MAX enters alone. He is wearing a protective mask, a knit cap, and blue latex gloves. He walks rapidly, looking down at his feet. RODRIGO enters opposite, wearing a homemade cloth mask, mittens and a scarf. They nod as they pass. MAX continues, RODRIGO stops.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Max? (no response<\/em>) Hallo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mi dispiace. Come potrei<\/em> aiutarti<\/em>? Lei<\/em>. AiutarLe<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sono<\/em> Rodrigo<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rodrigo? Hey, yeah, I see it now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s good to see you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s been… how long?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least a month, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least a month. Hey! It’s good to see your face, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, some of it. Some of your face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am all the time missing your smile. Are you smiling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think so. Are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes. It is wonderful to see someone I know. And to hear another voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n A little muffled, but…<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another voice. Not on my telefonino<\/em>. Right here. Bouncing onto my ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Great. Where you headed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Headed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Going. Where you… Dove stai andando?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dove vado<\/em>? I hear there’s a giant party in Piazza della Repubblica. You going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n What?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coming away from the supermarket. Got my bag of foods for a week, maybe five days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m on my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very exciting, going to supermarket. I dream about it all night before the day I go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hah, yeah. So, been keeping busy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keeping?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Um… sei occupato<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n A waiter can’t work at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right. So, no work, no income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n A shopping bag full of vegetables and pasta. What do you doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, yes, so you are… accustomed to this… isolazione<\/em>. For me, this solitude is for making a person crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solitude? Why… what..? Where’s Francesca?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n She was visiting her family in Puglia when the edict was announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, no!<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, yes. Could not return. No children, no wedding, not essential. Probably just as well. For one thing, there is not so many\u00a0virus<\/em>\u00a0in Puglia. For another thing, we love each other, but together in our…\u00a0monolocale<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Studio apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, we would yell and scream after a week or two weeks. But too bad, if she was here, I could, you know, carry the pasta from the stove to the table, ask her which wine she would like. Vorrebbe un dolce, signora? Caffe? <\/em>You know.Sta in forma<\/em>. How do you..?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep in shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep in shape. I speak five words a week, I forget how to… how works the mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know. I know what you mean. Writing and talking are not the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what are you writing? Last time I see you, you were working on this book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got two hundred pages in, and realized it was awful. No, now it’s songs \u2013 lyrics, some dialog. I’m putting together a cabaret act for this couple I know in New York. So, like, no distractions. None. Nooooo distractions. Really, really quiet. When the Internet goes down, I feel like shooting myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have not shaved in two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two weeks? Oh, well, yeah \u2013 the mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n I discovered I have a terrible beard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re Italian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a terrible beard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aren’t you like required by law to have a beautiful, full, perfect beard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll show you. Can anyone see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like who?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Come over here in case someone is looking. (pulling down his mask<\/em>) Ecco<\/em>! Quasi nulla, si? Dopo due settimane!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n You call that a beard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grazie<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s pathetic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grazie<\/em>, ancora<\/em>. What is your secret?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I was already way overdue for a haircut, and had an appointment for the day after the start of lockdown. So… I usually keep it pretty short, but now… So long as it doesn’t look like it’ll trap insects it’s fine. I wear a hat and avoid reflective surfaces. Wanna see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am scared a little bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take a deep breath. (takes off his hat<\/em>) I half expect it to cascade down to my shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time this is finish, you will have a horse tail…<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ponytail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ponytail. Yes? And I will have twelve very long hairs growing from my chin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n When this is finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finished. Do you believe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Believe what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Non<\/em> credo che questa cosa sar\u00e0 mai finita<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Naw, well, yeah, but I mean, it will be over in another few weeks, a month…<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has to end, it can’t just go on and…<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n There will be no end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure there will. People can’t do this forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n It won’t be as with liberazione dopo la guerra mondiale \u2013 <\/em>the Americans arrive with nylon stocking and chocolate bars and we throw flowers. One day, the bakeries will reopen, then the bars and pizzerie<\/em>. Then it will be okay to shake hands, and shops will be open while we continue to wait in line outside, and most people’s masks will go into a drawer next to the shower. But it will never end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, okay, maybe a year, two years…<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n …we will think everything returns to normal, but we won’t remember what normal is. We will watch the videos on our phones from last year, two months ago, and try to build again the past, but it will seem too far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which could be a positive thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spiegami<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, all this time alone has forced me to examine my habits; what I think I need, what I say to myself, my dreams, my fears. And I see how I am totally responsible for my own life \u2013 for how satisfied I am, for my moods, my cravings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n So?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe when things… move beyond social distancing and travel restrictions, we won’t just snap back into our frenetic lives. I don’t want to. I won’t. I’ll make more careful choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make choices you must have the possibility of options to choose from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n And?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is a very American luxury. And America no longer exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n What?<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n It, too, is only a memory. Like the Roman Republic, or the High Renaissance. A dream from which the world has…\u00a0si svegliato<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s a very Italian way of looking at things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except for my beard, I am a very Italian person. And it is very American to think you know what is the Italian way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n And very Italian to put a huge country like America in a pretty little box. America… America is… The thing about America \u2013 it’s an experiment in evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Italy was an experiment in creation, made up all at once from nothing, an elegant chaos. We keep thinking if only we can do this or that, we can be as organized as Germany, but that is not who we are. You say evolution, but to me America is always wondering what it is, and the rest of us sometimes laugh, sometimes cheer, and sometimes weep. Now is time for weeping. We don’t want to be a part of your cinema<\/em>… movie… but it is too fascinating for us not to watch. Now I have to go; I have too much nothing to do and too much nowhere to go. I cannot have the time to stand in the street and insult my friends. We will not shake hands and not embrace so that we both do not become ill and live to see what is next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cabaret act I’m helping to create is about… Well, these two people meet on a street while waiting for a bus. The bus never comes, but in the space of an hour they search for meaning and conclude that meaning is in the search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I don’t know how to translate. Another way of saying it might be, the past and future are imagined. The only thing real is what’s in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n When this is finished, as you say it must be, we will have a pizza, at a restaurant, wood-oven, and a good bottle of wine. Francesca will escape her family, your New York friends will come here for holiday, and as we imagine the past, we will also imagine the future. The only things we will not imagine is the pizza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n And each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can I use that for a lyric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are the artist. I am only a waiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who is an artist at what he does. Good to see you. Don’t touch your face!<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t stay on the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t talk without a mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Un<\/em> abbraccione, amico. Da lontano<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Altrettanto. Buona giornata<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buona giornata! Alla prossima<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ciao<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ciao<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ci vediamo<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speriamo a presto<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They continue on in opposite directions. MAX stops, calls after…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n I see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO<\/p>\n\n\n\n You see, what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAX<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why you think this will never end. Ciao, buona serata, grazie, a dopo<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RODRIGO laughs. They do an air high five, an air elbow bump, an air double kiss, and are gone.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A play in ten minutes. MAX enters alone. He is wearing a protective mask, a knit cap, and blue latex gloves. He walks rapidly, looking down at his feet. RODRIGO enters opposite, wearing a homemade cloth mask, mittens and a scarf. They nod as they pass. MAX continues, RODRIGO stops. RODRIGO Max? (no response) Hallo! … Continue reading Lockdown – Day Thirty<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1524"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1532,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions\/1532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidzarko.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}