Characters
Joseph Corso
An American priest, dressed in indifferently kept and carelessly-fitting priest’s street clothing – black suit, black shirt, Roman clerical collar. He is about forty-eight years old at the beginning of the play. A bit overweight – “middle-age spread.” He is restless, smokes, and frequently gets up and paces. He is intelligent, and also street smart and World War II-U.S. Navy smart. He speaks with a New York accent, but don’t overdo it.
Silvano Orsini
An Italian priest, about the same age as Corso. Dressed the same, except his clothes fit perfectly and are crisply pressed. He is slim and aristocratic, has an “in charge” appearance, and is charming and sophisticated, but not effete. He’s experienced the worst of World War II, is a veteran of Vatican politics, and is, in fact, tough. He speaks English with a mild northern-Italian accent.
Sister Birgidt
A German nun, age about sixty-eight. She was Pius’ household manager. She speaks English with a German accent. She is devoted to Pius’ memory and virtues. She is dressed in traditional habit, and is very much a traditional German, and a traditional nun, of her generation.
Harris Wolcott Thomas
A recently retired American diplomat, age about seventy. He is clearly an Ivy-League WASP of his generation, but not a stereotype, and he is a savvy, cosmopolitan man, with a cool demeanor.
Claudia Fontina Davi
(Pronounced in the Italian way: “DAH-vee.”) A native Roman Jew. Age fortythree. She escaped the Nazis as a teenager by hiding in the Vatican. An open, cultivated, honest woman. Upper class Roman in dress, general appearance and manner: tastefully fashionable. She speaks English with an Italian accent.
Pope Paul VI
Born Giovanni Battista Montini. A thin, balding man. Age seventy-four when he appears in this play. A very intelligent, sophisticated and likeable man, with a warm, sensitive manner. He chooses his words carefully, and speaks English with an Italian accent.
Rabbi Leon Schwarcz
(Pronounced in the Hungarian way, with no “t” sound in it. The “cz” at the end of the name is pronounced as in “fuzz” or “buzz.”) A Hungarian Jew. Age about fifty-eight. Dressed in a dark business suit, tie, and yarmulke. He speaks English with an Hungarian accent.
Eva Schwarcz
Sister of Leon Schwarcz. Age forty-five. Attractive woman, but very tight in overall manner and body language; unsmiling. Wears no make-up. Dressed very modestly in a dark, plain dress with long sleeves. A savagely abused and hurt woman.
Anchorwoman
An American present-day T.V. anchorwoman.
Time: 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971 and the present.
The curtain is up all the time.
Place: The entire play, except the last scene, takes place inside one room of an obscure, minor building in the Vatican. There is an oval table and four chairs, and a cupboard with doors on it. Little other furniture. The room is quite large, but is old and neglected. There is a row of big windows along the upstage wall, but they all look out on a stone wall of another building. There is a large audio tape recorder on the table, the old-fashioned reel-to-reel type, with large reels. There are three or four large bottles of Pellegrino water on the table and several fresh glasses. The last scene of the play takes place, stage left, at an “anchor” desk in an American T.V. studio in the present time.