RENATI THE KING
A Play
by Gian DiDonna
Page II
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
RENATI A burly philosopher of middle age. He is nothing less than a highly charged operatic diva. To conceal baldness, he wears a tattered and blondish Restoration-style wig. He carries a sword on his hip; his trousers are green silk. His shirt is a brilliant gold chiffon and over it he wears the coat of a Dutch military officer.
HELENE Dutch and in her forties. The mother of RENATI’S deceased daughter. Since having been deserted by RENATI, she has become a prostitute, and adopted a French accent.
The “AMBASSADOR” Not yet quite France’s Ambassador to Sweden, he is really a liaison between Renati and The Queen.
QUEEN-CHILD The ghost of Renati’s deceased daughter.
PLACE: What appears to be the bowels of a military frigate anchored off Goeteberg, Sweden.
TIME: Deep winter, 1650.
SET: A dark room with thick wood walls and a heavy wood door. There is a thick heavy table and one chair. A cylindrical wood burning stove glows dimly in the upstage left area. Downstage right sits a large trunk. A board mounted on another table upstage left contains four straps with buckles to restrain the victims of vivisection. A small statue of the Catholic Virgin looks down on it from a pedestal. In the upstage corner we find a sack and a sheet made of burlap. On the rear wall of the room is painted a large crucifix upon which we find not the entire body of the “Savior,” but only the hands and feet and the head. The face is in ecstatic agony and the forehead has a hole burrowed through the front and center. A series of decapitated dog heads hang from a line that runs across the ceiling. A cradle sits at the foot of a chair.
ACT ONE, SCENE ONE:
At Rise: The sound of waves lapping against the hull of the ship. The occasional blast of a cannon cracks and in the distance. The room is dimly illuminated. Sobbing is heard. A bolt lock feebly hangs from the door frame. A chair is wedged under the door handle. Renati kneels before a cradle. He is shivering, and soaked from head to toe. A wig sits on a bust upstage. It is in tatters.
RENATI:
(Over the cradle)
Oh, my adored one, what slumber moved me to leave you unattended? I sought only a morsel of sleep so that I might be restored to some semblance of civility, and this is my reward?
(To the heavens)
She was just a child! She was more than child! She was perfection!
(Weeping)
How does one repair perfection? Oh, my Francine.
(He reaches into the cradle)
Speak to papa. Please, say something.
From above a voice shouts the command: Fire! A canon blast follows. Renati is thrown by the force. Laughter from the raucous mob above.
RENATI: (cont’d)
Ambassador!!!!! Why have you abandoned me? Why has the Queen abandoned me?
More laughter.
RENATI: (cont’d)
Stop laughing, you scoundrels. This would have been her daughter and when the Queen learns of it, she’ll have you executed whether you’re Swedes or not!
(Then,)
Oh, my sweet, sweet, Fannie.
He contemptuously turns to the mural of the crucified Savior behind him.
RENATI: (cont’d)
(Accusatory)
You! I hold you accountable! Do you hear me? I’ve tried to re-invent the world in your likeness!
RENATI: (cont’d)
Forged a philosophy whose sole aim has been to purge the body so as to elevate the mind . . . and this is how you treat your servant? Oh, what use is there in railing? Isn’t it evident? What future can there be in your image when all that’s left of it are hands and feet!
Renati turns from the savior, closes his eyes and raises his arms high above his head. After several moments of visceral concentration, he begins the incantation.
RENATI: (cont’d)
In the beginning! In the beginning! In the beginning and . . . somewhere along the middle . . . God gave His only son as a sacrifice because he was too much of a coward to sacrifice himself!
Laughter commences from above. Renati pauses.
RENATI: (cont’d)
Silence, you vile fiends! It isn’t funny! I hate you all you Christian drunkards!
Renati resumes the posture of incantation.
RENATI: (cont’d)
In the beginning! In the beginning! God . . . divided the light from the darkness and I say this is tantamount to him cutting off his own leg. And this is absurd. But we believe it!
More laughter. Renati is furious. He seizes a scrub brush from within a bucket and vigorously continues to erase the remnants of the Savior’s image.
RENATI: (cont’d)
We are finished you and I! Do you hear me? You’ve had your “Anno Domini.” I hereby displace you from the center of the universe. In your seat I posit the greatest contrivance since the Greeks invented the soul. I call it “the Cogito.” No mere wafer of your lambness, I assure you, but a sword of fierceness! No longer shall men hunger for the salvation you’ve offered them. Behold I say! I offer the salvation of reason! And when I have finished undermining you, I will remain standing as the only existing verity! I will have become the new truth and people will paint murals of me! Behold, I say! I have become the rational bridegroom and my victory will be a triumph of one mind over many, as yours was, Monsieur Gesu Cristo.
RENATI: (cont’d)
All will abandon themselves and follow me, but unlike you, I will live to see it and I will live to relish it!
A canon explodes off stage. Renati is again thrown. The dust settles.
RENATI: (cont’d)
Your majesty? Your majesty?
An echo is heard of Renati’s last words. It fades. Silence.
RENATI: (cont’d)
She’s gone, my dear Fannie. Everything . . . is gone. Your father has failed you again.
Voices are heard from above.
Suddenly a door is heard opening above. The sound of raucous noise pours out. More shouts.
VOICE: (O.S.):
Stand away from me, I say! I told you not to provoke him. You know he’s ill. How can you call yourselves Christians when you take such pleasure in torturing him?
Renati has climbed the rear wall to look out through the hole burrowed in the savior’s head. The upstairs noises have subsided. The deck door clangs shut. The sound of slow and clumsy footsteps begin to move down a ladder. Vague canons can still be heard in the distance.
RENATI:
Fannie! Do you hear? It’s the ambassador! Perhaps there is still hope! Perhaps I can still win the Queen’s favor and save you!
He suddenly turns to the cradle.
RENATI: (cont’d)
What’s that? How could I forget? I can’t let the Ambassador see you.
VOICE: (O.S.)
Monsieur Renati!
He quickly takes the cradle to the trunk and opens the lid and places the cradle inside.
RENATI:
You’ll be safe here, my child. Rest soundly. I swear, I won’t let anyone take you.
Renati closes the lid. He buckles the leather straps.
The footsteps continue.
VOICE: (O.S.)
Monsieur, are you there? You must grant me entry.
Renati barks.
VOICE: (O.S.) (cont’d)
Monsieur Renati, it is imperative that I speak with you at once!
Renati draws his sword.
RENATI:
(Shouting to the ambassador)
I have an announcement, Ambassador! Be advised that for the moment I no longer consider you my representative! You come at your own peril! And so does anyone who may be flanking you. Do you hear my words? Today marks the beginning of a new epoch! The first day in the Year Zero in the calendar of Reason. And I am the Messiah of Reason! Do you accept me as your Lord and Messiah, Ambassador?
VOICE: (O.S.)
Monsieur, there have been complaints of a foul scent of decomposing flesh; of screeches; of dogs baying in agony. I must know what is happening! Please offer me entry!
Renati blows out the upstage candle and the light on the “Savior” dims. He quickly draws the chair out from under the door knob, and hides. As the hinges give way, the Ambassador slowly enters.
THE AMBASSADOR:
Monsieur? Where are you? Why is it so silent? Where are the dogs I brought you? Where are you?
(Silence)
Monsieur Renati?
(Silence)
Why aren’t you answering me?
Renati growls.
THE AMBASSADOR: (cont’d)
I don’t find that amusing. Please come out from where you’re hiding. The odor is intolerable. What have you done?
The Ambassador stumbles over an object.
THE AMBASSADOR: (cont’d)
Oh! Goodness, what was that? Is there an infestation of rats down here?
He stumbles over another object.
THE AMBASSADOR: (cont’d)
Oh, dear heaven! Mons—
Looking more closely.
THE AMBASSADOR: (cont’d)
These aren’t rats; they’re dismembered parts! What abominable act have you committed? Where are you?
He stumbles and falls. Renati barks. The Ambassador leaps to his feet.
THE AMBASSADOR: (cont’d)
Oh, look at this! God save us! This is dreadful!
RENATI:
Not as dreadful as it is about to get.
THE AMBASSADOR:
What? Please show yourself, Monsieur. You told me your purpose with them was empirical. It seems you’ve only succeeded in butchering them. I hope you at least had the decency to spare Bonne-Bonne. Did you spare Bonne-Bonne?
The door slams closed. A match is lit. Renati lights a candle over the table. The string of hanging dog-parts becomes visible. The Ambassador is horrified.
THE AMBASSADOR: (cont’d)
(Seeing the heads)
Oh, dear God! Oh, dear God!
RENATI:
Did you imagine I’d be content with the observation of mere animal behavior? Shame on you, Ambassador. One must endeavor the inner workings of nature. I desire causes, not effects!
The Ambassador crosses himself.
THE AMBASSADOR:
Dear God in heaven, forgive him. Forgive me! I must depart.
The Ambassador begins to backtrack.
RENATI:
You are not to venture another step. I’ve killed men who were once my friends in the fury of battle, and I won’t hesitate to do it again!
THE AMBASSADOR:
But this is no battle. We are not at war.
RENATI:
Of course we are! We are always at war, are we not, Ambassador? Otherwise why would I need a sword. And why would you need to stow me down here. Because the enemy rages, Ambassador. You’ve heard the canons.
THE AMBASSADOR:
What canons?
RENATI:
Don’t play fool with me!
THE AMBASSADOR:
I swear to you, I—
RENATI:
Silence! This is the turning of the world, Ambassador. This day; this night. And after this day, the world will never be the same again.
THE AMBASSADOR:
Monsieur. Please I must inquire. I really don’t know what war you’re referring to.
RENATI:
Of course you don’t. Because you have become disloyal.
THE AMBASSADOR:
I really haven’t, Mons—
RENATI:
Of course you have. You said that you would always announce your arrival by sounding your horn. You failed to do that. Take out your horn!
THE AMBASSADOR:
I don’t have it.
RENATI:
Because this is an ambush, isn’t it, Ambassador?
| page up |
Continue| Reading | Page III