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10 1915 MARRYING THIS ORDINARY MAN
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Berlin Train station, 1915. World War I
RESERL Da-svidanye,
Sabina! A bientot! Bon voyage et bon retour! A bientot!
ALMA Can
I have a coffee please?
RESERL Yes,
of course, just a moment.
GROPIUS Alma!
Alma!
ALMA Walter?!
What is it, darling ?
GROPIUS Don't
leave me standing like this. Say something to me!
ALMA We've
said everything we had to say, Walter, haven't we?
GROPIUS Say
something that will stay with me all the way to Hannover.
Say something unforgettable. Say something I can take with
me to the battlefield!
ALMA Walter!
You are such a handsome, beautiful man! You look so dashing
in your uniform! So Aryan! You are such a wonderfully strong
man! Isn't it beautiful that I can tell you everything?
GROPIUS Alma!
Did you ever really love me?
ALMA I told
you so often! In so many ways. How can you doubt it?
GROPIUS I
don't doubt it. I just want to know.
ALMA Take
care, my dear! (She kisses him. The train whistles.) And write
to me!
GROPIUS I
will. Gropius leaves.
ALMA I love
your letters. (to Reserl) I should have never come to Berlin.
RESERL That
man loves you.
ALMA It's
so perverse, so pointless. Trying to re-start a worn-out liaison!
GROPIUS Alma!!
RESERL He's
coming back!
ALMA Walter!
Do you really have to visit your mother, before going back
to the front -
GROPIUS Darling
- I told you a thousand times…!
ALMA I came
all the way from Vienna to Berlin to be with you. But if you
really think you have to visit her before going to the front
-
GROPIUS Please
Alma! We've been together for a week, we haven't been apart
for a single moment! That's...
ALMA Fine,
if that's enough for you, go see her. Go! Go to her. I won't
stand in your way. Heaven forbid!
GROPIUS Alma!
Why won't you come with me to Hannover?
ALMA Your
mother doesn't like me. You know that .
GROPIUS Alma,
you've had enough of me, haven't you? You're already missing
Vienna.
ALMA Oh,
you aren't going to start that all over again, I hope!
GROPIUS Alma!
Tell me the truth: did you really put an end to your relationship
with Oskar Kokoschka?
ALMA Walter,
please!
GROPIUS Alma!
Tell me: Did you put an end to your relationship with Kokoschka,
yes or no?!
ALMA I can't
stand this anymore…
Alma leaves the room. Gropius follows her.
GROPIUS Did
you put an end to your relationship with Kokoschka, yes or
no?!
ALMA I told
you a hundred times: I don't want to see that person ever
again! And I will not see that person ever again!
GROPIUS Then
why did he publish that poem? »Allos-Makar« ?
ALMA Oh God!
Not that silly poem again?
GROPIUS It's
not a silly poem. I re-read it tonight. Every line is pregnant
with secret signs and meaning!
How was I twisted magically,
since from a hazy world,
prospecting her,
a small white bird me summoned,
ALLOS, ALLOS,
to whom I never came across.
As in an instant
swiftly she transformed into my being,
like a back door.
Suffers ears.
Strive, you eyes, to spot her!
I into the needy summer night,
which faded
crying from a rift.
Not to mention the title: »Allos-Makar«! All of
a sudden figured it out... ...
ALMA I've
told you! He chose the title for its Greek meaning: It means
»To be happy in a different way«.
GROPIUS Alma,
don't take me for a fool!! It's an anagram of Al-ma-Os-kar:
All-os-Ma-kar. It's so obvious!
ALMA You're
getting on my nerves, with all your snooping and spying! You'd
smell an affair in a laundry receipt! You're obsessed! It
has nothing to do with me. ! It has nothing at all to do with
me ! But I do appreciate the artistic value of the poem...
GROPIUS »The
artistic value of the poem«...!
ALMA Yes!
That's all!
GROPIUS Alma,
please!!!... Don't take me for a fool!!
RESERL Madame!
Your suitcase!
ALMA Can
you keep an eye on it? I'll be right back. -
RESERL Sure,
Madam!!
Gropius has disappeared. Alma is looking for him on the platform.
ALMA Walter?!
Walter?! Where are you?!!! Walter?!!!
GROPIUS Alma!!!
Alma, come here!! Come here! Look in my eyes! Alma, I'm not
asking about what you did. I'm just asking if you told him
that you didn't ever want to see him again?
ALMA Yes,
yes, yes, yes, yes!! How many times do I have to tell you:
I don't ever want to see that man again! I will not see that
man ever again!
GROPIUS Yes,
you told me. But did you tell him too?
ALMA Yeeeeess!!
He has practically destroyed my mind! He's the only person
I've ever let to do that to me. I wish I'd never met him!
GROPIUS Come
here! Look in my eyes! Promise me that you are not going to
see him or even open his letters - if he sends you any - ever
again! Don't tear them up, just send them back!
ALMA Is
that all you want me to promise you? What else am I supposed
to not do?! I am not your wife yet! I hope you are aware of
that!
Alma tears herself away from him, and walks fast away.
ALMA (to
Reserl) Oskar has the right to say whatever he wants,, but
not this man, not this little ordinary man!
Gropius's train whistles. It is going to leave the station.
Gropius shouts:
GROPIUS Alma!
Alma! Alma! Wait! Please! Wait!! Come with me to Hannover!
I'll marry you! Come on, get on the train! Come on! Hurry
!!
RESERL Madame!
Your suitcase, Madame! Your suitcase!...
GROPIUS Hurry
up!
RESERL Your
suitcase, Madame! Your suitcase!
The train leaves.
RESERL opens
the suitcase and finds some letters: »Oskar Kokoschka,
Care of Dresden Art Museum...« (She closes the suitcase,
picks it up, and walks off murmuring to herself:) »Oskar
Kokoschka, Care of Dresden Art Museum...«
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