THE POPE AND
THE WITCH
[ Il papa e la strega ]
A two act
play by Dario Fo
translated
by Ed Emery
_________________________________________
For all
queries regarding performance rights, please contact
Agenzia
Tolnay : info [@] tolnayagency.it
For all queries
regarding the text, please contact the translator at:
ed.emery
[@]thefreeuniversity.net
Original
text copyright Dario Fo
Translation
copyright Ed Emery
_________________________________________
First Performance:
Novara Teatro
Faraggiana, 31 October 1989
Reworked Version:
Milan Teatro Lirico, 20
January 1990
Preface:
In the Book of Genesis it says that the first
woman was not Eve but Lilith.
A woman who would never accept to be
subjected to a man...
She demanded her own complete autonomy, and
for this reason she was the first to have to leave Paradise.
I believe that Franca comes from that very
particular race of women...
She performs together with me, but she does
everything in order not to resemble me in style; she has a style all her own.
She collaborates in the writing of plays, but
never in second place.
She wont accept even one line without having
discussed it first... Shes very insistent!
But it would be a sad day for me if I didnt
have this constant stimulus to rewrite, correct, and rework everything again
from the beginning... On stage... And with passion.
The text of this play has been edited by
Franca.
More than just editing it, France has raised
it, brought it up, and made it theatrically readable.
All done with true skill and dedication.
Dario Fo
____________________________________________________________
CHARACTERS
The Pope
First cardinal: Popes Personal Secretary
Second Cardinal
Third Cardinal
Professor
First Nun
Second Nun/Healer
Third Nun
Priest in charge of Press Office
Vatican String Quartet
First Young Man
Second Young Man
Third Young Man
First Young Woman/Assistant
Second Young Woman
Third Young Woman
Drunkard
First Gangster
Second Gangster
Small Monk, Poison Tester
Brazilian Nun
Head of the Swiss Guard
Swiss Guards
Total cast list: 13 persons,
including doubling-up
ACT ONE
We find ourselves in the
corridor outside the POPEs apartments in the Vatican. The stage is divided by
a traverse curtain. On it is painted a large sixteenth-century fresco.
Enter a CARDINAL [the POPEs
personal secretary]. We hear a warbling sound; the CARDINAL looks about him and
raises his cassock circumspectly. From an inside pocket he extracts a mobile
telephone, and pulls up the aerial.
FIRST CARDINAL: Hello... Yes...
whats the matter?... Im right here, outside his rooms... Yes, I know hes
late... The trouble is, I dont know whether hes still inside or whether hes
gone out already...
Enter a NUN. She hurries
across the stage.
FIRST CARDINAL: [Trying to stop
her] Oh, Sister... Just a moment... Sister...?
FIRST NUN: Ill be back in
a moment, your Eminence... I have something urgent to see to...
She exits, almost running.
FIRST CARDINAL: That was the
Sister who runs his life... went off like a bat out of hell... no way I could
stop her... Well, yes... Maybe hes gone down to take a look at the children...
What do you mean, what children? Havent you seen St Peters Square this
morning...? [The CAPTAIN OF THE SWISS GUARDS crosses the stage]
Theyve been arriving since dawn... Exactly... for the so-called Gathering of
the Innocents... Of course! Im the one who does the programming, so obviously
I know that hes scheduled to meet them this afternoon... Oh, heres the Sister
coming back again... Ill ring off for now. [He replaces the mobile phone
clumsily, forgetting to put down the aerial, which sticks up under his cassock.
The FIRST NUN enters, carrying a tray with a jug and a glass on it, all
of which is covered with a serviette] Oh, Sister... Wait a
moment...
FIRST NUN: Yes...? [She
points to his raised cassock] Excuse me, your Eminence, what might that
be...?!
FIRST CARDINAL: Oh, nothing...
Just my aerial...
He turns away from the SISTER and
fiddles with the aerial in order to get it down.
FIRST NUN: Would you like
me to give you a hand?
FIRST CARDINAL: No, I can
manage, thank you...
He gets the aerial down.
FIRST NUN: Well, Im in a
terrible hurry, so if you dont mind I must be going.
FIRST CARDINAL: No, wait. I
wanted to know whats happened to the Holy Father... Why is he so late this
morning?
FIRST NUN: Your Eminence,
Im afraid I really cant...
FIRST CARDINAL: What do you
mean, you really cant...! Dont you realise how serious this is...? Its the
first time in the history that the head of the Catholic Church has agreed to
meet directly with the worlds press... journalists from all over the world...
And has agreed to answer their questions at a press conference, as if he was
some American President... With all the TV channels reporting it live!
FIRST NUN: Yes, I know. But
I think weve got a problem on our hands.
FIRST CARDINAL: A problem? You
must be joking? Downstairs weve got a hall jam-packed full of journalists... [He
raises the serviette covering the jug and pours himself a drink. The NUN
pointlessly tries to stop him] What am I going to tell them?
He downs the drink, and then
pours himself another.
FIRST NUN: But who would
have thought that hed get all upset over a few children like this?
A PRIEST crosses
the stage.
FIRST CARDINAL: [Lowering his
voice] Whats so surprising about it? Hes always been a bit weird about
children... Kissing babies all over the place...
He continues drinking.
FIRST NUN: Please, your
Eminence, such sarcasm is unbefitting.
FIRST CARDINAL: Im not being
sarcastic... [He pours himself another drink] Im just saying that this
time were up against a hundred thousand of them... A hundred thousand
children, all here in St Peters Square?! Herod would have had a field day.
FIRST NUN: How can you joke
about it, your Eminence... Its terribly serious! Hes on the edge of a nervous
breakdown. Hes started shaking all over.
FIRST CARDINAL: Really? When did
this start?
FIRST NUN: About an hour
ago.
FIRST CARDINAL: And this is the
first you choose to tell me about it? I mean to say, Sister...!
FIRST NUN: Dont blame me
it was the Holy Father. He said: Dont tell anyone, for goodness sake... With
all those journalists around... We mustnt let on... If they ever find out...!
FIRST CARDINAL: Well, I suppose
hes got a point. [The warbling of a mobile phone again. Another CARDINAL
crosses the stage] Oh dear, here we go again. Excuse me, Sister... [The
NUN turns slightly, in order not to see the FIRST CARDINAL fumbling under his cassock] Hello, whos
there...? Hello!
The warbling sound
continues.
SECOND CARDINAL: Oh, it must be
mine... [He pulls a mobile phone out of his sleeve and puts it to his ear]
Hello... Hello...
FIRST NUN: Ah, actually, it
was mine...
She goes, coyly, to lift her
gown.
SECOND CARDINAL: When the Day of
Judgement comes, the Angels will call us on our mobile phones... And God help
anyone whos caught with their batteries flat!
He exits.
FIRST NUN: [To the FIRST
CARDINAL] Would you mind turning round? [She extracts her mobile phone from
under her tunic] Hello? Yes, its me. Yes, send them in... Or rather, youd
best bring them in...
Both the men put their
mobile phones back under their cassocks, remembering to put down their aerials.
FIRST CARDINAL: Might I ask
whos on their way, Sister?
FIRST NUN: Professor
Ridolfi, and one of his assistants.
FIRST CARDINAL: Ridolfi? You
mean the psychiatrist?
FIRST NUN: Well, actually
hes rather more than just a psychiatrist... Hes a neurological surgeon...
specialises in nervous disorders.
FIRST CARDINAL: Thats what I
mean. It seems to me going a bit far to invite someone like that in, just to
deal with this childish fixation... I mean... this child fixation...
FIRST NUN: Unfortunately, I
really dont think the Holy Fathers problem is that simple. Anyway, he was the
one who insisted on the Professor being sent for.
FIRST CARDINAL: Ah well, if it
was all his idea, fair enough... [He takes another drink] This is good...! What
is it?
FIRST NUN: The Holy
Fathers laxative [A measured reaction on the part of the CARDINAL] Oh,
here he comes...
Enter the PROFESSOR. He
has his doctors bag with him.
FIRST CARDINAL: Ah, Professor...
Welcome...!
PROFESSOR: I was held up by
your Guards... They insisted on putting me through a metal detector... They
even took away my little hammer for testing reflexes...
FIRST CARDINAL: After all that
hoo-ha in Panama theyve become rather over-keen... But wheres your assistant?
PROFESSOR: I was just
wondering that myself. I think she must have got lost down a corridor
somewhere...
Enter the PROFESSORs
assistant: the SECOND NUN. She carries two large bags, and an African
bow.
SECOND NUN: Here I am.. Here
I am... I was held up by two Swiss Guards. They wouldnt let me pass, on
account of this sacred bow and arrows, which is an extra-special present for
the Pope. They blunted all my arrows, and pulled out all my feathers... of the
arrows, I mean... And then they insisted that I put little stickers on the rude
bits of these naked men. [She points to the bow] I didnt have any! So I
stuck some stamps on instead... Vatican Christmas stamps!
FIRST CARDINAL: I know... bit of
a problem, our security services... Theyre a bit edgy, these days... Anyway,
Im delighted to see you. Im sure that youll have everything sorted out in no
time... My problem is that downstairs weve got a hall full of journalists
waiting. How long is all this going to take?
PROFESSOR: How can I say,
your Eminence? I still dont know what the problem is... At least give me a
moment...
FIRST CARDINAL: Yes, yes, take
as much time as you need. Anyway, maybe I might venture a guess... In my humble
opinion, I would say its just hypertension due to a state of stress.
PROFESSOR: Lets hope that
youre right.
FIRST CARDINAL: Follow me. Ill
lead the way.
PROFESSOR: No, please, your
Eminence. I prefer to see the patient in private... Im sure you understand.
FIRST CARDINAL: Certainly...
fine... no problem...
PROFESSOR: Good... [To
the SECOND NUN, his assistant] Right, Sister, this way, lets go...
FIRST CARDINAL: Lets hope you
come up with something, Professor... Ill be waiting outside...
PROFESSOR: Relax, Cardinal,
relax...
The traverse curtain with
the painted fresco rises. We find ourselves in a large room with many columns.
There are four windows down one wall of the room, stage-left, which divides at
an angle; backstage right hangs a large curtain. There is nobody on stage.
PROFESSOR: Your
Holiness...? Hello... Are you there, your Holiness...?
From behind the curtain a
dummy appears. It is a perfect reproduction of the POPE. At the same time
the POPE himself peers out from the opposite side.
POPE: Here I am... And
who might you be?
PROFESSOR: What do you
mean, who might I be...? I thought it was you who sent for me!
POPE: Ah, you must be
the Professor... [At this moment the POPE emerges from the other end
of the curtain] At last! Welcome, Professor!
PROFESSOR: This is
extraordinary! A double Pope?!
POPE: [He emerges
fully from behind the curtain, and brings the mobile dummy forward with him]
Well, of course, this ones only a dummy... Tell me what you think its a
good likeness, isnt it! It was given to me by a Sicilian wood-carver, one of
those who make puppets... You know... [He laughs, amused] Ha, ha... A
puppet-Pope. Amusing, eh?
PROFESSOR: [Worried]
Are you feeling alright, your Holiness?
POPE: Yes. [He
points to the SECOND NUN accompanying the PROFESSOR] Who is this
Sister? Is she with you...? Does she have to be here? [The phone rings. He
picks it up] Hello? [We hear a din coming from the phone, the sound of
loud rock music] Whos there? Who? Panama...? The Papal legation? What on
earth is that racket...? The US marines again...? What do they want...?
Noriega? But I thought we just handed him over...? Hes come back? So how did
he manage to get back in...? In a lorry full of pineaplles...!! Send him back
to the Americans at once! [He puts down the phone] That Noriega... Ever
since he heard someone say that religion was the opium of the people, he wont
leave us alone for a minute! Anyway, as I was saying, who is this Sister?
Whats she doing here...?
PROFESSOR: She is my
assistant and one of my most valued colleagues... You need have no worries
about her... Now, tell me...
POPE: On the contrary,
I am worried... Because I think I know that face from somewhere... I
would like to see her bare-headed, if you dont mind...
PROFESSOR: Bareheaded? Why?
POPE: I dont think
shes really a nun at all.
PROFESSOR: Oh, really!
Youre beginning to worry me, your Holiness. Whats got into you? What is this
paranoia? [Addressing the FIRST NUN, the POPEs housekeeper]
Maybe hes worse than we feared.
POPE: Ah, there! So you
think Im mad too, eh?!
PROFESSOR: Who thinks
youre mad...?
From offstage we hear the
sound of childrens voices.
POPE: Shush! Whats
all that shouting...? It must be more children arriving in the Square..? Shut
all the windows!
The FIRST NUN hurries
over, assisted by the SECOND NUN, and closes the windows. The sound of
voices stops.
PROFESSOR: There, thats
what I mean. What is this Ive been hearing about you locking yourself in your
room because youre terrified of children?
POPE: Yes, its
true... [He points to the window] Look, every time I look out, there are
more of them... But its not so much them and their shouting that worries me...
Im more worried about the trap that theyre organising for me...
PROFESSOR: What trap...?
And whos organising?
POPE: [Looking
around cautiously] Theres a plot.
PROFESSOR: A plot? What
sort of plot?
POPE: Cant you even
guess?
SECOND NUN: If you dont
mind me interrupting, I think I know what his Holiness means.
POPE: Lets see if
youre shrewder than the Professor here.
SECOND NUN: Well, to start
with, as I was coming across the Square, I stopped to take a look for a moment,
and I noticed that most of these children are halfcastes and mulattoes from
South America... and Filippinos... and little black children...
POPE: Well done...
Spot on...! In other words, all children from the Third World...
SECOND NUN: Yes. Then I
asked around, and I discovered that almost all of them are orphans... No
parents...
POPE: Exactly... My
compliments! Sit down.
PROFESSOR: Why
compliments...? What are you getting at?
POPE: Come on,
Professor... Make an effort... Use your imagination. In your opinion, who was
it brought all these children together and organised all the transport to bring
them to Rome?
SECOND NUN: If I might
assist you, Professor, Id say that here were dealing with an organisation
that is very powerful, and which has considerable financial resources.
POPE: Exactly! How did
you guess?
PROFESSOR: Well its hardly
a secret, is it, seeing its been in all the papers... Theyve been organised
by the IMPAC, the International Movement for the Protection of Abandoned
Children.
POPE: And to what end
has this so-called IMPAC taken on the rather expensive task of bringing all
these children to Rome?
PROFESSOR: Well, I presume
theyve come for the same reason that brings millions of Christians to Rome
every year. They want to see the Pope in person, and they want to receive your
blessing.
POPE: Oh yes? So there
they are, all these poor little orphans, in Africa, Brazil, Colombia and India
and so on... And all of a sudden they feel this irresistible urge: I want to
see the Pope... Bump-di-dum... I want the Pope... Bump-di-dum!
SECOND NUN: Ooh, youve got
a lovely sense of humour, your Holiness, really.
POPE: Thank you... I
suppose you think Im a bit eccentric...
SECOND NUN: Incidentally, I
talked to some of the children from Zambia, and when they found out that I was
coming to see you, they asked me to bring you this bow... Its a sacred bow.
She hands him the bow.
POPE: How lovely! All
these little men, all these lovely little authority figures, all piled up, one
on top of the other, according to their rank... Imagine if we did this sort of
thing in the Vatican! Youd have me, going round with all these cardinals on my
head... Mind you, I wouldnt fancy having Poletti on my head!
PROFESSOR: You see? Its a
gesture of affection, Your Holiness, if I were you I wouldnt worry so much...
Obviously, the people who brought all these children together thought it would
be a wonderful thing if thousands of poor children from all around the world
could enjoy this extraordinary privilege.
POPE: Oh yes? And now
you tell me that Im the mad one, the eccentric one?
The SECOND NUN hands
the bow to the FIRST NUN, who leans it against a wall.
PROFESSOR: I dont
understand... Are you saying that Im mad?
SECOND NUN: Well really,
Professor, hasnt it even occurred to you that these so-called protectors of
abandoned infants might actually be bogus...? Am I right, Your Holiness?
POPE: Absolutely,
absolutely.
SECOND NUN: An organisation
cunningly concealing itself behind this apparently humanitarian venture... with
who knows what vile purposes.
POPE: Oh, finally,
someone who knows what theyre talking about! Youve hit the nail on the head!
PROFESSOR: Whereas I, on
the other hand, am some kind of congenital idiot? Alright. If these people
arent from the organisation that they claim to belong to, then who are they?
POPE: Nothing more nor
less than a movement of fanatical birth control activists, who are in favour of
the totally free distribution of contraceptives and prophylactics.
SECOND NUN: I wouldnt be at
all surprise if the sponsors of this plot turned out to be the big American
manufacturers of surgical goods and rubberware...
POPE: Ah yes, surgical
goods and rubberware... I hadnt thought of that... My compliments, Sister!
PROFESSOR: Excuse me, but
if you ask me this is verging on paranoia... You in particular, Sister.
POPE: Oh yes? So I
suppose the security services of the pontifical state are also verging on
paranoia, when they send me these security despatches?
He picks up a big dossier
and passes it to the SECOND NUN.
PROFESSOR: Why, what do
they say?
POPE: I am kept up to
date, on an hourly basis, on all the movements of these provocateurs
extraordinaires; to such an extent that I am now in a position to be able to
give you a fair idea of what will happen at the precise moment when I appear on
the balcony.
PROFESSOR: So whats going
to happen, then?
POPE: At that very
moment they will raise hundreds of banners, with messages in all different
languages... and at the same time, over a very powerful loudhailer system, they
will start shouting: Here you are, Holy Father, you ordered us to love one
another, and to go forth and multiply... iply... iply... Therell be an echo,
you see. Bring forth many children of God into the light of day... Who cares
if then they all die like flies!
PROFESSOR: [Shocked]
No!
FIRST NUN: Theyll really
say that?!
POPE: Yes. Who cares
if then they all die of hunger at the rate of thirty-five million a year... if
half of them end up abandoned, forty-eight million of them in five years
alone... or if they end up illiterate, imprisoned, half starved, exploited and
wretched for the rest of their lives. What matters is that they be brought into
the world, because life is sacred, even though their life is disgusting...
ting... ting...
SECOND NUN: Quite right.
POPE: What?!
SECOND NUN: I mean, yes,
thats exactly what theyll say. [She is embarrassed, and in an attempt to
overcome her gaffe she waves the documents in her hand] Its written here, in
the despatches.
PROFESSOR: Incredible...!
But surely, wont the police be able to stop them and seize their public
address system...?
POPE: Yes, but at that
moment their master plan goes into action. Theyll send up an enormous banner,
suspended from hundreds of balloons. [He points to one of the windows]
Look, you can see the balloons down there, all ready... It will rise slowly
into the sky over Rome... And itll be readable from every part of the city.
PROFESSOR: Is this spelled
out in the despatches too?
POPE: Yes, yes,
look... Word for word...
He passes him some sheets of
paper.
PROFESSOR: And what will be
written on this enormous banner?
POPE: [He seizes
some sheets from the SECOND NUNs hand] Holy Father, you wanted all
these children. It was you who said: Suffer the little children to come unto
me! Well here they are! [He throws all the papers in the air] Theyre
all yours! Take them, you bring them up! And theyll dump them all
right here. You see? A hundred thousand children, here, in St Peters Square...
all crying... and shouting... and bawling... and hungry... And what am I
supposed to do with them? Where am I suposed to put them? A hundred thousand
children! With all the hotels and convents and Catholic youth hostels all full
up for the World Cup?
The two NUNS gather up
the sheets of paper.
PROFESSOR: But how can
they! Its criminal! After bringing them all the way here, they just dump
them... without anyone to look after them? Its scandalous...! What a shitty
trick... Its bloody obscene... [He breaks off, embarrassed] Oh, Im sorry...
POPE: I can think of
no more fitting words to define the revolting situation in which I shall find
myself!
PROFESSOR: But seeing that
you already know whats going to happen, why dont you just arrest them now?
POPE: Oh yes? And what
would we charge them with? You need proof to arrest people, but by the time we
have the proof it will be too late. By then theyll have made a mockery of me
and of the Church as a whole. Can you imagine the scandal! The laughter...!
What a disaster!
SECOND NUN: [Aside, to
the PROFESSOR] If you ask me, as of this moment, if a child comes anywhere
near him, hed eat it alive.
POPE: So at this point
I think youll agree that Ive got good reason to be apprehensive, Professor!
PROFESSOR: Certainly,
certainly. Very good reason.
The FIRST CARDINAL puts
his head round the door, rather nervously.
FIRST CARDINAL: Excuse me, may
I...
POPE: Whos that? Im
not seeing anyone!
PROFESSOR: Its only your
personal secretary.
POPE: Im sorry... I
saw red. what do you want?
FIRST CARDINAL: Im worried,
Holy Father...
POPE: You have good
reason to be... You drank my laxative...! No, Im only joking. I know: youre
worried about all those journalists downstairs. Im not coming down, though!
Im sorry, but I am physically and psychologically quite incapable of meeting
with them. Isnt that right, Professor?
PROFESSOR: Absolutely... It
would be quite inappropriate.
FIRST CARDINAL: I understand,
but its not the journalists Im worrying about, your Holiness... Ive already
told them that the press conference is being postponed... Im worried about the
children... You know... The Gathering of the Innocents. The square is filling
up a lot faster than expected... The two shipfuls of children arrived in port
earlier than they were supposed to...
FIRST NUN: [Going over
to the window] Look at all those coaches!
FIRST CARDINAL: Theyve been
there for half an hour now, and many of the rest have been here since dawn. In
my opinion, your Holiness, you should bring forward the time of your meeting
with the poor things.
POPE: In other words,
you want me to go out on the balcony now... with my arms outstretched
towards all the children... instead of waiting till the afternoon?
FIRST CARDINAL: Yes... Poor
things, theyre starting to show signs of tiredness and restlessness... Look,
theyre all so jammed in together!
FIRST NUN: [Going across
to one of the windows] Heavens above, what a crowd! Ive never seen so
many children all in one place!
POPE: [Barely
peeking out of the window, and suddenly drawing back] Yes, they really are
an incredible number!
SECOND NUN: Look at them
all! You know what they remind me of the story of Little Pea...
POPE: Little Pea?
SECOND NUN: Dont you know
the story, your Holiness?
POPE: No.
SECOND NUN: Would you like
me to tell it to you?
FIRST CARDINAL: This is hardly
the right moment for stories about Little Pea!
POPE: A Pope should
know all stories... seeing that that is what Popes do, tell stories... How does
it go? Come and sit down.
SECOND NUN: You know, the
story about the mother who was so desperate to have children that she went to
see a wizard...
POPE: No, I dont
remember it... What does the wizard do?
SECOND NUN: Well, there was
once this woman. She really, really wanted to have children, but unfortunately
for her, her husband had taken a vow of total chastity.
POPE: [To the FIRST
CARDINAL] Were giving that Formigoni too much leeway!
SECOND NUN: She despairs.
She cries from morning to night. She wails... I shall never be a mother! I
shall never be a mother! She shouts it out of the window too: I shall never
be a mother! All of a sudden a gynaecologist passes by. He happened to be out
jogging, with the word Gynaecologist written across his track suit top...
Backwards, like they do with ambulances... And he says: We could make you a
couple of babies in a test tube. Babies in a test tube? No, never! It would
be a sin! Well alright then, with frozen eggs. Frozen eggs?! Only the
best free-range, of course! Get thee behind me, Satan!
POPE: Well said!
SECOND NUN: Thank you. So,
in desperation the woman goes to see a wizard, a holy man who lived in a
hermitage on a working-class housing estate. Listen to me, Woman, your faith
will be rewarded. You want children? Well then, go home and put a handful of
beans on to boil. Black-eye beans. Dont use frozen beans, because theyre
contrary to nature and they might turn out freaks. Put these freaks... I mean,
these black-eyed beans... on to boil and just when they come to the boil, throw
them onto the floor... And you will see, youll get two or three beautiful
children, with a black eye... I mean, with two black eyes. No sooner said than
done! The women goes home, puts water on the stove, and, seeing that shes so
greedy for children, she throws in half a sack of these black-eye beans... and
she stirred... and stirred... I dont want them to stick... I dont want to
end up with Siamese twins... she shouted. As it came to the boil... Crash, she
hurled this great beanery to the floor, and... Ping... Pong... Ping... Pong...
Hey presto! From every bean a child was born... Two... three... seven... nine
babies! Im a mother, Im a mother, she shouted, happily... Twelve, eighteen,
twenty-one... Im a mother!
POPE: The story has a
certain moral... We had a story like that where I come from, a Slavic story,
except that when we told it, it was dried chestnuts... And instead of peas, we
used a chickpea, which went on to found the Solidarity movement in Poland. Im
joking... I made it up...!
So where is the moral? Am I supposed to be
the mother, because first I encourage the birth of children and then I end up
being terrified of them?
SECOND NUN: I hope you wont
be offended, your Holiness, but, for me, yes, I suppose you are a kind of big
mother.
POPE: A big mother!!
Listen, Sister, you might recall what happened to my predecessor in this job,
when he proclaimed that God was more mother than father... It seems that the
Good Lord rather took offence at this, and decided to call him to meet his
Maker rather earlier than expected... But this is the first time Ive heard
anyone calling the Pope a big mother. Is this a provocation, or are you
trying to...
From offstage the sound of
childrens voices becomes louder. The POPE breaks off.
FIRST CARDINAL: [Looking out
of the window] Holy Mother, what a pandemonium!
POPE: Holy Mother? You
see now see what youve started!
FIRST CARDINAL: Theyll cause a
riot at this rate!
PROFESSOR: There are more
groups arriving too... Your Holiness, come and see... Its an amazing sight!
POPE: [He sits down]
No thank you, Ill take your word for it.
SECOND NUN: Holy Father...
something seems to be happening to your eyes...
POPE: My eyes?
SECOND NUN: Theyre getting
all red and watery... Look, professor...
PROFESSOR: Looks like an
inflammation to me...
SECOND NUN: If youll allow
me... Ive got just the very thing.
She takes a small bottle of
eye drops from her handbag.
POPE: Thats very kind
of you, but...
The SECOND NUN more
or less forces his head back.
SECOND NUN: Keep still...
Look up... Look towards me... No, dont shut your eyes...
She drops a couple of drops
from the dropper into the POPEs eyes.
FIRST CARDINAL: I think it would
be appropriate, your Holiness, if you went out onto the balcony. Just for a
moment... to say a few words of welcome...
POPE: No, for goodness
sake... That would be the signal for the loudhailers and the posters...
FIRST CARDINAL: [Not
understanding] Loudhailers and posters?
POPE: This is very
strange... Im feeling all dizzy...
SECOND NUN: Try looking at
my hand... Can you see it?
POPE: Yes. It looks
rather peculiar, though. Distorted, crooked, somehow...
SECOND NUN: Come over
here... [She helps the POPE up, and leads him to one of the windows]
Try walking a bit... Can you see better now?
POPE: [Approaching
cautiously] Yes, thats better... But what are those children doing down
there? They seem to be climbing up.
FIRST CARDINAL: Where? I dont
see anyone climbing up.
POPE: What are you,
blind as well as stupid? Look, there!
FIRST CARDINAL: I dont see
anything...
SECOND NUN: There, coming up
the columns. Look, one of thems fallen!
POPE: Two, in fact...!
But the others are still climbing... Heavens, theyre terribly brave!
SECOND NUN: Of course they
are...! Seeing these kids have been out on the streets virtually since the day
they were born, theyre absolutely fearless!
POPE: And theyre
violent too... Look, theyve attacked that group of priests who were trying to
block their way...
FIRST NUN: Oh! Theyre hitting the priests!
SECOND NUN: And biting the
nuns!
FIRST CARDINAL: But where? I
dont see them... I cant see a thing!
FIRST NUN: Me neither!
PROFESSOR: Down there...
Theyre rushing about like headless chickens on a battery farm.
FIRST CARDINAL: Chickens too,
now! Thats incredible! But where?
POPE: Coming up the
front there. Its incredible! Theyre climbing up the front of St Peters...
Theyre climbing up by hanging onto balloons!
Through the window we see
clusters of balloons floating up.
FIRST CARDINAL: Chickens hanging
from balloons? I see no chickens... [The SECOND NUN stamps on his
foot] Ouch! What was that for, Sister?!
SECOND NUN: Stand more over
that way. Surely you can see them now, loads of children hanging onto clusters
of ballons and being carried up by them? Quick! Wed better burst their
balloons before they get a grip on the window sill...
PROFESSOR: What with,
though?
POPE: We could burst
them with those halberds.
He points to halberds
hanging on the wall. The PROFESSOR and the SECOND NUN take them,
and move across to the window.
SECOND NUN: Mind we dont
puncture ourselves too, eh...!
POPE: And pass me the
sacred bow from Zambia.
The FIRST NUN passes
him the bow.
PROFESSOR: Thats the way!
Lay on. Macduff! And you too, Cardinal. See if you can find something to throw.
The FIRST CARDINAL takes
two silver-gilt apples from a bowl. After examining them to see if theyre
valuable, he shrugs his shoulders and throws them.
SECOND NUN: There, I hit
one! I knocked him down!
FIRST CARDINAL: Where?
PROFESSOR: There... Two
balloons, with a child hanging underneath! [He makes a gesture as if
bursting the balloon] Take that...! Thats dealt with that one!
FIRST NUN: Watch out, over
there... one of the balloons has come in the window... Oh, its alright it
didnt have a child on it...
PROFESSOR: Uh oh trouble!
One of the kids just got in through that window over there!
SECOND NUN: And hes hidden
behind the curtain at the back!
POPE: Stop him, catch
him!
PROFESSOR: [He runs
behind the curtain. The SECOND NUN follows him, carrying her big handbag]
Aha! Got you! Its alright Ive caught him...!
The curtain shakes as if a
struggle is taking place behind it. We catch a glimpse of a childs head. This
is a doll, which the SECOND NUN had in her handbag, together with the
knife which the PROFESSOR is wielding.
SECOND NUN: Watch out, hes
got a knife!
PROFESSOR: [Yelling]
Oooch! Ouch!
SECOND NUN: What happened?
The PROFESSOR
comes from behind the curtain with a knife sticking in his chest.
PROFESSOR: He stabbed me...
POPE: Oh, my God!
The child-doll flies into
the air above the curtain. The POPE fires an arrow at it. With some
co-ordination, he may succeed in hitting it.
SECOND NUN: There, take
that, you brat! [We hear the crash of breaking glass] Whew, at last! [She
comes back on stage] I threw him out of the window.
POPE: Oh, how
terrible! Oh, the poor thing!
The POPE also runs
behind the curtain.
FIRST CARDINAL: [To the PROFESSOR]
Are you alright, Professor?
PROFESSOR: Yes, yes... Its
nothing... Just a scratch... [He pulls the knife out of his chest, and looks
at it] ...about three inches deep...! Im dying!
He falls backwards on the floor.
The POPE re-enters.
POPE: I think I shot
down one of the children with an arrow.
He goes back behind the
curtain.
FIRST CARDINAL: I think Im
going crazy...! Were you really dying just then, Professor...?
PROFESSOR: [Confidentially,
to the FIRST CARDINAL] Dont be silly were acting... Its a role-playing
routine. Were helping the Holy Father to act out his fears, as a way of
getting him over his phobias.
FIRST CARDINAL: Oh, I see... So
were supposed to play along with him!
PROFESSOR: Well done! So
now you can give a hand too!
FIRST CARDINAL: [He takes the
PROFESSORs knife, runs to the window, and mimes a big battle] OK,
come on, lets be having you! Take that! Thats sorted you out... scumbag! Ha!
The POPE
re-enters.
POPE: What on earth do
you think youre doing, Cardinal?
FIRST CARDINAL: Ive just
polished off one of those evil Satanic children!
POPE: And I suppose
youre happy now... I suppose that makes you feel good? The poor thing...
FIRST CARDINAL: It was
legitimate self-defence.
POPE: Legitimate
self-defence? Against a poor, starving little mixed-race kiddie! Youre a
monster!
FIRST CARDINAL: What do you
mean? They throw them out of the window, and shoot them full of arrows, and
then Im the monster!?
SECOND NUN: Ah yes but
then we feel terrible about it afterwards. We find it repugnant... But youre
obviously getting a kick out of it! If you ask me, youre a sadist!
FIRST CARDINAL: No, no, I felt
terrible about it too.
POPE: Silence, hypocrite!
He fires an arrow at the CARDINAL. It
bounces off his stomach.
FIRST CARDINAL: Your Holiness!
Thats no way to treat a Cardinal!
POPE: Forgive me, but
beneath these robes beats the heart of an actor who cant stand the sight of
priests... Faced with a Cardinal, I dont know how to restrain myself. [He
goes back into character as the POPE] Oh... its over... at last!
He settles into a chair and
closes his eyes, as if sleeping.
FIRST NUN: Amazing look,
all the children are starting to leave the square.
PROFESSOR: Yes, theyre
loading them back on the buses... Theyre going away.
FIRST CARDINAL: I dont see
whats so amazing about that! Seeing that the Pope shows no signs of appearing
on the balcony, theyre taking them off to get something to eat. Its all part
of the programme...
SECOND NUN: [To the FIRST
CARDINAL, stamping on his foot again] Shush!
FIRST CARDINAL: Ouch!
SECOND NUN: [She goes
over to the POPE and waves her hand slowly in front of his eyes]
Hooray! We did it! Its all over now, your Holiness!
FIRST CARDINAL: [Limping]
Sister, are you out of your mind? Now youve crushed my other foot! Why didnt
I just stick to being parish priest in Bassano del Grappa!?
POPE: [Waking up
again] Whats all the shouting about? Whats going on? Oh, I must have
nodded off... Im sorry... [He sees the SECOND NUN] Whos the Sister? Oh
yes, now I remember... Shes the Sister with the excellent intuition. [To
the PROFESSOR] Professor...? What on earth are you doing here? Oh, how
silly of me... It was me who asked you to come, wasnt it... I wasnt feeling
very well, you know... Because what happened was that... Oh, I dont remember
now... Anyway, itll come back to me... Goodness, Im late... [To the FIRST
CARDINAL] Cardinal, what about the journalists?
FIRST CARDINAL: Oh, for heavens
sake...
POPE: For heavens
sake what?
FIRST CARDINAL: For heavens
sake maybe Ill be in time to stop them.
POPE: Tell them that
Ill be ready to meet them in fifteen minutes. [Turning to the FIRST
NUN] Sister, call my valet to come and give me a hand, because I have to
change.
FIRST CARDINAL: But, your
Holiness...
POPE: Dont go away,
Professor, Ill be back in a minute... I must say, Im feeling rather peculiar...
He exits in a hurry,
followed by the FIRST NUN.
FIRST CARDINAL: Its incredible!
Its as if he doesnt remember a thing. Whats come over him?
SECOND NUN: Whats come over
him is that I brought him out of the trance... So now all he has is a few
half-memories.
FIRST CARDINAL: [Shocked]
Trance? What trance? When did he go into a trance... And who put him into it?
PROFESSOR: You remember
when she went to put the ointment into his eyes...? Well, she was really just
pretending... In actual fact, by waving her hands in front of his eyes she was
able to guide him from a state of paranoid hysteria into a controlled trance.
Fortunately for us the Sister has considerable powers of exorcism.
SECOND NUN: Pleased to meet
you. Would you care to avail yourself of my services too? We could do a group
discount.
FIRST CARDINAL: You hypnotised
his Holiness? On whose authority, may I ask...? This is appalling?
PROFESSOR: But dont you
realise, we freed him from a nightmare that could have led him to a total breakdown?
FIRST CARDINAL: Well, Im lost
for words... Youll have to excuse me. Lord, what a day! You may have freed the
Holy Father may have been freed, but now Im the one heading for a
nervous breakdown! Anyway, even though I dont agree with your methods, thank
you, Sister.
SECOND NUN: Dont mention
it.
FIRST CARDINAL: [Picking up
the POPEs despatches] And what about these...? Look! These were
supposed to be special security bulletins... but theres no mention of a plot
anywhere here...
PROFESSOR: Hardly
surprising. Theyre Met Office reports!
FIRST CARDINAL: [He reads]
Winds light to variable... Maximum temperature fifteen degrees Celsius. So
the Holy Father was only pretending to read... In actual fact he was making it
all up?
PROFESSOR: No, not at all.
He actually believed he was reading them... It was all going on in his
sub-conscious.
SECOND NUN: There! Now just
imagine if hed gone down to meet the journalists in a frame of mind like
that... waving the sacred bow... and saying: I handed over Noriega to the
Americans. Theyve promised me they wont sentence him to death. Instead
theyll punish him by making him write a hundred lines a day: No cocaine!
Cocaine is bad for you! No cocaine! Cocaine is bad for you!
FIRST CARDINAL: But do you
really think that the Holy Father is going mad?
PROFESSOR: No, not mad...
He is in a highly excitable state, though.
FIRST CARDINAL: So what do you
suggest we do about it?
PROFESSOR: Hell need a
course of treatment.
SECOND NUN: Thats right
complete rest and relaxation...
FIRST CARDINAL: Rest and
relaxation? A rest cure! Easier said than done, for a Pope...!
SECOND NUN: [She rummages
in her bag and pulls out a cigarette] Exactly. The only real cure would be
to give up being Pope.
FIRST CARDINAL: Wed have to
sack him. You cant do that! You cant sack a Pope!
SECOND NUN: Why not? You got
rid of the last one quick enough, John Paul the First, when he started raving
round like a loony and telling Pinocchio stories... talking about breaking up
the IOR, you certainly got rid of him!
FIRST CARDINAL: Sister, I will
not permit you to make gratuitous and poisonous insinuations.... John Paul the
First died from natural causes.
SECOND NUN: Well, seeing
that natural causes seemed to work so well last time, maybe we could try them
again. Mind you, itd be a shame, really, because Ive taken a bit of a liking
to this Pope.
She lights her cigarette.
FIRST CARDINAL: Thats quite
enough, Sister... Dont you dare use language like that! [He realises that she
is smoking] Youre smoking?!
SECOND NUN: [Caught on
the hop] ...It helps my asthma.
FIRST CARDINAL: [To the PROFESSOR]
Professor, where in heavens name did you find this Sister? Shes very strange.
PROFESSOR: Youll have to
make allowances for her. Shes a missionary... unaccustomed to our worldly
ways. I met her in Africa, when I was on a secondment in Burundi. She was
running a leprosy colony; then she took up curing people who believed theyd
been possessed by demons; and then people with the plague...
SECOND NUN: That was the
life!
FIRST CARDINAL: Well, that
explains where she acquired her curiously... uncivilised habits... Like some
Bantu witch!
SECOND NUN: Watch who youre
calling a witch, Cardinal, or I might just turn nasty. Ill turn you into a
baboon, and you can wear your little red bobble hat on your bald backside!
FIRST CARDINAL: Dont talk to me
like that, Sister! Youre very lucky that youre under the protection of the
Professor! I think its high time you were leaving. Right?!
SECOND NUN: Nothing could
give me greater pleasure! [She picks up her bags] I shall go back to my
drug addicts. At least they show a bit of gratitude... Not like some people I
could name...
FIRST CARDINAL: Drug addicts?
Whats all this about drug addicts?
PROFESSOR: Well, actually,
this likeable good Samaritan runs a centre for the rehabilitation and cure of
drug addicts and social misfits.
SECOND NUN: Thats right. We
work wonders there.
PROFESSOR: Lets say a
charitable institution which is not exactly registered with the authorities...
SECOND NUN: The Council were
just on the point of shutting me down. The Professor took advantage of this
fact to do a bit of blackmail on me.
PROFESSOR: I wouldnt
exactly call it blackmail...
SECOND NUN: Thats what I
said blackmail. He came to visit me, and more or less told me: Listen, I can
save you. I can stop them evicting you, you and your drug centre and throwing
you all out in the street like they did the Leoncavallo centre... I can also
help you to escape a prison sentence for serious professional misconduct... In
exchange, however, I want you to do me a favour. The Pope is sick. I want you
to come to the Vatican with me and see if you can use your hypnosis to cure
him. Take it or leave it.
FIRST CARDINAL: But you must be
out of your mind, Professor. You bring a person here, who has been involved in
illegal acts, who is operating outside the law, and you put the Holy Father in
her hands! Supposing people got to hear of it!?
PROFESSOR: How many times do
I have to tell you unorthodox situations require unorthodox remedies.
SECOND NUN: Forget it,
Professor. I cant say Ive got a lot of time for his Eminence... The mans got
no style... [She looks around for an ashtray. She doesnt find one, so she
passes her cigarette stub to the CARDINAL] I wouldnt want to desecrate the
Holy See... Anyway, his Eminence is right... As Cardinal Biffi put it so
nicely, we women are dismal creatures... advisors of the Devil, and propagators
of death! The best thing we can do is just pull the chain and disappear from
history. Goodbye.
She heads for the exit; the PROFESSOR follows.
Enter the POPE, followed
by the FIRST NUN. The SECOND NUN and the PROFESSOR are
stopped in their tracks.
POPE: Here I am.
Right, your Eminence, are we ready...? [He sees the cigarette in the FIRST
CARDINALs hand] Smoking, your Eminence?!
FIRST CARDINAL: [Extremely
embarrassed] Um, er... it helps my asthma.
He passes the cigarette stub
to the FIRST NUN, who goes to stub it out.
POPE: Shame on you! [He
points to the PROFESSORs briefcase, and then takes it from him] Oh,
at last! Wonderful! Youve found Calvis briefcase! All this time weve been
looking for it...!
PROFESSOR: No, no, your
Holiness... Thats my case...
POPE: Oh what a shame,
I suppose well never find it now. [He gives it back to him] Now, lets
get organised. [To the FIRST CARDINAL] Your Eminence, before we go down,
wouldnt it be an idea if you gave me a preview of some of the questions that
theyre going to be asking?
FIRST CARDINAL: Ah, exactly
just what I was about to propose.
He pulls out his mobile
phone.
POPE: [To the PROFESSOR
and the SECOND NUN] You know, sometimes these journalists are so
poisonous in their interviews that if a person doesnt turn up well prepared...
I tell you what, do me a favour, Id like you to stay as well... Itll be
educational.
A young PRIEST appears
on stage, holding a folder full of papers. He is the Vatican Press Officer.
PRIEST: Excuse me, your
Holiness...
FIRST CARDINAL: Ah, there you
are, I was just about to come looking for you.
POPE: Whos he?
FIRST CARDINAL: Hes the new
attache at the Vatican Press Office.
POPE: [To the PRIEST]
Oh, good... do sit down... This gives us a bit of time to prepare ourselves...
FIRST NUN: Your Holiness,
the Musicians are outside, the ones you asked for... Do you want them to come
back later?
POPE: No, no, bring
them in. [The FIRST NUN ushers in the string quartet, which consists
of two NUNS and two young PRIESTS] Set yourselves up over there, and
lets have something nice and soothing... Itll help me to think... [The
quartet sets itself up in a corner of the salon, and performs an
eighteenth-century largo. The POPE turns to the PRIEST] Right, fire away.
PRIEST: Well, the
correspondent of the London Daily Express wants to know your reactions
to the statement made by the Bishop of Cologne, Gruber Kutter, when he said,
and I quote: I find it ridiculous that, on the threshold of the year 2000,
Catholics are still tearing themselves apart over the question of
contraception... [The STRING QUARTET breaks off for a moment]
Yes, thats exactly what he says... of contraception, of the pill, of the
coil... of the...
POPE: Alright,
alright, you dont have to list them all!
The STRING QUARTET begins
playing again.
PRIEST: Im sorry...
Anyway, he carries on: Its no business of the Pope to be handing down
instructions about contraceptives. These are not matters to be laid down and
dictated by the Church. It is not the Churchs business.
POPE: So its not our
business, eh? Well, you can tell Gruber Kutter that the next time theres a
Vatican Council I shall find him a nice little parish in Upper Bavaria. With
the goats.
The STRING QUARTET breaks
off again.
SECOND NUN: Which, as we
know, are not noted for their use of prophylactics.
PROFESSOR: Calm down, your
Holiness... You shouldnt get all worked up... Dont forget, youre going to
have to address all those journalists, and theres nothing theyd like
better...
SECOND NUN: ...than to see
you throwing a wobbly... You know what? I think youre a bit of an old
reactionary.
POPE: Reactionary? Me?
The cheek of it! I tell you, Sister, Im a lot more progressive than you think.
Anyway, you heard it for yourself here I am, the head of the Church, and I
have high-up members of the clergy standing up and preaching against me. But
what do I do? I dont go off and sentence them to death, as Ayatollah Khomeini
would do... Mind you, would that I had the chance! Ha, ha!
SECOND NUN: Id like to hear
you say that in front of the journalists.
POPE: Theyd never get
the joke! [To the PRIEST] Carry on.
The MUSICIANS strike
up again.
PRIEST: The man from the
Frankfurter Allgemeine wants to know your feelings about the statement
made by Deacon Keller from Holland, who has declared himself opposed to your
statement in which...
POPE: Me, statement,
what statement? Give it here, let me read it for myself.
He takes some papers from
the PRIEST.
PROFESSOR: You should try
and read them with detachment, your Holiness.
POPE: Of course...
Hows this for detachment...?! [He holds the papers at arms length, and
chuckles] Vatican humour! Relax, I can control myself. Here, look, he says:
I recall that in the nineteenth century, Pope Piux IX... Whos talking here?
Ah, its still Keller... In the nineteenth century Pope Pius IX used to issue
condemnations of doctors who vaccinated people suffering from cholera. [The
music stops] Vaccination, he declared, was an act contrary to nature. [To
the FIRST CARDINAL] Is it true, what he says?
FIRST CARDINAL: Unfortunately,
yes, your Holiness. Word for word.
POPE: Oh dear... Pius
IX... may the Lord rest his soul... Well, lets carry on. [He continues
reading, and the music strikes up again] Then, when there was an epidemic and
it was beginning to kill large numbers of people, the Pontiff was obliged to
change his tune, and declared that: Vaccination is not a question of dogma!
And later on, when a number of dying bishops were actually saved by
vaccination, he said: Well, of course, Pasteur, the discoverer of the vaccine,
was inspired by Providence in his discovery, even if he was a notorious
atheist. But this is too much, this is scandalous...!
The music stops again.
PROFESSOR: Your Holiness, I
thought you said you were able to control yourself? Anyway, I have to admit,
Ive read about Pius IXs statements too... What Keller says is historically
undeniable... So...
POPE: So what? Whats
Keller getting at, and this jumped-up journalist too...? I suppose theyre
trying to make a parallel between me and Pius IX. Seeing that I preach that the
use of contraceptives is contrary to nature, I suppose theyre saying that Im
reactionary and obscurantist, just like Piux IX... And maybe, next, theyre
expecting me to come out with a statement that: [The music starts again]
Contraception is not a question of dogma! And Condom, the inventor of the
first rubber... condom... was obviously inspired by the Holy Ghost! [As he
says this, he flings his arms open and leans forward. All of a sudden he has a
muscular seizure, and is left standing with his arms and legs apart. The music
breaks off] Ouch...! [He moves his arms, in an attempt to straighten
himself up, but cannot] Ouuuch!
PROFESSOR: [Worried;
running over to the POPE] Whats happened, your Holiness?
POPE: I seem to have
had some kind of a seizure... Didnt you see? Just as I stretched out my
arms... Crack! I felt a sort of crack right across my kidneys... across between
my shoulder blades too... Im stuck. I cant move...
FIRST CARDINAL: Oh Lord, this is
all we need!
Everybody comes over to the POPE,
including the MUSICIANS, to stop him falling over.
PROFESSOR: Dont try to
move! [He hands the POPE a spear and also the pole on which the
sculpted Popes head is placed] Lean on these, your Holiness.
POPE: Oh thank you...
Ouf, that feels better already...
PROFESSOR: [To the FIRST
NUN] Sister, help him out of his clothes.
As the FIRST NUN lays
her hands on the POPEs shoulders, he lets out a yell.
POPE: Ouch, no! Dont
touch me!
PROFESSOR: What do you
mean, Dont touch me? Youre not shy of nuns, are you?
POPE: No, its just
that when she touched my skin it felt like I was being sandpapered with a Black
and Decker... Ouch...!
PROFESSOR: Let me feel for
a moment...
He reaches out his hands to
touch the POPEs back.
POPE: Go easy, for
goodness sake... [The PROFESSOR touches him] Ouch! Ouuuch!
The PROFESSOR and
the FIRST NUN remove the POPEs upper garment, leaving him in a
shirt and baggy trousers.*
PROFESSOR: I would say the
symptoms are obvious... A classic case of hyperaesthesia.
POPE: Classic...?
Whats hyperaesthesia? Is it serious? How do I end up getting it?
PROFESSOR: Well, at the
origins, I would say that it was probably a sciatic neuralgia of the lumbar
region, otherwise known as the witchs stroke.
Aided by the SECOND NUN he
pulls out of his doctors bag the wherewithals for measuring the POPEs
blood pressure.
POPE: Well now thats
a real laugh... The Pope, noted scourge of the feminists, in other words todays
witches, gets struck down by the classic witchs stroke!
SECOND NUN: [She laughs]
Im glad to see youve still got a sense of humour, your Holiness!
POPE: Ha, ha...! The only trouble is, every time I laugh, it gives me a terrible pain,
right here in the back.
PROFESSOR: Thats easily
explained. When you laugh, the movement involved means that the sciatic nerve
gets rubbed between your vertebrae, all adding up to a classic slipped disc,
with sciatic complications.
POPE: Classic, eh?
Well, Im glad were still dealing with the classics!
PROFESSOR: Whats more, I
would say that what we have here is almost certainly an anchilosant
spondylitis, involving the upper vertebrae, the atlantis and the epistrophe.
POPE: Anchylosant
spondylitis... atlantis and epistrophe... What is this, Virgils Aeneid?!
PROFESSOR: And by extension
this leads to what we doctors call the crucifixion stroke.
POPE: Also classic, I
presume...! So in addition to the witchs stroke, Ive got crucifixion stroke
too?
PROFESSOR: Exactly.
POPE: Well, thats
handy, I suppose I am a Pope, and the cross is my symbol after all.
FIRST CARDINAL: If youll excuse
me, I suppose Ill have to go and send the journalists away again... Today just
isnt my day!
He exits.
POPE: Did you see that?
He doesnt even care about my crucifixion stroke... All hes interested
in is newspapers...! Newspapers and journalists, journalists and newspapers...!
Anyway, what about this hyperaesthesia, which, as I recall, was also classic.
PROFESSOR: Well, I was just
coming to that, your Holiness; its all part of what we doctors know as the
pathological hunchback syndrome.
POPE: Hunchback...?
All of a sudden Im a hunchback...? Things arent going too well for me today.
Perhaps I ought to get someones blessing, just in case.
PROFESSOR: Dont get too
upset. I know this is rather a lot to be coping with...
SECOND NUN: Thats right..
All at one go, eh?
PROFESSOR: In these cases
you always find symptoms of paraesthesia you could call it referred pain
caused by a malfunctioning of the sympathetic ganglia.
POPE: Excuse me Professor... I dont follow... What exactly is malfunctioning
here?
PROFESSOR: The sympathetic
ganglia. You see, in the area around the plexus... we have a network of ganglia
that act as a kind of coordinating centre... a sort of telephone exchange, if
you like... one on either side. These receive and interpret commands from the
brain... and then pass them to other parts of the body. You follow me?
POPE: I suppose so. It
must be a bit like the internal workings of the Holy See, which, by the way, is
also made up of two chambers.
PROFESSOR: Exactly, well
done... But now, your Holiness, imagine that all of a sudden the nerve centre
starts receiving signals which are unclear and confused, because of a breakdown
in the sciatic system... What happens?
POPE: The Holy See
goes haywire.
PROFESSOR: Exactly. The
lines start to overheat, your nerves become over-sensitised, and they create
this burning sensation, so that all it needs is for someone even just to touch
your skin and you end up howling like a coyote! Clear?
POPE: So... to sum up:
I, personally, Holy Father to the whole of Christianity, all eight hundred
million of them, in fact, more like a billion, find myself with my ganglia
malfunctioning... my brain on the blink... a hump on my back which derives from
my sympathetic doo-da... a classic witchs stroke... a common-or-garden
crucifixion stroke... nerve signals blacking out all round... a slipped disc...
the Holy See gone haywire, and I cant even laugh because if I do my vertebrae
go scritch-scritch... and I howl like a coyote... and at that moment Gruber
Kutter arrives, the Bishop of Cologne whom I put out to pasture with the goats,
and he falls about laughing.
The POPE gets
agitated, and as he leans forward he loses his balance and tumbles forward on
the spear and the pole on which he was leaning. The music breaks off.
PROFESSOR: Look out!
SECOND NUN: Dont just stand
there, give him a hand!
FIRST CARDINAL: Hold him up!
POPE: Help! Its the
curse of Gruber Kutter!
The PROFESSOR and
the BYSTANDERS rush forward to lift the POPE up.
PROFESSOR: Have you hurt
yourself, your Holiness?
POPE: No, only a big
bash on the nose! Im sure Ive broken a couple of ribs as well, but apart from
that Im fine.
FIRST CARDINAL: Relax, your
Holiness! Sit down.
POPE: Is there a chair
there?
FIRST CARDINAL: Yes, yes... sit
down... Relax, your Holiness...
POPE: [He sits down]
I suppose thats right... I should relax! Im wondering why exactly the Lord
has decided to lay me low like this...
FIRST CARDINAL: The Lord is
putting you to the test, as a sign of his love for you!
POPE: Couldnt he love
some of you a little bit as well, though?
PROFESSOR: Well, cheer up
your Holiness. [To the SECOND NUN] Flectadol! [To the POPE] Maybe
in a minute or two your suffering will be at an end... Always assuming that
youre willing to collaborate.
The SECOND NUN
prepares the hypodermic, goes over to the POPE, and prepares to give the
injection.
POPE: What made you
think that I wouldnt be willing...? More to the point, how are you planning to
get me out of this wretched situation? [Referring to the injection]
Whats that?
PROFESSOR: A pain killer.
POPE: Classic?
PROFESSOR:
Common-or-garden.
POPE: Ouch! For a pain
killer, its very... painful! And is this going to cure me of everything?
PROFESSOR: No,
unfortunately not. Your Holiness, to be perfectly honest, in the area of
neurosympathology and sciatic disorders, modern Western medicine is basically
at point zero.
POPE: Oh good, thats
really cheered me up.
PROFESSOR: When it comes to
this kind of illness, any with doctor in Africa would have a set of diagnostic
techniques and cures far more effective than anything that we have at our
disposal.
POPE: Ah, here we go
again with your mania for exotic cures and native medicines!
PROFESSOR: Your Holiness, I
assure you that in Africa I personally have been present at cases of blockage
similar to yours... and the Sister here can testify to that.
POPE: Ah, was she down
there too?
SECOND NUN: Yes, I was...
POPE: And how did they
cure them?
SECOND NUN: The commonest
method consisted of smearing the patients back with honey, and then applying
an entire nest of rather angry red ants, which had previously been agitated by
giving them a good smoke-up with Afghan hashish, and then, hopla, the patient
would leap up and go running off into the savannah singing Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
POPE: Professor, if
you so much as try that on me, Ill have you thrown out of every medical order
on the planet... covered with ants in your turn, and with a bonfire stuck... I
wont say where! And then well see you running off into the savannah...
but Ill be the one wholl be singing the Hallelujahs...
PROFESSOR: All right, your
Holiness, if you put it like that, I surrender.
POPE: No need to get
all touchy... Cant a Pope have a joke every once in a while? Even though I
dont know how I manage it. At this precise point I feel so completely wretched
that if you were to put me in the hands of a Bantu witch doctor... in fact, do
me a favour, phone and see if you can get me one, would you? Ive heard such a
lot of good things about that De Michelis... Couldnt you get him along?
SECOND NUN: No, theres no
need to start phoning around, your Holiness. Youll just have to imagine that Im
a Bantu witch doctor... If youd be willing to trust me, Id like to try a very
particular kind of cure.
POPE: At this point
Im game for anything, so go ahead.
SECOND NUN: All right. Now,
first of all we have to find a way of raising your Holiness to about this
height [She raises a hand to eye level] and in such a way that you can
completely relax your back muscles.
The POPE is helped
to lean forward.
FIRST CARDINAL: And how do you
propose doing that? If were starting lifting games, Id better go and get a
couple of Swiss Guards.
He exits, and returns
immediately, followed by two SWISS GUARDS.
SECOND NUN: Tell you what
why dont we lower that chandelier. Then we could use the ropes.
PRIEST: Good idea.
POPE: What does this
treatment involve?
The chandelier is lowered.
SECOND NUN: Unhook the
chandelier... [Everyone helps. The ropes which hold up the chandelier are
converted into a sort of harness for the POPE] Shift that table... Make a
loop under the Holy Fathers armpits, and another one under his stomach... and
one supporting his legs... There, that looks fine. Now raise him up.
The two SWISS GUARDS
haul on the ropes, and the POPE is hoisted into position.
POPE: Couldnt I have
a couple of candles too? Id make a good baroque chandelier.
The PROFESSOR,
aided by the SISTER, pushes a table and a stool across to where the POPE
is suspended in mid-air.
PROFESSOR: [To the SECOND
NUN] Climb up on this table, youll be able to reach his Holiness more easily.
SECOND NUN: Good thinking...
Give me a hand. [To the FIRST NUN] Sister, would you get me a basin of
boiling water?
The FIRST NUN
exits.
POPE: Boiling water?
What do you want with boiling water?
SECOND NUN: Dont worry,
your Holiness, Im not about to pour it over you. [To the FIRST
CARDINAL] Your Eminence, would you get some incense and four candles and set
them up round here.
POPE: Candles?! What
is this the funeral, already?
The MUSICIANS
exit, and re-enter with large candleholders, which are placed on either side of
the POPE. They are followed by a SWISS GUARD carrying incense,
and by a PRIEST carrying a large silver basin, which is placed on the
ground beneath the POPE.
As each character walks in
front of the POPE, they genuflect. The POPE responds with strangely
contorted movements of his head and upper torso.
POPE: [At the end
of the procession] Wonderful. When do the Three Wise Men arrive?
SECOND NUN: Professor, in my
handbag youll find a small tobacco pouch with some crystals in it. As the
water comes to the boil, throw a dozen of them in. [She leans across the POPEs
back] Your Holiness, please, relax...
POPE: I cant... Im
sorry... Im just all tensed up...
The FIRST NUN
re-enters.
FIRST NUN: Heres the
boiling water...
SECOND NUN: Give it to the
Professor. [The PROFESSOR pours the water into the basin and adds the
crystals. This produces a large number of soap bubbles which float up
underneath the POPE. The MUSICIANS and the SWISS GUARDS
arrange themselves around the POPE as he hangs suspended] Now, I
want you to imagine that you are somewhere completely different... imagine
youre in the sea somewhere... Swimming... I want big movements of your arms...
and I want to hear you singing... [To the SWISS GUARDS] And you... Set
this contraption swinging a bit, and light the candles too.
The POPE is swung
slowly to and fro in the harness; the SECOND NUN spreads her hands over
him.
POPE: Sing, you say?
Well, Ill give it a try. [He begins intoning a Gregorian chant, which is
immediately taken up by the STRING QUARTET]
Aleus Domine Fulgitur...
SECOND NUN: What on earth
kind of song do you call that?
POPE: Its
Gregorian...
SECOND NUN: Who ever heard
of anybody swimming and singing in Gregorian?
POPE: Lefebvre does.
SECOND NUN: Cant we have
something a bit more lively!
POPE: Lively? Theres
no such thing as lively Gregorian chant!
SECOND NUN: Dont you know
any proper songs? What about when you were a boy? You were a boy once,
werent you?
POPE: Yes, but not for
long.
SECOND NUN: You must
remember some little song from your childhood?
POPE: Yes, now I think
of it, there was one. It went something like this: [He sings]
Strado je hobje alonnideja
Strado-je-nubie alfonida
SECOND NUN: Thats brilliant
carry on.
The STRING QUARTET provides
a musical backing.
POPE: Acuni bonnja inanolijae
A la-stoni-nijamihiae acooinaat!
He sings in Slavic.
SECOND NUN: Carry on with
the singing... In a minute or two youll feel a sensation of heat coming over
you. Perfect! [To the PROFESSOR and the FIRST CARDINAL] Come on,
you sing too!
FIRST CARDINAL: I cant sing in
Slavic!
SECOND NUN: Well mime,
then... Where theres a will theres a way.
Everybody sings along with
the POPE.
ALL: Strado je hobje
alonnideja
Strado-je-nubie alfonida
Acuni bonnja inanolijae
All of a sudden, the SECOND CARDINAL
enters (the priest in charge of Vatican security). He is holding a photograph,
and is accompanied by two SWISS GUARDS.
SECOND CARDINAL: Excuse my
interrupting, your Holiness, but we have a serious problem here... We have
incontrovertible evidence...
He stops in his tracks and
stares in amazement at the scene of the suspended POPE swinging to and fro.
POPE: I wasd starting
to feel better just now... Now all of a sudden I feel like someones shot me
full of quick-setting cement.
SECOND CARDINAL: [He goes over
to the SECOND NUN and climbs up onto the stool next to her in order to
compare her face with the face in the photograph] Yes, its her. Absolutely
no doubt at all!
He gestures to the SWISS GUARDS,
who come over to arrest her.
POPE: [Stopping
them] What on earth has got into you? Since when have people had the right
to come wandering round my chambers, not to mention climbing up on my
furniture, without so much as a by your leave...?
FIRST CARDINAL: And right in the
middle of a Slavic song, too!
SECOND CARDINAL: But we have a
serious security problem here!
SECOND NUN: I think I should
warn you, if we dont re-start the massage at once, well be right back where
we started and the Popes going to seize up again.
PROFESSOR: [He climbs up
on a stool next to the SECOND CARDINAL] Speaking as the doctor responsible
for His Holinesss health, your Eminence, Im afraid Im going to have to ask
you to leave!
SECOND CARDINAL: Im sorry, but
as head of Vatican security, Professor, I must insist that I stay and carry out
my duty, and I must inform you about the real origins and profession of this...
woman...
POPE: Thats enough of
that! What is this, a rank and file ecclesiastical take-over?!
FIRST CARDINAL: We already know;
the Sister works in a community centre rehabilitating drug addicts... shes a
qualified healer...
SECOND CARDINAL: A qualified
healer, maybe. But she has absolutely no licence or permit to practise. Shes
running an illegal operation in other words. [To the GUARDS] Get those
nuns clothes off her and take her away, shes a sham...
POPE: Get her clothes
off? Youre going to start undressing a nun? Here? In my apartments? What is
this? The Crazy Horse Saloon?
PROFESSOR: Im afraid
youve gone a bit too far, your Eminence! Interrupting a crucial moment of the
andro-therapeutic process... Do you want the Holy Father to be the victim of an
irreversible arthritic paroxysm?
SECOND CARDINAL: What if I were
to tell you that this so-called Sister from Burundi was not in fact a
missionary... that this woman...
POPE: So why should I
worry whether shes a missionary nun in Burundi or a convent nun in Monte
Cenisio? Ouuuch...! Im seizing up again! Get out...! Get out...! You, and your
Switzers!
SECOND CARDINAL: Your Holiness,
the only reaon Im here is to save your life.
POPE: What do you
mean, save my life? I see no danger? People love me... The political situation
is under control...
SECOND CARDINAL: Exactly. The
same words that Ceaucescu said five minutes before they shot him.
Exit the SECOND CARDINAL,
followed by the SWISS GUARDS.
POPE: The cheek of the
man! Now how on earth am I going to relax again...
SECOND NUN: Youd best start
singing again.
POPE: Easier said than
done... Ive lost the motivation.
SECOND NUN: [With her
hands still laid on the POPE] Ill see if I can give you a hand, then. I
know a little song with just the same tune as yours. They used to sing it in
the village where I lived, when I was a girl.
POPE: Really?
SECOND NUN: Yes, of course.
You listen and tell me if it isnt the same. [She sings]
Oh fresh rose, the weather is so gentle
Come down, come down, dont make me wait for
you.
Undress yourself, take off all your petals,
And come and sink
Into this clear, warm water.
You are a mermaid among the waves.
With your eyes you take me to the bottom of
the sea.
You take me to the bottom of the sea.
You take me to the bottom of the sea.
POPE: Naughty,
naughty...! My song didnt have rude bits in it... Two lovers in the water,
getting undressed... Sinking into warm water and getting up to hanky-panky...
Without any clothes on, too.
SECOND NUN: What do you
mean, two lovers? Theyre married!
POPE: No, Im sorry...
People who go getting undressed in warm water... and embracing each other with
no clothes on arent married! And if they are married, theyre certainly not
married to each other.
SECOND NUN: Before you
start... pontif-icating... could I draw your attention to the fact that you
just started moving your arms about as if there was nothing wrong with you?!
POPE: Amazing! I
didnt even notice. It must have been the singing that did it.
SECOND NUN: Come on...
Relax, move about a bit more... Dont worry...
POPE: Alright, Ill
try. Let me down... I want to try walking a bit...
PROFESSOR: Right. Help him
down.
Everyone helps the POPE to come
down.
POPE: [When he
reaches ground level, he begins to move, swivelling his legs and his body in a
disjointed fashion] Yes, I can do it! Look how well I move! Strutting like
a peacock!
FIRST CARDINAL: What an amazing
recovery! Fling open the windows, the Pope is cured!
SECOND NUN: Slow down, dont
get carried away... The first time round the effect doesnt last for very long.
As the FIRST NUN flings
open the windows, the SECOND CARDINAL enters, followed by two SWISS
GUARDS.
SECOND CARDINAL: Im sorry to
interrupt again, your Holiness... this really is extremely urgent... I insist
that you let me explain.
POPE: In a minute, if
you dont mind. First I want to thank this Sister.
The STRING QUARTET
begins playing again, quietly.
POPE: Now, I think the
time has come... Would you all sit down and listen... [The music breaks off]
The Cardinal here has been trying to tell me that this Sister...
SECOND NUN: Is not a nun at
all...
POPE: What? How do you
mean?
SECOND NUN: Like he says.
Im not a nun...
POPE: You are a
missionary, though?
SECOND NUN: Im afraid not.
POPE: And you dont
even come from Burundi?
SECOND NUN: Yes, I do come
from Burundi. And how...
POPE: Well, at least
there was a bit of truth in it. Oh dear oh dear... I guessed it as soon as you
came in... There was something in the way you moved... And then when I got hit
by my witchs stroke... I had my mind on too many other things. So who are
you, then?
SECOND NUN: A witch. Like he
said.
POPE: What...?! I do
hope youre joking.
PROFESSOR: Of course she
is, your Holiness. My assistant has a rather bizarre sense of humour...
SECOND NUN: Why dont we
just call it a day, Professor, and stop pretending. [To the POPE] Yes,
Im exactly that... a witch. My life story is so amazing that theyve been
begging me to make a 139-episode TV series out of it.
POPE: I hope were not
going to get the full version now... Im due to leave for Moscow on Thursday.
SECOND NUN: I could give you
a quick run-down.
POPE: All right. Lets
have the potted version.
SECOND NUN: Well, I was born
in Africa, to white parents, who went and died in a hunting accident. I was
looked after by a Bantu witch doctor, who reared me like a mother. At the age
of nine I was walking on burning coals; at the age of ten I was walking on
water... not least, to cool my feet, because of the fire. At the age of twelve,
a herd of wild elephants was about to trample my village. I stood in front of
them, raised my arms, and let out a terrifying yell! The elephants were stopped
in their tracks... and two rhinoceroses came and lay down at my feet and went:
Ee-eee-eee, which is rhinoceroses way of communicating with humans... and
they said: Here we are, prostrate at your feet... Do with us what you will...
We are willing to do anything... Even change our names... if youll only let us
join the Socialist International, like the Italian Communist Party. End of the
first episode. The second episode...
POPE: [Interrupting
her] No, no, spare us...
SECOND NUN: But its the bit
where I meet Tarzan! He was running the World Wildlife Fund at the time!
POPE: Very funny! [To
the PROFESSOR] Leaving aside this womans unorthodox qualifications, what
on earth put it into your head to bring her here dressed as a nun?
PROFESSOR: First of all, I
had to find some way of getting her into the Vatican and smuggling her past
your Swiss Guards. And then, to be honest, would you have accepted her otherwise?
POPE: Well, I dont
know, really... I suppose she seems pretty reliable... I dont see a problem...
SECOND CARDINAL: Well there is
a problem, your Holiness, and how... as I was trying to tell you a short while
ago... You ask this fraudster to spell out her real profession, and you will
find that what we have here is a drug-trafficker, who also happens to
specialise in illegal abortions.
SECOND NUN: Whoops! Thats
blown it!
POPE: You do
abortions! An abortionist?!
PROFESSOR: Lets keep it in
proportion... She works in a therapeutic community, where completely legal
doctors carry out minor operations.
POPE: And abortions!
Do you realise the position youve put me in? Im talking to you, Professor,
and [to the FIRST CARDINAL] you! Personal secretary, indeed! Dont you
dare let a word of this get out to the Press!
SECOND NUN: [Picking up
her bags] Isnt life amazing... Up until a few minutes ago I was this
extraordinary, marvellous woman... and now Im the nun who never was!
POPE: You have dreamed
up this diabolical situation... an insult to my person, and to everything I
represent. When I think that you allowed this wretched woman to put her hands
on me, the same murderous hands that have killed innocent babies before they
could see the light of day.
SECOND NUN: Excuse me, your
Holiness, but lets get one thing straight. Personally speaking, I am not in
favour of abortions either... but if its a choice between that and the horros
of the alternative, with desperate women dying of back-street abortions every
day, I think I know which side I come down on. Its only with great reluctance
and pain that I take that path, believe me.
POPE: You cant fool
me with fancy words!
SECOND NUN: You protest
about my hands, but it never worried to shake certain other hands. The truly
bloodstained hands of the likes of Pinochet and Marcos, and that other
dictatorial thug in El Salvador.
POPE: [To the SECOND
CARDINAL] Cardinal!
SECOND CARDINAL: Your Holiness?
POPE: I dont want to
hear another word out of that woman! Get her out! Out of my sight!
SECOND CARDINAL: [To the SWISS
GUARDS] Do as he says.
The SWISS GUARDS
frog-march the SECOND NUN to the exit.
POPE: Take those nuns
clothes off her, and hand her over to the police of the country she belongs to.
No, more to the point, just see her to the door. Get her out, I said!
SECOND NUN: Thats fine,
your Holiness. Enjoy your seizure!
The SWISS GUARDS
march her off.
POPE: Get out!
He gestures as if to shoo
her off, and his arms lock in the same outstretched position as previously.
FIRST CARDINAL: There! Shes
done it! Shes done it! Shes given him another seizure!
PROFESSOR: So what do we do
now?
The SECOND NUN comes
running back on stage.
SECOND NUN: Maybe I can be
of assistance.
GENERAL CHORUS: Get her off!
The SECOND NUN raises
her arms and lets out a screech. Everyone on stage is convulsed, as if by an
electric shock, and they end up with their arms in the same outstretched
position as the POPE. The SECOND NUN exits.
Musical interlude. Blackout.
ACT TWO
We find ourselves in a
warehouse or a large and more or less dilapidated room. The windows are in a
state of disrepair, and there is a skylight in the ceiling. There is glass
missing from some of the windows. The room is bare. In the centre stands a long
table. On-stage we see a group of YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN. They look pale and
undernourished. It is clear that they are drug addicts. They are at work on
weaving looms.
The HEALER, whom we saw
previously in the guise of the SECOND NUN, is now dressed simply in a doctors
jacket and a pair of trousers. She is busy massaging a YOUTH who is stretched
out on the table. From backstage, enter the PROFESSOR. The YOUTHS run up to
him, shouting excitedly in unison and trying to search him.
PROFESSOR: Do you mind?!
FIRST BOY: Hes arrived!
Its him!
FIRST GIRL: Have you got the
stuff?
THIRD BOY: Are you the
courier?
PROFESSOR: Hey, calm down,
get your hands off!
HEALER: Stop that! Leave
him alone! Hes got nothing to do with it, it cant be him... Hes a Professor.
FIRST BOY: So? Why couldnt
it be a Professor who brings us the stuff?
HEALER: Leave him alone,
I said!
They all return to what they
were doing.
PROFESSOR: What on earth
was that all about...? What were they all after?
HEALER: Nothing, nothing...
Just a misunderstanding, dont worry about it, Professor...
PROFESSOR: Alright. Anyway,
I sent you some medical supplies and things. Did you receive them?
HEALER: Yes. Thank
you... [She finishes massaging the BOY and sends him packing] Whose turn is it
now?
ASSISTANT: [To one of the
GIRLS] Come on, youre next...
PROFESSOR: Hey, now this is
a lovely welcome! Youre not angry with me too, are you?
HEALER: Not at all...
Its just that Im under a lot of pressure... I have problems... Anyway, spit
it out what do you want this time?
PROFESSOR: Well, I only
dropped in to say hello, really... To find out how youre getting on.
HEALER: Well, thats
really lovely, Professor. Hello. What a lovely day. How nice to see you! And
now, the doors over there. Give my regards to the family.
She pushes him towards the
door.
PROFESSOR: You cant throw
me out just like that... We worked together once... we were friends...
HEALER: Spare me the
old pals act. I presume youve come here for a reason. I hope youre not
trying to convince me to pay another visit to... the fellow with the funny
hat...?
PROFESSOR: No, not at all!
I dont think we need go to the Vatican again.
HEALER: Just as well.
PROFESSOR: Hes decided
hes coming here, instead.
HEALER: Who?
PROFESSOR: The fellow with
the funny hat. In person.
HEALER: Here? To me? Are
you crazy?
PROFESSOR: Almost!...
Seeing that the mountain wont go to Mohammed...
HEALER: So Im a
mountain, now? Im warning you, if hes coming looking for political asylum,
Ill hand him straight over to the Americans. Moody old bastard, isnt he! One
minute hes falling at my feet, just because hes feeling a bit peeky, and the
next minute hes calling me a murderer.
PROFESSOR: The poor chap is
at his wits end. Hes totally seized up. Weve tried everything... electric
shocks... acupuncture... poking around in his sympathetic ganglia... Nothing!
At a certain point he was so desperate that he started asking for you again.
HEALER: Spare me the sob
stories, Professor, because Ill start to cry. So how will His Nibs be
arriving? Unobtrusively in his white Popemobile, I suppose?
PROFESSOR: No, not at
all... Hes coming totally incognito... dressed in ordinary clothes. Dont say
no... Im relying on you...
HEALER: Well, I suppose,
when alls said and done, the Popes a Christian too, eh? Alright, where is he?
I bet hes waiting at the door.
PROFESSOR: You guessed it!
I brought him with me... Allow me...
He gestures with his hand,
and the POPE enters from back-stage. He is wearing inconspicuous dark clothes,
with a corduroy jacket and a collarless shirt. He has his arms up in the air,
and in an effort to disguise this unusual position he carries a basket on his
head, containing fruit and vegetables.
POPE: Good morning.
HEALER: Oh my goodness,
look at the state of him...!
The BOYS and GIRLS get
excited again and dive on him.
FIRST BOY: Here he is!
THIRD BOY: In the basket,
the stuff must be in the basket!
SECOND BOY: This time it
really is him.
POPE: Hey, hold on...
Get off... Whats got into you?
FIRST GIRL: Where is it,
where have you hidden it?
One of the BOYS grabs the
POPEs basket, leaving him with his arms up in the air.
SECOND GIRL: [Searching
through the basket] I bet theyve hidden it among the vegetables.
POPE: Whats got into
them?
HEALER: Leave him alone.
Hes nothing to do with it! Hes not the courier... Thats enough, now!
POPE: What are they
looking for, though?
PROFESSOR: They did the
same to me came leaping all over me...
HEALER: Goodness, you
really are in a state. [She accompanies him to a chair] Here, sit down.
SECOND GIRL: Whats he doing
with his arms up in the air? I bet hes some sort of Hindu holy man.
FIRST BOY: But if hes not
the courier either, then who is? The stuffs usually been here by now.
HEALER: How should I
know... Just hang on a bit, eh?
SECOND GIRL: Hey, no! I cant
stand it any more, Im feeling bad.
HEALER: And who cares if
you feel bad...? Look at this poor gentleman... Hes certainly in a worse state
than you, and hes not complaining, is he?
SECOND GIRL: Im not a Holy
Man like him, though.
PROFESSOR: What are they
waiting for?
HEALER: A free delivery
of something rather special.
PROFESSOR: And whos
supposed to be bringing it?
HEALER: Nobody knows.
POPE: It wouldnt
happen to be the packet Ive got in my pocket, would it?
HEALER: Youve got a
packet in your pocket?
POPE: Yes. A
transparent packet. Somebody slipped it into my jacket outside... while I was
waiting to come in.
FIRST BOY: Hey, the Hindus
got the packet!
THIRD BOY: Where is it?
Which pocket?
The YOUTHS dive on him and
knock him to the floor.
FIRST GIRL: Come on, Hindu!
Lets have it.
HEALER: [She helps the
POPE to get up] Stop that, or Ill put the lot of you out the door! [She sits
him back on his chair] God help anyone who lays so much as a hand on him!
SECOND GIRL: So who is he,
then? God Almighty?
HEALER: Lets say hes
the next best thing.
FIRST BOY: It looks like
hes stuck in that position!
HEALER: If you dont mind,
your Holi... I mean, may I...?
POPE: There, right
there... in the inside pocket...
HEALER: [She pulls a
packet out of the pocket of the POPEs jacket] Yes. Thats the one were
waiting for.
CHORUS: Hey!
POPE: The fellow
outside told me: Give it to Elisa. Whos Elisa?
HEALER: Im Elisa.
POPE: Youre Elisa?
Pleased to meet you...
HEALER: [To the YOUTH]
And now, calm down, all of you, and line up, and Ill do your shots. [To the
POPE] Youll have to excuse me, a moment. Ill just get them sorted out, and
Ill be with you right away.
POPE: So youre not
angry with me any more?
HEALER: I dont have the
time to nurse old grudges... You need time on your hands for that sort of
thing.
POPE: But when I threw
you out the other day, you were absolutely furious...
HEALER: True...I get
that way every once in a while... Anyway, make yourself at home. [To her
ASSISTANT] Hey, get a move on with those needles... Im almost ready [To a BOY
who is trying to take a syringe] Mitts off...! Professor, give me a hand.
One of the GIRLS brings over
to the HEALER a hospital trolley loaded with bottles, test-tubes, small bowls,
various instruments and a small spirit lamp. The HEALER measures out a dose,
breaks open an ampoule and mixes the mixture into a container. She takes a
syringe and prepares the first injection.
PROFESSOR: Excuse me, am I
mistaken, or are you just about to...
HEALER: No, youre not
mistaken. [To the YOUTHS] Whos first? [They all rush forward, noisily] Stop!
Get in a queue.
She sits one of the BOYS
down.
PROFESSOR: But what is
that youre injecting?
HEALER: Heroin.
PROFESSOR AND POPE: What?!
POPE: Heroin? So that
transparent packet that I was carrying was...
HEALER: Thats right.
Heroin. One hundred per cent Grade A heroin.
POPE: You mean Ive
been carrying drugs?! Imagine what would have happened if Id been stopped by a
policeman...
HEALER: We would have
had the finest scandal of the century.
POPE: And you think
its funny...! I cant handle this any more... My arms are getting tired.
HEALER: Hang onto that
iron crossbar over there, in the alcove... It could have been made for you...
Anyway, I dont inject the stuff full-strength... Itd blow their minds... I
make up a mixture. Ive added Arsenofix as a vein-dilator, together with some fluidifying
Merenal, and various other secret specialities of the house.
POPE: But what do you
mean...? Youre handing out drug injections in a place like this?
HEALER: Yes, youre
right, the place is a bit squalid; I suppose it would be better if it had a bit
more atmosphere... comfortable sofas... hubbly-bubblies... soft music...
Aided by her ASSISTANT she
sets about the business of giving
injections to all the drug addicts.
POPE: Dont go making
jokes about it... Its insane, what youre doing.
HEALER: Insane
situations require insane solutions. I cant see any other way round it, for
the moment.
POPE: No other way?
What about you, Professor? Have you nothing to say?
SECOND GIRL: Oh dear, the
Hindus kicking up a fuss!
PROFESSOR: Well, I am astonished
and perplexed.
POPE: What do you mean
this womans engaged in wholesale drug trafficking, and all you can say is
that youre astonished and perplexed?!
HEALER: Gently! Whos
trafficking? What happens here is that we supply the drugs at a controlled
price. Dealers out on the street would charge you 50,000 lire for a dose, but
we sell a dose for 1,800... And that includes injection, with a clean needle,
and under medical control... [She points to her ASSISTANT] Shes a
doctor... A drug addict, but a doctor nevertheless.
SECOND GIRL: And if you
havent got the money, you can even get it on tick.
POPE: But dont you
realise that you are promoting moral corruption, and vice, and criminality...!
HEALER: Excuse me, but
youre talking like Mary Whitehouse. If anything, its quite the opposite! Take
this boy, for example. [She points to one of the BOYS] Out on the
street, if he wants to get the money for his daily shot, he has to deal at
least ten doses to other young people like himself, or find new ones that he
can persuade onto the habit... [To the FIRST GIRL] Tell this gentleman
how you get to afford your drugs.
FIRST GIRL: Im on the
game...
HEALER: Thats no way to
put it...! Youre in the business of offering remunerated affection... Her over
there, on the other hand, shes in the business of thieving. And that one over
theres into thieving too, but unfortunately hes not very good, so he spends
most of his time doing time. Theres others too. Youll see them
later... when the night shift comes. Good kids, all of them. All in and out of
prison most of the time.
POPE: So you run a
shift-system, eh?
FIRST BOY: Thats right,
Holy man... Spot on! Sometimes we do upwards of fifty sittings a day.
POPE: Hey, no, look!
Im sorry, but I cant stay in a place like this...! I guess Ill just have to
learn to live with my seizure...
He heads for the exit.
HEALER: Ah, so youre
disgusted... I quite understand... Go ahead, leave! But what do you think
that I pump this filthy poison into these kids because Im some kind of
depraved pervert? No, it horrifies me... Maybe even more than you. Every
time... every time I do it, I feel sick in my stomach. It makes me want to
throw up.
POPE: Nobodys forcing
you to do it, though... So why do it?
HEALER: Its the idea
that somehow, in some little way, I might be doing somebody some good. If
nothing else, ever since we opened this place and started making the drugs
availabe at reduced prices, it seems like weve already started to have an
effect. For example, take these young men and women. We can give them more
choice in life than just prostitution, Aids, a life of crime and prison.
Theyre here, and that gives me a chance of talking to them... and reasoning
with them... and maybe even getting them to do something useful with their
lives.
POPE: Stupendous!
First you shoot them full of cheap drugs, and then you reason with them? This
is heaven on earth...! In fact, even better than Heaven, because in the Garden
of Eden the apples were forbidden, and here they get their shots for free.
HEALER: Please, dont
start making fun of me. These kids are trying to stay alive and healthy until
such time as they manage to kick the drugs... Because people dont necessarily
die of heroin, but when you get Aids, you die, and thats that.
POPE: But doesnt it
occur to you that these poor creatures only come here and listen to you because
youre handing out drugs left right and centre?
GIRL: Hey, it sounds
like our Guru isnt too keen on us, eh?
PROFESSOR: Exactly, they
see no further than their next fix. You cant reason with them...
POPE: But on the other
hand I suppose we should have compassion on them... they are our children,
after all, and they have plunged into the abyss of a terrible alienation...
PROFESSOR: And the business
of pulling them back is going to be long and hard.
HEALER: So in the
meantime the only solution is to put them out on the streets... Or put them all
in prison? Or put them into a nice zoo or something... A little ghetto all to
themselves, where they can shoot themselves full of drugs and die without
anyone noticing.
PROFESSOR: No, for goodness
sake, thats not what I mean at all. I agree a civilised society cant just
ignore whats going on, cant just watch our kids dying in the toilet of some street-corner
bar.
HEALER: Lets face the
facts. This smug, self-satisfied, so-called civilised society only sits up and
takes notice of drug addicts when the kids start making trouble for them. You
dont hear ministers and newspapers and bleeding-heart liberals getting all
worked up over the thirty thousand alcoholics who die every year of cirrhosis
of the liver, do you...? Thats because they have the good manners to die
unobtrusively. If drug addicts died like old-age pensioners do of poverty,
loneliness and cold nobody would say a word, would they! The thing about
these kids is that they steal, and they dirty up parks with their syringes, and
they go out and prostitute themselves... and since ninety per cent of them are
HIV positive theyre probably going to infect you with Aids too! And then they
come and die right under your window! Their deaths create a scandal... Theyre
an embarrassment. They are the bad conscience of our society! So prison is the
only solution.
POPE: Exactly! Youve
hit the nail on the head! Its all hypocrisy, self-interest and intolerance. I
like what youre saying, there... Professor, how about a massage? I dont think
I can manage like this for much longer.
HEALER: Alright, lets
see what we can do. Could someone take the gentlemans jacket off.
She begins to give him a
massage.
POPE: But seeing that
you provide this stuff more or less free, doesnt it ever occur to you that
youre actually pushing young people into drug-taking? Those same young people
who today are kept away from drugs precisely by the fear of ending up in
prison...
PROFESSOR: ...and more
particularly by the difficulty of getting hold of the stuff.
HEALER: I can see youre
completely out of touch, Professor... You think its hard to get the stuff! Ha!
You see how the kids are laughing?
SECOND GIRL: Thats right...
These days heroin grows on trees.
FIRST GIRL: You can get the
stuff any place and any time you like.
FIRST BOY: All you need is
the money.
POPE: All right. Fair
enough... But what about you...? Who gives you all this heroin? I presume it
doesnt grow on trees.
SECOND BOY: Weve already
told you, Holy Man. Every day somebody sends us between thirty and fifty doses
and we dont have the first idea who.
PROFESSOR: What do you
mean, you dont have the first idea? You must know who sends the stuff.
HEALER: No! We dont
know. I presume weve got a hidden benefactor who wants to keep his identity
secret. Anyway, every time it arrives in a different manner! One time someone
comes shooting past on a motorbike and throws the packet through the door...
Another time theres a pigeon comes in through the big broken window up
there... with a packet tied to its leg.
POPE: A drug-dealing
homing pigeon?
HEALER: Yesterday
somebody sent us in two-dozen eggs... [She points to one of the BOYS]
This idiot didnt realise that two of them were stuffed full of heroin... He
made us an omelette. Three grammes of heroin in an omelette! We ate it... You
should have heard the burps afterwards... Deafening!
POPE: Do you really
not know who sends you the stuff?
HEALER: No, honestly....
Every day the stuff arrives in a different manner... and in fact today, as you
know, it came via you.
POPE: Exactly. Just
call me Father Christmas!
HEALER: Anyway, how are
you feeling now?
POPE: A bit better,
thank you, but I still cant move my arms.
HEALER: I think I know
how I could solve your problem once and for all.
POPE: How?
HEALER: Hypnosis.
POPE: Oh no you
dont... I dont think so...! Youll have me going round on all fours and
barking like a dog.
The door at the back of the
stage opens with a big crash, and everybody turns round. Enter a DRUNKARD. The
Healers ASSISTANT rushes to prop him up before he falls over.
DRUNKARD: Im thirsty...
Ive come for my ration!
ASSISTANT: No problem. Come
on in.
DRUNKARD: [He
disentangles himself from the ASSISTANT] I can stand up on my own... [To
the HEALER] Hey, Missus... wheres my wine? [To everyone] Your
health!
CHORUS: Your health!
HEALER: Your health! [To
the POPE and the PROFESSOR] One of our regulars.
PROFESSOR: You dont mean
you serve alcohol too...?
HEALER: We do our best
to oblige. Hes always here to get his ration, regular as clockwork: two or
three litres at a time, and off he goes, drunk as a lord.
POPE: Im impressed.
HEALER: [She goes
over to the DRUNKARD] Good day, my friend. What can I serve you? What do
you fancy today?
DRUNKARD: I fancy
something with a bit of a zing to it... a nice little Bulgarian Sauvignon,
maybe. Pre-Chernobyl, preferably.
HEALER: No problem. A
very good vintage, too... Ill bring it up straight away... Straight from the
cellar... But first, would you please look at my finger.
DRUNKARD: Why, whats
wrong with it?
HEALER: Dont ask
questions and just watch carefully... There it goes... round, and round, and
round...
POPE: [To the PROFESSOR]
Whats she up to?
PROFESSOR: I think shes
trying to hypnotise him.
HEALER: There, well
done... Now you feel all light... as if youre floating... you just stay like
that... Good! Now, as a reward, Ill give you your cool fizzy Sauvignon. Heres
the bottle... [She mimes taking a bottle] You, take the cork out. [She passes
it to the DRUNKARD] I think one should have a tall glass for a Sauvignon.
She mimes polishing a glass.
DRUNKARD: Correct!
Having taken the cork out of
the imaginary bottle, he pours himself a drink... He takes a sniff at it, and
then drinks.
HEALER: How is it?
DRUNKARD: Good... Slightly
fruity... Excellent! [To the POPE and the PROFESSOR] Do you fancy a drop?
PROFESSOR and POPE: No, no thanks.
DRUNKARD: The drinks are
on me. Its my birthday!
HEALER: Its true. Every
days his birthday. You cant not accept a drink. Here are your glasses... [To
one of the GIRLS] Give us a hand.
They put on a performance of
handing round glasses, pouring the wine, and drinking it. The POPE still has
his arms up in the air. One of the GIRLS mimes handing him a glass.
CHORUS: Your health!
DRUNKARD: What do you
think of my wine?
PROFESSOR: Good colour.
POPE: A touch
fruity...
DRUNKARD: Down the
hatch... Thisll put hairs on your chest!
HEALER: Your health!
POPE: Its incredible
yopu actually use hypnosis to convince him that hes drinking?
HEALER: Thats
nothing... One time I even managed to convince a gentleman that he was throwing
children out of a window... But thats another story.
PROFESSOR: But can you
really cure him with hypnosis?
As if its the most normal
thing in the world, they all continue miming drinking.
HEALER: Of course...
Hes drying out a treat. Up until a week ago, he was miming up to four bottles
a day... Now hes down to two!
DRUNKARD: Your health!
EVERYONE: Cheers!
The DRUNKARD heads off
towards the exit.
PROFESSOR: Have you never
thought of trying to use hypnosis with your drug addicts too?
HEALER: No. It cant be
done. Ive tried it. Its like trying to hypnotise a mirror.
DRUNKARD: See you, folks,
thats all for today! Cheers!
EVERYONE: Cheers!
POPE: Maybe Ill live
to regret this... but while youre at it, why dont you try hypnotising me too?
HEALER: All right... sit
down here...
She points to a chair.
EVERYONE: Heres to it!
Enter two ARROGANT TYPES,
pushing the DRUNKARD before them.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Mind if we come
in? Hows business?
POPE: More drunkards?
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Any chance of a
score at this time of day?
DRUNKARD: You cant come
in. This is a private club.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Shut up, you
little prat!
They knock him over.
FIRST GIRL: You pigs!
SECOND GIRL: [Going over to
the ARROGANT TYPES] Who do you think you are?
The FIRST ARROGANT TYPE
gives her a kick; the DRUNKARD gets up and leaves by the door.
PROFESSOR: What do you
want?
HEALER: Are you looking
for something?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: All depends on
what youre offering. Whos in charge here? Are you Elisa?
HEALER: Yes, thats
me... What do you want?
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Pleased to meet
you. Were from the health authorities. Ha, ha...
He looks over at one of the
BOYS, who is rubbing his arm, and then at the syringes on the trolley.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Thats nice.
Looks like weve caught you red-handed. [He grabs the BOY by the chin]
Look at them all, all drugged up to the eyeballs.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: [He uses his
thumb to push back one of the GIRLS eyelids to examine her pupil]
Exactly. Look at their pupils. The size of pin-heads...
HEALER: So? Whats it to
you?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Look, lady, like
I said, were from the health authorities. I think it would be useful if we had
a look at the stuff youre using, just to check it for purity...
HEALER: Theres no need
to check it... We have the Professor here, hell vouch for it.
PROFESSOR: Yes, I can vouch
for it.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Professor, eh? Professor of what?
PROFESSOR: Neuro-psychiatry.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Oh yes? Well,
Im a specialist in advanced orthopaedic surgery. [He grabs one of the GIRLS by
the arm and forces her to the ground] And if you dont produce the goods
pronto-pronto, Im going to break this ones arm, and then Ill stick it in
plaster... for free, ha, ha...
POPE: Leave that girl
alone at once. You are rude, arrogant and intolerable, thats what you are!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: And who might
you be? Whats he doing with his arms up in the air, like hes saying
Hallelujah?
FIRST BOY: Hes a Hindu holy
man. I think hes probably doing penance.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Well, you just
carry on with your Hallelujahs and dont interrupt, because otherwise I m ight
just be tempted to kick you where it hurts!
POPE: Oh dear... I
think Ill go back into my alcove.
The FIRST ARROGANT
TYPE twists the GIRLs arm. She screams.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Either you talk,
or Ill break her arm! Wheres the stuff?
The GIRL screams
again.
HEALER: Stop it! Leave
her alone. Ive got the stuff. Its here... [She hands the GANGSTER a
couple of small packets] There you are. And I hope you die.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: This is just
chicken-feed.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: What do you take
us for, a couple of canaries? A little nibble just to keep us happy?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: What were
looking for is the Christmas cake... I think you know what I mean?
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Thats right.
Weve developed a terrible appetite all of a sudden. Wheres the stash?
HEALER: Im sorry, but
theres no Christmas cake here, and no stash either.
SECOND GIRL: Its true. The
stuff comes in every day, but never more than fifty doses at a time.
HEALER: And we dont
have the first idea where it comes from.
PROFESSOR: It must be a
present from someone.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: A present?
POPE: A kind of
miracle.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Who asked you,
Guru?
POPE: Well, to tell
you the truth, I didnt believe it either, at the start, but it seems it
arrives in all sorts of unexpected ways. One time somebody turns up on a
motorbike... another time its a pigeon with a packet tied to its leg. Then
somebody else turns up and says: Here you are, heres two dozen eggs. This
cretin makes an omelette with two eggs full of heroin. Had everyone burping all
over the place...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Listen, Hindu... Either you stop taking the piss or Ill take your
arms and ram them down your throat. In fact, do me a favour, put them down,
will you, theyre starting to get on my nerves.
POPE: Im sorry, I
cant. Im a bit sort of seized up.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Did I ask your
opinion? Put them down, I said... Theyre getting on my nerves! In fact theyre
just about to make me extremely annoyed!
PROFESSOR: No, really, hes
telling the truth. He really cant put them down. Hes got what we call
crucifixion syndrome, and witchs stroke.
POPE: Thats right.
Ive got sciatic neuralgia, hyperaesthesia, a sympathetic doo-da and a
malfunctioning of my ganglia.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Malfunctioning
of the brain, thats what youve got. And now Id say youre taking the piss.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Correct! Put
those arms down, and spare us the Hallelujahs... If not, Ill blow your brains
out. [He pulls out a big pistol] In fact how would you fancy some dental
rearrangement? [He puts the barrel in his mouth] Im going to count to
three... One!
HEALER: But its true!
He cant move... Hes been like this for days!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: You can shut
your mouth, too! [He pulls out a gun, and points it at the HEALER]
Youll see, hell put them down soon enough...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: OK, now get
those arms down... Two!
Everybody on stage shouts in
unison:
ASSISTANT: Put them down!
FIRST BOY: Bring them down!
SECOND BOY: Do as he says,
Holy Man, put them down!
THIRD GIRL: Down!
FIRST GIRL: Get your arms
down!
SECOND GIRL: Hurry up!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Bear in mind
that when this gun goes off, itll need a very big cork to plug the hole thats
going to be made in the back of your head! Two and a half!
Everybody shouts:
CHORUS: Nooo!
FIRST BOY: Dont be silly
get them down!
SECOND BOY: Get those hands
down!
FIRST GIRL: Get them down!
THIRD GIRL: Down, for Gods
sake!
SECOND AND THIRD GIRLS: Down!
POPE: Aha! [He lets
out a yell, and then suddenly lowers his arms] Theyre down!
CHORUS OF YOUTHS: Amazing! Hes done
it!
POPE: Amazing, Ive
done it!
HEALER: Well done!
PROFESSOR: Its incredible,
it worked!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: You see, Holy
Man... ha, ha...big gun heap powerful medicine!
POPE: Uh uh!
As if a spring has gone into
action, all of a sudden the POPEs arms go up again.
CHORUS OF YOUTHS: Oh no!!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: So you want to
play games, eh?
He points his gun again. The
POPE very rapidly returns his arms downwards.
HEALER: Goodness, what
an action!
PROFESSOR: How do you
feel...?
POPE: Good... Better
than hypnosis, this...
He moves his arms, waves
them around, and generally flexes them.
HEALER: Its a bit
drastic as treatments go... But it seems to work wonders.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Right, thats
enough of the chit-chat. [To the HEALER] You, spit it out! Wheres our
stash?
HEALER: With the amount
that people like you handle in a day, I dont see why you get so upset about an
odd fifty doses? Whats it to you?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: You think fifty
shots a day is peanuts, eh? Day in, day out. Week after week. Anyway, its the
principle that counts... Youre setting a dangerous example.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Correct. People have started setting up centres like this in other parts of
town, and that means the bottoms dropping out of our market.
POPE: Well, fancy
that, Id never have believed it...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: So we have to
stop your nonsense before you get started! Understand?
HEALER: Perfectly...
Were setting a bad example. Because were ruining your market. [To the POPE]
Understand?
The SECOND ARROGANT
TYPE pushes to front-stage a dressmakers clothes rail on wheels. On it are
hanging various garments, including a motor-cycle helmet and two carabinieri
dress-uniforms complete with carabinieri hats with big feather plumes.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Hey, look what
Ive found...!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Whats that?
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Look! [He
takes two police uniforms from the coat rail] And theres more where those
came from... hats, boots, everything... Does this remind you of something?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Thats right!
The people who held up our van were dressed as policemen! Well, isnt life
amazing! [To the POPE and the PROFESSOR] And, of course, you
dont have the first idea what were talking about...
PROFESSOR AND POPE: Er... no!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: And
you play the dummy! To think that you almost had me fooled...
The two ARROGANT TYPES go
over to the POPE and the PROFESSOR, holding the two police uniforms.
HEALER: What on earth
has got into you now?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Shut up, a
minute. [To the POPE] Put this jacket on for a minute, will you?
POPE: Whys that?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Do as I say, or
Ill blow your head off! Get a move on!
While the POPE is putting on
one jacket, the SECOND GANGSTER forces the PROFESSOR to put on the other. Then
they put the hats on their heads.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Look at that
the jacket fits him like a glove... And the hat could have been made for him.
HEALER: Would you mind
explaining what this is all about?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Well, my dear
Lady Bountiful, about a month ago a courier sent by our Calabrian friends was
unloading a load of heroin from a van. A big load. Fifty kilos, in fact.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Did you get
that? Fifty kilos of Grade A, top-notch heroin.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: And all of a
sudden, just like the movies, up jump four Rambos dressed like policemen, and,
hey presto! They arrest his stash.
HEALER: Carabinieri in
full dress uniform with feathers in their hats? What on earth are you talking
about? These two look more like something out of Pinocchio!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: There was also
another person, on a motor bike, and he had a helmet on his head that just
happened to look exactly like this one. [He puts it on. Then he takes it off
and puts it back] Anyway, like I was saying... it could have been people
from outside our patch... eh? A bunch of bastards like our friend the Guru
here, for example, and his gang. In fact, the more I look at him, the more I
have this feeling Ive seen him somewhere before... Now where might that have
been...? I reckon you are part of the gang. I think we can even
prove it. I think well take a closer look at you.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Thats right. Up
till now Id say youve been taking us for a ride... But now youre the
one whos going on a ride... Right, lets have you. Roll your sleeves up. [To
the HEALER] You, give him a hand... [To one of the GIRLS] And you,
take his shoes off...
POPE: What are you
going to do with me?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: We want to find
out if our Guru friend is Hey, you, bring that bowl over here... and wash his
feet... I want to see them clean.
The SECOND GIRL does as he
says.
HEALER: I can assure
you, this gentlemans not on drugs.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Im not so
sure... [To the HEALER] Oi, Mary Magdalene, get on with the washing...
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: [He inspects
the POPEs feet] Nope, no signs of any needle marks.
FIRST ARROGANT MAN: Clean as a
whistle. And look at those white feet! Could almost be an intellectual.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Thats good...
that means itll work even better...
HEALER: What dyou mean?
What will work? What are you going to do?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: [He prepares
a hypodermic] Sit him down a bit higher... on that ledge... Youll see.
Were going to have a bit of fun! Were going to give him a little shot of
something...
PROFESSOR: Of heroin?!
POPE: Heroin?!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Thats right.
But mixed with Pentothal. That way well have him singing like a canary on
speed.
PROFESSOR: But you cant...
Thats very dangerous...
POPE: ...very
dangerous...!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: [To the PROFESSOR]
Maybe youre right. You say youre a Professor? Well, thats nice, you can do
it, then. Lets see how you get on with it.
He hands him the hypodermic.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: [He points
the pistol at the PROFESSOR] Go on, get a move on!
POPE: No! You cant! I
wont have it! God Help Anyone Who Injects Me!
HEALER: You bastards!
How can you...
The FIRST ARROGANT
TYPE hits her.
PROFESSOR: Im sorry, but I
dont think Ive much choice...
POPE: But whats going
to happen to me afterwards?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Oh, youll be
fine, Holy man... Youll suddenly get this wonderful urge to talk, and youll
tell us all about your life, from when you were a little boy... And what you
want to do when you grow up... and, more particularly, what happened to our
stash.
POPE: No, I dont want
to!
FIRST BOY: Do it to me
instead... Ill talk!
HEALER: Shut up, stupid!
POPE: [Disentangling
himself] No, I refuse to go along with this! Youll have to kill me first!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Hey, the Holy
mans playing hard to get! All right... Why dont we start with killing one of
these junkies...? Lets see if that loosens him up a bit, even without the
injection.
HEALER: Im afraid this
time theyre not joking.
PROFESSOR: Youd best let
them do it. It wont be too terrible.
POPE: I thought you
just said it was very dangerous...!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Right, well
start with this one... [He grabs one of the BOYS] And the rest of you
down on your knees, because your turns coming next. [He yells] On your
knees!
All the DRUG ADDICTS
go down on their knees.
POPE: All right, all
right... Im ready. Do the injection! Theyre closing the hole in the ozone
layer, and they make up for it by making a hole in me!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Ah, at last! [To
the PROFESSOR] You get on and do the injection. [The PROFESSOR carries
out the injection, assisted by the HEALER] Now shut up all of you, and sit
still. As from this moment, God help anybody who utters a word, because you
might put the Guru off and blow his fuses. Im the only one whos talking,
alright?
POPE: [Speaking
with difficulty] Whos that...? Where are you...?
PROFESSOR: There, its
starting to take effect. Id advise you to keep your questions general to start
with... take it very, very gently.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: All right, no
problem. Right, Mr Guru, can you hear me. Nod your head if you can hear me...
[The POPE nods his head] Are you there? Right now, tell me, whats your name?
POPE: I dont
remember...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: The kids here
tell me your names Holy Man.
POPE: Holiness,
actually...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Is that your
first name or your surname?
POPE: Er.. Surname.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: So whats your
first name?
POPE: First name...
er... His... His Holiness...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Holiness, His,
His, Holiness... whose Holiness... Very odd, this... And I suppose its your
pals who call you Guru...?
POPE: No, not Guru!
Not a Hindu! Im not called Guru. I dont have anything against Hindus, but Im
not called Guru...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: OK, not Guru...
Just His Holiness the Holy Man. Now, you know a thing or two about drugs, dont
you?
POPE: [Still speaking
with difficulty, but gradually loosening up] Do you mean heroin?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Yes. Tell us
everything you know.
POPE: Yes...
everything I know. I aam reeady n-o-o-w. Heerooin iis ca-a-alled
Anita in street slang...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Anita?
POPE: Thats right.
Anita in the sense of Anita Garibaldi, wife of the great Italian hero, his
companion in all his adventures... and therefore a heroine herself, so to
speak...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: [Laughing] Hey,
I like it! Carry on!
POPE: Heroin or
Anita costs two dollars a gramme at the start. But by the time it gets to
Europe, where its refined, the price goes up to fifty dollars a gramme... and
then, after its been cut, the price per kilo...
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: We know, we
know: a kilo brings in something like two hundred million, and that stash that
you hijacked must have been worth at least ten billion.
PROFESSOR: Please... dont
interrupt him... If you do he might go off the rails.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Precisely... [To
the SECOND ARROGANT TYPE] You behave yourself... Im the one asking the
questions...
POPE: Problem: If one
gramme of crude heroin costs fifty dollars at the start, how much will a
kilogram of refined heroin cost once it is refined, if its value is increased
by one thousand times during the refining process? Thats your homework for
tonight...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: We can do
without the wisecracks, Holiness. As you were saying: At the start, fifty
dollars a gramme...
POPE: Thats right,
highly profitable. One of the most profitable businesses there is. A big market...
big stakes, but a big pay-off...
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Hey, listen to
the Hindu! Hes not as stupid as he looks.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Shut up!
POPE: The profits from
drugs are invested...
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: [Irritated]
Woah, thatll do... Youre not addressing a conference, you know... Ask him who
he works for.
POPE: ...in the
building industry, produing profits of the order of...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Stop a moment...
Would you mind saying who you work for?
POPE: For the Vatican.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: For the Vatican?
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Hes taking the
piss again.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Well, its not
so odd when you think about it. You read the papers, dont you? You ust have
heard of the Sindona case, and Sindonas links with the Vatican, via Cardinal
Marcinkus? And what about that Judge Ambrosoli who was killed?
POPE: Marcinkus,
Sindona, Calvi. Calvi used to go to London quite regularly, and by way of
entertainment he used to do balancing tricks under Blackfriars Bridge. So that
he could maintain a perfect balance he would always keep two bricks in the left
pocket of his coat, and a very heavy briefcase in his right hand... And in
order not to get a soaking in the smelly waters of the Thames, he used to put a
rope round his neck. Oh dear, he slipped, and ended up hanged... The bricks in
his pocket were found... But not his briefcase! Weird, eh? Vanished! Problem:
Where did Calvis briefcase end up? Thats your homework for tonight...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Get on with it,
Mr Guru... Whose idea was this joke about free drugs?
POPE: The Vaticans...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: The Vatican?
POPE: Yes, the
Vatican.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: And who
organised the raid on the van?
POPE: The Vatican.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: The Vatican
again?
POPE: Yes, the
Vatican.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Here we go
again! If you ask me, the needles got stuck...
POPE: The Vatican.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: [To the
PROFESSOR] Give him another shot. Maybe hes running out of juice.
PROFESSOR: But Ive already
given him an entire syringe-full... I have to protest. This really is very
dangerous... And anyway you run the risk that hes going to clam up
completely...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Pump away, pump
away!
The HEALER does as
he says.
POPE: [He continues,
in the tone of a radio announcer] A spokesman for the US State Department has
stated that it is unlikely that the Mafia and the international drug cartels
are ever going to be defeated by military means.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Thats better.
Thats got him going again.
POPE: The only way to
eliminate them is to liberalise the entire drug market, under the control of
the state.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Uh oh... I dont like the sound of this... Where the hells he taking us now?
POPE: President Bush
developed the point further, in his latest speech to the American people, when
he admitted that repression only brings about a development of the drug market,
and an increase in the number of deaths...
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Hey, slow him
down a bit. Hes starting to blow his fuses.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Right! Listen,
Holy Man, can you hear me? Hello, is anyone there?
POPE: [As if on a
telephone] Yes, I hear you... Its His Holiness here... Hello... Hello... Put
another coin in, please. Thank you!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Yes, hello! Can
you hear me? Right, Holy Man, now, tell me from the beginning, who set up this
business about free dealing? Whose idea was it? Dont just tell me the Vatican.
I want names.
POPE: Its a crazy
Utopian idea...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Yes, agreed, but
we want to know the name...
POPE: The only trouble
is, therell be a terrible fuss if this ever gets out.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Why? It must be
someone pretty important. Who is it?
POPE: The Pope.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Which Pope?
POPE: The Pope.
[He points to himself] His Holiness the Pope.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: What the Pope?
POPE: Thats right. It
was like a miracle. For so long I was blind. Then, all of a sudden, my eyes
were opened. Now I see things as they really are.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Correct me if
Im wrong, or is he talking like hes the Pope?
PROFESSOR: Ah yes...
Classic split personality syndrome.
HEALER: Hes identifying
with the Pope.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Oh for Gods
sake...!
POPE: No, I dont
think its to do with God... This time God doesnt come into it. Or yes, maybe
it was God who inspired me. My ganglia seized up because I had hardened
my heart... The real blockage was not in my nerves but in my brain... The fires
of my human action were extinguished because there was nothing alight in my
spirit...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Oh God! Hes
giving us the Pentecost sermon!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Thats all we
need hes going ga-ga.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Shut him up, for
fucks sake! Professor, either you turn him off somehow, or Ill turn him off
with this.
He waves his pistol.
PROFESSOR: Well I dont
quite know where to start.
HEALER: Let me have a
go. [She takes up a position in front of the POPE] Ill pretend I believe
him... You have to give him a bit of leeway... If he thinks hes the Pope, then
the only way to deal with him is to talk to him as if he is the Pope. [She
changes tone, and takes him by the hand] Your Holiness, can you hear me?
POPE: Eh? Somebody
call? Whos there?
HEALER: Its me... the
missionary nun from Burundi... Remember?
POPE: Ah yes... The
children... A hundred thousand children in St Peters Square... Am I still
there? Oh my goodness yes! Look at them. Thousands of them! Theyre climbing
up! Quick, get a stick, knock them off...!
HEALER: Dont let them
get too close! Remember the black-eyed beans!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Theyre all
raving mad!
POPE: All squashed!
But one was saved!
HEALER: Yes poor
Little Pea. Saved by hiding in a thimble!
POPE: Poor Little Pea,
stuck in there with all those beans...
HEALER: OK, OK, thatll
do...!
POPE: Thats a
shame... I remember the whole story, you know!
HEALER: Save it for
later. These gentlemen are getting a bit nervous, and they want you to tell
them the truth about the raid on their stash.
POPE: The raid on the
Calabrian van... with Pinocchio and the policemen?
HEALER: Thats right.
Well done. Why dont you tell it from the beginning?
POPE: [Speaking in a
steady rhythm] Yes, yes... Well... Once upon a time, in the police station,
there was a talking cricket... a mole, in fact... or to be more precise, at
talking cricket-mole.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: What mole, what
cricket? I want names.
POPE: Ill talk...
Ill tell everything.
The HEALER makes
other gestures. The POPE accelerates to a high speed. At that moment the
door at the back of the stage is flung open. The two GANGSTERS spin
round, guns at the ready. Enter the DRUNKARD.
DRUNKARD: Relax, friends!
Make yourselves at home! The drinks are on me!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: Hey, Drunkard! I
came within an ace of shooting you! Where do you think youre going?
The DRUNKARD wanders
off on an exploration of the premises. The two GANGSTERS follow him. The
PROFESSOR takes advantage of their absence to mutter to ELISA:
PROFESSOR: Am I mistaken,
or did you just hypnotise him...? Was it you making him say all that stuff?
HEALER: After all that
heroin and Pentothal he was very open to suggestion.
PROFESSOR: What about the
bit about the bogus policemen, and the raid on the drugs van...
HEALER: All true. If you
must know, the robbery weasa organised by some of our friends.
PROFESSOR: So theyre the
ones who send you your daily doses.
HEALER: Were opening
quite a few centres like this one and the bottoms dropping out of their
market. Shush, theyre coming back...
The DRUNKARD reappears,
followed by the two GANGSTERS.
DRUNKARD: Here we are
again.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Right, you, sit
there, and dont interrupt! Lets get on with it.
With a gesture from the HEALER, the POPE
continues talking, but this time in a normal rhythm.
POPE: Thanks to the
mole, we knew exactly the route that the goods were going to take, and we knew
the exact day and time when the van was going to be transporting the stuff...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: This is
wonderful, Holy Man. Go ahead, youre doing well!
POPE: [All of a sudden
he changes tone] Ha, ha, ha! Faroes, Dogger Bank and German Bight, visibility
down to one mile...
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: What in hells
name is he talking about now?
HEALER: Its the
shipping forecast. Hes jumped channels! [Annoyed] Its your fault. You put him
off his stroke with all your yakety-kay. Why cant you just keep quiet!
POPE: Um... Fungal
growths of green algae are suffocating the fish. Bishops are caling for special
prayers to be said...
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Switch channels!
Why cant you get him to switch back again?
HEALER: Hey, go easy,
hes not one of your super-modern portables, you know. Hes a bit of an
antique.
POPE: Try Carynthia,
the double-action tampon for the woman with an energetic life-style! [He
changes rhythm and voice] Haha! A problem with bad breath? Try Resolax...
Works under your armpits too. [He changes tone again] At an industrial
court in Turin, the FIAT motor company has been on trial for its record of accidents
and industrial injuries. The judge has ruled that managing-director Romiti is
innocent of all charges. The blame rests entirely with the workforce, because
for years they have been deliberately pushing their arms and legs into the
companys machinery, thereby seriously threatening productivity.
DRUNKARD: I think thats
enough telly for today. Anyone fancy a beer? The drinks are on me...! [He
mimes handing round the glasses] Bottoms up!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Drunkard, Im
going to kill you.
DRUNKARD: No, my dear
Arrogant Man... Youre not going to kill me, no!
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Yes, I shall
shoot you, if you carry on interrupting... I shall shoot you in the head!
DRUNKARD: Really?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: You can count on
it!
He pulls out his gun.
DRUNKARD: OK, lets see
whos quickest on the draw! [He goes through the classic gunslinger routine.
He spins round and pulls an imaginary pistol out of an equally imaginary
holster. He reaches out and points with two fingers as if to shoot; then he mimes
putting the gun back] OK, cowboy, Im ready... Are you?
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: [Seriously
shaken] Im going to kill you for real, now!
CHORUS: Noooo!
HEALER: Leave him
alone... Hes just a drunk!
PROFESSOR: Yes... What good
would it do you to kill him?
The FIRST ARROGANT
TYPE pulls out his pistol. The DRUNKARD reaches out his arm all of a
sudden and points his finger. A shot is fired. The GANGSTER touches his
head with his hand. A trickle of blood runs down from his forehead. He takes
his hand away, and we see a bullet hole.
FIRST ARROGANT TYPE: Oh no!
He slumps to the floor.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: But who fired?
DRUNKARD: Who do you
think? ...Me!
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: With your
finger?!
DRUNKARD: Thats right.
This finger never misses... Truth to tell, the finger acts only as a
gunsight... The actual guns up my sleeve here. [He pulls up his sleeve to
reveal his arm, where he has a kind of track attached to his forearm] Look,
heres the gun. No handle it doesnt need one. The gun runs down this rod.
Invention of mine... Clever, eh? When I reach out like this, the gun runs
down... and... bang!
We hear another shot.
SECOND ARROGANT TYPE: [Putting his
hand to his stomach] You... bastard...!
He slumps to the floor.
POPE: End of
transmission. And, as the Bible says: Blessed are those who shoot first... for
they shall be the last to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.
BLACKOUT
MUSICAL INTERLUDE
SCENE
The big traverse with the
painted fresco comes down, and we are in the corridor facing the POPEs
apartments. Enter the FIRST CARDINAL, with some newspapers in his hand,
followed by two PRIESTS, who periodically raise small transistor radios
to their ears.
FIRST CARDINAL: Oh, it was
terrible! You should have been there... The crowd was devastated...
FIRST PRIEST: How did he
begin?
FIRST CARDINAL: Nothing at
all... He went out on the balcony, rolled up his sleeves, showed his bare arms
and said: Look, I too have taken drugs!
FIRST PRIEST: Incredible! And
how did the crowd react?
FIRST CARDINAL: People were
fainting.. People were crying... Some people were jeering... Most people didnt
understand.
FIRST PRIEST: Well, I suppose
its a bit provocative on his part, but it could end up positive in the end.
FIRST CARDINAL: What do you
mean, positive? A Pope who says that we should be nice to drug addicts... And
try to understand them... And that we should love them as our dearest children.
I tell you, its a scandal! In fact, its like the end of the world has broken
out! And now weve got journalists invading by the thousand... And a sea of
camera crews from every television company in the world, even Japan.
SECOND PRIEST: [Removing the
transistor radio from his ear for a moment] The governments fallen!
FIRST CARDINAL: But we knew that
this morning.
SECOND PRIEST: No, Im talking
about the American government... [He puts the radio back to his ear... And then
takes it away again] And the German government.
FIRST CARDINAL: This is
incredible! Never heard anything like it!
FIRST PRIEST: [Listening to
the radio] The Christian Democrats have split down the middle... The German
Christian Democrats are in a major crisis... The Jesuits have gone into
liquidation...
FIRST CARDINAL: You see! What
was that you were saying about positive?
Enter the PROFESSOR.
PROFESSOR: Here I am...
What on earth is going on?
FIRST CARDINAL: Oh, at last!
PROFESSOR: I came as
quickly as I could... But why all the panic, whats going on?
FIRST CARDINAL: You really mean
to say that you havent heard?
PROFESSOR: Ive been in the
operating theatre since dawn this morning. I left somebodys brain open in the
hurry to get here.
Enter the HEALER, in a
hurry. She is dressed as a nun, but on her feet she wears a very visible pair
of red high-heel shoes. She is also carrying her two large bags.
HEALER: What on earth is
all the fuss about?
FIRST CARDINAL: Ah, thats good,
youre here too...
HEALER: You made me come
in such a hurry... Im all out of breath! I couldnt find my nuns outfit...
Apart from which, I was halfway across St Peters Square before I realised that
I hadnt changed my shoes... These are the shoes that I wear to go out dancing
on Saturday nights... I had to cross the square like this... [She bends her
knees so that her nuns habit covers her shoes] And everyone was saying:
Look at that dwarf nun... with the red shoes on! [To the PRIESTS] Would
you mind getting me a chair? Im completely worn out! [One of the two PRIESTS
exits, and returns immediately, carrying a stool] Why on earth is it
that every time I come to the Vatican I have to put up with this shithouse... [She
corrects herself] er, I mean... this crowd... this very big crowd!
FIRST CARDINAL: I think you had
the right word the first time. Every time you show up, its a disaster.
HEALER: Watch what
youre saying, Cardinal, Im in a right mood for a punch-up.
FIRST CARDINAL: Ah, I see. So
you dont think youre the main one responsible for this disaster?
HEALER: Me?!
FIRST CARDINAL: Who was it put
all these ideas into the Holy Fathers head, and got him all worked up, so that
now hes going round like a man possessed?
HEALER: I suppose, the
next thing, youre going to stick me on a bonfire and burn me as a witch!
FIRST CARDINAL: Thats it!
Witch! Just the word I was looking for!
HEALER: Your Eminence,
why do you feel this need to treat me so badly? Why do you have to keep picking
on me? Look at me, Ive had to run all the way here... Im half out of
breath... And you still start having a go at me. Youve been treating me
terribly ever since Act One... Why cant we stop arguing, and make friends.
Look, Ive brought you a present.
FIRST CARDINAL: Whats that?
HEALER: [She pulls an
abacus from her handbag] Here you are. For the next papal elections...
Seeing that your computers are always breaking down.
FIRST CARDINAL: Youre a witch!
PROFESSOR: Hey, go easy,
your Eminence.
FIRST CARDINAL: [Launching
into the PROFESSOR] Its all your fault. You brought her along in the first
place. [To the HEALER] Now, do me a favour, will you? Lets have the Holy
Father back like he was before.
HEALER: In other words,
crippled with paranoid delusions about children climbing up the front of St
Peters with balloons?
FIRST CARDINAL: Exactly. I think
wed rather have him suffering all the nightmares of Saint Anthony the Hermit,
rather than have him raving round like a demented paranoiac, like he is now!
HEALER: Will you just
listen how this man talks about his Pope!
FIRST PRIEST: Yes, if youll
permit me, Your Eminence, I believe that the apparent madness which seemed to
have seized the Holy Father is, in truth, a sign of Gods will, and that,
furthermore...
FIRST CARDINAL: Shut up...
Creep!
PROFESSOR: Excuse me, might
I know what horrifying catastrophe our Holy Father is supposed to be
responsible for now?
FIRST CARDINAL: An encyclical!
PROFESSOR: An encyclical?
And what could be so paranoiac and demented about an encyclical?
FIRST CARDINAL: In this instance
everythings paranoid and demented. For a start, the title: Heroinum et Omnia
Medicamenta Stupefactiva...
PROFESSOR: Heroinum et Omnia Medicamenta Stupefactiva?
FIRST CARDINAL: ..et Potionem
Psicotropicae Libera Sunto.
PROFESSOR: Libera Sunto?!
An evidential accusative indeed! Is that how the encyclical starts?
FIRST CARDINAL: Yes, look, have
a read...
He passes him a newspaper.
PROFESSOR: Im afraid I
left the hospital in such a hurry that I forgot my glasses.
HEALER: You probably
left them in your mans open brain. Never mind. Ill read. Heroinum et Omniam
Medicamenta blah-di-blah. The Pope has initiated a campaign for drugs to be
distributed a affordable prices by all national governments.
PROFESSOR: A liberalisation
of drugs?! So hes taken you literally!
FIRST CARDINAL: Precisely... It
was you who put this criminal idea into his head, and now youre going to have
to sort him out again! Understand?
HEALER: Do you mind if I
continue, Cardinal? The Pope has taken up the proposal of the bishops of
Sicily, and has promised excommunication for all drug traffickers, in
particular the Mafia, and all those who support them or cover up for their
criminal actions. Immediately, three ministers and eight under-secretaries in
the Italian government declared themselves Muslim. The Church is being torn
apart. Schism is the order of the day. The bishops are in revolt. The entire
Dutch and Brazilian clergy are with the Pope. A general Synod has been called
for today. The more conservative elements in the American and European clergy
have decided to elect an anti-Pope. The French tend towards Lefevre, while the
Italians bishops are favouring of Donat Cattin...
PROFESSOR: I dont believe
it; this is incredible!
FIRST CARDINAL: Slow down,
thats not the end of it!
FIRST PRIEST: [With his ear
to the radio] Listen to this!
SECOND PRIEST: [Also with the
radio to his ear] What frequency are you on?
FIRST CARDINAL: Thats not the
end of it! The second part of the encyclical is all to do with unplanned
pregnancies and unwanted children, and needless to say with contraception.
HEALER: The Pope really
goes to town here. He says: We should not see a condom as the Devils
raincoat...! Similarly, the contraceptive coil is not some centrifugal device
invented by the Devil, deisnged to make the spermatozoa so dizzy that they
cant go about their business!
Exit the two PRIESTS.
PROFESSOR: Hes the first
Pope in history with a sense of humour!
FIRST CARDINAL: Sure, but things
have reached such a pitch that the Catholic Youth Federation have decided to
remove the Popes statue from all their branch offices, including the Catholic
University, and have replaced him with statues of Andreotti and Craxi, holding
hands.
We hear a warbling tone. The
CARDINAL
answers his mobile phone.
FIRST CARDINAL: Hello? [He
listens, and then replaces the phone, and announces:] That was to tell me
that the Holy Father is arriving!
Enter the FIRST NUN,
followed by two SWISS GUARDS, and the CAPTAIN.
FIRST NUN: Make way for the
Holy Father!
Everybody stands back. The CAPTAIN OF THE
GUARD looks round suspiciously.
CAPTAIN: [Pointing to
those present] Search them!
The GUARDS begin
to search the FIRST CARDINAL, the PROFESSOR, and the HEALER.
FIRST CARDINAL: Get your stupid
hands off...! Im the Popes personal secretary!
CAPTAIN: Im sorry,
orders from above!
Enter the POPE, accompanied
by a short FRIAR.
POPE: [To the CAPTAIN
OF THE GUARD] No, no, theyre alright... I can vouch for them... [To the PROFESSOR
and the HEALER] How goes, my friends? [Pointing to the CAPTAIN]
You have to understand, a short while ago someone tried to shoot me. [They
all look at each other in alarm] A bullet came in through the window. Bang!
Missed my head by two inches.
Once again, reactions of
alarm.
FIRST CARDINAL: This must be the
response to your threat to excommunicate the Mafia.
POPE: You think so...?
He walks round the room,
closely accompanied by the FRIAR and the SWISS GUARDS.
HEALER: No, I dont
think the Mafias too upset about the excommunication... Theyre a law unto
themselves.
POPE: Yes, I dont
think the Mafia comes into it either. I think were dealing here with religious
fanatics... As a friend of mine once said: I prefer criminals to idiots.
Because criminals take a rest every once in a while... but idiots, never!
PROFESSOR: Youve caused
quite a stir, your Holiness!
POPE: That was exactly
what I intended! Did you like my encyclical?
PROFESSOR: Very courageous!
HEALER: A broadside,
Holy Father!
FIRST CARDINAL: Exactly. Just
like the real ones theyll be firing off any minute.
POPE: Why do you
always have to be suchg a pessimist? Anyway, its not over yet. Tomorrow Im
coming out with a supplement to the encyclical, which should raise a few
hackles.
HEALER: What is this, a
serialised encyclical?
POPE: Dont joke. Im serious! Listen: The Church must become poor again, as it was at
the beginning, and must impose upon itself a dignified poverty!
FIRST CARDINAL: Dignified
blooming poverty!
POPE: All the Churchs
goods will be distributed to those in need. All bank accounts of the various
religious orders and bishoprics will be abolished. All the Catholic banks will
be required to reorganise by law, which will force them to be totally open
about their dealings.
FIRST CARDINAL: Open about their
dealings? Excuse me, Holy Father, but this means suicide... Were coming up to
the year 2000, and you want to plunge the Church back into a pauperist Middle
Ages running alive with pre-Waldensian fanatics and Anabaptists!
POPE: Am I right in
thinking that you just called me a fanatic?
CHORUS: [With extreme
amazement] The Pope a fanatic?!
HEALER: Dont pay any
attention, your Holiness. Im sure youre going to hear worse... Anyway, if I
may be allowed, from this moment youre going to have to watch yourself.
Everyone from the Mafia on downwards is going to be queuing up to take a pop at
you.
POPE: You mean you
dont think Im careful enough already? Already I have to go round surrounded
by hordes of people to protect me. You cant imagine how this dear Friar here [He
points to the small FRIAR] pursues me. He doesnt leave me alone for a
minute. He tastes all my food for me... And everything I drink... Starting with
my coffee. I go to take a sip of a cup of coffee... He grabs it and just about
swallows the lot...! Call that a taste? And then it has to be without sugar,
because thats the way he likes it... Then I wait for a moment to make sure it
doesnt have a Sindona effect on him, and then at last I get to drink myself. [He
goes and sits down, with his back facing off-stage left] I tell you where I
draw the line, though using the same toothbrush thats going too far!
[We hear the dull thud of an explosion] What was that?
CAPTAIN: The explosion
came from your rooms, Holy Father!
The CAPTAIN exits,
followed by the SWISS GUARDS.
POPE: What was that?
He gets up, and as he walks
across stage we see that he has an arrow stuck between his shoulder blades.
PROFESSOR: What on earth is
that?
POPE: What? Where?
PROFESSOR: In your back...
Theres an arrow sticking out of your back.
POPE: Well, fancy
that! I didnt even notice! [To the little FRIAR] Youre not guarding me
very well behind! [To everybody] Luckily I was wearing an orthopaedic
corset, and that stopped the arrow.
PROFESSOR: Are you still
wearing the corset?
POPE: Yes, just as a
precaution... in case I get struck rigid again...
The HEALER plucks
the arrow from the POPEs back.
PROFESSOR: Excuse me a
moment.
He exits.
POPE: I wonder who
fired the arrow.
HEALER: [She studies
the arrow] Id say it was a Comanche arrow...
POPE: Comanche?
HEALER: Calabrian
Comanches!
The PROFESSOR re-enters,
with the SWISS GUARDS and the CAPTAIN. They are carrying a NUN,
who is dying.
POPE: What happened?
CAPTAIN: The canary in the
cage. It exploded just as she was about to give it something to eat.
HEALER: A canary bomb?!
PROFESSOR: They replaced
your canary with a mechanical canary stuffed with TNT... All it needed was for
the Sister to nudge it... and Bang! Heres all that was left.
He shows some feathers.
POPE: Of the
Sister...?! Oh no, the Sister is there. [The PROFESSOR exits,
following the SWISS GUARDS, who carry the dead NUN] Its usually me
who feeds the canary... He used to peck it out of my palm. He never was very
good at it. Look at the state of my hand!
FIRST CARDINAL: Well, I would
say a prayer of thanksgiving would be in order, your Holiness!
POPE: Yes, I suppose
It would.
Enter the CAPTAIN,
running. He is listening to a walkie-talkie.
CAPTAIN: Look out, your
Holiness. Ive had a report that a small radio-controlled car has been spotted.
Its apparently heading this way, from the south wing. It might be a bomb!
FIRST CARDINAL: Quick, find
somewhere to shelter... Get out of the way... The thing could be stuffed with
dynamite.
POPE: South must be
that way...
Everybody follows him.
PROFESSOR: No, no, South is
this way.
POPE: Well in that
case we have to run that way.
The big traverse with the
fresco rises. We see the same scene as in Act One [the interior of the POPEs
apartments]. The walls of the previous stage setting have been pushed back, so
that what we see is pillars and arches tht create a sequence of quadriporticos.
A structure which is open to the sky. All of a sudden a model car appears and
zigzags at speed across the stage. The actors rush hither and thither trying to
escape it.
POPE: There it is! It
must be a Lebanese toy!
HEALER: Ha, they think
of everything!
She jumps out of the way.
FIRST CARDINAL: [Leaping
about] Stop it! What are you waiting for?
PROFESSOR: A miniature
car-bomb! What is the Vatican coming to?
POPE: [Also leaping
out of the way] Its like being in a miniature Beirut! A Lebanese
Euro-Disney!
CHORUS: Its going to
blow up! Its going to blow up!
The little car continues
racing around. They all leap about and change positions in a strange kind of
dance, to the insistent rhythm of a Mozartian toccata and fugue. Every now and
then the vehicle stops. The music also stops and everyone on stage stops
moving. Then they start up again, matching the speed and the movements of the
miniature car-bomb. This action is not overplayed but is played at more or less
normal pace. Then the car comes to a complete halt. It lets out a menacing
hiss. From its dashboard a jet of smoke emerges... Everyone begins to cough.
The POPE is coughing so badly that he is bent double.
PROFESSOR: Its gas! What a
stink! Get that thing out of here!
A SWISS GUARD does
as he says.
POPE: [Coughing]
Im suffocating!
FIRST GUARD: Here, your Holiness... Its
aromatic ozone, compressed... one hundred per cent pure!
He hands him an air
cylinder, with a mouthpiece to breathe with.
POPE: Thank you...
As he is about to put the
mouthpiece to his mouth, the small FRIAR grabs it from his
hand.
FRIAR: No, your
Holiness! I have to try it first!
POPE: Oh, dont be
such a fuss-pot!
The FRIAR puts the
mouthpiece to his mouth and breathes deeply.
PROFESSOR: How is it?
FRIAR: Nice! Like bitter almonds with a touch
of smoked kipper.
PROFESSOR: Like Dioxin!
Dont breathe it!
FRIAR: Too late!
He slumps to the ground.
HEALER: Well, look at
that, hes stone dead!
POPE: This is
murder...! I feel ill...!
HEALER: The Catholic
Herald strikes again!
FIRST PRIEST: [Listening to his
transistor radio] Incredible... The Queen of Holland has supported the Holy
Fathers statement about liberalising drugs.
POPE: Thats good news!
FIRST CARDINAL: Oh go on! Thats
impossible!
FIRST PRIEST: [He turns up
the volume on his radio, so that everyone present can listen] Listen!
ANNOUNCERS VOICE: The governments
of Denmark, Ireland, and Sweden, along with the Belgians and the Austrians, are
expected to vote on the proposal shortly...
FIRST PRIEST: [At the
window] Oh, look, your Holiness. What an amazing sight! There are thousands
of them!
POPE: Thousands of
whom? Where?
HEALER: Down in St
Peters Square... Seminary students, monks, nuns... Young people from the
Catholic Youth Organisation... All gathering to hear what you have to say.
POPE: Oh, so Ive not
ended up as isolated as some people were trying to make out.
He points to the FIRST
CARDINAL.
PROFESSOR: You must be joking,
your Holiness... You have reawakened such a passion, such a commitment...
especially among the Catholic youth. Listen how theyre calling for you.
HEALER: Theyre full of
feeling for you!
PRIEST: Youre going to
have to go out and address them, your Holiness...
FIRST CARDINAL: You must be
joking! It would be madness... First, from a political point of view... I know
what theyre doing, theyre trying to draw us into a schism in the church! And
secondly, theres the danger of snipers... who, Im sure, will be hiding on the
terraces and statues out there...
PROFESSOR: Thats
impossible. Out on the terraces there are hand-picked marksmen from the
Vaticans security services.
HEALER: Thats exactly
what worries me.
CAPTAIN: [He walks
confidently over to the window] No, no, you can trust them. [We hear a
rifle shot] Not too much, though.
He falls to the ground,
dead.
POPE: Hes dead! This
is terrible!
PROFESSOR: Stay back, your
Holiness. Get down!
FIRST CARDINAL: [Pointing
outside] Did you see... It was one of your hand-picked Vatican marksmen!
HEALER: Hand-picked, but
blind! He must have mistaken the Captains helmet for the Popes mitre!
The CARDINALs mobile phone
rings. He takes it from his pocket.
FIRST CARDINAL: Excuse me,
someones calling. [He answers his portable phone] Hello? Yes, of
course... Ill be down at once... [To the POPE] Im sorry, but Ill have
to go down... Its urgent... If youll excuse me, your Holiness.
He exits.
POPE: Yes, yes... see
you later. Have you noticed how that one absolutely doesnt care at all. I hope
his walkie-talkie blows up in his pocket! [The two NUNS carry over a silver
sculpted bust on a small pedestal, so that the POPE can shelter behind it]
May Saint Callisto protect me!
HEALER: Listen, that
sculpted portrait of you over there has given me an idea...
The PROFESSOR
exits.
POPE: Youre thinking
of putting it out on the balcony in my place?
HEALER: Exactly... But
wed need a volunteer to hold it up...
POPE: A volunteer? A
kamikaze merchant, more like. Hed be a sitting duck.
HEALER: Well find one,
your Holiness.
She runs off stage. The
PROFESSOR re-enters, holding the sculpture of the POPE.
PROFESSOR: Here it is.
SWISS GUARD: [To the PROFESSOR]
Get down!
We hear a shot.
PROFESSOR: [He walks bending
forward for fear of being hit by a bullet] And Ive also got a piece of
good news for you. Your poison-tester is better already... And here he is...
Enter the small FRIAR.
FRIAR: Here I am!
SWISS GUARD: Get down!
The FRIAR ducks
down, and only just in time, because we hear a shot.
POPE: Oh, I am glad...
Enter the HEALER,
carrying a long papal tunic.
HEALER: And here...
SWISS GUARD: [To the HEALER]
Get down!
We hear another shot.
POPE: Goodness, what a
lot of shooting! Its like being at the Yacht Club in Naples.
HEALER: [Bending
double] And here Ive got your tunic. [To the MONK] Brother Monk,
you who have just been saved from death... Would you be willing to put on the
Popes head, and the Popes tunic, and be Pope in the place of the Pope? [The
MONK shakes his head vigorously] He said yes. Well done, thou good
and faithful monk!
POPE: Thank you, you
are too generous. But wait... At least let us take some precautions. First you
should wear a breastplate underneath... [To the SWISS GUARD] You...
SWISS GUARD [He comes over]
Your Holiness?
CHORUS: Get down!
The SWISS GUARD
ducks.
POPE: Youd better
give him yours. In fact, go over there and help him to put it on.
PROFESSOR: It would be best
if you put on a breastplate and helmet as well, your Holiness. Come over here,
Ill help you into the ones that the Captain was wearing, the one who was shot.
POPE: Wont that be
terribly unlucky, though...? Oh alright, Im coming... But Im bringing my
bronze Saint with me as a shield... [Raising his voice as he shouts out of
the window] Theres no point in you shooting, Im protected by a Saint. [A
loud shot is heard] Formigoni! I saw you with that gun!
The PROFESSOR and
the POPE exit back-stage.
Enter the HEALER, the SWISS
GUARD, and the FRIAR dressed as the Pope. The young FRIAR has put
on the armour. He has the sculpted head of the Pope above his own head, wearing
the Popes mitre. He is also wearing the Popes robes.
HEALER: [To the NUNS]
Could you give me a hand...? [The NUNS lift a big icon down from the
wall and carry it to front-stage] Get down! [The entire group takes
shelter behind it] Now, Brother Monk, you have to step out onto the
balcony. Raise your arms in the way that the Pope does... And in the meantime,
the Holy Father will speak through the microphone from back there... [The FRIAR
has by now completed dressing up as the Pope] How do you feel?
The din increases. Enter the
PROFESSOR.
CHORUS: Get down!
Another shot is heard.
PROFESSOR: Goodness, listen
to all that shouting down there! Are you ready with the Dummy?
At this point a BRAZILIAN NUN enters
and throws herself to her knees before the animated puppet.
BRAZILIAN NUN: Oh, your
Holiness, finally I meet you!
SWISS GUARD: [Trying to
stop her] You cant... You have to ask for an audience first... You cant
just...
BRAZILIAN NUN: [Extricating
herself] Oh, most holy Father... I am a poor nun from Brazil... Here,
prostrate, in order to express my gratitude...
PROFESSOR: No, Im sorry...
His Holiness is rather busy at the moment...
BRAZILIAN NUN: I have come to
thank the Holy Pontiff on behalf of our Indian brothers, because with his
encyclical he has...
HEALER: Listen, Brazilian nun! Calm down for a minute! The Pope has to show himself
to the people from the balcony now! Wait till hes...!
BRAZILIAN NUN: [She pulls
out a gun and pushes the SWISS GUARD aside] Right then, show
yourself to the people... dead...! [She shoots the DUMMY in the chest] You red
Pope, you communist, die!
She shoots the two NUNS, the SWISS
GUARD and the PROFESSOR. They all fall to the ground. Then she points
her gun at the HEALER.
HEALER: No, Im nothing
to do with it...! I just happened to be passing.
BRAZILIAN NUN: You dont fool
me... You must all die! [She fires at the HEALER, but her gun jams]
Putana de mierda! Im out of bullets! [She hurls down her gun, takes the
mitre off the DUMMYs head, puts it on her head, and runs to the window]
Hes dead! The Pope is dead!
We hear a shot. The BRAZILIAN NUN falls
to the floor, dead.
HEALER: Everyone dead
here? [To the PROFESSOR, who is lying on the floor] How goes,
Professor?
PROFESSOR: [Raising
himself] Fine... Fine...
The POPE enters,
dressed as a Captain of the Swiss Guards.
HEALER: [To the POPE]
Get down!
We hear a shot.
POPE: Its terrible... All these people dead... All on my account...! And
me, the one they want to kill, Im still alive!
PROFESSOR: Its a shame we
cant say as much for these poor monks and nuns.
HEALER: [She pulls
aside the garments concealing the small FRIAR] Your poison-taster has
copped it too, poor thing... Fancy that, dying twice in the space of ten
minutes! The Brazilian shot him through the head... His head, unfortunately.
POPE: Oh my God, so he
sacrificed himself for me twice! I told you he was a persistent little chap.
Enter two BLACK FRIARS,
wearing hoods and bearing a catafalque. On it they place the body of the FRIAR,
who is still disguised as the POPE.
HEALER: Such is the
price of faith!
POPE: No, we cant
carry on like this, with people getting shot... Take off that contraption hes
wearing... Get those clothes off him.
HEALER: No, your
Holiness. Do as I say. Dont take the clothes off... Leave him dressed as the
Pope... And you must stay dressed as a Swiss Guard.
POPE: But whos ever
going to believe that Im Swiss?
HEALER: You make a
perfect Swiss.
Enter a HOODED MONK,
with a briefcase. He turns to the disguised POPE.
HOODED MONK: Are you Swiss?
POPE: Jawohl... Schweitzer.
HOODED MONK: From Bern?
POPE: Von Bern...
HOODED MONK: [He hands the
briefcase to the POPE] A man called Carboni asked me to give this to you.
He exits.
POPE: Carboni...? Its
the briefcase! Its Calvis briefcase!
HEALER: Throw it away!
POPE: No, those
documents could be a bombshell!
HEALER: Throw it away!
The POPE throws
the briefcase off stage. We hear a big bang, accompanied by a flash and smoke.
POPE: I told you
so...!
Enter the FIRST CARDINAL.
FIRST CARDINAL: Is it true, what
people are saying?! [The POPE, still disguised as the CAPTAIN,
moves to back-stage] Have they really shot the Holy Father?
HEALER: Brown bread, Im
afraid. Hes stopped breathing...
FIRST CARDINAL: [He hurls
himself on the body of the Popes DOUBLE] Hes icy cold... Theres blood...
Hes dead! [He runs to the window and calls out] The Holy Father has
been killed... Hed dead! Theyve killed the Pope! Hes dead!
He runs off, shouting.
POPE: Dont say that!
Im alive... Wait...! [The FIRST CARDINAL carries on shouting
offstage] Theres no telling some people...!
HEALER: [Stopping him]
No, let him go and spread the news.
POPE: The news that
theyve killed me? Whys that?
HEALER: Do as I say. For
the moment its best you let everyone think youre dead.
Enter the FIRST CARDINAL,
the SECOND CARDINAL, and a THIRD CARDINAL, followed by MONKS and
NUNS wearing capes and black hoods; they are carrying four candles,
which they arrange at the four corners of the bier. At the foot of the bier a
number of cushions are placed, and around it three large seats.
SECOND CARDINAL: Oh, what a
terrible thing to happen!
THIRD CARDINAL: A crime against
humanity!
FIRST CARDINAL: The Lord is
putting us to a terrible test!
CHORUS OF ALL THE
BYSTANDERS: Examina nos pretende dei!
SECOND CARDINAL: But how did it
happen?
THIRD CARDINAL: Who killed him?
HEALER: Well, what
happened was that...
FIRST CARDINAL: All right,
thatll do... You can tell us afterwards.
The CARDINALS go
to kneel on the cushions.
SECOND CARDINAL: Post tempora melior nunca sapere.
THIRD CARDINAL: Why has the hand
of God struck so hard?
CHORUS: Te acclamabit pater et fulgitur fuit.
SECOND CARDINAL: Orridum
eliamos... Such a thing is unprecedented in the history of the Church...
THIRD CARDINAL: ...for a Pope to
be killed...
FIRST CARDINAL: No, no, youre
wrong... It has happened... It happened before...!
SECOND CARDINAL: Yes, its
true... But with those pontiffs you could almost say that they deserved...
THIRD CARDINAL: Yes, in fact you
could say those particular deaths were a liberation for the Church.
FIRST CARDINAL: But this one...
a martyr...
THIRD CARDINAL: A martyr, so
eager for his martyrdom!
SECOND CARDINAL: Well, yes, I
suppose he did rather go looking for it.
CHORUS: Deus gratia acclamabunt!
The CARDINALS seat
themselves on the thrones.
SECOND CARDINAL: When alls said
and done, it was the hand of the Lord that called him to him...
HEALER: Yes. Ive often
heard the Mafia referred to as the Hand of the Lord.
THIRD CARDINAL: What was that,
Sister...?
HEALER: And the Camorra,
I suppose, could be the Touch of the Holy Ghost!
CHORUS: Laude, laude... in gloria tuam!
SECOND CARDINAL: The problem is,
we dont understand the logic behind all this...
PROFESSOR: [Coming from
backstage] Look what Ive found a bug.
He displays a small gadget.
FIRST CARDINAL: A what?
POPE: An acoustic
bug... You know a spy microphone.
FIRST CARDINAL: A spy
microphone?
PROFESSOR: Yes, and I found
another one hidden in his phone.
He shows another, which is
even smaller.
HEALER: Its obvious
that somebody has been watching and checking on the Holy Fathers every
movement.
FIRST CARDINAL: And now that
youve unplugged the Pope... I mean, unplugged the microphone...
CHORUS OF CARDINALS: The Pope is no
longer of any use.
FIRST CARDINAL: The spy bug is
no longer of any use!
CHORUS: Exaude gloria nos... Alleluiah!
HEALER: Microphones in
every bit of plasterwork...! Its like being in the Sicilian Law Courts in
Palermo.
CHORUS: Nunque
intendemus.
From the square we hear the
growing noise of a big crowd.
FIRST CARDINAL: Listen to the
noise theyre making.
SECOND CARDINAL: [Muttering to
himself] Hooligans! Trouble-makers! Theyre agents provocateurs, thats
what they are! [To the CAPTAIN/POPE] You, Captain, go down and disperse
them by force...
POPE: The force of a
full company, your Eminence?
FIRST CARDINAL: Certainly, there
must be two or three hundred thousand people out there!
POPE: If you dont
mind my saying so, it was a mistake not to give us Swiss Guards tanks... a
hundred or so... nice big heavy ones...
FIRST CARDINAL: No, no, for
goodness sake, moderation is always our best weapon... We have to be
political... give and take... choose the middle option... Be diplomatic with
people.
CHORUS: Utque versum
stracere.
The FIRST CARDINAL calls
for a censer, and swings it so that it emits clouds of incense.
SECOND CARDINAL: We shall begin a
process of beatification of our Holy Father here!
CHORUS: Sanctus, sanctus... Petrus et Pauli fuerunt!
THIRD CARDINAL: Of course, it
will take time.,..
SECOND CARDINAL: We should not be
in too much of a hurry...
CARDINALS: [In chorus] Tempore probi et savi sunt.
CHORUS: Promittere et transigere.
CARDINAL: [In chorus] Dilatare e distendere... Rinviare
et eludere.
FIRST CARDINAL: There will have
to be a transitional period... Then a pause before the Conclave...
He hands the censer to the THIRD CARDINAL.
THIRD CARDINAL: The Conclave
will be a difficult one...
SECOND CARDINAL: A lot of black
smoke...
FIRST CARDINAL: But in the end a
new Pope will be chosen... A Pope who is wise, mild-mannered... and maybe even
a teensy bit poorly...
POPE: Oh yes, of
course, the best popes are always the popes who dont last long... In fact the
best popes die more or less straight away.
CARDINALS: [In chorus]
Captain! Such language! At a moment like this!
THIRD CARDINAL: Is that a proper
way to talk of our Holy Martyr?
POPE: What do you
mean, martyr...? He was an extremisty. A fanatic... a complete lunatic! How
could anyone in their right minds imagine dismantling the Mafia... with all the
interests that are involved... and the power balances that rely on it?
FIRST CARDINAL: Well, yes, of
course, it was rather Utopian... But...
POPE: Utopian, you
call it... Politics, economics... finance... All blown sky-high... Millions of
workers employed in drug-trafficking and the recycling of drug dollars... all
sacked... Not to mention hundreds of subsidiary firms all going to the wall.
Hundreds of useless empty mouths waiting to be fed... Old people living longer
than they need to ... Millions of blacks invading Europe...!
FIRST CARDINAL: Yes, yes, we
agree, it was madness, but this is no language to be using!
CHORUS: Verbum molestus deprecamus!
POPE: [Aggressive, in a Slavic grammelot] Ma vadoona meschiskaia
vescvia... vadoons chia cabrimka!
He snatches the censer and
starts whirling it over the CARDINALS heads.
FIRST CARDINAL: What did he say?
Whats got into him?
CHORUS: Ellitur
conficere!
THIRD CARDINAL: What on earth
are you saying?
POPE: Eascariosia steroma alunca cardilala... brumbuania!
SECOND CARDINAL: I think hes
insulting us!
CHORUS: In mescula
intrisus calamus!
POPE: Ummelia kauschia ebey paradoe avaschiaira!
FIRST CARDINAL: What are you
saying, Captain?
POPE: Ayusca
vineschiana!
THIRD CARDINAL: Whats the
meaning of all this?!
FIRST CARDINAL: Potens amelita!
Who gave you permission to interfere like this?
POPE: Stariota
ameschima mechinaia!
By now he is giving free
rein to his Slavic grammelot.
CARDINALS: [In chorus]
Hes mad! Whats got into him?
POPE: [He continues
in grammelot]
CARDINALS: [In chorus]
Help! Who do you think you are?
CHORUS OF CARDINALS: Its the devil!
The POPE removes
his Captains helmet, takes the mitre from the sculpted head, and puts it on
his own head; he goes and sits on the throne in the centre of the room, and
raises his arms.
POPE: [In Latin
grammelot] Astra umus suntum papam!
Everyone falls to their
knees.
GENERAL CHORUS: The Pope has
risen from the dead!
HEALER: Oh no... Thats
a terrible mistake, your Holiness!
PROFESSOR: You really
shouldnt have shown yourself!
The POPE rises to
his feet and sings in Gregorian Chant, a powerful Gloria. His singing is
interrupted by a shot. The POPE stiffens for a moment, with his arms
outstretched, and then falls backwards, dead.
HEALER: [She comes to
the front of the stage, with a missal book open in her hands] It really is
true what Saint Augustine said: Woe betide that man of power who takes the
side of those who have no power.
The Gregorian chant becomes
louder as the lights slowly dim.
[Ends]
[Last edited 4.viii.2012]
Note: The Latin used here is dog Latin with
no particular meaning.
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Please be
aware that this translation can only be performed with explicit permission in
writing from the agency representing Dario Fo and Franca Rame, the
Danesi-Tolnay agency in Rome.
Last
updated: 4.viii.2012
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