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10 1915 MARRYING THIS ORDINARY MAN
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Berlin Train station, 1915. World War I

RESERL   Da-svidanye, Sabina! A bientot! Bon voyage et bon retour! A bientot!

ALMA   Can I have a coffee please?

RESERL   Yes, of course, just a moment.

GROPIUS   Alma! Alma!

ALMA   Walter?! What is it, darling ?

GROPIUS   Don't leave me standing like this. Say something to me!

ALMA   We've said everything we had to say, Walter, haven't we?

GROPIUS   Say something that will stay with me all the way to Hannover. Say something unforgettable. Say something I can take with me to the battlefield!

ALMA   Walter! You are such a handsome, beautiful man! You look so dashing in your uniform! So Aryan! You are such a wonderfully strong man! Isn't it beautiful that I can tell you everything?

GROPIUS   Alma! Did you ever really love me?

ALMA   I told you so often! In so many ways. How can you doubt it?

GROPIUS   I don't doubt it. I just want to know.

ALMA   Take care, my dear! (She kisses him. The train whistles.) And write to me!

GROPIUS   I will. Gropius leaves.

ALMA   I love your letters. (to Reserl) I should have never come to Berlin.

RESERL   That man loves you.

ALMA   It's so perverse, so pointless. Trying to re-start a worn-out liaison!

GROPIUS   Alma!!

RESERL   He's coming back!

ALMA   Walter! Do you really have to visit your mother, before going back to the front -

GROPIUS   Darling - I told you a thousand times…!

ALMA   I came all the way from Vienna to Berlin to be with you. But if you really think you have to visit her before going to the front -

GROPIUS   Please Alma! We've been together for a week, we haven't been apart for a single moment! That's...

ALMA   Fine, if that's enough for you, go see her. Go! Go to her. I won't stand in your way. Heaven forbid!

GROPIUS   Alma! Why won't you come with me to Hannover?

ALMA   Your mother doesn't like me. You know that .

GROPIUS   Alma, you've had enough of me, haven't you? You're already missing Vienna.

ALMA   Oh, you aren't going to start that all over again, I hope!

GROPIUS   Alma! Tell me the truth: did you really put an end to your relationship with Oskar Kokoschka?

ALMA   Walter, please!

GROPIUS   Alma! Tell me: Did you put an end to your relationship with Kokoschka, yes or no?!

ALMA   I can't stand this anymore…
Alma leaves the room. Gropius follows her.

GROPIUS   Did you put an end to your relationship with Kokoschka, yes or no?!

ALMA   I told you a hundred times: I don't want to see that person ever again! And I will not see that person ever again!

GROPIUS   Then why did he publish that poem? »Allos-Makar« ?

ALMA   Oh God! Not that silly poem again?

GROPIUS   It's not a silly poem. I re-read it tonight. Every line is pregnant with secret signs and meaning!
How was I twisted magically,
since from a hazy world,
prospecting her,
a small white bird me summoned,
ALLOS, ALLOS,
to whom I never came across.
As in an instant
swiftly she transformed into my being,
like a back door.
Suffers ears.
Strive, you eyes, to spot her!
I into the needy summer night,
which faded
crying from a rift.
Not to mention the title: »Allos-Makar«! All of a sudden figured it out... ...

ALMA   I've told you! He chose the title for its Greek meaning: It means »To be happy in a different way«.

GROPIUS   Alma, don't take me for a fool!! It's an anagram of Al-ma-Os-kar: All-os-Ma-kar. It's so obvious!

ALMA   You're getting on my nerves, with all your snooping and spying! You'd smell an affair in a laundry receipt! You're obsessed! It has nothing to do with me. ! It has nothing at all to do with me ! But I do appreciate the artistic value of the poem...

GROPIUS   »The artistic value of the poem«...!

ALMA   Yes! That's all!

GROPIUS   Alma, please!!!... Don't take me for a fool!!

RESERL   Madame! Your suitcase!

ALMA   Can you keep an eye on it? I'll be right back. -

RESERL   Sure, Madam!!
Gropius has disappeared. Alma is looking for him on the platform.

ALMA   Walter?! Walter?! Where are you?!!! Walter?!!!

GROPIUS   Alma!!! Alma, come here!! Come here! Look in my eyes! Alma, I'm not asking about what you did. I'm just asking if you told him that you didn't ever want to see him again?

ALMA   Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!! How many times do I have to tell you: I don't ever want to see that man again! I will not see that man ever again!

GROPIUS   Yes, you told me. But did you tell him too?

ALMA   Yeeeeess!! He has practically destroyed my mind! He's the only person I've ever let to do that to me. I wish I'd never met him!

GROPIUS   Come here! Look in my eyes! Promise me that you are not going to see him or even open his letters - if he sends you any - ever again! Don't tear them up, just send them back!

ALMA   Is that all you want me to promise you? What else am I supposed to not do?! I am not your wife yet! I hope you are aware of that!

Alma tears herself away from him, and walks fast away.

ALMA   (to Reserl) Oskar has the right to say whatever he wants,, but not this man, not this little ordinary man!
Gropius's train whistles. It is going to leave the station. Gropius shouts:

GROPIUS   Alma! Alma! Alma! Wait! Please! Wait!! Come with me to Hannover! I'll marry you! Come on, get on the train! Come on! Hurry !!

RESERL   Madame! Your suitcase, Madame! Your suitcase!...

GROPIUS   Hurry up!

RESERL   Your suitcase, Madame! Your suitcase!
The train leaves.

RESERL   opens the suitcase and finds some letters: »Oskar Kokoschka, Care of Dresden Art Museum...« (She closes the suitcase, picks it up, and walks off murmuring to herself:) »Oskar Kokoschka, Care of Dresden Art Museum...«