This Play is the copyright of the Author and may not be performed, copied or sold without the Author’s prior consent
All places, characters and incidents in this play are fictional and
are products of the author’s imagination. The characters portrayed
have not been based on nor derived from any person, living or dead. If
such an association is made, it is accidental and unintentional, and
should be construed as such. – Geoff Cook – April 2011
ACT ONE – SCENE ONE
SILVIA and TOMAS are sitting at a table on the sunlit road outside
the entrance to the restaurant. It is between shifts in the restaurant
(about 4.30pm) and SILVIA still has on her apron with her hair tucked
up in a bun under her scarf. She is confused and upset.
SILVIA
My mother says I’m too young to know what love is. She says that
what I feel for you is lots of different things all mixed
up…………………….. What do you think, Tomas? Could she be
right?
TOMAS
(thinks ponderously for a while) Maybe Dona Dolores isn’t the right
person to be asking about such things. (SILVIA looks defensive). After
all, she was only a little older than you are now when she married and
you came along. You were what? ……. Five or six when your dad was
killed. Since then, as far as I know from what you tell me, there have
been no men – what you might call “serious” in her life. Perhaps
love is lots of different things to her, mainly sad things and
disappointments.
SILVIA
She always says that she hasn’t had a lot to do with men, but what
she has had to do with them is enough to last her a lifetime. I’m
sure she’s happy the way things have turned out. (she adjusts her
apron and sits up straight). Anyway, it’s not her I’m talking
about. It’s me. How can I be sure you really love me, Tomas? What if
it isn’t really love you feel for me, but all these different
things? It’s really confusing! So I don’t have to think about it
again, tell me how you know it’s really love.
TOMAS
(takes his time to answer - gravely) I’m older than you, Silvia,
and I’m a man with responsibilities who’s going places. I know
what I want. I understand my feelings. When you get to my age, you
won’t have any doubts either.
SILVIA
(sad) You sound about as passionate as Senhor Alfredo reciting the
school register. I don’t care what you know, Tomas. I want to know
what you feel.
TOMAS
(labouring under the pressure) (finally) When I finish work for the
day, I go over to the land I have rented from Senhor Machado. The
field stretches out in front of me. There will be our future, the
chance for Tomas and Silvia to be a family, successful with the fine
vines we shall grow on the land, respected for the wines that will
carry our family name. It gives me the heart to take hold of the
plough, shake off my tiredness and push forward until daylight fails.
And as I grasp the yoke, tread the furrows, it is your face I see in
front of me, smiling, encouraging me, urging me to go on. (he looks
around to make sure that nobody can overhear him, seemingly pleased
with himself) Your face lightens my heart and gives me a strength that
makes me feel that I could plough all night and never feel weary. (he
stops, satisfied with his eulogy) There! Satisfied?
SILVIA
Tomas Pilo! The only thing you seem to be in love with - although you
never use the word – is that wretched piece of land, the vines and
your name all over the label of a bottle of wine! And where does your
beloved Silvia come in all this? When you’re behind the plough and
staring into the horse’s arse, you see my face! Is that your idea of
love? Am I supposed to swoon at your feet because you see me smiling
between the cracks in the horse’s backside? You idiot! (frustration
more than anger) I’m talking about feeling like you are going to
faint at any moment; wanting to sing all the time; getting that bubbly
sensation and feeling like your heart will leave your body. Do you ever feel
like that or is Dolores right? Maybe it isn’t love, at all?
TOMAS
(serious) You’re right. I know all about it. It’s called
flatulation or is it inflation. Anyway, it’s when you first meet
somebody and you’re really happy.
SILVIA
We’ve known each other since we were toddlers, you fool, yet I
still get that clawing at my stomach when I think of us together,
forever.
(noise off – Dolores calling for Diogo)
TOMAS
(hobbling up onto his lame leg and whispering in her ear as Dolores
enters SLB through kitchen) That’s probably more to do with your
knickers being too tight with the weight you’ve put on since
you’ve been working in the restaurant, than anything to do with
love. (Silvia throws the tea towel she has been twisting in her hand
at Tomas as he moves away from her)
DOLORES
It’s love we’re talking about, today, are we? I sometimes think
that you two live in little worlds of your own that have nothing to do
with what is going on around you. My daughter wants to paint her
feelings in black and white instead of the rose tinted hue that’s
much more beautiful and you, Tomas, can’t see the girl you care
about for all those vines that block your view. What a pair!
TOMAS
(pensive – standing, turns back to face Silvia)
I wish it was the vines that were blocking my view. Once the field is
prepared and ready, I’ll need the money to buy the seedlings? And
that could take me years of saving.
SILVIA
(stands up and replies hurt and angry)
If that’s all you can think about, why don’t you go and work on
your beloved field and leave me in peace!
(Dolores comes between them)
DOLORES
Stop it! The pair of you! You are so wrapped up in yourselves that
you’re forgetting that it’s little Diogo who should be in our
thoughts right now. Come tomorrow, there are some important people
from Lisbon coming to see our little boy who could change his life
forever. Mafalda asks me to look after him, and now I can’t find
him. One minute, he’s tugging on my apron in the kitchen. I turn
around to light the grill and, the next, he’s nowhere to be found.
SILVIA
(avoids Tomas’s outstretched hand)
I don’t understand what it’s all about. Mafalda walks around all
day sobbing or trying not to and Diogo refuses to help me set up or
clean the restaurant without a fight. (adamant) He still wants to
share the tips though.
DOLORES
(laughing)
Pretty smart for a nine year old, isn’t he?
SILVIA
Says he’s saving up to run away. A week ago, I’m his bestest
cousin. Today, he announces to all the restaurant at the top of his
voice that he hates me. What is going on, mum?
DOLORES
It will all be explained tomorrow. Let it be for now. He probably
finds what Mafalda has been able to tell him so confusing and
difficult to understand that it has influenced his behaviour for the
worse. Right now, I need to find him before …………..(hesitates)
Well, before …………… someone arrives.
SILVIA
(starts to move off to entrance to restaurant)
I’ve got a good idea where he might be. Leave it to me. I’ll see
if I can find him.
(leaves through restaurant)
(COLONEL crosses from SLC toward the restaurant entrance. He looks
back towards Dolores, who doesn’t see him, and then at the
disappearing figure of Silvia as she enters the restaurant. He looks
conspiratorially towards the audience and makes a gesture with his
hands as if he were about to grasp her breasts before he, too, moves
into the restaurant towards the bar.)
DOLORES
(moves SLF towards Tomas who is standing by the edge of the road. She
puts a hand on his shoulder)
I know your heart is in the right place, Tomas. Maybe, you need to
give my daughter a little more time and space before you decide to
make a commitment. Rushing into marriage is easy to do, but sometimes,
it doesn’t suit both people in exactly the same way. Get things
sorted out in your heads as well as in your hearts. Go back to your
land and think about it. We’ll talk again.
TOMAS
(seemingly apprehensive at having to deny her request)
I can’t go to the fields today. I told the lads they could pick me
up here at six. All the farmhands who want to see things change for
the working man here in Portugal have been told to go to the red barn
for a meeting of the young communists tonight. For God’s sake,
don’t say anything to anybody. I don’t know what it’s all about,
but the word is it’s something important and one of the movement’s
top men is going to be there to talk to us.
DOLORES
(alarmed – grips Tomas’s arm)
You’re a fool, Tomas Pilo. The communist party is illegal and you
know it. Mixing with these types is just going to get you into even
more trouble. You don’t imagine that the PIDE (pronounce Peed)
won’t get to hear about your plans. They’ll wait and you’ll be
singled out like last time. Look at your leg. You can hardly walk for
the kicking they gave you and that’s for life.
TOMAS
(subconsciously, he rubs his thigh)
There’s no turning back. We all want reform …………… (he
turns around to see MAFALDA enter from SLC) I can’t say any more.
(DOLORES turns around to acknowledge MAFALDA) I don’t want the
fascists to come along and take my land. I’d rather die than
surrender my dream. ………………………….. I’ll just wait
here until the lads arrive. (he waits by the side of the road SLF)
DOLORES
You be careful. Remember, it’s not just your destiny, it’s
Silvia’s happiness you hold in your hands. Act wisely. (she walks
back to join MAFALDA. They hug)
MAFALDA
(slumped on the seat – DOLORES remains standing)
I don’t think I can go through with this. (looks up, pleading at
DOLORES)
DOLORES
It’s a little late for changing your mind, cousin. The time for
that was two weeks ago, when you were in Lisbon. You signed away your
rights in exchange for a lot of money.
MAFALDA
(protesting) I haven’t accepted an escudo yet, not a single cent.
What’s a signature on a piece of paper compared to the happiness of
my son? You must help me cousin. They can’t make me give up Diogo,
can they?
DOLORES
Look at me. ………. (waits while MAFALDA lifts her head) Try and
forget about the sadness and think about all the good things that can
come out of this. You only had positive things to say about the man
after you had met him in Lisbon, didn’t you? You told me he’d be a
good father to Diogo? You seemed quite taken by him.
(MAFALDA nods reluctantly)
From what you told me, he is rich, has restaurants all over the place
in Lisbon, and can give Diogo an education that will set him up for
life. You agreed a deal that allows you to see the boy, once he’s
settled in, and, tomorrow, what’s just as important, you’ll have
the money to move away from this wretched place and start a new life.
MAFALDA
(desperately looking for reasons not to…)
But I’ve never met the woman. Supposing she hates him and is nasty
to him? I couldn’t stand it. Diogo would grow up, never forgiving me
for what I had done. God will punish me.
DOLORES
Please don’t bring him into this! How many times have you read
about the mother in the newspaper? You remember when she made that
plea on the radio? For nearly nine years she has been without her son.
Every day must have been a nightmare for her, yet she has worked
tirelessly to raise millions of Escudos to find the boy, to make
certain that the public could never quite forget that he had been
taken from her. She seems like a wonderful person to me. Why would she
hurt Diogo?
(sits down beside MAFALDA and comforts her)
MAFALDA
(resigned) I suppose you’re right, cousin. You are so strong and
sure about everything. I feel so weak, like I’m a piece of driftwood
tossed around on the waves. Can’t seem to make up my mind about
anything, so out of control. I just burst out in tears for no reason
and I know Diogo’s beginning to react badly because of it.
DOLORES
You have every right to be confused. And, of course, Diogo senses
that something is happening around him, outside of his control and
he’s scared. Tomorrow night, when he’s in Lisbon and you’re
here, he’ll cry and you will cry. The next night, he’ll cry again,
maybe not so much and you’ll cry too, maybe even more than the night
before. The next day, somebody will take Diogo to the zoo or to the
beach or to a circus. He’ll telephone you to say what a wonderful
day he has had and he’ll go to bed tired and he won’t cry. But you
will. And you’ll go on crying until you wake up to the realization
that he is happy and content and you don’t have to have regrets any
more. Then you’ll stop crying and start living again.
(MAFALDA starts sobbing loudly. DOLORES joins in too. SILVIA appears
from restaurant entrance and stands in front of the two weeping woman.
She makes it obvious that she is not looking toward TOMAS who is still
waiting at the side of the road kicking stones)
SILVIA
What is it with everybody today? I turn up and people start weeping.
(hands on her hips) I found Diogo in the dark, hiding in the larder.
He’s lying on the middle shelf with his head on a bag of rice for a
pillow, comforting himself with a packet of biscuits. When I walked
in, he started crying and threw a tin of black beans at me. I asked
him why he was upset and he shouted at me. Said it was because I was
his cousin, that he hated me and that he wanted somebody nicer as his
cousin. So I left him there. I don’t understand what’s got into
him.
MAFALDA
(MAFALDA goes to get up, but is restrained by DOLORES. MAFALDA is
more composed )
I’ll go to him. When Senhor Costa arrives, send him
………………
(there is a screech of brakes offstage from the direction of the
road. Hooters blare and soldiers shout. Everybody stands up scared.
TOMAS jumps back from the edge of the road as stones are thrown up
onto the sidewalk. The COLONEL rushes out from inside the restaurant.
COLONEL
(slurring his words) What the hell? What’s all the noise?
TOMAS
It’s another army convoy heading for the bridge. I’ve seen two
already today. They must be increasing checks at the frontier. Either
trying to stop us Portuguese from getting out or the Spanish from
coming in. One way or another, something really unusual is happening.
(his eyes follow the vehicles into the distance)
COLONEL
(turning to the three women, his eye roaming across them- continues
to slur his words)
I’m not paying you three for standing out here gossiping while
there’s work to be done. Shouldn’t you be back in the kitchen?
DOLORES
You barely pay us at all. And we’ll go back when we want to!
COLONEL
You know……. (puts his face close to DOLORES who recoils at the
stench of alcohol) You’re a trouble maker, just like your mother! No
wonder my brother gave up on you both. Poor bastard. You drove him
into an early grave. Sluts, the pair of you!
DOLORES
(shouting, loud enough for TOMAS to turn around) Don’t you dare
talk about my mother’s memory like that, you disgusting old
drunkard! It was you, bullying my father, who made him take his life.
And my mother …… (starts to cry) …….I don’t know why I stay
here. When you leave, cousin, I’m going ……… maybe I’ll try
to finish the nursing course I gave up when Silvia came along……
COLONEL
(confused) Leaving? Who’s leaving? Nobody is going anywhere unless
I say so!
MAFALDA
Sshh! (trying desperately not to be drawn into the subject)
Everything’s normal, father. We’re all here and we’re all going
back to work. The restaurant will be open in a little while and
there’s preparation to be done. (restrains DOLORES from speaking)
You go back to the house and we’ll find Diogo so that he can bring
you a meal.(turning to DOLORES who is about to turn on the man again)
Not now …… please
COLONEL
(starts to leave SLC. Looks with loathing at DOLORES) Tell the boy to
bring my teeth. The cheese got stuck, so I had to take them out. I
left them on the kitchen table. Put a jar of red wine on the tray as
well and tell him not to be long. (talking to himself) Listening to a
lot of stupid women. Who do they think I am? If it wasn’t for me,
they’d all be penniless … on the streets. No better than whores,
the lot of them (leaves SLC)
DOLORES
He may be your father, cousin, and he may own all this now, but, I
swear, if I stay here, I won’t be responsible for my actions. I’ll
kill him. He is so full of contempt and hatred, there is nobody I know
who seeks his company. It would be a kindness. (makes a gesture of
cutting a throat)
SILVIA
Don’t speak like that mother. As much as I can’t stand him
staring at my breasts or trying to paw me whenever he can get near
enough, I don’t wish him dead. Whatever he is, he’s Mafalda’s
father and he has had a hard life. Something must have made him the
way he is.
DOLORES
(laughing scornfully) That’s my girl. Always sees the good in
everybody (looks over at the road where TOMAS is waiting) except,
maybe, the one person she cares about most. (looks toward MAFALDA who
is lost in thought). You stay with your aunt whilst I go and sort out
young Diogo. She’s expecting Costa to arrive at any moment. I dare
say you’ll want to make yourself scarce when he appears.
(leaves SLB to find Diogo)
SILVIA
(sits down next to MAFALDA)
Do you want to talk, Aunt? I realize there’s lots of things I’m
not supposed to know about, but I can’t help worrying about Diogo
…..(almost as an afterthought) and you, too, Aunt. I love you both
so much that it makes me sad to see you upset. Especially when I
don’t know what to do to make it better.
MAFALDA
You’re a sweet girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. Your mother
used to be exactly like that when she was your age. You can get hurt
easily, just like she did when your father was killed in Africa. From
the day she got the telegram, it was as if she had been betrayed by
life itself. The vulnerability that had made her so attractive –
well, it just sort of evaporated to be replaced by a resignation that
love for a man had gone and would never come back. She became hardened
and single minded. You are the reason for living as far as she is
concerned. Your happiness is her happiness. Your sadness and worries
are hers to share. She should get out of this place and I’m going to
try and help her do it.
[end of extract]
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