Mélisande
A Theatre-piece In Four Acts
Tony Rothman
Version One: 7 June 1991
Minor Revisions: I.2.13;
I.5.7; II.1.8; II.3.4; II.4.7; III.5.7; IV.3.7
24 June 91
Additional Revisions: II.2; III.1.1-2
5 July 91
I.5.8-11
18 Oct 91
I.4, I.2
18-25 Nov 91
Author's
Note
Anyone reading Mélisande will immediately realize that it does
not intend to be a realistic biography of any of the persons involved. To compress thirty years and half-a-dozen
lives into an evening's entertainment has required every trick at my disposal. Characters have been combined, other
important people left out; time has been compressed, expanded and, more seriously, I have had to
resort to some minor rearrangement of chronology. Finally, I've introduced a totally fictitious
character into the action as an attempt to weave my triple fugue together.
Nevertheless, the major events in
the play actually occurred--in one way or another--and I have attempted to
portray the characters as honestly as possible.
I have made liberal use of their own writings--often edited and rewritten
to make them speakable--as well as other contemporary
accounts.
For the interested reader, I list in
the Appendix the principal sources I relied on while writing Mélisande.
However, anyone consulting them should be advised that several are not
immune to a certain distasteful partisanship that their subjects seem to
inspire.
T.R.
Boston,
May 1991
CAST
(in order of
appearance)
Critic--A
young, late twentieth-century or early twenty-first century American. Always
searching for le mot juste, occasionally finding
it. He walks with a cane, though it is not clear he
needs one.
Mélisande*
The
Older Erik Satie--(SATIE1) Composer as he
appeared around 1925, the year of his
death. "He was very much like a
satyr..."
The
Younger Erik Satie--(SATIE2) Composer and
cabaret pianist, as he appeared around
1891, when he was 25, and somewhat later.
Joséphin Péladan--Self-proclaimed
High Priest, or Sar, of the Rosicrucians. Resembles Rasputin a bit, given to
ceremony. See portrait by Séon.
Claude
Debussy--Composer, pianist, singer, conductor.
Woman
interviewer
Guiraud--One of Debussy's professors at the conservatoire
Princess
Maleine*
Gaby
Dupont--Debussy's mistress
Suzanne Valadon--Painter, about 25.
Briefly Satie's mistress.
Maurice
Maeterlinck--Belgian writer, author of Pelléas
et Mélisande. Tall and broad shouldered, like a peasant.
"His gaze could never bear the weight of another's."
Georgette
Leblanc--Singer and actress, in the Sarah Bernhardt mold. Maeterlinck's mistress.+
Lilly
Debussy--Debussy's first wife
Golaud**
Sonia--A
Russian Girl
Translator--"A
small, dandified man, shrunken and bilious." With a derby.
Mary
Garden--Opera singer, the first Mélisande*
Pelléas
Bluebeard**
Nurse
Ariane+
The
wives of Bluebeard
Bellangère
Ygraine
Dancers, public, servants, guests etc.
*To be
played by the same actress
+To be
played by the same actress
**To be
played by the same actor
Other
roles can and should be doubled or tripled.
The action takes place mostly in
Paris between 1891 and 1925, though not necessarily in chronological
order. Although I have divided the
script into scenes for convenience in reading (and writing), within each act
they are meant to be played without a break.
Note On The Sets
If possible, the set should include
a second stage, referred to as Stage Two.
On this stage will take place dances, art exhibits, movies etc., to
illustrate the influences that are being discussed on the Stage One. The theatre should also be decorated with
period artwork, in particular the fairy-tale paintings of Edward Burne-Jones,
Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham.
Note On The Music
Music is an integral part of the
production. Conveniently, the Montreal
Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit has recorded
on CD virtually all the music by Debussy used here. Unless otherwise noted, timings refer to MSO
recordings. The required music and my
sources, where available, are
listed in Appendix A.
References
Principal References are listed in
Appendix B.