The Sea Dove by John Schmidt

This Play is the copyright of the Author and must NOT be Performed without the Author's PRIOR consent

Scene 1

NONNA, alone, pondering life.

Morning, the garden at NONNA'S house. NONNA enters from stage right.
She is an older woman, walking through her garden, saddened about the
difficult conditions in which her village and region are
experiencing.

NONNA: If I were God, I would change things. I would bring a mighty
rain to the parched land. Eight months with only a few sprinkles to
wet the ground before they quickly dry. The flowers Simona planted in
the garden, I would bring back to life and water for days so they
would again show their beauty, which they themselves can't see. Or
can they? Can they sense each other and our sadness for them?
If I were God I would bring Antonio back safely, the man most longed
for by my young Simona. I would show my respect for them, and if I
sensed he loves her as much as he did at our last sight of him, I will
tell them this home is now theirs, to freely marry in, and live in as
long as they care for me and my servant, Lombarda. He said he would
not only bring back food for my household, but for many families in
our village. For his thoughtfulness in our time of greatest crisis, I
will bestow on him my humble home, where he can rest his head till the
end of his days, and he and Simona can bring into the world happy
children. If he can give up his ties to seawater and live in
landlocked Viachella, he can walk in this garden daily and be content
within these walls. Odd that he has seen so much water through the
summer, and we none, but for our wells, which have almost dried up.
If I were God, I would bring civilization back to our village, which
once was great, but now is threatened by those starving, where some
nightly steal from the homes of the rich or walk the streets in search
of food. Our priest, Father Domenico, has so little left that they say
he almost fainted while giving Mass. Even the homes of the poor, if
they have a little bread, can feel threatened by the less fortunate.
The street children, the orphans who have always lacked, would rob
even the dogs for the scraps they find in trash heaps. Yet they are in
danger from the common folk, who increasingly join them.
We would ask for help from neighboring villages, but the drought has
so infested the region that as far as anyone can ride for days in
three directions, the message of starvation is the same. Many have
traveled to Genoa, riding a day to the west to fish for food or find
work of any kind. My dear Simona, Lombarda and I have no talent for
fishing; we only know our laces, which in these times are only
purchased or rented to adorn coffins. Antonio, being young, and a man,
finds easy escape, while we women have trials. Yet he is our
salvation, and the sky, which daily brings clouds with a hope of rain.
I've said my prayers a thousand times, and clouds grow more
abundant, yet do not give what is most needed. We could have crops in
only a few short weeks if the sky would bless us but once or twice,
greatly. So many near death would be spared.
Many have left, with all they could take. Everything else was sold or
offered to the few who have food to sell. But few sell what little
food they have. Some of the rich hire guards to watch their houses,
paying them with enough food to stay alive. Nothing more is required.
My Villacella, where I have lived all my years, and my husband's
years before he passed away, has turned on itself for lack of rain.
We took for granted all those good years, the long rains, and made our
bounty known throughout our Italy. Yes, in some years rains were slow
in coming, but they always came. We never starved. Now the skies offer
us no bread. We send out all our money and possessions, hiring sailors
to buy and barter for our very existence, to bring back vegetables and
animals that are eagerly devoured.
Odd how we gave so little thanks to God in those good years, thinking
we mostly do the work, yet blame Him in the lean years. We never blame
ourselves for not putting aside enough grain to last even a year.
If I were God I would do things differently. I would revive my
village. I would answer the prayers of my people, forgive their sins,
if sins have caused this.
But who have we sinned against? We only have ourselves. Or have we
forgotten God, as the maker of rain and our prosperity? Or does He
give us this time to test our faith in Him and make us stronger?
No, I'm not God, but I wonder why these plants must suffer. Why the
animals, what few are left, must suffer. Why my people nearly starve
to death.
(Looking right.) Our pantries are almost empty. Yet Simona and I still
weave our laces for sale for far-off grain and vegetables.
We heard by letter that Antonio would be returning soon with enough
food for us for a while. He may be arriving this day. He and Simona
will have a brief time together, to consider becoming man and wife,
before he will be off again. I have already given my permission.
Life gives us only a little time to raise the young, then they must be
off to carry their own-before my time with them passes. Humankind
steadily rises to new heights, sons and daughters on the shoulders of
those before. My old shoulders sink as I pray my soul to Heaven.

Scene 2

NONNA and SIMONA, discussing the future and their current plight.

NONNA is on stage; Simona enters stage right.

NONNA: Good morning, Simona. I wanted to check the sky for clouds this
morning.

SIMONA (looking up): Did you find one?

NONNA (sitting on the bench): Sit with me. Let's talk of better times.

SIMONA: What times?

NONNA: The future.

SIMONA (she also sits on the bench): If we have a future.

NONNA: We do. We'll survive this.

SIMONA: I don't know how many others will.

NONNA: I was thinkinghow Antonio has had a world of water under him
almost all summer while Nature has granted us none.

SIMONA: I don't think of him much.

NONNA: The man you would marry?

SIMONA: A sailor. Who leaves in me each time for the next departure in
only a few days.

NONNA: But it's not his ship to guide.

SIMONA (rises and moves off): On the coast a few days, to unload and
load, ride a horse most of a day to see me, a few days here, then back
again. Then no word for weeks or months except perhaps a letter or a
word from a sailor who tells me he was at this or that port and he was
still alive.

NONNA: I understand your concern. (Rises and follows SIMONA.) My
brother was a sailor and would be gone for months, and we would know
nothing of his safety. Except perhaps rumors.

SIMONA: More unsettling still, for a potential husband.

NONNA: I know you love him.

SIMONA: I phrased that carefully: "potential husband." If one dares.

NONNA: You dare. Have faith in him. Hasn't he always come back?
Hasn't he spoken often of his love?

SIMONA: And then off again. To ports seen before. Nonna, you know I
have only had four periods of time with him in these two years, our
longest being his last wintering here in Villacella. Five if you count
the day we saw each other at the church.

NONNA: And he asked around about you.

SIMONA: And found me. Four times-with months between. Each
separation seems to be longer, not shorter. If I weren't in love with him,
I would be looking for another man.

NONNA: Who would that be?

SIMONA: He would be a local man, who would walk me to church, talk to
me everyday-and I wouldn't be afraid for his life at every storm cloud I see.

NONNA: Antonio will settle down. I feel he will.

SIMONA: He talked of taking a shop the last time he was here. He said
we could move to Genoa where he could sell ropes and nautical
equipment to shipmen. I'd have a husband who sends off other
husbands to their graves.

NONNA: But he would stay behind. And he would sell them the best, and
train them in how to use the equipment, if they needed to learn. He
would be helping them return safely. We are a nation of sailors, Simona.
We eat and breathe the sea.

SIMONA (sad, ironic): As my father did.

NONNA: His fate will not be shared by Antonio. Was a strange turn,
that your father stepped on a boat at the request of friends for a day
of pleasure fishing and all drowned.

SIMONA: If he hadn't died, my mother wouldn't have died soon
afterwards, from grief, and the hounding of debtors who all suddenly
wanted payment.

NONNA: I cannot speak of the greed of some men.

SIMONA: Nor can I. It seems like another life, before I came here.

NONNA: It has been a good life for us. I'm no longer lonely. You
have been the granddaughter I always wanted.

SIMONA: I had no one else to write to.

NONNA: I'm glad you came to me.

NONNA hugs her and SIMONA hugs back, kissing her face.

SIMONA: I have been greatly blessed. I'm certain I would have been
one of the street children in my old village if it hadn't been for you - and
long since dead.

NONNA: We don't always understand God's plans, but they exist.

SIMONA: Antonio has been one of the three hopes of my life. My father,
you, and him.

NONNA: I'm glad I've been one. We all need hope. In times like
these, we have little else. And when I am gone-

NONNA releases her.

SIMONA: Don't talk about leaving.

NONNA: I'm old woman. An old woman who needs to tell her wishes.

SIMONA: Go on, then.

NONNA: I want you and Antonio to live here. In my imagination, I see
the flowers blooming. I see many children.

SIMONA (limiting the observation): I see a few.

NONNA: Well, that will be your decision. I think I hear Lombarda
speaking with someone. May be Antonio. I want to greet him, then you
two can be alone.

NONNA exits right.

Scene 3

SIMONA and ANTONIO, first scene together-their hopes and the sad past.

The garden. SIMONA is onstage.

SIMONA: They say a sea gull can live for months on the sea, especially
if near a ship's scraps. But how long can a wife exist, with worry
and dread for him? If he's lost-like a father-what will be her
fate? She'll have no grandmother to run to, who went to Heaven even
before the first-born arrived. I see something of my future, but
it's not bright. I don't want to be the doubting sort, the woman
who sees only darkness. I want the light-and here he comes.

ANTONIO enters right, taking her hands.

ANTONIO: I've longed so many days to see your face again.

SIMONA: And I, yours.

ANTONIO: Did you get my letters? -that I was safe?

SIMONA: I received two, the first after weeks of waiting, and the
second still longer.

ANTONIO: Though I told you I had to stop at Crete before I could send
back a letter. And once I cross the Mediterranean it's hard to find
someone who's coming back to Genoa who will deliver it. And then my
man in Genoa has to find someone coming to Villacella.

SIMONA: I understand. Are you well? Were the seas rough?
ANTONIO: On the return, at times, but not more than our sailing skills
and my prayers could handle.

SIMONA: I'm glad you pray, Antonio. Most men think they are beyond
fate and Heaven's power, and see none but their own.
ANTONIO: We rounded our Italy, then to Crete and points east. I heard
the drought in this area had worsened. On the return, I spent most of
my pay for food for the four of us-and for a boy I'll soon look
for. I would have perhaps had enough for a shop if I hadn't needed
to spend so much on food.

SIMONA: You're very thoughtful.

ANTONIO: Nonna and Lombarda will be preparing a feast for us, which I
brought on my horse. Your two wagons of food will be here tomorrow.
They were happy to see me.

SIMONA: We all are. And it will be delightful to have something new to
eat, besides pasta and dried fruit.

ANTONIO: Before coming here I told Annibole to spread the word to the
families I bought food for, that they can ride to Genoa and fill their
wagons. Within days there will be food for many.

SIMONA: You'll be a hero to all of us.

ANTONIO: I only want to be a hero to you. Trust me in this; I may have
to go back to sea once or twice more, as I see it now. My sum is
mounting, but I don't have our fortune yet. Before I came here, I
was able to add a few more coins and jewels to my hiding place the
woods. Once again on this voyage, when we were in ports and other
sailors went to taverns, I spent each night on board, or walking the
beach to dream of my Simona. (He kisses her hands.) I'm content with
my dreams of the future and seek nothing but that day to be ours.

SIMONA: I hope I'm worthy.

ANTONIO: You are. My heart, not hardened by cold wind or stale bread
aboard, readies itself to sail someday to a land of love.

SIMONA: Then I'll try to be stronger.

ANTONIO: There's little real danger when I'm away.

SIMONA (breaking from him): Antonio, every day on the sea is a danger
to me. If you were to send a hundred letters, the last one would still
have doubt attached-if something had happened between then and now.
ANTONIO: I'm a good sailor. Some say, none better. And I have my
captain's promise to ask the owner to pay me better on the next voyage-for
the shop, and our future.

SIMONA: I'm glad you pray for the shop.

ANTONIO: I'd sell seamen everything they need.

SIMONA: And you wouldn't be going away again.

ANTONIO: No.

SIMONA: And we would be honest with each other.

ANTONIO: Yes.

SIMONA: And have children.

ANTONIO: Of course. After only one or two more voyages.

SIMONA: With the drought, money is very hard to find, and food.
Perhaps a shop owner in town would take what you have now for his
shop?

ANTONIO: What good would it be to have a shop and starve to death like
the others?

SIMONA: Forgive my impatience. Sometimes I don't know the greater
danger, death on land or at sea. But I would be willing to risk my
life now, on land, for yours at sea.

ANTONIO: Have faith in providence, that we are meant to be together,
and I will safely return.

SIMONA: I had a naive hope for my father, that he would always be
there for me.

ANTONIO: As I did of my father before he died in a tavern brawl and I
was left for an uncle to raise. I know what it's like to be raised
by a relative, never really sure if you're a burden or not. I left
my uncle as soon as I could for the sea, though he loved me and waved
at me on the dock as I set sail. I think he was sad to see me go.

SIMONA: I'm sure he was.

ANTONIO: But going was the right thing to do.

SIMONA: But not always the right thing. Don't forget, I know what
the sea can do to a family. I lived near the sea while you were a boy
living inland. But enough of the past. Did you sell our lace?

ANTONIO: All of it.

SIMONA: Did you tell them how long it takes to make it?

ANTONIO: I did. I got the best prices I could. I used some of your
money for food and gave the rest to Fiorella. Though I gave a portion
to my captain, as we agreed I could. He's been very good to me.

SIMONA: Everyone should be. You deserve only good.

ANTONIO: I deserve you.

SIMONA: I pray I can deserve you.

ANTONIO: You do.

SIMONA: I can smell the preparations.

ANTONIO (teasing): Will you let me join you ladies?

SIMONA (teasing him): Do you have your manners about you?

ANTONIO: I do.

SIMONA: We are not sailors, who drool their drink and rub their mouths
on their cuffs.

ANTONIO: I will pay attention.

SIMONA: Very well. We'll be honored.

ANTONIO: And I'll enjoy your home.

SIMONA: Our home. Nonna said it is ours.

ANTONIO (smiling): Our home.

SIMONA and ANTONIO exit right.

Scene 4
CORRADO and GIOVANNA, first scene together,
their hopes-with AMBROSIO entering.

A street in Villacella that night. Lights are dimmed to denote a night
scene, perhaps with blue lights. GIOVANNA and CORRADO enter up right.
CORRADO is one of the street orphans DANTE has taken in over the
years, though CORRADO now lives in a barn owned by a neighbor of
GIOVANNA. Once as rowdy as any, he has been softened and converted by
the love of GIOVANNA. She is in love with CORRADO and hopes to marry
him.

GIOVANNA: You have been very quiet, Corrado. What are you thinking?
Are your thoughts as dark as this night street?

CORRADO: Thoughts that would make the sun rise in a moment if I
demanded it.

GIOVANNA: Such power!

CORRADO: Grown by your love.

GIOVANNA: Do you think the love of man and woman has such power?

CORRADO: Ours does.

GIOVANNA: Or does such power come to us from God?

CORRADO: Both-either will work for me.

GIOVANNA: They say the stars are human souls who continue to shine on us.

CORRADO: They must all take second to your light.

GIOVANNA: You say words that open doors in my soul that I never knew
were there.

CORRADO: May I open them all, in time.

GIOVANNA (moving away from him): Not all, sweet Corrado, for, they
say, once the mysteries of a woman have been given up, the man may
disappear as easily as a star on the horizon.

CORRADO (following her): What they say may fit some men, Giovanna, but
my love for you is like a field of spring flowers that, like a bee, I
glide on, one flower to another, continually filled yet wanting more.

GIOVANNA: What if night makes them unseeable, even to a bee?

CORRADO: I would lie near them and wait.

GIOVANNA: Not return to the safety of your hive?

CORRADO: It's only until morning.

GIOVANNA: But what if a night storm knocks off all their petals and
nectar? Surely you would buzz on to another field.

CORRADO: I would wait until new blossoms are born.

GIOVANNA: That would be next season.

CORRADO: I would wait.

GIOVANNA: A full winter without honey?

CORRADO: I would store it up to see you again in bloom.

GIOVANNA: But they die, Corrado. In a great drought, they wither and die.

CORRADO: Not to imagination, or memory. As I know the stars and the
forms they take in man's imagination, if clouds cover them, they are
still in me, and in my soul.

CORRADO starts to kiss GIOVANNA, but she moves off.

GIOVANNA: You have been reading too many books.

CORRADO: But I have learned to read, thanks to you.

GIOVANNA (scolding playfully): I taught you to read so you could read
the Bible, not books of love poetry.

CORRADO (grinning): But both were made under God's Heaven.

GIOVANNA: One woos the soul, and the other, the wife to be.

CORRADO: Then I want both.

GIOVANNA: We'll see (Changing the subject.) This afternoon I saw
Antonio in the street walking into a shop, and ran to him to learn the
news. My father has left for the coast for our wagon of food. Antonio
is planning to take a shop-here in Villacella, I hope.

CORRADO: I'll believe it when I see it.

GIOVANNA: You don't believe him?

CORRADO: He's a sailor. I'm not saying a sailor can't find home
on land, but for how long?

GIOVANNA: For a life.

CORRADO (mimicking her): We'll see

GIOVANNA: And how long before you return to Dante's?

CORRADO: The thought is as far as the farthest star. If your
father's neighbor continues to allow me to stay in his barn and work
for him and your father for bread, then I'll see you everyday until
we are wed. When the drought is over, I'll find more work, in the
harvests forever-or in a shop.

GIOVANNA: Do you fear for Andrea, left with Dante and Bandino?

CORRADO: Andrea was an orphan before Dante look him in. He can defend
himself-or run away to me, if he has to. He knows where I am.

GIOVANNA: Would Bandino hurt him?

CORRADO: Bandino hurts everybody. He can remember his parents; he says
he was stolen. But he knows he would have to answer to me.

GIOVANNA: But if you are the oldest, and away, he might consider
himself the oldest now, and hurt Andrea or even Dante.

CORRADO: Dante is indestructible-a sailor and trader and scoundrel
beyond injury.

GIOVANNA: You use strong words for an uncle who took you in when no
one else would.

CORRADO: I owe him nothing. He's no kin of mine, no more than a
dog.

GIOVANNA: Are you being unkind?

CORRADO: As kind to any animal in the streets that would keep food
from starving boys and girls.

GIOVANNA: I feel there's hope for him, still.

CORRADO: And I have no feeling for him at all, except in leaving. And
I did. Good riddance.

GIOVANNA: He is your family.

CORRADO: I have no family. It was him who made up the story that
he's our uncle. True, I don't remember much of my parents, but I
know he's no kin.

GIOVANNA (trying to soften him toward DANTE): You can't be entirely
sure.

AMBROSIO enters up right, searching along the buildings for food.

CORRADO: A man who takes in boys from neighboring villages to protect
him from his own neighbors, some who would like to have him put away
because they know he can be dangerous. When he's drunk, I've seen
him go into the past, like he's living old times but has lost the
present. And since his past has been murderous

GIOVANNA: I don't want to think any more about them. I only want you
safe with me.

CORRADO: Are you sure you're safe with me?

GIOVANNA: Of course.

CORRADO: Then so be it.

GIOVANNA: I will put them all in my prayers, and the parents left
behind or gone to Heaven.

CORRADO: I'll pray too, though fewer prayers in number.

GIOVANNA: There's Ambrogio. Simona said Antonio would like to see
him again. (To AMBROSIO as she takes from a pocket a small loaf of
bread wrapped in a towel.) Ambrogio, come here. I have some bread for
you.

AMBROSIO runs to her.

GIOVANNA: I was saving it for Corrado, but he isn't hungry.

CORRADO: Well, I wouldn't say

GIOVANNA (quieting CORRADO with a wave of her hand and feeding
AMBROSIO): Have you had anything to eat today?

AMBROSIO shakes his head "no" and eats once the bread is in his
hands.

GIOVANNA (folds the towel back up and pockets it, kneeling): One day,
when the drought ends, we'll have food enough for everybody. We'll
have a celebration in the square and have fruit and vegetables, and
kill caves for the feast like we used to.

CORRADO (kneeling, to AMBROSIO): And when I have my land, and I will
someday, you'll work there and never go hungry again.

AMBROSIO: Thank you, Corrado.

CORRADO: Until then, I might even get some money from Dante to feed
you.

AMBROSIO: One lady said he is too stingy to drop a coin on a dead man
because the man might come back to life and run off with it.

CORRADO (to GIOVANNA): See? (To AMBROSIO.) Then Giovanna and I will
marry and her father will share his land. I'll work hard, grow a fine crop, and feed us.

AMBROSIO: I'd rather have a boat.

CORRADO (a little taken aback, but recovering quickly): Then I'll
buy you a boat.

AMBROSIO: I'll sail far off and bring back food like Antonio. I'll
save you both from the drought.

GIOVANNA: Thank you, Ambrogio. Did you know Antonio is looking for
you?

AMBROSIO (excited): For me? Is he here?

GIOVANNA: Yes, and he has something for you.

AMBROSIO: What?

GIOVANNA: I'm not supposed to tell you.

AMBROSIO: Where is he?

GIOVANNA: Where does he usually have a room?

AMBROSIO (pointing left): Right over there, at Annibole's.

GIOVANNA: Then in the morning, be waiting for him at the front door.

CORRADO: Or ask Annibole to let you in early. Antonio wouldn't
care.
AMBROSIO: Thanks for the bread.

GIOVANNA: I'd give you more if I had it.

AMBROSIO: I know.

GIOVANNA (rubbing AMBROSIO'S hair): You are a good boy. May all the
blessings of Heaven fall upon you. (She kissed his head.)

AMBROSIO: I'd rather have a loaf.

GIOVANNA (smiles): That too.

AMBROSIO: Simona has fed me almost as much as Father Domenico.

GIOVANNA: They both love you. But be understanding if Father can't
feed you much. I don't think he even has enough for himself.

AMBROSIO: Then who will say Mass?

GIOVANNA: When he was hearing a confession this afternoon, I left some
bread for him. Why don't you run along and be waiting for Antonio at
sunrise?

AMBROSIO: All right.

AMBROSIO punches CORRADO in the side and darts away.

CORRADO (rising, to AMBROSIO): Hey!

AMBROSIO exits left, laughing.

GIOVANNA rises. In these next few lines, GIOVANNA becomes more amorous
toward CORRADO-but this is subtle. Her talk with AMBROSIO has
increased in her the desire to be a mother. She is a good Catholic
girl, yet still a girl, learning how to handle the affections of a
young man while needing to wait for marriage. In the next few lines,
she takes his arm, and may touch his shoulder or lean her head on his
shoulder. She becomes quieter. These are indications of how their
story will unfold next.

GIOVANNA (takes CORRADO'S arm): And our first little Corrado will be
just like him.

CORRADO (taking her arm and kissing her face): And many more.

GIOVANNA: When the time is right.

CORRADO: I'll pray for rain for two reasons, that we survive, and
that you and I can wed soon.

GIOVANNA: God knows our needs.

CORRADO: And I need to get you home so your father knows you are
safe.

GIOVANNA: I'm safe with you.

CORRADO and GIOVANNA, holding hands, start toward the left exit.

CORRADO: We'll let the stars guide us…

GIOVANNA: Yes.

CORRADO: to a home where you'll read the Bible to me and I'll
read love poems to you.

CORRADO and GIOVANNA exit left

[End of Extract]