
Eve: I was afraid. I always thought I loved you more than you loved me.
Steve: I’ll pretend to believe you.
Eve: Thanks. I admire you more and more each day. Do you know that?
They look at each other.
Eve: Turn the noise down Steve. I can’t hear a word of what you say!
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The volume turns down.
Eve: Sit here next to me.
They sit on the edge of the stage.
Steve: This clock is hideous. You could start getting rid of things.
Eve: A worthy person has some inheritance to pass on to her children. They will be the
ones to decide what to do with all of this.
Steve: And have you asked them if they want that?
Eve: That’s not something we ask.
Steve: ... It’s part of the burden.
Eve: That’s it! The burden of being born from a uterus and a penis… From a man and a
woman, and such a beautiful penis as yours.
Steve: Really? Beautiful?
Eve: Stunning. It’s the best part of you. That one that hangs on the outside, that feels
the world even before you do.
Steve: Yeah, he is very forward.
Eve: He can predict the future.
Steve: He can predict anything. He’s a smart ass.
Eve: A damn smart ass! He’s my buddy.
Steve: And mine too.
Eve: But you are less mine than he is.
Steve: Explain...
Eve: The only time I feel that you are mine, truly mine, is when I’m holding him in my
hands, this part of you.
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Steve: My best part.
Eve: And this part I will not share.
Steve: Let’s not even go there.
Eve: I know you’ve had affairs.
Steve: What?
Eve: I know. You don’t have to raise your voice to scare the threat away. This is not an
argument. Only, my love, they never had the power I have over this member.
Steve: The superior member.
Eve: The future of the world.
Steve: And it’s not even technological.
Eve: No, but it certainly likes some chemistry.
Steve: Better chemistry than machines! Would you enjoy a robot coming inside you, all
crazy?
Eve: I already have this robot: its name is vibrator.
Steve: Yes, the intruder!
Eve: You are so jealous of the vibrator. Do you know the nickname I gave it?
Steve: What?
Eve: You, It’s called You.
Steve: You-you or you-me?
Eve: You, my husband; my dear, dear husband; forever husband, my big dick!
Steve: Not dick, for heavens sake.
Eve: Ok, my cock!
Steve: That’s what I’m saying!
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They kiss. Sound and light fade. For a moment all that can be seen is the electrical
candle that is on.
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SCENE 2: PLAYFUL ACTIVITIES
Daughter enters the room.
Eve: It’s supposed to be left on!
Daughter: I didn’t turn anything off.
Steve: Chili!
Daughter: Damn family that’s afraid of the dark.
Eve: Chiliiii!
Daughter: I just saw her going out.
Eve: She left?
Daughter: I didn’t ask.
Eve: She’s coming back, isn’t she?
Daughter: Not necessarily.
Steve: Don’t you have a party to go to?
Daughter: The phone’s not working.
Eve: What does it have to do with anything?
Daughter: What did you do to my room?
Eve: Steve, turn the TV back on.
Daughter: It looks like a dump! My room is gone!
Steve: Both channels have stopped working.
Eve (in a trance): I don’t like this. I don’t like this. (silence) No one is going to ask me to
calm down?
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Chili comes in.
Chili: News from the street: apparently, the satellites seem to have committed suicide.
But don’t worry people are already getting organized.
Eve: Getting organized for what?
Chili: Revolution.
Steve: What a ball.
Daughter: Soon things will go back to normal, calm down, Chili.
Eve (to Daughter): Oh, so you ask her to calm down. Did you hear that, Steve?
Daughter (about the event): It doesn’t seem that bad.
Chili: So I got confused.
Daughter: Got confused with what?
Chili: What seems serious to me I find out isn’t. And what doesn’t seem so bad, I
discover really is. It’s a problem I’ve always had.
Daughter: It must be some kind of blackout.
Steve: That’s possible.
Chili: And do blackout make phones, cells and channels stop working?
Daughter: This is a different kind of blackout.
Steve: That’s also possible.
Chili (ironically to Daughter): Made especially for you.
Eve: Steve, are you understanding anything?
Steve: Haven’t been for a long time.
The doorbell rings. They look at each other without reacting.
Eve: Heavens! The bell never rings in this house.
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Chili goes to the door and comes back.
Chili: A letter.
Daughter: Who was it?
Chili: The letter.
Daughter: And do letters by any chance ring doorbells, Chili?
Chili: Do you want me to return it?
Eve takes the letter.
Eve (happily): An invitation!
Daughter (in doubt): Printed?
Eve (happily): Hand written!
Daughter: Jesus.
Steve: This looks dangerous; throw it away!
Chili: It’s just a form of communication.
Eve: I love invitations! Now that the satellites have disappeared, do you think invitations
will be resuscitated? Look at this one it even has a little perfume. Steve, you read.
Chili: You are too gullible.
Eve (enraged): That’s what actors do, they don’t question; they live!
Chili: You are not an actress anymore.
Eve (meanly): Chili, have you noticed you have a dog’s name?
Steve: The letter! (clears his throat) “To the residents of 302. Through this instrument I
hereby summon you to the first meeting of the Urgent Matters Committee of Greece
Street. Agenda: swearing in of the president of the committee – myself; start of a
newspaper for the neighborhood; approval of the bylaws and of the name of our social
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movement: “The New Order”. We have taken the houses on this street for a greater
purpose. Join or leave. Excuse my French, Dalton”.
Daughter: Excuse my French?
Chili: That’s how he always says goodbye.
Eve (to Chili): Do you know this man?
Chili: He lives ten steps from here.
Eve: Since when do you count steps?
Steve: We are not going.
Eve: You can’t refuse an invitation!
Steve tears the letter.
Eve: Look what he did to me!
Daughter: You didn’t say anything about tearing.
Chili: I can go, and then tell you how it went.
Steve: No.
Eve: Steve, we need to know what is happening out there. Without phones, TV, internet
and... What else is out there?
Steve: We sit and wait.
Eve: And do what?
Steve: Use your creativity, Eve!
Daughter: Calm down, dad.
Eve: She tells everyone to calm down, except me.
Daughter: Chili, get some candles.
Chili: There’s only the saint’s.
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Daughter: It will do.
Eve: This bothers me....
Steve: Everything bothers you!
Eve: What got into you?!
Chili (to Daughter): You’d better distract your mom while your dad thinks, or we’ll be in
trouble.
Steve goes behind the Christmas tree. Eve cannot see him.
Daughter: Mom, look at me. Don’t worry, dad will soon find out what’s happening.
Eve (lost): What’s happening?
Daughter: That’s what he’ll find out.
Eve: Your dad knows nothing about happenings.
Steve (comes out from behind the tree): Thank you.
Eve (excitedly like a child): Steve, I’ve decided I’ll be in charge of fun activities for this
family from now on.
Silence.
Eve: What do you think?
Steve: It depends on what you are going to tell me to do.
Eve: Every day after dinner, we’ll have an activity. Oh, and I think it’s important to be
part of this neighborhood committee for pressing matters, but it’s OK. The games will be
divided in difficulty levels. But the best of it, the very best will not be the games… Oh,
no… It’ll be the prizes!
Daughter: Mom...
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Eve: We will go back to being that small hub that communicates in person with other
hubs and (surprised) Wow, I’m happy.
Daughter: Mom, I think your idea is very interesting, but it’s impossible to pretend that
technology does not exist.
Eve: But all these things pull you away from me. Can’t you see that? One day I’ll leave,
and when I’m no longer here…
Daughter: ok, ok, ok. I know how this sentence ends.
Eve: It doesn’t seem so. (cries) No one ever wants to play with me.
Chili: I play with you.
Eve: Thanks, Chili, but you don’t count.
Chili: Oh!
Daughter: Mother!
Eve: There, I said what I shouldn’t have. It’s always a good way to end a conversation.
Chili breaks a statue.
Steve (surprised): Look at that...
Chili: Serves it well for being made of glass.
Eve: You have no right to break anything in this house.
Chili: Not everything that’s in here is yours, and you know that very well.
Eve: You don’t have the guts to claim what’s yours by right.
Chili: What do you mean?
Eve: Well, you break but you don’t take.
Steve (to Eve): Oh, I’ll go get your sister.
Chili: Don’t you bring that bitch over here!
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Eve: And does the car work?
Steve: Of course it works.
Eve: I don’t want her here either.
Steve: She’s family, and her husband just died. This is a time when family should stick
together.
Daughter: I’ll go with you and we will swing by to pick up my boyfriend. People who like
each other must be together at times like these.
Eve: You’re not leaving me here alone with her! (Eve points to Chili)
Chili: Dido.
Steve: I must go out, my love… Go out on the streets, see what’s happening, listen to
what people are saying. There is no TV to show us what’s out there. I’m worried, do you
understand?
Eve: No!
Steve: Eve...
Eve: Let the streets come to us. We’ve even had an invitation. We’ll soon be getting the
newspaper here! Oh, and papers will rise to the top again! I always believed it to be
crucial to have happy journalists in society; frustrated journalists are very damaging.
This is all so dramatic... Oh, and the theater?! Amazing! Let’s swing the doors of this
house wide open; we need to get a show ready!
The bell rings.
Eve: See, the fans are already here.
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SCENE 3: DALTON’S INVITATION
Chili opens the door to Dalton. He comes in as if they already know each other,
although they don’t. Dalton is the frustrated and melancholic type of person, who is
currently at a unique moment of extreme happiness. A revolutionary on his own, he is a
fan of bad manners. He is wearing big boots and carries a clipboard with paper and a
pen.
Dalton: People are dying in the next street.
Chili walks away.
Eve: Who lives there?
Steve: I have no idea.
Eve: Chiliiiii!!! Who lives in the next street?
Chili (comes back): Solange.
Eve: Call her over here.
Chili: I’m not going out in the streets anymore, I’m sorry.
Daughter: Who is Solange?
Dalton: The one with the shiny smile.
Chili: She wears braces. She thinks it’s pretty.
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Eve: Call her over here.
Dalton: That’s the one who died.
Eve: Why, for heavens sake?
Dalton: She couldn’t take the pause.
They pause for a while.
Steve: And you, who are you?
Dalton (sits on the dinner table): The new president of the Committee for Emergency
Issues on Greek Street. I came to check what you are doing here and summon you!
Steve: Uh?
Dalton: First, I’m making notes on the activities of each group. The people on the
opposite side of the street, for example, are playing the piano and telling stories. The
folks next door are crying. What about you?
Steve: We...
Silence.
Dalton: Hum, this would be considered a “nothing”. Which is not at all advisable. I would
suggest a more productive activity for this house. Lack of information makes people
unpredictable. Why did you miss the extraordinary meeting of our committee? (no one
answers) Ok, out of the four of you, who is the head of the family? (Steve raises his
hand) Aha, the man! It’s to be expected, I think. Come with me please. I have a
confession to make.
Steve: Anything you want to say, you can say in front of my family. There are no secrets
among us.
Dalton: What about her? (points at Chili)
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Steve (cautiously): She is family too.
Eve: Way to go Steve, annoy me.
Dalton: I came here to call you to join the New Order.
Steve: No way!!!
Dalton: What?
Steve: This family doesn’t get involved with politics. We have better things to do.
Dalton: Like what?
Eve (childishly): Recreational and artistic activities! We are opening the house for
shows.
Dalton: But art is the greatest political instrument that we know!
Eve: Our shows are totally dumb. We are apolitical!
Steve: We don’t want to get involved. We are doing fine the way we are.
Dalton: But do you agree with what is happening?
Daughter: I think this all sucks.
Steve: I don’t agree.
Eve: What is happening?
Dalton: Do you prefer to sit and do nothing??
Steve: That’s it.
Daughter: Ouch.
Eve: What’s wrong with nothing?
Dalton: This family puts my nerves on edge! I hate people that just sit and do nothing.
They stay at home just complaining, and complaining and getting satisfaction out of
artistic activities! I’m going to do something. (to Eve) Are you coming with me?
29
Eve: Yes.
Steve: Eve!
Eve: I say yes to be polite. No is very rude.
Dalton: Perfect! Down with good manners! Hurray for bad manners!!! I want... Do you
know what I want? I want everything that is upsetting... Yes.... Everything that makes
people bite their lips, on both sides, pinch their noses disgustingly with fingers like
pliers. I’m going there, where society rots. In chaos I will be… (he raises his hand like a
sword) I’ll be… king!
Silence. Dalton goes to the door.
Dalton: Reflect about it (he waves goodbye). Excuse my French...
Dalton leaves. They look at each other. Dalton returns.
Dalton: Would you accompany me in a walk tomorrow, ma’am? I’m going to the
newspaper office.
Eve: Yes.
Dalton says goodbye politely.
Steve: Eve!
Eve: I say yes to be polite, no is very rude.
Steve: You are not going on a walk with this man.
Eve: And what should I do now all day long?
Steve: I don’t know. Start embroidering.
Eve: Hum, that could be a good idea. The doctor told me that women in menopause
should do something with their hands.
30
Daughter: You’ve been done with menopause for a while now.
Eve: I’m not done with menopause because my period is not back yet.
Chili: Periods don’t come back.
Eve (indignantly): For your information, mine is coming back, yes it is!
Steve: Chili, find Eve embroidering material.
Chili leaves.
Daughter: I’m going out. I must find my boyfriend.
Steve: No one leaves.
Daughter: For heavens sake, dad!!
Steve: We must unite. Make a plan to stop these madmen from taking our house.
Daughter: I can’t stop thinking about him, how’s he doing, what’s he doing, is he
suffering... This emptiness drives me to despair! I’ve tried telepathy, but I don’t think this
exists. I must go there, dad. Please...
Eve: Look how my baby gets emotional.
Steve (an act of freedom): Go!
Daughter: Ah!
Daughter runs out. Chili returns.
Steve: Chili, set another place on the table.
Chili: For whom?
Steve: Our daughter should be bringing her fiancé for super this evening.
Eve: Hum, it’s true. I’m already hungry again.
Steve: Yes.
31
Eve: But I didn’t even poop. I didn’t even poop and I’m already hungry again. It doesn’t
seem natural.
Steve: Don’t worry.
Eve: That’s it! Simple movements don’t seem natural to me anymore; they are a huge
effort for me.
Chili (to Steve): Anything else?
Steve: Eve’s embroidering stuff?
Chili: I’ve talked to the watch, he warned the other watch, who warned the other, who
told the watch next to the market. He’s going to buy the stuff, plus sugar, rice and
candles, which we are out of. Then they’ll pass everything down from watch to watch
until it gets here. It’ll take some time, but it’ll come.
Eve: Look at all the technology that Chili came up with!
Chili: it wasn’t me, but thanks.
Chili leaves. A neighbor can be heard playing the piano. The person playing gets some
keys wrong; the piano is out of tune, “rusty”.
Eve: And what do we do now, for heavens sake?!
Steve: I’ll have to prepare a speech to stop this gang of frustrated people from taking
the house.
Eve: I don’t like this.
Steve: What’s your suggestion?
Eve: What my ancestors used to do: storytelling.
Steve: No, that’s not very productive.
32
Eve: You say no because you know that we have nothing else to tell one another about
our lives.
Steve: It’s true; I know everything about you. You got that done in our first date.
Eve: You loved to hear me tell stories. That trip to…
Steve: Your ex-boyfriends...
Eve: You’re cranky, my love.
Steve: Not cranky. It’s true; there are no more secrets between us.
Eve: Hum. So you really think I told you everything? That I hold no secrets from you?
Steve: As if.
Eve: Everyone has secrets.
Steve: Oh really?
Eve: Hum-hum, a big secret, the biggest of all. Of the sort you would beg not to hear.
Steve: Tell me!
Eve: Oh, it’s not going to be that easy, honey.
Steve: What do I have to do? Anything!
Eve: I’ll think about it.
Steve: I’m feeling some movement below the equator.
Eve: What?!
Steve: Come to bed with me.
Eve: Ask properly.
Steve: Make love to me.
Eve: Aha!
Steve: Let me get inside you.
33
Eve: Getting better.
Steve: Let me penetrate you.
Eve: Hum...
Steve: Come and be my women.
Eve: Hummmm....
Steve: Come, I want to possess you!
Eve: Oh!
Eve jumps on Steve. Daughter comes in.
Daughter: Are you stretching?
Eve: My Daughter! Where’s your boyfriend?
Daughter: I don’t want to talk about it.
Eve: Steve, this is a mother daughter moment!
Steve: Cool.
Eve: Please go take a walk.
Steve: I have nothing to do. The TV doesn’t work, and I don’t seem able to react.
Eve: Then go talk to Chili.
Steve: About what?
Eve: The new shopping system in this house.
Steve: I don’t like the idea, but I’m getting used to it.
Steve leaves.
Eve: You can tell me, I’m your mother.
Daughter: That’s precisely why I can’t tell you.
Eve: What happened?
34
Daughter: Oh, I don’t know... Maybe I should get involved with this New Order.
Eve: Nonsense. Talk to me...
Daughter: He said I’d be just another burden for him at this moment, and that it would
be better to split up.
Eve (smiles): That’s so sad. Don’t be sad because of this idiot. Look...
Daughter (interrupts): You are happy, aren’t you?
Eve: Meeee?
Daughter: You love an excuse to lecture me.
Eve: It’s not a lecture; it’s an advice. And you didn’t even let me give it to you.
Daughter: All that a mother wants is to see her children in trouble. This way she can
meddle, with excuses, advices…
Eve: It’s the only time you let me get close to you...
Eve rehearses a tender gesture toward her daughter, but feels intimidated. When she is
finally almost touching her, hand in the air, the daughter stands up.
Daughter: I’ll go tidy up my room. My ex-bedroom. The mess you made there is
astonishing.
Daughter leaves.
Eve: It was to continue feeling your presence; you fool.
Eve has her hands in the air. The gesture is frozen when Steve comes in.
Steve: You weren’t able to get anything out of her.
35
Eve: She says she is going to join the New Order.
Steve: Rejection does that to people. It’ll go by quickly. Have you come up with any new
artistic activities?
Eve: I don’t want to think about this anymore. It’s stupid. Soon things will go back to
normal.
Steve: If she wants to join this New Order, she may.
Eve: I won’t allow it.
Steve: I will.
Eve: I’m the one that has to allow it.
Steve: She’s my daughter too.
Eve: But I was the one who gave birth to this creature, not you.
Steve: Here you come with this stupid phrase.
Eve: That adjective is totally out of fashion, Steve. And it is true: I gave birth to this
creature. I was the one whose ribs expanded for the rest of her life.
Steve: You women should be more humble before putting things this way.
Eve: Ten hours in labor.
Steve: Be more humble because it’s from a man’s orgasm that a child is made, not a
woman’s.
Eve: Outrageous!
Steve: You can feel pain, nausea, disgust, and still get pregnant. Not me. I can only
make a child out of pleasure.
Eve is about to answer screaming in anger, but changes her mind.
Eve: But I did have, you know.
36
Steve: What?
Eve: The pleasure, the climax, la petite morte, the one that brings life. I had that when
we conceived...
Steve: Both?
Eve: (absently) No, only him, only with Gus.
Steve: Some people would say you are a lucky woman.
Eve (absently) Yes, I think so. (different tone of voice. Irritably) Sweetheart, you are all
too sure of yourself.
Steve: And why shouldn’t I be?
Eve: Because you are closer to the cemetery than to the nursery.
Steve: I don’t know why you insist in putting things so dramatically.
Eve: I don’t see why you insist on not putting them so.
Steve: Some things must be said.
Eve: That is not one of them.
Dalton comes in with Chili.
Chili (referring to Dalton): He was at the door.
Dalton: What are you doing here? Nitpicking?
Eve: I don’t know that word.
Dalton: And do you think this is the time for a family discussion? Haven’t you realized
the gravity of things outside? The world on fire! Chaos, general mayhem! Soon we’ll
have an epidemic, the plague! This is the time for leadership. Please, come with me.
Steve: How long will it take for things to get back on track?
37
Dalton: Unpredictable. Maybe never. We may have to reorganize the whole social
structure. I’m counting on that.
Chili: I still think you believe in these things all too quickly.
Dalton: That’s how it should be Chchchc...
Chili: Chili.
Dalton: Look at our ancestors, for example. In a hypothetical situation, I mean, not
necessarily a real one, but a highly probable one. Let’s say these ancestors were
walking, like in a forest, during sunset, a scene that at first looks sweet and harmless.
Let’s say suddenly these men hear a noise, vrummm, vrum.... One of them thinks it’s
the wind that came to match such a beautiful scene that he’s observing with his friends.
Another one thinks it’s a carnivore hunting. If it is the wind, they are both happy
survivors. If it’s an animal, only the one that believed in danger survived, because he
was prepared for it. Bottom line...
Chili: Someone must be calling me
Chili leaves.
Dalton (continues): ... betting that something is real when it is not is completely
harmless. But, believing something is not real when it is – that’s a problem. Look at
ghosts: if you believe in them and they don’t exist, what harm can there be? But, if you
don’t believe in them and they really do exist, you’ll be vulnerable. That’s why I say: it’s
safer to believe something is real, and then we will be prepared and safe...
Daughter: And desperate. People believe too much, they anticipate the problem, and
often end up creating it in order to ensure their safety and survival. With this they create
chaos.
38
Dalton: My dear, listen... maybe you haven’t understood who we really are. Look around
you... We go around building huge blocks that pierce the skies; we divide these blocks
in tiny squares and build our nests in them. Do you know what this means?
Daughter: That we have mastered engineering?
Dalton: No, that we are animals too.
Chili comes in.
Chili: Oooh, people are going mad in the street behind us.
Eve: Oh my god.
Dalton: Great! I’ll organize and extra-curricular committee to distinguish sober people
from mad people. This will be crucial in the long term.
Chili: Oh, long term is really important.
Eve: I’m interested in that...
Chili (gloomy): Patience has its rewards.
Dalton: Bueno, you have only minutes to decide what to do. Soon the movement will
begin. (he stops to think) The word “movement” doesn’t have a lot of strength, does it? I
also thought of calling it “happening”... but it also doesn’t sound right. Revolution is an
old fashioned term, isn’t it?
Daughter: I don’t think so.
Steve: Oh, I think so.
Chili: I have no idea.
Eve: I like it!
39
Dalton: What really matters is the invitation. Come join the New Order! This is the time
for you to do something important, to justify your existence in planet Earth, to have an
influence in someone’s life. In short to do good. I must go. Excuse my Fren...
A kind of hush cuts the air.
Eve: Look, look, there was a sound.
Chili: yes, some music.
Eve: It sounded like a cry of joy.
Daughter: A procession.
Chili: A wake.
Steve: It’s impossible to tell.
Eve: One can imagine....
Dalton: But don’t go too far, with your imagination, lack of information makes people
unpredictable.
Chili: You’ve already said that.
Eve (to Steve): Go and check.
Steve: I don’t feel like it.
Eve: Oh, in the past, you’d say: “I don’t have time for this.”
Chili: It sounds like a funeral.
Eve: Who wants to go to the wake with me?
Dalton: I don’t go to wakes. (short pause) Ask me why.
Daughter: Why?
40
Dalton: Because I can’t have the leading role. In a movement I can be the leading man,
in a procession I can be the leading man, not in a wake. There’s no way I can be the
leading man in a wake and remain alive, and I think as a dead man I’m not very useful.
Steve: I’ll have to disagree with that one, a dead man can be very useful indeed.
Dalton: This family likes changing the subject! Well, I’ll give you some minutes! I’ll go
now. Excuse my French...
Dalton walks in the wrong direction. Chili grabs his hand.
Chili: The way out is through here. The same door you came in through.
Dalton: Oh! Look at this.
Chili and Dalton leave.
Steve: We will not be part of any movement.
Eve: What if they want to take our house?
Steve: I know how to protect us.
Eve: Maybe we will have to change our way of life, Steve.
Steve: That won’t be necessary, my love. Things will go back to normal, you’ll see.
Eve: Daughter, listen to what I have to say.
Daughter: I don’t have much choice.
Eve: Our generation is going through an adaptation problem.
Daughter: We are not from the same generation.
41
Eve: According to my definition, yes we are missy — because we are alive at the same
time, and we have this small problem: the problem of transformation.
Daughter: I don’t get what this means.
Eve: Look, everyone has cancer. And what is cancer, my dear doctor?
Steve: Our cells are constantly changing. Cancer happens when one of them changes
in a wrong way and then multiplies.
Eve: See, my daughter? We are not changing well. Technology advances and
we…remain.
Chili comes in with embroidering material.
Chili: Oh, I’d like the world to stop for a while.
Steve: That’s what seems to be happening.
Eve: And it’s amazing. Man has landed on the moon, has sent robots to Mars, but has
still not found the cure to that: the cure for our small problem of transformation.
Steve: You are sad because her husband died, but you shouldn’t be.
Eve: Why not, Steve?
Steve (maliciously): You will see, a dead man can still be very useful.
Chili: The embroidering material is here.
Steve: Thank you, Chili. You can leave it on the table.
Chili: Are you going to have lunch again?
Eve: let’s wait for Gus to arrive.
Daughter: Now, he’s really not coming.
Eve: Don’t come with that speech that my son migrated. You love to say: “Gus isn’t
coming back, Gus isn’t coming back”.
42
Daughter: He’s applying for permanent residency, mom.
Eve: Of course he’s not!
Daughter: Yes he is.
Eve: But he tells me he’s...
Daughter: He doesn’t want to hurt you.
Eve: Gus loves America. The book he’s writing takes place here, he told me...
Daughter: He’s not coming back, mother. He made that clear to me. You are the only
one that thinks he’s taking a vacation over there.
Chili: The planes are not even working, how would he come back?
Eve: I’ll rescue my son, Even if I have to go swimming! Are there no ships? How did
Columbus get here in the first place?
Daughter: Whether in a canoe, swimming or rowing, or on a ship, he’s not coming back.
Eve (to Steve): Did you know this?
Steve: I suspected it.
Eve: Everyone knew my son had moved to another country except for me?
Chili: I didn’t know.
Eve: Just you wait, daughter of mine... you are thinking you are a greater sufferer, in
your green age, mistaking anguish with ideology… wait until you have children. No
ideology will be enough to take care of all your anxieties. Life changes forever.
Sometimes I miss… the time when my suffering came from my loneliness. Now all I
hear are voices… they scream with me.
Daughter gets up.
Eve: Where are you going?
43
Daughter: Kitchen.
Eve: Call your brother and tell him to come back.
Daughter (comes back): Gus left because he could no longer take living up to the
expectations you created for him: the promising son, the most handsome, the smartest,
far more intelligent than average. At five he could do things that neither of you know
how to do today. A toddler that understands technology is considered a genius. He grew
up and ran away. He went to a place where no one expects anything from him.
Small pause.
Eve: I’m taking a bath. (to daughter) Will you help set the table?
Chili (to Steve): Are you eating again?
Steve: I don’t know. Ask her.
Chili (between teeth): Dear Eve, will you be eating again?
Eve (screams): I can’t eat again Chili; I haven’t pooped yet! (back to normal) How am I
going to talk to my son?!
Daughter: You should have talked to him before. Now, you’ll have to wait.
Eve: For what?
Steve: For something to happen.
Eve: That’s not possible. I can’t live without my son! I must speak to my son! Oh, I know
what to do! I had a great idea: I’m joining this revolution.
Steve (corrects Eve): It’s a movement.
Eve: Chili, go call Dalton!
Chili: I won’t.
Eve: Hurry up; I know you liked him.
44
They stare at each other.
Eve: I’m not enjoying this anymore. Steve, do we have any hot water? I’m taking a bath.
Silence. Eve stays in the room, waiting for them to leave.
Eve: Excuse me.
Steve, Chili and Daughter leave stage gradually.
Chili: Why does she need to prepare for a bath in the living room?
Steve: Don’t even try to understand, Chili. I’ll go get her sister.
Chili: Don’t bring that leech here!
Daughter: Mother in a movement. That’s a good one.
Steve: She doesn’t have any mental ability for that anymore.
Daughter: Stop with this nonsense dad.
Chili: You don’t see well, dear.
Daughter: That’s true.
Chili: You’ve been nearsighted since you were 20 and you refuse to wear glasses or
contact lenses. You’d rather walk around without seeing anything. You insist on looking
up to the sky…and seeing two moons instead of one.
Daughter: Oh, I don’t think I’m a good daughter.
They leave.
45
SCENE 4: THE END OF THE LINE
Eve gets up. She stops before a big mirror. She can see the audience from the mirror,
and the audience can see her reflection.
Eve (pulls her clothes away looking at some parts of her own body): I look at myself in
the mirror, naked. And the freckles on my skin start walking, they turn into ants. I try to
kill them with my fingers, one by one, but they are too smart and disappear in my hair.
Then I mess up my hair, opening paths in it, but I can’t find a single one. I give up. And
it’s right then that I get side tracked and the damn things find their way back. Because,
when I look at myself in the mirror again… there are, my freckles. All back in the same
place, mocking me. (lightly) Oh, how they mock me.
Eve sees Dalton reflected in the mirror. She turns to talk to him. .
Dalton: Did you call me?
Eve: I feel that something urgent is happening, but I can’t connect to anything. I think
I’m disappearing…
Dalton: Calm down.
Eve (surprised that someone, finally, asks her to calm down): Thank you... you are very
kind.
46
Dalton: At your service.
Eve: Didn’t they say there’s natural selection? Well, nature is making me disappear. I
fall into a black hole and I can’t find a branch to hang on to. I’m constantly dizzy...
(anxiously) Even so, would you take me with you? I can’t promise to be useful...
(romantically) Do you know that you remind me very much of Gus? The greatest love of
my life. Yes... I was in love with another man when I got married. I thought about him
when I was at the altar, feeling his kiss at the church’s door, in my wedding gown.
(maliciously) I wished that my firstborn would look like him. But he didn’t, from him only
his name, Gus, a tribute. Nobody suspects anything. Children always think their parents
are the great love of each other’s lives, don’t they?
Daughter comes in. Dalton “vanishes”.’’’
Daughter: Mother?
Eve: Hi, dear.
Daughter: I’m changing the order of the books, ok?
Eve: Sure, dear, sure. Call your dad for me.
Daughter: He’s over there.
Steve comes in from the shadow. Daughter leaves. Steve and Eve stand face to face.
Eve: I told you I had a secret.
Steve: And now that we don’t have any more secrets, I need to leave.
Eve: You don’t have to explain things to me, Steve. It’s not necessary.
47
Steve: I was leaving anyway. That’s why her husband died.
Eve: Whose?
Steve: Your sister’s.
Eve: His heart stopped beating between your hands.
Steve: He never came back from anesthesia.
Eve: Is it slimy?
Steve: He was taken by his dreams.
Eve: Is it slippery?
Steve: He went through the door I opened, the one that leads into a room without a
floor.
Eve: It must be good to squeeze.
Steve: I’m God’s drug dealer.
Eve: Can it?
Steve: What?
Eve: Be squeezed?
Steve: I don’t know. I’ve never touched a heart in my life.
Eve: Come on Steve, you cant operate on it without touching it.
Steve: I never have.
Eve: You can’t be a surgeon and not operate.
Steve: I’m an anesthesiologist.
Eve: You open people’s chests and fix their hearts.
Steve: Of course I don’t.
Eve: You open...
48
Steve: No.
Eve: You fumble there.
Steve: No.
Eve: You save.
Steve: On the contrary.
Eve: You...
Steve: I can’t stand blood, Eve! You know that...
Eve: But I thought....
Steve: I thought you’d be more interested in me if I were a surgeon. But now that’s not
necessary anymore.
Eve: And what are you?
Steve: An anesthesiologist.
Eve: You killed her husband?
Steve: Almost through intuition.
Eve: This is great. Why did you kill her husband?
Steve: You’ll need someone to take care of you. Your sister would only do it if she didn’t
have to take care of her husband.
Eve: Very strategic.
Steve: I worry about you.
Eve: Chili could take care of me.
Steve: She hates you.
Eve: You really think so?
Steve: Returned merchandise has a sour taste.
49
Steve leaves as he appeared — in shadow. Daughter comes in.
Daughter: How are the plans for the recreational activities of this house going on?
Eve: Oh, I want to transform the living room into a show house!
Daughter: Dalton is coming to pick me up. I’m joining the New Order.
Eve: Oh, you’re leaving?
Daughter: But, didn’t you say you’d be going too?
Eve: No way! Are you crazy!? I’d never say something like this. You are hearing things.
Daughter: But I have to go...
Eve: Sweetheart...
Daughter: The world is in chaos, mother. I’m more needed out there. I want to be useful,
to do something good. Can you understand me? I want to help people.
Eve: You… want to help people?
Daughter: Yes.
Eve: Everyone...
Daughter: Those that need me.
Eve: You are needed, aren’t you?
Daughter: We all are.
Eve: Out there. You are needed out there. It’s the right thing dear. Go. Take care of
your little revolution. Come here once a month, to bring me something to kill time. The
latest movie, if the TV starts working again… Or bring me a book, come play me
something in the piano, bring me new embroidery materials, a state-of-the-art needle…
Daughter: Oh, mother, don’t be so dramatic. You are too needy. That’s your problem.
Eve: Do you know something?
50
Daughter: No, not yet.
Eve: My line of life got shorter. I think I don’t have many days left.
Daughter: Oh, bummer!
Eve: Look here. It’s ending in the middle of my hand. Next time I go to a wake, I’m going
to check the dead person’s hand to see if it really means anything. It’s an excellent idea:
I’m going to use this huge tsunami of wakes and I’m going to, discretely, check the dead
person’s palm...
Daughter: You’re going to write a dissertation on it.
Eve: I’m going to measure precisely and compare the length of the lifeline with the age
that person died.
Daughter (talks to the ceiling): That’s it; she finally found herself an activity.
Eve: She found herself an amazing activity: a dissertation!
Daughter: You have my full support, actual…
Eve: And you could get yourself a new activity too: become a mother instead of joining
this cross-eyed army.
Daughter: You never understood why I didn’t have children.
Eve: Of course I did. You are modern, and modern women are fine alone. Nowadays it
seems cool to be against the family concept.
Daughter: No, mother. I haven’t had kids yet because I don’t want to accept the start of
a new cycle...
Eve: But new cycles are beautiful!
Daughter: The beginning of a new cycle is, at the same time, the end of another cycle.
Eve: Look how beautiful!
51
Daughter (tenderly): The end of your cycle, mother.
Short pause.
Eve: Call my sister.
Daughter: And this is very painful to me...
Eve: Call my sister!
Daughter: She didn’t come and apparently isn’t coming anymore.
Eve (to the point): I’m talking about Chili.
Daughter falls to the ground. She leaves and Chili comes in.
Eve: Are you staying?
Chili: No.
Eve: Wouldn’t you take care of me?
Chili: It must be horrible to need someone to take care of us, isn’t it?
Eve: It is.
Chili: Has no one noticed yet?
Eve: They don’t pay attention.
Chili: You are going to disappear.
Eve: Yes. My brain is turning off.
Chili: And it’s not age related, is it?
Eve: It’s genetic. Maybe you have it too.
Chili: I’ll know how to go about it when my time comes.
Eve: What about me? Aren’t you taking care of me?
52
Chili: Do you really want me to? I can promise you that I’d let you wander around not
knowing where you are going, like a drunken mouse. I’d be looking from a distance just
to see you get lost in the streets. That would make me happy.
Eve: You really hate me. Steve is right. Why did I ever rescue you?
Chili: Heavy conscience.
Eve: You were always a handful.
Chili: I only questioned things.
Eve: It’s not my fault, you know. Daddy needed more children to keep the leech
company: his only daughter that went crazy after she lost her mother. So he adopted
two girls, almost of the same age, sisters.
Chili: And he couldn’t take it, so he returned one of them.
Eve: He thought you were ugly.
Chili: I was cross-eyed.
Eve: I got you food every day. I went to see you.
Chili: You tried.
Eve: I paid for your eye surgery.
Chili: Thank you.
Eve: You should be more grateful.
Chili: Now, that there’s a movement going on...
Eve (to herself): It’s a revolution.
Chili: ... I can finally show who I am. And I’m going to throw you out of here.
Eve: I’m not leaving this house.
Chili: It’s my house too.
53
Eve: Oh, so you found the guts to claim what is yours… I would even be happy for you.
Chili: When daddy adopted us he promised to take care of us. He took care of you; he
even married you off. Me… he returned, after ten years.
Eve: I’m not leaving.
Chili: Not now. I want to keep you here waiting.
Eve: Waiting for what?
Chili: Scared to death.
Eve: Of what, Chili?
Chili: Of seeing me come back! Because I’m coming back, you can be sure I’m coming
back. I’m pulling this house down.
Eve: I’ll refuse to leave.
Chili: You won’t Even notice… You are disappearing Eve. Soon you will be just like a
baby, won’t you?
Daughter comes in.
Daughter: What are you two talking about?
Chili: Nothing, girl; what time are you leaving?
Daughter: Soon, I’m so excited!
Eve: That’s good, sweetie.
Daughter: Mother, are you OK?
Eve: Just tired...
Daughter: Good, if there was something bad you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?
Eve: Sure.
Chili: I’ll make you some tea.
54
Chili leaves. Steve comes in.
Steve (sings “Do you here the people sing” from Les Miserables or Revolution from the
Beetles): Do you here the people sing? Singing the song of angry men?... (to the point)
I’m leaving.
Eve gets the embroidery material and sits with her back to the audience.
Daughter: Going where?
Steve: Have you seen how the color of night has changed? Look there, it’s purple! It
must be because of the suicidal satellites. Now that no one is watching us, I feel free.
And finally I have something to do out there. The outside is calling me.
Daughter: You are coming too?
Steve: Sure!
Daughter: Don’t you feel it’s wrong?
Steve: You want to make yourself useful to the world my daughter, me too.
Daughter (hugs her father): Oh, that’s great father!
Steve: Let’s go around the world, city to city, fixing things and spreading good.
Eve turns. Her hand is bleeding. A black thread has been sown to the palm of her hand,
continuing her lifeline.
Daughter: Mother, what have you done?
Eve: Oh, isn’t it obvious? I increased my line of life, darling.
Daughter: I’m taking you to the ER.
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Eve: I don’t need a hospital, I’m fine.
Daughter: That can get infected.
Eve: I took the needle out. See. (she shows the palm of her hand)
Steve: Put that hand away!
Eve: I don’t have that much control over it, my love. It’s an extension of my arm, can’t
you see? And the arm is attached to my body. Oops... I can’t control anything.
Steve: You’ve gone completely insane.
Eve: Insane is always a convenient adjective.
Daughter: I’m worried about you.
Eve: Un-worry yourself!
Daughter: What?
Eve: Un-worry yourself of me! Leave me alone.
Eve leaves.
Daughter: Why did she do that?
Steve: Your mom is trying to draw attention to herself.
Daughter: I can’t believe it...
Steve: She went too far.
Daughter: How old is she? She’s acting like a child.
Steve: Don’t let it affect you, daughter. She’s doing that to stop us from leaving; it looks
as if she is trying to keep us in this house, come. Chili will take care of her. Everything is
going to be fine.
Dalton comes in.
56
Dalton: Excusez mon anglais! We are already establishing different duties in the
newsroom, and we are almost ready to march. Don’t worry. We won’t need this house
anymore. The space we want to take is the street, all of it. The horn will be the final call
for the meeting. Either you are part of it or you are not, either you are involved or you
are not. ...
Daughter: That’s kind of obvious.
Dalton: If you don’t belong you are excluded! Gold stands out in the mud, a leader gets
stronger in chaos...
Daughter (interrupts): We are with you.
Dalton: What?
Steve: I’m coming too.
Dalton: The father! Excellent, it’s always good to have a doctor with us in a revolution.
Steve: My work tools are in my bag. I’m God’s drug dealer.
Dalton: What about the other two?
Steve: They stay.
Dalton: Nothing is perfect, is it?
A horn is heard. Chili comes in.
Dalton: The voice from above is calling!
Daughter: Chili, where’s my mother?
Chili: She’s locked in the bathroom.
Daughter: Listen, I must go. Will you disinfect her hand?
Chili: Of course, girl.
57
Daughter: Take care of her, OK?
Chili: Leave it to me.
Daughter: I’ll soon come here to check how things are. I promise I won’t be long. If you
need anything call me. Oops, you can’t call me. Oh my God, isn’t my aunt coming?
Steve: She’ll show up sometime.
Daughter: You think so?
Chili: Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to bring her here.
Daughter: Well, I’ll be back soon… I’ll be back in no time... Everything will work out,
right?
Steve: It already is!
The lights in the room fade. Steve and Daughter leave.
Chili puts on a big backpack and goes to a place in the corner of the stage, which lights
up when she goes in.
Eve is sitting in an armchair, holding embroidery material.
Eve: Now that I increased my line of life, I’m invincible.
Eve sees the darkness on stage.
Eve (as if it is a happy discovery): Look, Chili, it’s getting dark!
Chili (patronizingly): My dear sister, night falls every day.
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Eve smiles: as simply as someone who knows how to value nightfall and the end of the
afternoon. There is relief and acceptance.
Chili leaves. Eve continues seated, with the embroidery material in her hands.
Euphoric screams are heard (not aggressive, they are sounds of a party, a celebration).
She looks around, curious, but scared. She turns on the music box and looks at it. She
makes embroidery movements following the ballerina.
Light fades until total darkness.
- The End -
