By Malena Sándor

Translated from Spanish by May Farnsworth, Camila García, and Erin Griffis

At a time when indissoluble marriage was the law of the land, Argentine playwright Malena Sándor embraced feminine desire and autonomy. In Sándor’s imaginative play, Penelope No Longer Knits, female icons are portrayed as clever goddesses looking down from Heaven at modern feminist women in approval. The heroine of the Odyssey insists on defending her legacy of fidelity while the other iconic women in Heaven pity and mock her, calling her unwavering loyalty to Ulysses naive and out of touch. Since these women (Helen of Troy, George Sand, Mata Hari, Juliet, The Lady of the Camellias) impacted culture/history without denying themselves earthly pleasures, they think Penelope should recover lost experiences. They entice Penelope by telling her that she ought to teach modern women a lesson about fidelity. In reality, the plan is to convince Ulysses’s wife to finally let down her guard (and put down her knitting).

We approached our translation as feminist practice. All three of us worked together to transcribe, translate, and interpret the playtext. Every decision was a collective one. We found that working collaboratively was the best way to capture the lively, frank and humorous conversations among the women, reproducing their incisive, thought-provoking banter. Throughout the translation process, we tried to best preserve the play’s Argentine origins while still making it sound natural in English. We encountered grammatical challenges when characters switched rapidly between usage of the informal (tú) and the formal (usted) pronouns. At the end of Act 1, for example, Arturo flirts with Penelope and insists that she use tú with him. He describes the forming of the word tú as a puckering of the lips. Because there is no direct translation for tú/usted in English, we looked for a creative way to interpret the line while maintaining the sexual innuendo. In the end, we decided to focus on the character’s first name: Arturo. This way, we could convey the message of familiarity and invite a puckering of the lips: “It’s like getting your mouth ready for a kiss: Ar-tu-ro.” Additionally, we had to make collective decisions on the spelling of the names. We decided to use the standard English spelling for classic names, such as Ulysses, Penelope, Telemachus, and Helen. But we used the original spelling for the Argentine characters’ names (Arturo, Roberto, Octavio, Suzy, Trinidad, etc.).

We are grateful to Meryem Boumalak and Tvene Baronian, who joined us in a series of dramatic readings, which helped us fine-tune the play’s witty dialogue. When we heard the laughter and gasps of our volunteer actors at just the right moments, we knew we had struck the correct note. Penelope No Longer Knits stands out for its originality and humor—even though it’s been more than seventy-six years since Sándor wrote the script. It represents an important contribution to historical feminist theatre studies in general and Argentine feminist theatre in particular.

Malena Sándor (1913-1968) was born María Elena James de Terza in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her first play, Yo me divorcio, papa (Daddy, I’m Getting a Divorce, 1937), depicts a debate between a young feminist and her father, an anti-divorce senator. Sándor’s subsequent plays also offer feminist perspectives on women’s experiences in pre-divorce Argentina. In 1938, Sándor won the “Premio Nacional de Cultura” for Una mujer libre (A Free Woman), which was later turned into a film. Sándor lived in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s, serving as a foreign correspondent for newspapers in Mexico and Argentina. Silvina Bullrich edited a posthumous collection of Sándor’s eleven plays, Teatro completo (1969), one year after the playwright’s premature death from an acute asthma attack. This translation of Penélope ya no teje (1946) refers to the script published in Bullrich’s collection.

May Farnsworth, Camila García, and Erin Griffis collectively translated Penelope No Longer Knits at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) in the summer of 2022. Farnsworth is a professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies and the author of Feminist Rehearsals. Gender at the Theatre in Early Twentieth-Century Argentina and Mexico (U of Iowa P, 2023). García and Griffis are both currently residing in Spain; García is completing her undergraduate Spanish major through a semester abroad in Sevilla and Griffis is working as an auxiliar at the Instituto de Escuela Secundaria José Caballero in Huelva. Additional translations of feminist theatre by Farnsworth, García, and Griffis are published on the HWS Spanish and Hispanic Studies Digital Gallery (galeriahispana.omeka.net).

Penelope No Longer Knits

Written by Malena Sándor

Translated from Spanish by May Farnsworth, Camila García, and Erin Griffis

1946

Almost a farce in two acts, a prologue, and an epilogue.

MEMORIES OF FORGOTTEN STORIES

PENELOPE: Ulysses’ wife. He left her and little Telemachus in order to help the Greek princes avenge HELEN’S kidnapping. Ulysses took twenty years to return. PENELOPE waited for him. She wove a tapestry during the day and unwove it each night so that she would never finish. This kept her from having to choose a new husband from among her suitors. She symbolizes fidelity.

HELEN OF TROY: Wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. She was kidnapped by Paris, the son of the Trojan king. This caused a war that kept Troy under siege for ten years. At the end of the war, HELEN had to return.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: A courtesan named María Duplessis who inspired Alexandre Dumas to write the immortal love story about Margarita Gautier in the century of romanticism.

MATA HARI: A famous dancer who betrayed all through her beauty and art. In a trial that shocked France, she was found guilty and sentenced to death.

GEORGE SAND: Writer whose real name was Aurora Dupin. She dressed in very masculine clothing. But, when it came to love, she showed her feminine side.

JULIET: Romeo’s lover. Need we say more?

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Penelope

Helen of Troy

Mata Hari

Lady of the Camellias

George Sand

Juliet

Angel

Gloria Warren

Susy

Sra. Alex

Woman 1

Woman 2

Trinidad

Ludovico Aldana

Teddy

Octavio Lastra

Roberto Casal

Marcelo Urdániz

Count Enrico Enzolaro

Soldier 1

Soldier 2

An employee

A bellhop

Arturo Ulises Aldana

The costumes for the Prologue and Epilogue are the same. PENELOPE: chiffon peplum, in fuchsia with silver laces. HELEN: bolder peplum in a green color. MATA HARI: dress and red cape; the belt and the fringe of the cape embroidered with rhinestones. LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Light blue taffeta dress. GEORGE SAND: Beige pants and vest, brown jacket and top hat. JULIET: gold lamé suit: hairnet in gold and stones.

Prologue

The action takes place in any corner of Heaven. It is a kind of detour that all roads lead to. There are some chairs, plants, and clouds. Heavenly music is playing.

When the curtain rises, PENELOPE and MATA HARI are present. An ANGEL from the feminine sex contemplates them. She is lying on her stomach in a cloud two meters high. PENELOPE plays solitaire. MATA HARI knits clumsily with two needles. 

ANGEL: Penelope…

PENELOPE: Don’t interrupt me.

ANGEL: I want to play with you…

PENELOPE: Leave me alone.

ANGEL: How come you don’t talk to the other angels that way?

PENELOPE: Because you’re the most annoying. Mata Hari, I don’t have the ace yet. Where do I put the king?

MATA HARI: This has nothing to do with the game. (Sighing.) Oh! It was so much harder to meet men in my time on Earth. Why can’t I seem to do it now?

ANGEL: Mata Hari…

MATA HARI: Yes?

ANGEL:  Doesn’t that get boring?

MATA HARI: No, I’ve never done something so calming and entertaining. It’s been two days since Penelope taught me how to knit.

ANGEL: (To PENELOPE.) But that’s not how you used to knit.

PENELOPE: It’s true. I used to just turn the spindle and the tapestry would magically appear. Now I’ve learned how to use needles.

ANGEL: (To PENELOPE.) Do you like playing cards?

PENELOPE: I do. They help me pass the time. Time goes by so slowly here.

MATA HARI: That shouldn’t bother you. You were the queen of patience.

ANGEL: (Looking around, as if she saw someone arrive) Do you know who’s coming?

MATA HARI: It would be embarrassing if they found our secret refuge.

ANGEL: The Lady of the Camellias.

PENELOPE: Of course it’s her. The one who moved so many men with all her frilly silks. She must be close.

MATA HARI: Why do you talk like that? Couldn’t you hide your contempt a little better?

PENELOPE: (Putting down the cards. Outraged.) Why?…Why? Because she was an easy woman?

MATA HARI: (Abandoning her knitting.) What do you mean by “easy woman”?

ANGEL: She’s probably referring to those who eat very little and exercise a lot.

PENELOPE: (Outraged.) Yes… exercise… What type of exercise?

ANGEL: (Candid.) Breathing exercises.

PENELOPE: I’m talking about the women who have had a lot of men in their lives.

ANGEL: How terrible!

MATA HARI: (To PENELOPE.) Jealous…

PENELOPE: (As if she didn’t hear.) I heard she inspired a whole book about love and sin.

MATA HARI: Hey…Haven’t they told you anything about me yet?

PENELOPE: (Naive.) No. Why? Do they have something to say?

MATA HARI: (Mocking.) Of course not. I’ve been a very good girl.

ANGEL: That’s obvious. (LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS enters.)

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (Moving gracefully with her frilly dress.) Hi! You really have found the most beautiful place around. This corner is neither paradise, nor purgatory, nor hell… What are you doing?

MATA HARI: Penelope learned how to play solitaire.

PENELOPE: (With dignity.) I got tired of knitting. I’d been doing it for so long. Now, Mata Hari’s the one who knits.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Using two needles is the latest fashion, right?

PENELOPE: The new arrivals always bring news.

MATA HARI: Why don’t you try updating your clothing a little too? You must be tired of always wearing the same thing.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: You’re right. Those rags aren’t exactly “dernier cri”.

PENELOPE: (Agitated). Do you really think your dress is any better?

ANGEL: (Consoling.) Don’t forget that you’ve been ordered to wear your favorite dresses. 

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: What did we do to deserve such a cruel punishment? Don’t they realize that the most daring fashions go out of style over night?

PENELOPE: (To MATA HARI.) That shouldn’t bother you too much because they say capes are back in style.

MATA HARI: (Looking at her figure.) I adore these clothes. (Pause.) They called me the red dancer.

PENELOPE: (Curious.) Tell me about your life.

MATA HARI: When I was little, I danced on the banks of the Ganges. After I learned the rites in the pagoda of the Kanda Swany.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: What a sweet name! Kanda Swany…

MATA HARI: Sweet but awful, just like my death. They wouldn’t pardon me.

PENELOPE: What happened to you?

MATA HARI: I was shot by a firing squad. They weren’t gallant with me. (Pausing to remember.) But I went into it with my eyes open. With a smile on my face. The soldiers’ rifles pointed at my heart and I kept dancing in front of them with my golden nudity.

ANGEL: That’s shameless…

PENELOPE: Was anyone in love with you?

MATA HARI: I’ve been loved by more than one.

PENELOPE: And did they love you intensely?

MATA HARI: Crazily.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Has a man ever lost himself for you?

MATA HARI: All who have ever crossed my path have lost themselves in me.

PENELOPE: So you were a monster?

ANGEL: You’re going to corrupt me.

MATA HARI: I was a woman.

PENELOPE: (Enraged.) Lies. (HELEN OF TROY arrives and listens from the entrance of the door with a mocking expression.) I was a woman too, but I could never have caused that kind of harm. I waited almost a lifetime for my husband to return.

HELEN: (Insidious approaching.) You must’ve been so bored!

ANGEL: If only Ulysses could hear you…

PENELOPE: Helen…You came just in time…Tell them it’s all true…

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (To MATA HARI.) Is she the one from Troy?

HELEN: (While MATA HARI is nodding.) Yes, but you were stupid to wait. Men aren’t worth waiting for and sometimes it’s better to see what other men are like.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: But you wouldn’t have known what it felt like even if you had wanted to.. You were kidnapped. That’s the story we were told.

HELEN: History sometimes twists things around.

ANGEL: Helen…The academics are going to demand an account of your words.

HELEN: The truth is that Paris was very handsome like no other. The truth is that in order for me to know whether or not I was kidnapped, I’d have to remember how much I resisted my beautiful bandit at the time.

MATA HARI: If you left happy then perhaps you could’ve cleared up a few things. You started a war that laid siege on Troy for 10 years.

HELEN: (Violent.) You took part in another that cost the lives of millions of men.

MATA HARI: You knew about that?

HELEN: Yes, but I would never hold it against you. It was more their fault than anything. I even admire you. In Greece there were only four columns. We needed a fifth. Otherwise…

ANGEL: That’s too much.

HELEN: Who knows…Didn’t you ever get bored, Mata Hari?

PENELOPE: (Outraged.) Helen!

HELEN: (Defiant.) What?

PENELOPE: How can you talk like that? Is that the way you tell your story now? And I had to wait 20 years just so Ulysses could come and find you!

HELEN: In the end after all the waiting you learn that there is nothing more absurd than wasting your time.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: What a rude Greek woman!

PENELOPE: (Furious.)  I have never heard words so cynical.

HELEN: I’m tired of your solemnity.

MATA HARI: Now I get why Troy burned…

ANGEL: How could it not burn with this girl around?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (Contemptuously.) None of this sounds very romantic!

MATA HARI: (Aggressive.) Why? Because we didn’t end up like you, pining away in the Magdalena church, in a cliché that made the older generations cry?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: You’re cruel.

MATA HARI: Cruelty makes women stronger.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: That’s why camellias are brought to my tomb by lovers from Paris and why yours has nothing but dry grass.

MATA HARI: Why does that matter? My time on Earth ended with me. But when I left, there were many who cried over the memory of Kanda’s bayadere.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Maybe not as many as you expected…

HELEN: (Mischievously.) You’re going overboard.

MATA HARI: What?

HELEN: Such vanity.

MATA HARI: You’re wrong. I’m not vain.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Forget about it. Time will smooth out your arrogance.

ANGEL: When the ones campaigning for the vote come up…

PENELOPE: Come, Mata Hari… take up your knitting again. You still don’t know how serene and comforting it is to work with your hands… (She hands her the knitting and stands next to her.)

HELEN: (Mocking.) …while the brain continues drawing its fantastic web of memories and dreams.

PENELOPE: (Really close to MATA HARI. A little hesitant. In a confidential tone.) Don’t listen to anyone else. Talk to me. Tell me…Why… Why do women always talk so badly about men? And if women don’t like men, why don’t they try falling in love as little as possible instead of falling as hard as they do? How does this make any sense?

MATA HARI: You’ll get lost in all this curiosity. The difference between me and you is that you ask me these questions. I asked the women directly.

ANGEL: What did they say?

MATA HARI: (To the ANGEL with sarcasm.) I can’t tell you. (JULIET enters.)

JULIET: (Timid.) Am I interrupting? I was looking for a place with shade.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (Approaching her.) Juliet…I’ve never seen you like this, so close up. You’re just a child.

HELEN: That’s what saved her in love and in legend.

JULIET: I don’t understand.

HELEN: How old were you when you fell in love with Romeo?

JULIET: Thirteen.

MATA HARI: How many nights of love did you come to know?

JULIET: (Embarrassed.) Only one. It was my betrothal.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: And you had the courage to kill youself over Romeo’s corpse. How wonderful.

HELEN: Thirteen years old. One night of love and then killing herself over a dead lover. But, could that really be true? And if it is true, don’t you understand that that’s the only reason their romance was able to last?

MATA HARI: The thing is, Juliet, you didn’t manage to satisfy anything or anyone.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Don’t make her think too clearly. It was a divine blindness. You’re a romantic creature…

MATA HARI: Romanticism is the plague that has decimated women the most.

ANGEL: If she stays any longer, you’ll turn her into Messalina. Juliet…There are too many bad winds here. Why don’t you look for shade someplace else?

JULIET: I promised Romeo that I would wait for him.

ANGEL: Then come closer to me. I’ll serve as your shield. (JULIET sits near the ANGEL.)

PENELOPE: Juliet doesn’t interest me. (Now close to the LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS.) I want you to tell me how men love and why…

HELEN: They love… (To PENELOPE.) Do you think that when a woman has had so many lovers, that she understands love? It must be a little confusing.

PENELOPE: Why don’t you shut up!

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Deep down, there’s only one true love.

PENELOPE: Not so deep down that it’s hard to find, right?

HELEN: Unless it’s a bottomless pit.

ANGEL: (To JULIET.) Do you understand any of this?

MATA HARI: (To PENELOPE.) Why do you have this unhealthy curiosity?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: In my life there hasn’t been anyone but Armando Duval. The rest of them have been forgotten in the shadows.

MATA HARI: Maybe you’re right. And maybe I can only pronounce one name, Pedro…Pedro of Mortissac.

HELEN: My modesty stops me from telling you all the names of my husbands. My husband is Menelaus, but when I’m alone, the name Paris escapes my lips…

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Who’s Paris?

HELEN: The one who kidnapped me.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Oh! (To MATA HARI.) Isn’t it true that there’s nothing as intense as feeling consumed with an emotion of love.

PENELOPE: (In the middle of the scene. As if in a dream and to herself.)  My God! And if love is so wonderful, why did I spend almost 20 years knitting?

HELEN: I don’t want to think the wrong thing… but you did have a lot of suitors and you didn’t really do anything to make them leave you alone.

PENELOPE: You know perfectly well that they pursued me relentlessly and that I held them back with the promise of choosing a new husband when I had finished weaving a shroud for old Laertes. What no one guessed was that I was weaving during the day and unweaving at night so that it would never end.

HELEN: (Maliciously.) Did you unweave it alone?

PENELOPE: What a busybody!

HELEN: No, I really don’t want to think the worst. Maybe you were just scared of the dark. And maybe some soldier with broad shoulders and light in his eyes was able to illuminate your shadows…

PENELOPE: You’re offending me.

HELEN: When Ulysses left you, you were very young. It’s true that you waited for him and it’s also true that history needed a symbol of fidelity. It found you. But here, just between us, I can assure you that I would never put my hands in the fire for you.

PENELOPE: (Arrogant and constrained.) I hate you.

HELEN: I also think that you were jealous of me for getting kidnapped.

PENELOPE: I would’ve rather died than let another man take me away.

HELEN: How stupid…

ANGEL: Juliet, are you cold?

JULIET: No.

ANGEL: Are you even listening?

JULIET: I’m thinking about him.

PENELOPE: (Approaching MATA HARI.) What was Pedro like?

MATA HARI: (Enlightened.) Cynical, bold, beautiful and brave. He loved me with all the power in his young veins. The memory of him still hurts.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Did he forgive you?

MATA HARI: For him it was the last letter that I wrote in the prison of San Lazarus.

PENELOPE: What a shame to have gotten yourself into so much trouble.

HELEN: Well down there, it’s the only thing that’s a little bit entertaining.

PENELOPE: (Approaching the LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS.) What was your real name?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Maria. But. Margarita Gautier is the novel based on my life.

PENELOPE: Why did they call you the Lady of the Camellias? Was it Armando who gave you that name?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: No. It was my florist. She didn’t know who I was and she would see me every afternoon looking for camellias.

PENELOPE: And if you loved Armando so much, why did you leave him?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: The hour of sacrifice had come.

PENELOPE: And when you left him, who did you want?

MATA HARI: What an obsession!

HELEN: As usual. Women who have nothing to do, stick their noses into other people’s business. The others are too busy trying to live full lives. You’re unbearable. Why do you care? You’re the woman of unsuspected purity, the dark enigma of souls that have been shamed for being impure?

PENELOPE: They have been redeemed.

HELEN: Then just leave them alone.

PENELOPE: (Candid.) It’s by helping them dive into the depths of their conscience that I’ll help them recognize evil and ward it off forever.

MATA HARI: (Bad-tempered.) On Earth they started to call that something like psychoanalysis…could you have been the harbinger…

HELEN: Do you know what came before it? Unweaving…

PENELOPE: And you? All the ships left the island, right? When they returned everyone acted like nothing ever happened.

HELEN: I think your obsession with what you don’t know about is even more perverse. You want everyone else to tell you what you were missing out on. It’s because love left you young and found you again already old. But twenty years repressed—If they really were repressed—suffocated—if they really were suffocated. That’s why you want to listen.

PENELOPE: (Enraged.) Lies…

ANGEL: Lower your voices. If you don’t, this conversation is over.

HELEN: That’s the truth. And the contempt you always had for me is envy. Envy. If you could go down to Earth now and start all over again… you’d laugh about Troy.

PENELOPE: (At the peak of indignation.) You lie…you lie…

ANGEL: Don’t make so much noise. You guys look like the representatives of a peace congress… (GEORGE SAND enters at that moment.)

GEORGE: And that yelling?

HELEN: (Quickly.) We were talking about the latest fashions.

GEORGE: (Smiling.) Is that still important here?

HELEN: We also tried to convince Mata Hari to show us one of her dances.

ANGEL: You lie just like the minister of information.

GEORGE: That’s not a bad idea.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: I would like to see you dance.

PENELOPE: Are they classical dances?

HELEN: Not that classical. Will you be quiet?!

MATA HARI: I’ve never done them here.

GEORGE: There always has to be a first time.

MATA HARI: (To GEORGE SAND.) I’ll do it in your honor.

HELEN: (To the LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS.) At least we’ve seen a pair of pants. Even if they are on George Sand.

MATA HARI: In India there is an evil god called Shiva. He has 100 arms. (She sits up. As she speaks, she takes off her cape. She is almost naked.) A purity offering is made to him. We perform the arabesques of our dances for him. More than dances, these are rites, and more than rites, these are submissions of our will to the desire of the implacable god… (She begins to dance. The ANGEL covers JULIET’s face with her wing and covers her eyes with her hand. But JULIET immediately begins to peer through the ANGEL’s fingers. Then, JULIET pushes the ANGEL’s hand away and starts watching the dance with eyes wide with astonishment. When MATA HARI finishes, everyone except JULIET applauds. MATA HARI puts on her cape.)

GEORGE: Bravo! Very interesting.

ANGEL: Overall, very educational.

MATA HARI: I was the sacred bayadere in the pagoda of Kanda Swany.

HELEN: If I knew how to dance like that, they would’ve had so much fun with me in Troy!

PENELOPE: I doubt they got bored much.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (Approaching GEORGE SAND.) How is it that you, in love with men, dress the same as them? Why did you hide Aurora Dupin under the guise of George Sand.

MATA HARI: I would like to know that too. I will never be able to understand such eccentricity.

GEORGE: (Composed.) And why must everything be explained?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: How did wearing pants make you feel when you were around men? (She says this agitatedly looking at her own frilly skirt.)

GEORGE: (Puzzled.) Beyond, or beneath if you prefer, these clothes, true femininity is always revealed.

HELEN: But I don’t understand the desire to want to disguise your femininity.

GEORGE: It’s a statement like any other. Like the monocle. Like the mouthpiece. Sometimes that’s what it takes for people to have personality.

ANGEL: So many masks!

HELEN: And you, dear imposter?!

GEORGE: As for the rest of your questions…go ahead and ask Chopin…win the trust of Musset…They loved me. They know all about it.

MATA HARI: (Seductive.) No one else other than them?

GEORGE: (Mocking.) I thought no one would be keeping score up here! What a mistake! Men don’t keep track. One lover or 20. Love is all that matters. And only love’s to blame when it happens to men. Because there is no kiss better than the first…

MATA HARI: (With interest.) They told me that you have talent.

GEORGE: Is that all they told you? That’s not all. When we are talking about intelligent women, we usually have more to say.

MATA HARI: (With admiration.) You must have had to be strong to resist so many admirers.

GEORGE: Oh! There’s no woman strong enough to resist the man she yearns for.   

PENELOPE: What did you look for in men?

MATA HARI: Tell us something we haven’t already heard. Because, for her (pointing at the LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS), until she met Armando, it was all about the price of her flowers, her jewels and her furs. I was cunning and I liked playing a hidden game. I made them think I loved them and then I took their secrets. I want to know what men meant to you.

GEORGE: Emotion. Poetry. I had the gift of newly found sound and of brilliant rhymes. It was as if they were emerging from a hot furnace. I wanted men to be vibrant. And they made me vibrate.

ANGEL: Juliet, let’s go. The temperature is changing too much around here.

JULIET: What if Romeo doesn’t find me?

HELEN: (A little savage.) I promise not to touch him. I’ll tell him that you have left and I’ll tell him from afar.

MATA HARI: Have we frightened you?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (In a softer tone.) It’s normal for her to be like that. She never got to experience life. Is there anything better than that?

HELEN: She must’ve gotten something out of life. But, what about what she missed out on?

GEORGE: (Tenderly lifting JULIET’S chin.) Go on ahead, Juliet. If you were to change, what would they do with the golden statue that immortalized the lovers of Verona? Go…(The ANGEL and JULIET walk out hand in hand.)

PENELOPE: (Right next to GEORGE.) Tell me. Did you really love your poet?

GEORGE: (Very condescending.)  What do you care? You’re the worst. If you hadn’t invented fidelity, it would’ve never occurred to anyone to judge women for being unfaithful.

PENELOPE: (Offended. Looking her up and down.) Sir…Madam…

HELEN: (Playfully.) Why won’t you just admit it? You didn’t like any of your suitors…

PENELOPE: (Proud and solemn. A bit declamatory.) You’re mistaken. I didn’t lay my eyes on any one of them, I believe that women were made to maintain their modesty through all temptations. Because for me, women are a wonderful receptacle of the love that’s poured into them. They should not let a single drop evaporate…

GEORGE: That’ll depend on the strength of the sun that burns them.

PENELOPE: (Without being interrupted.)…Because when a woman loves someone, she should do it the way I did. Faithful, loyal, true till the…(Her exaltation is cut short by the arrival of a pretty girl dressed in the latest fashion trends.)

GLORIA: (Amusingly.) I’ve lost my way in this labyrinth…

HELEN: (Approaching her with curiosity.) When did you arrive? I’ve never seen you before.

GLORIA: Just now. (Everyone surrounds her.)

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Who are you?

GLORIA: Gloria Warren. Hollywood actress. I was on a pleasure trip through South America. A trip in a car with an Argentinian man who was a little crazy. We crashed.

PENELOPE: Did you love him?

HELEN: (Brushing aside PENELOPE and pointing at GLORIA’s outfit.) Is that what you all wear down there today?

GLORIA: Isn’t it bold and showy? Of course, in Hollywood we are ahead of the fashion trends. (Looking at everyone with interest.) You are…

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Is there not anyone to introduce us?

MATA HARI: We would need an introducer of ambassadors.

GLORIA: Diplomats, no, please. Down there, they’re the ones who make all the messes.

GEORGE: (Sarcastically.) Helen should introduce us. Her trip to Troy lent her diplomatic credentials.

GLORIA: (With curiosity.) Wasn’t she kidnapped by a Greek gangster?

HELEN: Historical gossip. It was like yours. A pleasure trip. But that was before things were so exaggerated.

PENELOPE: (Quietly.) If Ulysses had not come to look for you…

HELEN: (Same tone.) If Ulysses had taken a little longer…(Out loud and boldly.) This is Penelope, the grand symbol of fidelity.

GLORIA: Fidelity? Is that a word in a dead language?

GEORGE: I don’t remember if it appears in dictionaries today.

HELEN: It does appear but you must’ve overlooked it. (Pointing to GEORGE.) George Sand was the name she used to sign her books but her name was really Aurora Dupin. What she hasn’t told us was if the men that were in love with her called her Aurora or George. (Pointing to the LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS.) María Duplessis, who left on Earth the ineffable mark of the Lady of the Camellias. (Pointing to MATA HARI.) An Asian sphinx who maddened men by dancing and was known as Mata Hari. And I… You know. The one from Troy.

GLORIA: How wonderful! This must be more fun than that…

GEORGE: Don’t be ungrateful. You look like someone who lived a pretty easy life…

GLORIA: I won’t deny it. But here it is different.

MATA HARI: Always thirsty for more adventures?

GLORIA: Always.

HELEN: (Sighing.) That’s what it was like in my time too.

PENELOPE: (Sarcastically.) That was obvious to everyone around you.

HELEN: (Spiteful.) And there are people who will never forgive me. Isn’t that true?

PENELOPE: (Now very close to GLORIA.) I suppose the only thing that hasn’t changed is love…

HELEN: She’s preaching again. I can’t stand it.

GEORGE: (Sarcastically.) You’re right, Penelope. Love still hasn’t changed. It’s still the same, but you never gave it a chance while you were waiting so tirelessly.

GLORIA: Why do you talk to her like that?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: You’re all being unfair. She is the only one who was really faithful to love.

GEORGE: And what does fidelity have to do with love? On the contrary, I think sometimes love grows stronger when one is brave enough to be a little unfaithful.

GLORIA: Oh, Penelope! What an impression a woman like you would make on Earth today! They would put you on display right away… And you’d get contracts left and right…

PENELOPE: Tell us about yourself. (In a most intimate tone.) Tell me about yourself…Did you ever fall in love?

GLORIA: (Amusingly.) Many times.

PENELOPE: (In amazement.) You too…? And why so many times?

GLORIA: Because there is no sport as fun as love.

HELEN: (Perversely.) Penelope, do you see what you were missing?

PENELOPE: (Frightened.) Oh, no! That’s not for me.

GLORIA: Life now, down there, has a vertiginous rhythm. Things change as fast as a movie. The same goes for men. There’s no time for sentimentality or nostalgia. It’s one image after another, one memory after another. One man…

PENELOPE: (Interrupting GLORIA.) Shut up. That’s blasphemy.

GLORIA: No, it’s a vindication. Women learned how to handle men just as easily as they learned how to play golf.

GEORGE: (Disdainful.) They always knew how to handle them. They just didn’t know it was like handling golf clubs because golf hadn’t been invented yet.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Gloria, don’t lie to us. Love has always been the same and it will never change.

GLORIA: Poor Lady of the Camellias…the girls today can’t help but laugh about your drama.

HELEN: Have I gone out of fashion too?

GLORIA: No. But that’s because they think you probably kidnapped Paris.

PENELOPE: (Outraged.) So now the Earth is an orgy…

GLORIA: No, not exactly. They invented a little atomic bomb and that is no orgy.

GEORGE: They’re just as uncaring as they’ve always been.

PENELOPE: What a shame… So many centuries later and they still haven’t changed…

HELEN: (Mocking.) Preaching out loud from all the way up here sure will do a lot of good.

MATA HARI: (Following the game.) Wouldn’t it be better to try to go down there to teach them all a lesson?

GLORIA: (Naturally.) I bet you’d have no trouble going down to Earth now. There is so much movement and so much confusion…

PENELOPE: (Outraged.) I would go down there and show women how to behave…if I thought Ulysses wouldn’t notice if I was gone.

HELEN: Would you let me help you do that?

PENELOPE: (Arrogant.) No. I’m the only one that was called to do it. There’s no one else like me. That is why history chose me.

MATA HARI: What if you fall in love?

PENELOPE: (With disdain.) That would be absurd!

GEORGE: But… suppose you go back to Earth and fall in love…

HELEN: Would you still be faithful to your husband?

PENELOPE: (Fiercely.) As faithful as I was back then.

GLORIA: I assure you, Penelope, that’s not possible.

PENELOPE: For me it is…

HELEN: By weaving and unweaving…

PENELOPE: (Motioning to leave.) Enough with the jokes. I’m done.

GLORIA: I have an idea. (These words are holding PENELOPE back.) Wouldn’t one of you like to go down to Earth?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (Interested.) You can’t be serious.

GLORIA: Yes, I’m serious. There’s so much chaos and confusion down there that there should be no problem for you to slip through…

PENELOPE: Have you left some great romance? Would you like someone to go and send a message?

GLORIA: I never had the time to let my romances go that far.

HELEN: (Anxious.) Could I go down?

GEORGE: This really only applies to Penelope. None of us wasted time the way she did. None of us deserve to go back as much as she does. None of us have as much of a right for a do-over.

PENELOPE: (Frightened. Trying to leave.) Are you making fun of me…?

GLORIA: You just have to go to the hotel where I lived when my time came. Plaza Alvear Hotel. Room 123. I don’t have any friends or relatives who will ask about me. You can go and say that you are a close friend and that you are going to take care of all my things.

PENELOPE: You’re all crazy. No. No. Not me…

HELEN: Did you leave nice things behind?

GLORIA: They were marvelous. Outfits, furs, and jewelry. A fortune.

HELEN: And why can’t I be the redeemer?

MATA HARI: No. It’s Penelope who should go to Earth and show modern women the stupendous lesson of incorruptible love.

PENELOPE: (Weakly.) Not me…

GEORGE: It’s a noble mission.

PENELOPE: (Even more weakly.) I…

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Don’t be scared. Go…

GLORIA: I’ll lend you my clothes. Your absence will go unnoticed. But you’ll have to come back soon…

HELEN: If you’re not back soon, I’ll go get you.

GEORGE: You’ll always find an excuse to travel.

MATA HARI: We’ll give you one year.

PENELOPE: (Frightened.) A year? And what will I do for a year?

GEORGE: Wasn’t it you who found a way to fill twenty…?

GLORIA: Let me give you a useful tip. If you get lonely, let a compact or a tissue fall to the ground. Then you won’t be lonely, you’ll see…(Everyone gathers around PENELOPE in a coordinated conspiracy.) We’re going to change outfits. Let’s see if they help us. Soon…(The others stand around PENELOPE and GLORIA, forming a screen in front of the public.)

PENELOPE: And if Ulysses or my son ask for me?

MATA HARI: We’ll say that the doctor told you to rest.

PENELOPE: But what if I get bored and want to come back?

GEORGE: You won’t because you would be ashamed to admit defeat. You have to show the world who Penelope really was…The goddess carved in marble!…

PENELOPE: I won’t be able to walk in heels?

HELEN: Your purity will give you balance. Even though it’s a false sense of balance. But it wouldn’t hurt to fall for once…

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: When you return don’t forget to bring me back a camellia. (The handsome figure of a man passes in the distance.)

HELEN: (Who is the first to spot him.) Look who’s there…The beautiful Brummel…(She runs to look at him and the others after her. Also, GLORIA walks by clumsily wearing PENELOPE’s tunic. PENELOPE stays in the middle of the scene wearing a hat, jacket, gloves and shoes. She tries in vain to pull down her short skirt in order to modestly cover her bare legs.)

CURTAIN

Act 1

Hall of a large hotel. The front desk. Armchairs. Smoking tables. An employee. A BELLHOP. In an armchair in the foreground, PENELOPE, showing her legs, crossing them and then uncrossing them, not knowing the correct posture. She observes everything with curiosity and slyness. She seems more at ease than before. She takes a powder compact out of her purse two or three times. Whenever a handsome man passes by, she drops it on the ground. No one notices the game. It suddenly falls, unintentionally, and an old man with a well-kept beard gives it back to her.

PENELOPE: (Scared. Rushing to grab the compact.) Oh!  Excuse me. This time it was unintentional.

LUDOVICO: (Distracted.) Let me get you your powder, miss. (Grasping what PENELOPE just said.) Wait, why this time? And what about the other times, then?

PENELOPE: (Embarrassed.) It was unintentional those times too. (Very quietly.) Another bearded man, no…

LUDOVICO: What a shame!

PENELOPE: I don’t understand, sir.

LUDOVICO: I know what you’re up to, young lady.

PENELOPE: (Maliciously.) I can’t believe this. (Taken aback.) Don’t think badly of me. (A BELLHOP approaches PENELOPE.)

BELLHOP: The elevator operator wants to know if the lady wants to go back up.

PENELOPE: No, thank you. I went up 15 times in a half an hour. (LUDOVICO looks in amazement at PENELOPE.)

BELLHOP: Alright, but if you want to keep going up and down, it doesn’t bother us.

PENELOPE: Oh, you’re so nice. (The BELLHOP looks at her with tired eyes. PENELOPE notices LUDOVICO’s surprise.) It’s so much fun.

LUDOVICO: Do you live here…?

PENELOPE: Yes. But I come from very far away. (Sitting down.)

LUDOVICO: (Also sitting down on the arm of the chair.) You’re from abroad?

PENELOPE: Even further.

LUDOVICO: Excuse me…?

PENÉLOPE: You could say that it’s…the furthest corner of the Earth.

LUDOVICO: (Suspiciously) For example…?

PENELOPE: I just went around the world.

LUDOVICO: In that case, I forgive you. I love far-away places and travel.

PENELOPE: You wouldn’t want to travel as far as I did, that was a little tiring.

LUDOVICO: If they had allowed me to choose my destiny, I would’ve been a road builder. But nobody asked me. It doesn’t matter: my son’s a pilot and he’ll support both of us.

PENELOPE: You have a son who’s a pilot? (As she says these words, a young handsome man enters the hall in official uniform. PENELOPE looks at him dazzled. Discreetly and without the bartender noticing, she drops her makeup powder on the floor again.)

LUDOVICO: Yes, ma’am. He’s already spent two thousand hours in the air. And his name is Arturo… But… I’m forgetting my social formalities. (Standing up.) I can’t blame my age, but I didn’t even introduce myself yet. Forgive me. I am Professor Ludovico Aldana. (He takes PENELOPE’s hand, which she stretched out to him without taking her eyes off the stranger. He takes a deep bow.)

PENELOPE: (Standing up as if in a dream, as if her spirit was lifted). This must have been what Paris, Romeo and Armando were like … (The professor looks at her as if he had seen madness on her face, but he follows her gaze and sees the young officer. ARTURO does not notice the compact that rolled to his feet. But he does notice the professor. They run towards each other and hug. PENELOPE picks up her compact.)

ARTURO: Papá, you splendid old man. 

LUDOVICO: Young man…

ARTURO: I made you come here because I wanted to see you before anyone else. I arrived a half hour ago. The first order I have to carry out is to introduce myself to the Colonel. He is living in this hotel. But I’ve already let myself give you a hug. (PENELOPE observes them sympathetically.)

LUDOVICO: Oh, I forgot. I was talking to the young lady.

PENELOPE: (With grace and flirtation.) Penelope García.

LUDOVICO: My son (Proudly.), Captain Arturo Ulises Aldana.

ARTURO: (Shaking hands with PENELOPE.) Pleased to meet you, miss. (Very close, captivated, attentive.) I’ve never seen eyes as blue as yours.

PENELOPE: (Attracted.) And I never thought eyes could be as dark as yours.

ARTURO: (Without looking away from her.) Papá… You met this marvelous creature and you never told me about her?

PENELOPE: (Without looking away from him.) Is there some reason I shouldn’t be doing this?

 LUDOVICO: I had never met her before. (Trying to leave with his son.) Miss, excuse us for leaving you so quickly.

ARTURO: No, papá. I don’t think you’ll be able to tear me out of here.

LUDOVICO: You have to go see the coronel. And then your mother will be waiting for us.

ARTURO: Tell mamá that I’m going to be late.

LUDOVICO: But you were the one who asked me to come get you.

ARTURO: Sometimes Heaven sends us a new plan.

PENELOPE: (Smiling like an angel.) Are you referring to me?

ARTURO: (Enchanted.) Yes.

PENELOPE: No. You’re the one who came from Heaven. Didn’t you come by plane?

ARTURO: Have you ever flown, miss?

PENELOPE: (Slyly.)  Sort of. I’ve been up above.

ARTURO: Then you know how to land. But this time, I feel like I’ve landed on clouds. Are you real or is this a dream?

LUDOVICO: Arturo Ulises…

ARTURO: Penelope…

LUDOVICO: (Offended that the couple is ignoring him.) Miss, best wishes.

PENELOPE: Don’t be angry with him, Señor Aldana. Even though his uniform makes him appear important, he’s still just a boy…

ARTURO: (Still absorbed in contemplating PENELOPE.) I never knew that dreams could come true. But now I know that I have waited for you all my life. (LUDOVICO bows with exaggerated circumspection and leaves.)

PENELOPE: He seemed a little irritated when he left.

ARTURO: (Laughing in enjoyment.) He looked at me like I was going crazy. But you have to go a little crazy to get what you want.

PENELOPE: Did you want something?

ARTURO: I wanted him to leave. Humanity never invented a better pretext than madness for its desires.

PENELOPE: (Flirtatious.) And what desires are we talking about now?

ARTURO: I want to fall at your feet.

PENELOPE: (Sits down.) Struck by cupid’s arrow?

ARTURO: (Acting it out in front of her.) I got hit hard. Modern steel is certainly strong.

PENELOPE: (Flattered.) This must be what they call love at first sight….

ARTURO: Why they? Why not us?

PENELOPE: Because I’m from another…

ARTURO: (Taken aback.) From what….?

PENELOPE:…from another planet. (Laughing.) I come from very far away. And there are things that I don’t understand. (Two men enter. They sit down further away, smoking.)

ARTURO: I’d like to teach them all to you.

PENELOPE: My ignorance doesn’t scare you?

ARTURO: When a man is with a woman he likes, he likes everything about her, even her ignorance. But when he’s with a woman he doesn’t like, even her best isn’t good enough. 

PENELOPE: You know so much!

ARTURO: (Humbly.) I know a little.

PENELOPE: (Privately.) What do you think about modern women?

ARTURO: They’re obnoxious, but I love them.

PENELOPE: (Frightened.) All of them?

ARTURO: Which is like not really loving any of them.

PENELOPE: And women from the past?

ARTURO: Which ones? Are they any different than the ones I know?

PENELOPE: I’m talking about the ones from history and legend.

ARTURO: They’re lovely. (Pause.) But they should stay in the past and in legends. They’d be unbearable in this day and age.

PENELOPE: (Amused.) Really?

ARTURO: Yes, really. But, back to you, Penelope. (Realizing the significance of her name.) Penelope… but, wasn’t she….?

PENELOPE: Yes. Of course. There was already one before me.

ARTURO: The one who was knitting… fake knitting…

PENELOPE: Yes…

ARTURO: (Full of pity.) And why did they punish her like that, condemning her to perpetual fidelity?

PENELOPE: (Fiery.) I don’t believe it was a punishment.

ARTURO: (Still full of pity.) Who would do that to her?

PENELOPE: My mother. And Penelope’s fate wasn’t a bad one.

ARTURO: But it wasn’t a good one either. Some myths don’t age well.

PENELOPE: (After some silence.) Don’t you believe in fidelity, Arturo Ulises?

ARTURO: (Merciful.) Penelope… (A BELLHOP approaches them.)

BELLHOP: Are you Captain Aldana? (ARTURO makes an affirmative gesture.) Coronel Saravia is waiting in his room.

ARTURO: That’s great. Thank you. (The BELLHOP walks away.) What are you doing here? Where do you live? Where can I come back to see you?

PENELOPE:  I can’t answer all of your questions at once.

ARTURO: Then answer the most important one, where do you live?

PENELOPE: Here.

ARTURO: With who? Alone, married, divorced, widowed?

PENELOPE: Alone.

ARTURO: Are you waiting for someone?

PENELOPE: (Jokingly.) Yes. For you.

ARTURO: I am going up to see my boss and I’ll come back in a few minutes. Do you promise to wait for me?

PENELOPE: If you don’t trust women, why would you trust me?

ARTURO:  My coming back doesn’t mean I trust you.

PENELOPE: And if I do wait, what does that mean?

ARTURO: That you’re different from anyone else and that you’re the woman of my dreams. Do you promise? (Getting up and starting to walk away.)

PENELOPE: Sure, as long as it doesn’t take as long as last time…

ARTURO: (Stopping, surprised.) What…?

PENELOPE: (Smiling naively.) Nothing. I didn’t say anything. (ARTURO moves away.) Will I only have one destiny? And this time with still hands… (Crossing and uncrossing her legs. She takes out a tissue from her bag, She throws it on the ground, then picks it up. The two men that entered observe with impertinence.) 

OCTAVIO LASTRA: I like this woman. There’s something different about her.

MARCELO URDANIZ: She’s just like all the rest. If you notice anything different about her, it must be your imagination.

OCTAVIO: You’re such a skeptic. How do I introduce myself?

MARCELO: You don’t even know if she’s alone?

OCTAVIO: She looks like an independent woman.

MARCELO: What about the official who was with her? Maybe he’s her husband.

OCTAVIO: Her husband? Have you never seen a husband up close?

MARCELO: You’re annoying her with your incessant staring. (PENELOPE notices the stranger’s attitude and feels uncomfortable.)

OCTAVIO: Now let’s see…(Gets up and boldly walks towards PENELOPE.) My dear Señora Chostakova…For a moment I was afraid that it wasn’t you. But it’s because I’ve never seen you look so beautiful.

PENELOPE: (Surprised.) Sir…

OCTAVIO: (Taking her hand and kissing it respectfully.) You don’t recognize me? It was in Paris during the year of the Grand Exposition.  The Count Villa de Noirsis introduced us one night in the Cremaillére…

PENELOPE: (Naive.) I think you must have me confused with someone else.

OCTAVIO: That can’t be. You haven’t changed. You’re unforgettable.

PENELOPE: But I was never in Paris.

OCTAVIO: That’s not possible. You must have been (He immediately takes out a cigarette case. He offers her a cigarette and PENELOPE shyly takes it.) Do you smoke?

PENELOPE: I assure you, sir, that…

OCTAVIO: (Taking out a lighter.) Want a light?

PENELOPE: But, sir…

OCTAVIO: Octavio Lastra. If I’m mistaken, I beg you to forgive me. What an uncanny resemblance… (PENELOPE chokes on cigarette smoke.)

PENELOPE: I try to smoke as little as possible.

OCTAVIO: Do you sing?

PENELOPE: No. I knit.

OCTAVIO: (Surprised.) What…?

PENELOPE: (Starting to get annoyed.) Nothing.

OCTAVIO: Would you allow me to introduce you to a friend? We could celebrate this happy accident with a cocktail…

PENELOPE: I can’t. I’m so sorry. I’m waiting.

OCTAVIO: Why do it alone? Time goes by faster when it’s spent with more people.

PENELOPE: (Proudly).  I’m used to it.

OCTAVIO: That is a bad habit. Women shouldn’t have to wait for anything. Men should wait for them.

PENELOPE: (With a tender look towards the place where ARTURO disappeared.) But…if it’s love we’re waiting for?

OCTAVIO: Are you sure you’re not mistaken?

PENELOPE: (With a deep sigh.) No, that’s impossible. Love is always easy to recognize.

OCTAVIO: (Amazed.) Your expression isn’t common. You’re not a woman of this world.

PENELOPE: (Jokingly.) How’d you guess?

OCTAVIO: (Smugly.) But my dear…

PENELOPE: (More than mocking.) Penelope. Penelope García. (At this moment a woman enters with a beautiful dog. While the woman asks the doorman for the key, the dog gets loose. PENELOPE calls the dog to cut off this conversation, which she’s no longer interested in.)

OCTAVIO: May I greet you whenever I meet you?

PENELOPE: (Distracted by the dog.) Why yes… Yes of course… He’s beautiful… What’s his name? (OCTAVIO LASTRA feels he has been dismissed. He makes an exaggerated bow.) 

OCTAVIO: It’s been a great pleasure… (PENELOPE waves goodbye distractedly with a slight nod. OCTAVIO LASTRA moves away closer to MARCELO URDÁNIZ, who has had an amused expression for the entirety of the scene. The two men leave. The dog’s owner approaches PENELOPE.)

SRA. ALEX: Do you like dogs?

PENELOPE: A lot. They’re excellent companions.

SRA. ALEX: I love them so much… Because they don’t talk. And because they let me talk about myself.

PENELOPE: All the advantages.

SRA. ALEX: Sometimes there are disadvantages. (In a quiet voice.) The housekeeper in my suite complains.

PENELOPE: That doesn’t matter. She’d complain even if you didn’t have a dog. And if he makes you happy…

SRA. ALEX: I don’t have children. I couldn’t decide between buying a dog or adopting a boy. I decided on this. (Smiles.) Children are not all the rage.

PENELOPE: (Amazed and naive.) Not all the rage?

SRA. ALEX: You’re very nice. And very elegant. I’ve seen you a few times around here. You’ve caught my attention. Lately, my friends have been complaining that I don’t have enough pretty women at my table. Do you want to have dinner with me tonight? I’m having some guests over. There are around ten of us.

PENELOPE: I don’t know if I can. I have another commitment. But, anyhow, I really appreciate it, señora.

SRA. ALEX: Leave your answer later with the doorman later under the name of Alex. I’ll ask about you.

PENELOPE: You’re very kind. I won’t forget you.

SRA. ALEX: See you later. (To the dog.) Totó… Here, Totó. (To PENELOPE.) That was the name of my first husband… Come, my darling… (She walks away murmuring endearing words to her dog. She leaves and two young people enter from the opposite side. They are around the same age, wearing exercise clothes. They see PENELOPE who moves back to the foreground.)

SUZY: (Slyly pointing at PENELOPE.) This is Gloria Warren’s friend. She came to take care of her things.

TEDDY: (Sighing.) She’s just the kind of person I need to add to my inferiority complex.

SUZY: Is she as rich as Gloria?

TEDDY: All I know is that she’s very pretty.

SUZY: Pretty! Pretty! That is not important. There’s only one sign that matters these days. The dollar sign!

TEDDY: You’re so materialistic, sister…

SUZY: I am your salvation, brother. You play polo, sail a yacht, and spend summers on the ranch, because I know how to choose your friends. Our bank accounts left us high and dry a long time ago.

TEDDY: You’re not bad at taking care of both of us, since you enjoy the good life too.

SUZY: I’m your ticket to success.

TEDDY: So much generosity would move me if you didn’t seem so cynical.

SUZY: Cynical? I’m a business woman. And social ambition is a business that hasn’t been fully explored.

TEDDY: What do you want?

SUZY: (Dragging out her words.) Money and influence.

TEDDY: But, back to this blonde angel…

SUZY: Let me do it. Pretend to be distracted. Stay here and smoke. (She heads towards PENELOPE.) Excuse me, miss. I just found out that you were Gloria Warren’s friend. I can’t imagine the pain caused by this tragic accident.

PENELOPE: (Surprised.) It was truly painful. You met her here, right?

SUZY: Yes. But we became great friends instantly.

PENELOPE: How strange! She told me that she didn’t have any friends here.

SUZY: (Puzzled.) How could she have told you that?

PENELOPE: (Afraid that she said too much.) No…Roughly speaking… In the last letter that I received from her…

SUZY: She was a lovely woman. Everyone tried to get to know her and honor her (Pauses.) Are you also North American? But no, what a silly question…you speak our language too well.

PENELOPE: I learned it when I was very young.

SUZY: Can I ask where you’re from?

PENELOPE: The sky.

SUZY: (Laughing.) How original….

PENELOPE: They say that telling the truth will help us believe in it.

SUZY: My boyfriend tells me the same thing when he lies.

PENELOPE: (Looking at TEDDY.) He’s a handsome guy.

SUZY: That’s my brother. My boyfriend’s in Brazil.

PENELOPE: Are you getting married soon?

SUZY: Yes, that is, if I haven’t already married someone else by the time he comes back.

PENELOPE: (Surprised.) Miss…

SUZY: Call me Suzy.

PENELOPE: And you can’t wait for your boyfriend to return?

SUZY: He’s taking so long. I’m not very patient. Life goes on and I have to keep moving forward.

PENELOPE: (A bit declamatory, as if she remembered the promised lesson.) But there’s nothing more beautiful than waiting for the return of the man that you love. His absence is full of memories, nostalgia, of small details that accumulate and join into a single emotion every time you hear his name.

SUZY: (Disrespectful and sarcastic.) Are you ok?

PENELOPE: Who?

SUZY: I thought you weren’t feeling well.

PENELOPE: (Naive.) I’m fine, thank you. (Pause.) And then when the time comes for his return… You know, there was once a woman named Penelope…

SUZY: Oh! Yes. I already know. I learned about her in high school. But, what if what happens to her happens to me? They say her husband took several years to return. And they also say that she waited for him without cheating even once.

PENELOPE: That’s the absolute truth.

SUZY: Such self-control!  But who’s to say his conduct was equally irreproachable?

PENELOPE: (Reacting.) Oh, Ulysses…!

SUZY: (As if she didn’t hear.) Because you can’t convince me that a man knows how to wait. And if he doesn’t wait around in despair, why should a woman allow herself to grow old and grey without enjoying some of life’s little pleasures?

PENELOPE: (A bit disturbed.) Naturally…there is some truth to that (immediately scared)… No, it can’t be true…fidelity….

SUZY: I have a feeling that you are a bit…shy…You talk too much about fidelity. Let me introduce you to my brother. I’m sure you’ll hit it off right away. Gloria Warren had come to think highly of him. (PENELOPE nods with an evasive gesture.) Teddy….Teddy…..Come here… (TEDDY approaches.) Miss…

PENELOPE: Penelope García. (The siblings look surprised.)

SUZY: (Disappointed.) García? (Pauses.) My brother.

TEDDY: It’s such a pleasure to meet you.

PENELOPE: (Already a bit tired.) Thank you. But I must excuse myself. I’m waiting for a friend. And I want him to find me…

SUZY: He’ll find you here right away.

PENELOPE: I know. But…I need to take care of some things.

TEDDY: We can see each other later.

PENELOPE: Another time. It was a pleasure to meet you. I would like to continue teaching this young woman a lesson that she hasn’t learned yet.

 SUZY: Do you want to join us tomorrow for a polo game?

PENELOPE: Tomorrow? I don’t know if I can…

SUZY: I’ll call you on the phone in the morning.

PENELOPE: Great. You have no idea how much that device amuses me.

TEDDY: (Astonished.) What…?

PENELOPE: (Understanding her gaffe.) No. Nothing. I meant to say…. (To SUZY.) Let’s talk about the benefits of fidelity.

SUZY: Wouldn’t it be nicer if we didn’t? Ever since I was little, I’ve hated fairy tales.

PENELOPE: (In a hurry.) All right… See you tomorrow.

SUZY: (Exaggerating her affection.) My dear friend…

TEDDY: Miss…

PENELOPE: (She holds out her hand. TEDDY looks at her rings and takes a deep breath.) Goodbye. (The siblings walk away, PENELOPE looks relieved.) It’s so hard to be alone!…..Also, if I’m all alone I won’t be able to fulfill the mission that brought me to Earth. (Pause. While remembering.) So, Ulises, huh?.. But how would I…?. (At that moment ARTURO returns impetuously.)

ARTURO: (Almost jumping.) Penelope… You’ve waited for me… It’s so late… I thought the boss would  never let us go.

PENELOPE: Hadn’t I promised?

ARTURO: I never took promises that seriously.

PENELOPE: Then it’s time to consider taking them more seriously.

ARTURO: With you? With you, Miss Penelope? Can we be informal with each other? Let me address you on more familiar terms. I feel like I met you centuries ago. There is something that is pulling me to you from the beyond.

PENELOPE: You’re making me dizzy, mister.

ARTURO: You don’t have to be so formal with me. Call me Arturo.

PENELOPE: (Shy.) I don’t know…

ARTURO: It’s like getting your mouth ready for a kiss: Ar-tu-ro. 

PENELOPE: I can’t. I’m scared too…

ARTURO: Scared of what?

PENELOPE: An hour ago you didn’t exist.

ARTURO: Time’s not important. Either we meet right away or we don’t meet at all. Either we fall in love right away or we don’t fall in love at all. Listen, the boss has just chosen me to carry out a mission abroad. I have to leave in fifteen days. Don’t you understand that these fifteen days will be my life?  I’m going by plane. You never know what could happen in the air. So I’m focused on the next fifteen days. Fifteen, Penelope. Every minute for me is a whole day for others. I’ve known you for thirty minutes. So, it’s thirty days. In thirty days a man can know if he loves a woman…

PENELOPE: (Almost convinced.) Yes…

ARTURO: I love you, Penelope.

PENELOPE: That’s awful.

ARTURO: What’s awful?

PENELOPE: (Dream-like.) I forgot to ask if I can get married again.

ARTURO: (Shocked.) You have a husband?

PENELOPE: (Embarrassed. Hesitating.) I mean… I was married…but now…I’m divorced.

ARTURO: Who cares about that? I wasn’t even thinking about that….

PENELOPE: (Startled.) What?

ARTURO: (Revealing his carelessness.) Oh, I’m so sorry.

PENELOPE: (In a reproachful tone.) Oh! What a bad opinion you’ve formed of me! I am not like Helen of Troy! I don’t just go on trips and pick up men.

ARTURO: You’ve gotten sidetracked my love.

PENELOPE: People talk badly about her.

ARTURO: (Without trying to understand.) Penelope, would you like to marry me?

PENELOPE: I’m stunned. Let me think about it. (Talking to herself.) But, if I don’t get married, how will I preach fidelity?

ARTURO: Let’s not overthink things. That won’t do any good. Listen, Penelope. When a man is like me and is named Arturo Ulises Aldana, the woman who meets him must fall into his arms.

PENELOPE: (Hesitant.) Arturo Ulises….Ulysses… (Determined.) May my destiny be fulfilled. (Standing up.) So I can teach the women of today how they should love and wait for their men.

ARTURO: (Also standing up.) Shall we go to my house to share the news?

PENELOPE: (Sitting back down, disheartened.) I don’t think your father likes me.

ARTURO: (Also sitting.) Why not?

PENELOPE: He caught me dropping my compact.

ARTURO: Poor Papá. He’s getting old.

PENELOPE: Would your mother like to meet me?

ARTURO: She’s always accepting of everything. I’m her only child.

PENELOPE: That reminds me of a friend who only has one child. She loves him very much. But she has had to go far away and she has begun to forget about him a little. She is absorbed by the mission she must fulfill for humanity.

ARTURO: (Solemn.) You’re delightful, Penelope. I adore you.

PENELOPE: Arturo, are you sure about what we’re going to do?

ARTURO: Yes. Because I believe in you. And because I believe in your name.

PENELOPE: An hour ago you didn’t believe in any woman.

ARTURO: I never thought I would find someone named Penelope. Because also… you can’t tell anyone. There is nothing I’m more afraid of than an unfaithful woman.

PENELOPE: You’re wonderful.

ARTURO: The only wonderful thing that the universe invented is you.

PENELOPE: How will I know how to make you happy?

ARTURO: If you’re by my side I’ll be happy. (He stands up and holds out his hand out to PENELOPE.)

PENELOPE: (Also standing.) In your absence I will wait for your return counting the moments that separate us with each and every stitch.

ARTURO: (Reaching out to her.) I’ve never seen eyes as blue as yours.

PENELOPE: And I’ve never seen eyes as dark as yours… (They walk away blissful and happy.)

CURTAIN

Act 2

The scene takes place in PENELOPE and ARTURO’s home. It is a luxurious room full of flowers. When the curtain rises, no one is on stage, TRINIDAD immediately enters, ushering in OCTAVIO LASTRA.

OCTAVIO: And Mrs. Aldana?

TRINIDAD: She hasn’t returned yet. She went out to buy some things.  She told me that if anyone arrived before she got back, they should wait for her.

OCTAVIO: (Observing her, trying to get closer.) Has anyone ever told you that you’re a beautiful criolla?

TRINIDAD: (Embarrassed.) Sir…you’re trying to flatter me….

OCTAVIO: No, not at all. I like to be nice to you because I have never been treated more differentially anywhere else.

TRINIDAD: I treat you differently, because not everyone’s the same.

OCTAVIO: (In a sudden movement.) And I would even like to repay you with a small gift for your kindness. (He takes a banknote from his wallet and puts it in the maid’s hands.)

TRINIDAD: No, sir. I shouldn’t…

OCTAVIO: (Making her take the money.) What should be done isn’t always done. Take it. Buy yourself something nice.

TRINIDAD: Oh! The gentleman is very generous.

OCTAVIO: Don’t give it a second thought.

TRINIDAD: Would you like me to get you anything, sir?

OCTAVIO: Yes… that would be nice… maybe a whiskey.

TRINIDAD: I’ll bring out the ice right now. (She leaves for a moment. OCTAVIO looks at the flowers and reads the cards with an expression of disdain. TRINIDAD returns.) Pretty flowers, right? The lady’s friends are very nice. Almost every morning they add more to this garden. (Serving him a glass of whiskey.)

OCTAVIO: (Taking the glass.) Do you know if news has arrived from Captain Aldana?

TRINIDAD: (Sadly.) Nothing, Poor thing! She hasn’t even been married for a year and she already has to pick out her funeral attire. Because, you know, neither the newspapers nor the government have managed to find any trace of him.

OCTAVIO: He must have been lost at sea.

TRINIDAD: That’s what I told the lady last night. Out of sheer clumsiness, because my desire was to comfort her. But, I shouldn’t have said anything. (Confidentially.) It must have upset her because I saw the light on in her room all night. And this morning, when I brought her breakfast, the first thing she said to me was: You know what, Trinidad? I stayed awake and finished it. I don’t know why, but from her tone she sounded pretty happy to me. And there’s nothing happy about it… (The doorbell rings repeatedly.) That must be her. She forgot the key again. (She exits. A second later, PENELOPE enters. Very elegant, more flirtatious, more audacious, more sociable.)

PENELOPE: (Holding out her hand to OCTAVIO.) My dear friend.

OCTAVIO: (Kissing her hand.) Penelope. I tried to get here before the others so I could be alone with you. I need to talk to you.

PENELOPE: (Smiling.) This again?

OCTAVIO: Again. I can’t wait any longer, Penelope. I feel devoured by a passion so immense and only you can save me.

PENELOPE: (Weakly defending herself.) But Octavio… be reasonable…What am I supposed to do? I don’t even know what my true status is yet.

OCTAVIO: You have to be brave and accept it. Your husband isn’t coming back. Three months without any news gives us an exact idea of what has happened.

PENELOPE: The remains of his plane would have been found at least….

OCTAVIO: (Solemnly.) He must have been pulled into the bosom of the ocean.

PENELOPE: (Joking.) I don’t think it’s right for him to be pulled to anyone else’s bosom.

OCTAVIO: You have to get used to that idea, Penelope.

PENELOPE: At first I cried a little. But now I’m worried about getting wrinkles. My massage therapist says that crying will ruin my looks.  

OCTAVIO: (Close to her.) Accept the love that I offer you. It’s intense.

PENELOPE: But I have to know my true marital status first.

OCTAVIO: Answer me seriously.

PENELOPE: Why should I be serious? (Laughing.) Isn’t my smile sweet?

OCTAVIO: (Impetuous. Trying to kiss her.) Yes, but it could still be sweeter.

PENELOPE: (Jumping back just in time.) No…No…No (From a distance. Insinuating and flirtatious.) You bad boy.

OCTAVIO: Bad… And yet the memory of that kiss burns me…

PENELOPE: Your memory baffles me.

OCTAVIO: I think you must be in love with someone else.

PENELOPE: I’m in love with everyone and no one in particular. (Reading the cards in the flowers.) Teddy. Roberto. Casal. Marcelo Urdaniz. Octavio Lastra. Oh! Thanks, Octavio. They’re beautiful. Count Enrico Enzolaro. How thoughtful you all are!… I don’t know how I’ll ever repay all these men for their kindness.

OCTAVIO: You know that each one of them is waiting for you.

PENELOPE: (Complaining. In a farcical tone.) But I still don’t know where my husband is. If they continue to harass me like this, I will also have to undo at night what my hands do during the day.

OCTAVIO: You’re such an adorable liar… Your days are full of different activities. I bet you haven’t even started your knitting you were planning so you could be like the other Penelope.

PENELOPE: (Slyly.) Don’t be so sure. You might be surprised… (TRINIDAD enters, ushering in SUZY and TEDDY. They all greet cordially, indicating their mutual trust.)

SUZY: (Hugging PENELOPE.) My dear friend… We were invited out on a yacht but we decided to come and spend the afternoon with you instead.

PENELOPE: Thank you, Suzy. You’re so nice. (Somewhat mocking.) Sometimes I worry that you’ll get tired of visiting me every day.

TEDDY: (To PENELOPE.) She knows that I am only happy when I’m here. 

SUZY: How was dinner last night at the Mendizabals’?

PENELOPE: Good. It was an intimate group. But we danced until very late.

SUZY: Do you have any regrets?

PENELOPE: Just that I’m not officially a widow yet.

TEDDY: Were they flirting with you a lot?

PENELOPE: I know how to defend myself. I have thick armor.

SUZY: I believe you… Teddy was the one who was worried, he was upset that he wasn’t invited… (ROBERTO CASAL enters accompanied by two women. Greetings. Familiarity.)

ROBERTO: How’s our beautiful Penelope?

PENELOPE: You’re such punctual friends.

WOMAN 1: I don’t know what kind of spell your house puts on all of us. Look how we’re all drawn to it.

ROBERTO: (Very close to the mistress of the house.) Penelope, these people get in my way. When will I be able to see you alone?

SUZY: (Close enough to ROBERTO to hear him.) Are there really people here who get in the way? Last night, when you drove me home in your car, you told me quite the opposite. You said that I was the only good part of this Volga boatman’s chorus. I guess Penelope must be the boat. (PENELOPE laughs. ROBERTO is annoyed. SUZY is amused.)

PENELOPE: My friend, words are double-edged swords. Even our own words turn against us and threaten to cut off… our breath. (She walks over to the little table on wheels that the maid brings.) Help yourselves to whatever you like. There’s something for everyone. I don’t want to have to take care of you, I want you all to take care of me. (They all come closer and serve themselves. Laughs. Ruckus.)

SUZY: Should we form a bridge table later?

WOMAN 2: I’d rather we pick a game that we all can play.

OCTAVIO:  Is anyone else coming?

PENELOPE: It’ll be the same ones as usual.

WOMAN 2: We’ll need a pallet and cards. We should play Baccarat. I’m tired of playing Bridge.

ROBERTO: (To SUZY, separately.) Why are you being so indiscreet?

SUZY: Why are you being so stubborn? That woman won’t be yours.

ROBERTO: Jealous?

SUZY: Of you? Why would I want to be with a man who’s part of another woman’s fan club?

ROBERTO: What if I dedicated myself only to you?

SUZY: (Sarcastic.) Maybe all I want is for you to drop out of the competition.

ROBERTO: I don’t understand. Which competition?

SUZY: Penelope. Haven’t you noticed that she favors Teddy?

ROBERTO: Oh! I get it. It’s not me you’re after.

SUZY: You’re so pretentious. I love the diamonds… on her. (She walks away from him.)

PENELOPE: Teddy, we’re out of whiskey. Come open this bottle.

TEDDY: (Closer to her.) I could open the doors of Heaven just for you.

PENELOPE: Don’t do it. They’ll give me a hard time.

ROBERTO: (Close to PENELOPE again.) I need to see you alone. Let me leave and come back after everyone’s gone.

PENELOPE: Have you forgotten that I am a faithfully married woman?

ROBERTO: A married woman that doesn’t know if she has a husband. This is your life. Don’t waste it.

PENELOPE: What about Arturo?

ROBERTO: I don’t think he’s coming back. And if he does come back, too bad for him. I would’ve known not to leave you if you were mine.

PENELOPE: Arturo has faith in me.

ROBERTO: That’s even more foolish.

PENELOPE: (In a disapproving tone.) Roberto… Arturo was a very good friend of yours.

ROBERTO: Exactly. No one has more of a right than me to inherit his property. (MARCELO URDANIZ and COUNT ENRICO ENZOLARO arrive. They greet each other.)

COUNT: (Kissing PENELOPE’S hand.) The hours between yesterday and today seemed endless.

PENELOPE: But Count… You left me at three o’clock this morning at the door of my house.

COUNT: You are a woman that no one would ever want to be separated from.

PENELOPE: Do you want to help yourself to anything?

COUNT: Your love, without ice.

PENELOPE: (Kidding around.) You just asked me for something I don’t have in my cellar.

MARCELO: Then I’ll be less demanding. A smile from you and a sherry.

WOMAN  2: Definitely, Penelope. Your court of admirers has decided to ignore us.

WOMAN 2: I know you’re charming but I wonder what else is making you so intriguing and appealing. Maybe it’s this absent husband of yours. Or could it be the thrill of getting caught if he does return?

PENELOPE: (Interrupting her.) This doesn’t faze me. I’ve heard worse. Let’s talk about something else, something other than me.

MARCELO: But your beauty reigns supreme, Penelope.

WOMAN 1: You’re an abandoned woman. We’re all inspired by your fidelity.

WOMAN 2: To be honest, I would be more inspired by your infidelity.

PENELOPE: I don’t think I can forget my husband.

OCTAVIO: Until when?

ROBERTO: It’s a secret. Don’t tell him Penelope.

COUNT: You promised us you would decide once you finished knitting.

SUZY: Penelope, the one from the story, she knitted.

COUNT: Can’t we update that story a little?

PENELOPE: (Shy, solemn. Lowering her eyes.) But the truth is that, last night, I finished my knitting.

ROBERTO:  Penelope… I don’t even care that everyone’s here now. I would be honored to ask you for your hand.

PENELOPE: (Pleasant laugh.) Roberto… let’s call a truce for a few minutes.

TEDDY: This joke is going too far… I propose that… (The phone rings. SUZY picks up the receiver. She signals the others to be quiet.)

SUZY: (A little tipsy from the drink.) Who is it? Yes, this is Aldana’s wife’s residence—A friend. And you are? An admirer? Another one? But we already have five here… Do you want to court her too? (She laughs wildly and the others with her.) No, no. The lady is busy. Don’ttell anyone. It’s a secret. She is very busy, but Penelope no longer knits… (She hangs up and everyone laughs.)

MARCELO: Penelope, it’s so cruel of you to act like this when there are so many of us who are vying for your attention.

WOMAN 2: Gentlemen… Are there no other women here besides Penelope? (Ostentatiously crossing her legs.) Why am I not getting through to anyone?

WOMAN 1: I propose a somewhat unusual game for people our age. It will reveal your destiny. Blind Man’s Bluff. Penelope will be blindfolded and she’ll choose her next lover. The king is dead! Long live the king!

PENELOPE: Are you going to blindfold me?

ROBERTO: Yes, that way you can’t just choose your favorite…

PENELOPE: I don’t have a favorite.

OCTAVIO: Or the one who loves you the most.

PENELOPE: Everyone loves me.

TEDDY: But you have to pick one. Only one, do you understand?

PENELOPE: What a pity! You’ve all taken such good care of me…

ROBERTO: (Almost secretly) Penelope, I can’t give you up. Just cheat. You’ll recognize me by my cologne. But choose me…

PENELOPE: (Very funny.) Who will lend me a scarf?

OCTAVIO: I will. On the condition that you come straight to my arms.

PENELOPE: You’re so greedy (SUZY ties the scarf around PENELOPE’s eyes… The game begins. Laughs. Uproar. When she bumps into women she rejects them. When she bumps into a man, she doesn’t recognize him. Finally, she takes one man’s arm.) Octavio… No, it’s not Octavio. Marcelo… No, it’s not Marcelo either… (The game takes her to ROBERTO, she recognizes him.) Roberto…

ROBERTO: (Radiant.) Yes…it’s me… (The women applaud. The other men grumble resentfully but happily.)

PENELOPE: (Taking off the blindfold.) Oh!

ROBERTO: (Taking her in his arms and looking into her eyes.) Penelope… I am the happiest of the mortals.

TEDDY: We have to know how to lose. Let’s toast… (Each one looks for his glass. They all rise in a boisterous toast. PENELOPE and ROBERT stand in the middle of the scene, almost embracing. PENELOPE still holding the blindfold in her fingers. At that moment, ARTURO arrives violently and before entering, he pauses on the threshold of the door, indignant, out of breath.)

EVERYONE: (Except PENELOPE.) The….

PENELOPE: (Flustered.) Arturo…

ARTURO: (At the height of excitement.) So five suitors, huh? So Penelope doesn’t knit anymore, does she? So my good friends waited desperately for news of my disappearance… Out… Everyone out… (With a dismayed expression they all start to leave. ROBERTO stops for a moment in front of him.)

ROBERTO: Arturo, I…

ARTURO: Shut up. You’re worse than anyone… Go away…I don’t want to hear from any of you again. Everyone out… like dogs… (Only PENELOPE and ARTURO stay. PENELOPE’s face changes.)

PENELOPE: Arturo…

ARTURO: You had already stopped waiting for me. I was already dead to you. I was already buried and now you raise your glass to another man… You’re a bad woman…

PENELOPE: (Whimpering.) Arturo, I’m so happy to see you that I won’t even try to defend myself. You’re back, Arturo… (She approaches him as if she is going to hug him.)

ARTURO: You are, huh? You want to hold on to me now, but you couldn’t hold on to my memory. After only three months, your memory of me had faded into the background while you were entertaining others.

PENELOPE: Blame them!

ARTURO:  And what about you?… You’re an innocent victim, right? A helpless creature that tried to stay alone to mourn the absence of her beloved. And they call you Penelope.

PENELOPE: But I assure you that I’ve done nothing wrong. They came every day to spend a few hours with me. They played….

ARTURO: They drank… And… What is that handkerchief still in your hand?

PENELOPE: (Hesitant.) Blind Man’s Bluff …

ARTURO: (Furious.) Blind Man’s Bluff? Oh I could just kill you…

PENELOPE: (Scared.) But I didn’t do anything.

ARTURO: You didn’t do anything?

PENELOPE: (Whimpering.) Not yet.

ARTURO: (Dumbfounded.) Yet? (Sarcastic.) Boy am I lucky. Naturally… And, like the other Penelope, you haven’t finished your knitting either, right?

PENELOPE: (Naive, with her eyes wide open.) I did finish. Last night…

 ARTURO: (In the height of despair.) No! I can’t believe it. (Calling the maid with intemperate cries.) Trinidad! Trinidad! (The maid appears and is terrified when she sees Arturo.)

TRINIDAD: Souls of purgatory…

ARTURO: Yes. Souls. But from the Earth.

PENELOPE: (Lovingly.)  It’s the gentleman who has returned. Trini… Hey… Do you want to go to my room and bring me the box of knitting supplies? (She gestures with her hands a large sized box.)

TRINIDAD: Yes ma’am. Right away. (She exits looking at ARTURO as if she doesn’t believe her eyes.)

ARTURO: The tender promise that you made me was adorable, you said you’d wait for me like the other Penelope and to distract your suitors by knitting and unknitting a piece that you would never finish. Penelope… What have you done with our lives? (He falls down in an armchair.)

PENELOPE: (With pity.) Arturo, I haven’t stopped loving you…

ARTURO: You never loved me.

PENELOPE: (Behind him. Resting a hand on his shoulder.) And I still love you with all my soul.

ARTURO: Your soul must be no bigger than a grain of corn. And easy to peck at. (Getting angry.) But you were playing Blind Man’s Bluff.

PENELOPE: It’s not what you think. We played it to distract ourselves. (Reacting.)  How do I know you weren’t cheating on me?

ARTURO: (Bitter.) You didn’t waste any time, just in case…

PENELOPE: (Conciliatory.) Let’s not torture ourselves, Arturo. (Making her voice tender.) Come here, by my side, and tell me what happened to you. Tell me where you were hiding, and how you managed to save yourself. (TRINIDAD enters with the box of knitting supplies, much smaller than PENELOPE’s hands had suggested. She exits immediately, still looking at ARTURO suspiciously.)

ARTURO: (Amazed at the small size of the box.) Is this all?

PENELOPE: (Lowering her eyes.) Yes… (ARTURO opens the box and pulls out a knitted square, no larger than a woman’s handkerchief.)

ARTURO: And this…?

PENELOPE: A scapular, to hold your portrait.

ARTURO: (Sarcastically.) I hope you didn’t tire yourself out working so hard, you poor thing…

PENELOPE: (Naive.) No…

ARTURO: I can’t decide whether to laugh or strangle you.

PENELOPE: But I didn’t have time to make anything better. (Tearful.) I made it for you, after all, and you’re being ungrateful.

ARTURO: So now it’s my fault.

PENELOPE: (Whimpering again.) You don’t understand, Arturo. You don’t want to understand. A woman shouldn’t be left alone. Right after you left, the idea of not seeing you again drove me crazy. But when I didn’t hear from you, I thought you were gone forever.

ARTURO: (Sarcastic.) Since you thought I died, your pain grew stronger and stronger…

PENELOPE: No, I became resigned to it, I learned to accept it, but I wanted to keep on living… I didn’t want to waste my life.

ARTURO: (Hurt.) That’s enough.

PENELOPE: (Close to him again.) I want you to understand me, Arturo. I didn’t do anything compromising. And besides, I’m so glad to see you… (Pause.) Tell me where you were and how you survived.

ARTURO: (Giving in. But in a spiteful tone.)  In the Pacific… After a horrible storm. We ran out of gas…

PENELOPE: (Very serious and bourgeois.) It also ran out here.

ARTURO: (As if he hadn’t heard.) We had to land on an unknown island. No one saw our smoke signals until two days ago. They found us. We had to fight off the islanders who kept trying to cut the wings off the “bad bird.” I couldn’t talk to the press or call you because my trip was a state secret. And when I got here I wanted to surprise you…

PENELOPE: You should never do that. You never know who will end up being surprised.

ARTURO: I was so sure of your love. Ours was a union so different from all the others. We met and we fell in love like two creatures in a dream…

PENELOPE: (Repentant.) Arturo…

ARTURO: You didn’t know how to wait for me.

PENELOPE: I know… But…

ARTURO: You didn’t know how to be faithful while I was gone.

PENELOPE: I assure you that I was…

ARTURO: (Getting worked up.) You have become unfaithful to me… To me… To your Arturo… Unfaithful… Unfaithful… Unfaithful despite your name…

PENELOPE: I told you, Arturo, that I never…

ARTURO: (More worked up.) Who were you with? I want to know who it was and I want to know now.

PENELOPE: With no one. I’m asking you to believe me. Forget those bad thoughts. (Trying to hug him.) Kiss me, Arturo…

ARTURO: (Defending himself.) No. I want the truth.

PENELOPE: It’s what I told you.

ARTURO: You’re lying.

PENELOPE: (Crying.) I swear to you, my dear Arturo, that during my time on Earth, I haven’t loved anyone else but you… Kiss me, Arturo… (Forcing him to kiss her.) Kiss me…

ARTURO: (Brutally rejecting her.) You’re a bad woman. An adulteress…

PENELOPE: (Crying harder.) I love you, Arturo… (He rejects her again and she falls into a chair. She bows her head, defeated. Three strong knocks on the wall completely wake her up.) Did you hear that? Did you hear that banging Arturo?

ARTURO: What banging? What is it, an earthquake?

PENELOPE:  My God… has my time come? (She stands up as if receiving an invisible presence.) Who is it? (ARTURO looks at her strangely.)

VOICE FROM THE AFTERLIFE: (And if possible, the illuminated projection of Telemachus. Three meters high. Robust and bearded. A harp in hand.) Mother… mother… It’s me…

PENELOPE: Telemachus…

VOICE FROM THE AFTERLIFE: Your friends sent me to let you know that your time is up. And that father has been asking for you impatiently.

PENELOPE: Arturo… Did you hear that, Arturo? It’s all over.

ARTURO: What the hell are you talking about? There’s no one else here.

PENELOPE: (Fading away.) Arturo…

ARTURO: (Naturally, he cannot hear the VOICE FROM THE AFTERLIFE and he looks at PENELOPE as if he’s watching her go crazy.) Penelope…Penelope… (He runs towards her and takes her lifeless body in his arms. He lightly taps her to see if she’ll regain consciousness.) What happened to you, my love? Yes…my love… I’ve already started to forget everything… answer me…. Don’t be afraid. I forgive you… I forgive you…see how I’m holding you in my arms? (He touches her forehead.) It’s cold… Can you hear me? You asked me to kiss you. And I’ll kiss you… (He kisses her.) Have I lost you? Penelope… Penelope…

CURTAIN

Epilogue

(The action takes place again in the same place as the prologue. Heaven. The same characters as the prologue and the same last scene that led to the exchange of costumes between PENELOPE and GLORIA.)

PENELOPE: (Dressed in a tunic. Sitting down on a bench, exhausted.) Oh! What a shame…! What a shame…!

HELEN: We’re so anxious to know the story of everything that has happened to you. But don’t lie to us!

PENELOPE:  I can’t, I can’t do it right now. I’m exhausted. It all ended so badly.

GLORIA: Well, then. Tell us how it felt to be down there.

PENELOPE: (Exhausted.) Tomorrow… Later… I have to rest.

GEORGE: What happened to that poor boy?

PENELOPE: (Frightened.) You knew about that?

MATA HARI: Don’t forget that we know more than we would like to here.  

HELEN: I bet you won’t look at us anymore with such hatred… so incorruptible, so honest…

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: You definitely forgot about my camellias…It doesn’t matter. Now you have to tell us if you fell in love with him.

PENELOPE: (Recalling.) Oh, he was so beautiful! Poor Arturo!

GEORGE: But getting married wasn’t part of the plan. That was too personal an investment.

PENELOPE: It was an adorable investment… it was also the only way to put my fidelity to the test.

HELEN: We have reason to believe that it was pretty precarious.

PENELOPE: (Upset.) Well, it was a little difficult…

GLORIA: Times have changed, haven’t they?

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: But, what about the mission you accomplished on Earth?  How did it go?

PENELOPE: (Acting strange) The mission? Oh, right! The mission…

MATA HARI: Did modern women learn anything from you?

PENELOPE: Let’s just say that…

HELEN: Don’t tell us you failed.

PENELOPE: It’s just that women today have very little free time on their hands. Even I couldn’t keep up with them. And…

GLORIA: Shopping… having cocktails… flirting…

PENELOPE: (Timidly.) No. I was trying to talk to them…

HELEN: Remember how heroic you felt when you set out on your journey…

PENELOPE: They made fun of me. And they told me that my name symbolized customs that are dead in today’s civilization.

GLORIA: (Laughing.) What a naive little dove!

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: So you had to console yourself.

MATA HARI: Did you at least like your… consolation?

PENELOPE: (Stumbling over words in her candidness.) When I accepted the assignment, I thought that I would be allowed to start a new life…

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: And you traded Ulysses for…

HELEN: That was worse than my kidnapping.

PENELOPE: It’s just that…When I met Arturo…(Pause.) It turned out that… (Pause. Whimpering.) I liked him a lot… (Her voice is lost in the memory.) Then… (In that moment, like answering the call, ARTURO ULISES ALDANA appears. In a military uniform.)

ARTURO: Penelope. What a maze! I thought I’d never find you… (All the women look at him in awe and admiration.)

PENELOPE: (Flustered.) Arturo…No. Not, here. When did you arrive?

ARTURO: (Trying to hug her.) Just now. Almost right after you. I went on a plane to say goodbye to you from Heaven. There was a problem with the motor…

GEORGE: (Guessing.)  You killed yourself so you could be with her, didn’t you, my friend?

ARTURO: Why is this man acting like we’re friends? (To the rest.) I would make the world turn for her.

GEORGE: It’s too late. The world already turns on its own.

ARTURO: (Hugging PENELOPE.) What happened, my love? It was all my fault. Because of a damn misunderstanding. Suddenly, you were cold and…Penelope…My love…

PENELOPE: (Frightened.) No…No…We can’t do this here…

ARTURO: Who’s stopping us from continuing our romance in the afterlife?

PENELOPE: (With a vague waive of her hand.) Ulysses…

ARTURO: (Smiling at the ladies timidly.) Did you forget my first name? My name’s Arturo Ulises…

HELEN: (Flirting.) Do you remember if your third name is Paris?

GEORGE: As you can see, we do things differently here. (To PENELOPE.) There’s no way out of this mess.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Someone’s going to have to explain this all to him.

ARTURO: The only thing I want to do is live with… I mean, be…close… to Penelope.

MATA HARI: Hey, man. You have to forget about her. This was all just a joke.

ARTURO: (Dumbfounded.) A joke?

PENÉLOPE: (Taking too long to confess.) Don’t listen to them, Arturo.

HELEN: (To ARTURO.) So you didn’t know that we sent her to Earth to teach women a lesson about fidelity?

ARTURO: (Bursting out laughing.) You sent her? (To PENELOPE.) But don’t you see? They have you confused with someone else. (Taking PENELOPE by the arm.) This is Penelope García. Tell them that they’re crazy. That you are the delicious being that I met in a hotel lobby. The woman that I adored up until the time I had to leave. The wife who waited for me… Did you see the way she waited for me? I’ll have to clear up this confusion. I’ll have to tell you what happened, so that you’ll leave me and my Penelope alone. You’ll see that this Penelope has absolutely nothing, nothing at all, to do with the other Penelope…

PENELOPE: (Fainting.) Arturo…

ARTURO: (Addressing everyone.) I came back after being gone for three months.  And as far as I could tell, fidelity was not exactly the symbol that guided my Penelope in her solitude. She was surrounded by male friends, she was almost in another man’s arms… (PENELOPE is ashamed as she listens, with her head down. ARTURO grows angry as he remembers what happened. He takes her one more time by the arm, shakes her, forgetting that the other women are still there.) Tell me… I want to know if Roberto Casal was the man you cheated on me with. I want the truth. I have forgiven you. I’m here to show you that I’m willing to forget it all. But all I want to know is who it was…

PENELOPE: (Muffling ARTURO’s shouting with her hand.) Don’t yell, they’ll hear you.

ARTURO: (Yelling louder.) And why should I care? Aren’t I your husband? Who has more of a right than me?

PENELOPE: (Desperately.) Oh! I feel like I’m going to die…

ARTURO: You’re already dead.

HELEN: For the second time. Are you thinking about going on another trip? I think that would be very beneficial. I’d love that.

GEORGE: (To GLORIA.) You’re the one who started this mess. You’re the one who should fix it.

HELEN: Would you like me to take him aside and tell him everything?

MATA HARI: No because you might take too long and, this time, we don’t want Ulysses to go looking for you. That would complicate things.

ARTURO: I’ll have to admit that I don’t understand anything.

GEORGE: Maybe it’s best if you explain things to him, Penelope. (Poking fun.) It is not convenient for strangers to interfere in a couple’s affairs. We’ll leave you alone with him.

HELEN: But, stop lying to him. And make sure he leaves you alone. There’s a special place in Hell for bigamy.

PENELOPE: (Feeling cornered.)  Arturo, I…

HELEN: (In a cruel tone.) You have to carry out your mission to the end… (She starts to leave.)

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Invoke your love. He’ll end up forgiving you. Let’s go ladies… (They all start leaving, except for PENELOPE. ARTURO keeps glaring at them.)

ARTURO: Those ladies!

PENELOPE: (Running towards MATA HARI, who has not come out yet.) Go find Ulysses. Keeping him busy. Don’t let him come over here.

MATA HARI: (Smiling.) I will dance in front of him the way I did in the temple of Khali… (Leaving.)

ARTURO: I’m worried that this is serious…

PENELOPE: Come, Arturo. Sit here. Next to me. (They sit next to each other.) I’m going to tell you a story about a good woman…

ARTURO: No. Talk to me about yourself.

PENELOPE: Let me tell you. There was a time…In Greece’s history…

ARTURO: (Indignant.) Oh! No…Not that…If it’s the story of that Penelope again…

PENELOPE: Don’t interrupt me. You know that Penelope had a husband named Ulysses and a son named Telemachus. You know that Ulysses left and didn’t come back after 20 years. You know that Penelope waited for him knitting all day and undoing her work every night, so that she would never finish, because she knew she would have to pick a new husband when she stopped knitting. You know that Ulysses returned and that Penelope was showered with praise for her fidelity. But what you don’t know is that, later, they came to Heaven. She made many friends here, but some were just pretending. Everyone said that her life was full of love and romance. She was proud of her achievement. But, deep down, she was haunted by the feeling that she had wasted her life by waiting around for no good reason. Her pride always ended up banishing those dark thoughts. But, one day, her friends came up with a secret plan to send her back to Earth. Penelope went back down… (PENELOPE stops talking and lowers her eyes, hoping ARTURO will guess the rest.)

ARTURO: (Reacting.) Tell me that that’s not true. That you’re not talking about yourself…

PENELOPE: It is true.

ARTURO: Now what?

PENELOPE: You’ll have to forget about me.

ARTURO: But I love you, Penelope.

PENELOPE: I also loved you.

ARTURO: In the past?

PENELOPE: The present doesn’t fit here. You’ll have to give up on me.

ARTURO: I can’t. My feelings for you are too powerful.

PENELOPE: Arturo… If you stay you’ll lose me…

ARTURO: How could you have played with me like that?

PENELOPE: You seemed like you were just an impulsive boy. I didn’t think you were capable of taking love seriously. I’d been told that love was no longer in vogue. Now I know that that was a lie.

ARTURO: In that case, you must not have planned on falling in love with me either.

PENELOPE: I don’t know what I was planning. But I know it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with you.

ARTURO: Penelope, I’m suffering horribly.

PENELOPE: (Tenderly.) It’s worse in the beginning. You’ll feel more at peace as time goes on…

ARTURO: If only I could have your face close to me, your hands, your… (In a fit of rage.) Penelope… How could you forget about the wonderful times we had…?

PENELOPE: (Putting her fingers over ARTURO’s lips to silence him.) Arturo… My sweet boy…

ARTURO: Penelope… (He slips out of his chair till he is on his knees. He kisses PENELOPE’s hand.)

PENELOPE: This is our goodbye. I have to go back to being the woman I always was.

ARTURO: I’m afraid you won’t be able to anymore.

PENELOPE: (With strength.) I’ll have to try.

ARTURO: Your soul is young again, it has a new rhythm.

PENELOPE: It was a dream. Help me forget.

ARTURO: You’ll never forget. Because that’s the dream that keeps our hearts beating … (Trying to kiss her.)

PENELOPE: (Rejecting him.) Go…

ARTURO: (Reacting violently.) I don’t want to. You’re my wife. Your other marriage expired.

PENELOPE: Arturo…You can’t stay at my side. Heaven is immense. You’ll find your place… (LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS enters. She is agitated.)

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Ulysses is coming this way. We can’t keep holding him back.

ARTURO: (Yelling.) Let him come. I’ll wait for him here.

PENELOPE: (Desperate.) No. I’ll be the one that goes looking for him. (She is ready to go out.)

ARTURO: (Trying to hold her back.) You’re staying here, with me…

PENELOPE: (Escaping.) Arturo, I can’t. There were too many centuries of customs that led me to Ulysses and all of history… (As she leaves, she bumps into MATA HARI who has just entered.)

MATA HARI: We’ve exhausted all our resources entertaining your husband.

PENELOPE: Now try to take care of this one. He’s even younger and surely more sensitive… (She leaves.)

MATA HARI: (To ARTURO. Acting like a vampire.) You’re complicating our peaceful world.

ARTURO: (Still furious.) Who are you?

MATA HARI: (Insinuating.) The bayadere of Kandi. Mata Hari…

ARTURO: The spy?

MATA HARI: I’ve left other marks on the Earth.

ARTURO: I don’t know about that. What I do know is that you cost the lives of many soldiers.

MATA HARI: Would you forgive me if I danced for you?

ARTURO: Did you dance for them too?

MATA HARI: (Proudly. Taking off her cape.) Look at me. Like in the pagoda of Kanda Swany… (She dances. When she finishes, ARTURO and the rest of them celebrate her. MATA HARI covers herself again with her cape.)

ARTURO: You drive a pretty stylish tank (Noticing the LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS.) You’re also very beautiful.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (Flirting.) Have you heard of the Lady of the Camellias?

ARTURO: The one who was stripped of love like a daisy? (HELEN, GEORGE, and GLORIA arrive.)

GLORIA: When he saw her, he calmed right down.

GEORGE: That man is incomprehensible. He was gone for 20 years and he didn’t seem too bothered. Now, it’s only been a year and he’s beside himself.

HELEN: We could not find more excuses for Penelope’s absence. (Everyone surrounds ARTURO.)

ARTURO: Now you won’t even let me get close to her?

HELEN: (Suggesting.) Couldn’t you try to forget about her just a little?

ARTURO: Tell me your name.

HELEN: Helen of Troy.

ARTURO: (Looking at her up and down.) Now I understand everything. (To GEORGE SAND.) And you, why did you dress up like a man?

GEORGE: Because I liked to write when I was on Earth. And so that the men would not feel threatened, I tried to resemble them as best I could. So they criticized me for my pants instead of my skirts.

ARTURO: (To GLORIA.) I recognize you. Every poster highlighted your smile.

GLORIA: (Following the same insinuating game that they are all playing.) See how easy it is to forget when you’re with us?

ARTURO: If only I didn’t have this pain of love…

HELEN: A new love will help you get over it.

MATA HARI: Or at least distract you.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: You can’t be happy without someone else’s help.

GEORGE: I can assure you that it’s necessary to have many lovers… Even if it’s just to get to know which one is the real one. (Two men appear dressed in uniform, they demand respect even though neither explains where they are coming from.)

SOLDIER 1: (With a military salute.) Captain Arturo Ulises Aldana?

ARTURO: (Standing up quickly. Responding to the salute.) Here…

SOLDIER 2: There’s been a mistake. You don’t belong here.

ARTURO: (Looking sadly at the women.) Where am I supposed to be?

SOLDIER 2: For now I bring just one order: to return you to Earth. You’re seriously injured but it’s not fatal.

GLORIA: (With annoyance.) You’re taking him back?

SOLDIER 2: Yes. On the spot.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: We have to let Penelope know.

HELEN: I’ll go and look for her. (Sighing.) What a shame! (Leaving.)

ARTURO: I’m so sorry. I was starting to like this. (Remembering.) Penelope… Where is Penelope? I want to say goodbye to her.

GEORGE: Helen will bring her soon.

ARTURO: (To the soldiers.) Will you wait a moment?

SOLDIER 1: Yes, but not too long because down there they are waiting for you anxiously. (PENELOPE arrives right behind HELEN.)

PENELOPE: Then it’s true…?

ARTURO: Yes, they’re taking me. It seems that I have come before my time.

PENELOPE: Oh! Arturo…

ARTURO: Spare me another lie.

PENELOPE: To be honest I don’t know whether to be saddened or excited. Because, after all, we would have not been able to see each other again. At least not the way you would have wanted…

ARTURO: Before leaving, I want to tell you that you have made me feel great love and great sorrow.

PENELOPE: (Hugging him in front of everyone.) Forgive me, Arturo. Don’t go without forgiving me… (The two SOLDIERS stand behind ARTURO as if inviting him to leave.)

ARTURO: (Tenderly staring into her eyes) I’ve never seen eyes as blue as yours…

PENELOPE: (Remembering that those were the first words he said.) And I’ve never seen eyes as dark as yours…

SOLDIER 1: Captain Arturo Ulises Aldana…

ARTURO: Penelope…

PENELOPE: Goodbye, Arturo…

ARTURO: Goodbye, my love…(He leaves followed by the two soldiers, after having bowed reverently to the other ladies. On the way, he bumps into the ANGEL, who has just entered.)

ANGEL: Who’s that?

HELEN: An official who confused Heaven and Earth.

ANGEL: (Taking the same stance she took in the prologue.) What did he want? 

MATA HARI: He asked George Sand something.

GEORGE: I didn’t hear him. But it seemed to me that he was talking to Lady of the Camellias.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: No, not me. I saw him talking to Gloria.

GLORIA: He wanted to know where he could find a certain García who arrived a few moments ago…

ANGEL: Well, I imagine that none of you trusted him enough to tell him anything. (They all shake their heads. A pause.) We haven’t seen you in a while, Penelope…

PENELOPE: I had a cold…

HELEN: (Within intention.) Penelope… What do you think of women who cheat on their husbands?

PENELOPE: (Distant.) He was as handsome as a young pagan god.

GLORIA: (To HELEN.) She can’t hear you.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Penelope’s eyes gallop in a cloud that takes her back to a memory.

HELEN: Those are the advantages of travel.

GEORGE: Rather than looking back, I always like to look forward. That whets my appetite.

HELEN: Now that it’s so much easier to travel than it was before I could travel all the time.

MATA HARI: (Ironically.) Travel where?

HELEN: I would go from Troy to Sparta and from Sparta to Troy.

GLORIA: Those places don’t exist anymore. You’ll have to change the itinerary.

HELEN: (To PENELOPE.) You wouldn’t mind accompanying me, right Penelope? You’d be a delightful travel partner now…  (PENELOPE doesn’t hear them. She’s absent, rigid, distancing herself from them.)

MATA HARI: They’re destroying your legend, Penelope.

GEORGE: On the contrary, Ulysses had his Odyssey. All that was left was yours, Penelope. They can start writing yours now.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: Don’t beat yourself up about it. Your love for that man absolves you of all guilt.

GLORIA: Don’t feel bad. The guilt of all women absolves you of your love.

ANGEL: I don’t understand what women are talking about these days.

LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS: (Taking pity on PENELOPE’s painful silence.)  What are you thinking about? (JULIET enters timidly, as if in a dream.)

JULIET: Would you be able to tell me if Romeo came by here?

HELEN: No, he hasn’t been here. Do you think that if he had come this far, he would have wanted to leave? (JULIET looks at her in astonishment and goes out the other way.)

GLORIA: (Touching PENELOPE’S shoulder to wake her up.) Come back to us…

PENELOPE: (After a long pause, as if coming out of a lethargy, quickly and hurriedly.) Mata Hari…  Quickly!  Lend me your fabric. (MATA HARI hands her the work that was abandoned on a bench.) I should’ve never stopped knitting… (Her hands clumsily begin to perform the work. The others watch for a moment and they are distracted. MATA HARI takes the cards and plays solitaire. The LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS strips the petals off a daisy that she has cut from a plant. GEORGE takes a book and reads. HELEN looks at herself in a hand held mirror. GLORIA looks for a point that has been smudged in her stocking. The ANGEL watches everyone. HELEN suddenly sees in the mirror the shadow of a figure passing in the distance. She turns quickly.)

HELEN: Oh! It’s the beautiful Brummel passing by again…! (Everyone, except PENELOPE and the ANGEL, stop what they were doing and run towards him.)

PENELOPE: (Without moving. Abandoning her work for an instant. With a sorrowful face, almost tearful face and a deep sigh.) Arturo…Arturo Ulises…If I could only forget…

CURTAIN