SUMMARY
IT ALL BEGAN WITH MARIANNE
by Dr. Mehmet Murat İldan
Act I, Scene One opens with Marianne, a playwright, sitting on a bench in a park near the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Antoine comes and wants to sit next to her. He has come to meet a sexy woman he made contact with through an ad in the newspaper. Silvia appears but she does not fit the description given in the ad and she is married to the owner of the Duparc Hotel chain. Disappointed, Antoine leaves and so does Silvia after him. Marianne is waiting for Charlotte, her best friend; when she comes, Marianne asks her to put a marriage advertisement in the newspaper, not in her own name, but in Charlotte’s name. Marianne is interested in Antoine and she wants Charlotte to help her meet him through this ad.
In Scene Two, a week later, we see Victor in the same park. Victor is married. His friend Antoine, has sent him to meet Charlotte, who thinks he is Antoine. When they are sitting and talking, Charlotte saying that she wants to find a husband, a fat man, Flaubert appears who happens to be Charlotte’s husband. Charlotte hides behind a newspaper. Victor and Flaubert get talking and Flaubert says that he has come to “catch” a young “bird”. When Victor asks him about his marriage ring, Flaubert takes it out, throws it down and goes to the toilet. Charlotte is angry to hear her husband’s comments about herself and about their marriage. Saying that she wants to see Victor again, she leaves. Then Silvia enters and wants to sit next to Victor. She has come to meet Flaubert and she takes Victor to be him. She wants to take him to the Painters’ Bar. They leave but Victor comes back on the excuse of picking up his newspaper and asks Nun to help him by telling Flaubert that it was herself who has given the ad. Flaubert comes back and tells Nun that he is looking for salvation in women. Nun tells him that she has given that ad with the aim of meeting and “correcting” sinners. Flaubert gets angry and leaves.
In Scene Three, Victor and Silvia are at the Painters’ Bar, where artists make pictures of lovers, sweethearts, and married couples. Silvia wishes to attain immortality by getting her picture made. When she goes to speak to Painter, Victor’s wife, Jacqueline, accompanied by a young man comes to speak to him. Victor leaves a note for Silvia and exits. While Jacqueline is talking with Painter, we learn that the young man with her is a homosexual but she says she feels “safe” with him. Painter refuses to paint their picture because they are neither lovers nor a married couple. Jacqueline decides to bring her husband to the bar to get the picture completed.
In Scene Four, Charlotte is alone, wondering why she has been betrayed by her husband. When Flaubert comes home, she presses him for an explanation, who explains the smell of incense on his clothes by telling her that he met a nun in the park. Charlotte does not believe him and decides to give her heart to Victor.
Scene Five takes place in a theatre. Victor and Charlotte are watching Marianne’s play, “The Time Machine”. We see Quasimodo and Esmeralda from the XVth Century and Liebermann from the 1930s. Liebermann, an anthropologist from Hitler’s time, has travelled back in time to the XVth Century to write a book on vergers. He asks Quasimodo some questions about why and how he chose to be a verger. Esmeralda wants Quasimodo to give her permission to enter the church to pray to God to give her a husband. Then Krüger, a Gestapo agent, enters and wants to arrest Liebermann, saying that he is at the wrong place at the wrong time. There follows a heated argument about Jews, Communists, Bolsheviks, and gypsies. Krüger and Liebermann have a fight and Krüger shoots himself with his own gun. Esmeralda kisses Quasimodo to get her permission to enter the church. Act One of the play, “The Time Machine” ends here. Victor and Charlotte like the play, discovering in the meantime that they are in love with each other. Deciding to be honest towards each other both confess that they are married and promise to get divorced from their spouses. Jacqueline, who has been watching them from the back row, decides that her marriage has come to an end and that she will find another man to take to the Painters’ Bar to get her picture completed.
In Act II, Scene One, Marianne is sitting in the same park, expecting the news to be brought by Charlotte. Instead of her, there appears Flaubert, Charlotte’s husband, and tells her about his encounter with Nun, and how jealous and angry Charlotte was to learn this. Flaubert is sure that his wife is betraying him with a lawyer called Antoine. Marianne realizes what she has done and gets a shock because she herself is interested in Antoine. Flaubert leaves and Nun comes. Complaining that times have got bad, she tells Marianne that nuns put ads into the newspapers to catch sinners red-handed. Nun, pretending to be Vivette , has come here to meet a businessman who is looking for a mistress. Priest also comes for an appointment and sits on the next bench. Nun calls the businessman she is going to meet on her cell-phone and Priest answers her call turning out to be him. Priest declares his love to Nun and they leave holding hands. Marianne, sitting alone, feels sorry for having caused to bring Charlotte and Antoine together.
In Scene Two we see Jacqueline telling Painter that she will leave her husband and quit her gay friend. Painter proposes to her and she accepts his proposal. She tears up Victor’s photograph. Silvia, who is sitting at the next table, brings the torn pieces together and recognizes Flaubert, that is Victor. Jacqueline explains the situation to Silvia, saying that her husband, Victor, has been betraying her and that she has decided to leave him. Silvia, terribly disappointed in men, decides to become a nun. Painter and Jacqueline are in love and happy to find each other.
In Scene Three, players are rehearsing the play “The Time Machine”. Quasimodo (François) kisses Esmeralda (Caroline) passionately and Krüger (Paul), Caroline’s husband in real life, gets very angry. Liebermann (Claude) tries to prevent Paul from shooting François. However, Paul is dead and Caroline is very sorry that he died because he could not accept the fact that she loved François. Marianne enters and gets a shock to discover that the comedy she wrote has turned into a tragedy!
Scene Four takes place a week later at the same park, next to the Descartes bust. Marianne meets Charlotte, who explains that she got divorced from her husband, Flaubert. Marianne, thinking that Charlotte stole Antoine’s heart, is offended. Charlotte tells Marianne that she is going to marry Victor at the church the following week and wants Marianne to be her bridesmaid. Charlotte leaves and Antoine enters, who is full of admiration for the bright playwright, Marianne. He also invites Marianne to the same wedding ceremony, where actually his friend Victor will be marrying Charlotte. Marianne is fond of Antoine, but she can’t do anything because she has promised her friend, Charlotte.
In Scene Five, nine days later, in the courtyard of the Saint-Jacques church, Father is talking to Silvia who is listening to him unhappily, dressed as a nun. Priest and Nun enter the courtyard, and Father learns that they have both decided to leave the church and marry each other. Victor and Charlotte enter, and Nun recognizes Victor as the man she met in the park. Victor tells her that he is marrying the woman whose marriage he asked her to help him save. Then Jacqueline and Painter enter and Jacqueline recognizes Victor, her ex-husband. Victor recognizes Silvia, who is now dressed as a nun, as the girl he met in the park. Then Antoine enters and recognizes Silvia, who answered his ad, but he is surprised that she now looks like a nun. When Flaubert enters, Silvia tells him that she divorced her rich, old husband. Charlotte warns Victor that Flaubert is there and she is afraid of a probable scandal. Father is very much surprised to learn about so many ex-husbands. Quasimodo and Esmeralda enter in their costumes in the play, also wanting to get married in the same church. Flaubert is angry with his ex-wife, Charlotte, for quitting him. Flaubert, thinking that Silvia was the nun he met in the park, also accuses Silvia for having played a dirty trick on him. Silvia explains that it has only been a week since she decided to become a nun, upon which Flaubert proposes to her and Silvia accepts to marry him. Then Krüger and Liebermann enter. Quasimodo and Esmeralda are quite surprised to see the dead man appear before them in flesh and blood. It turns out that Paul and Claude played a trick on the other players. All the relationships being sorted out and re-arranged, Father enters to marry Caroline to François, Silvia to Flaubert, Marianne to Antoine, Nun to Priest, Painter to Jacqueline and Charlotte to Victor.
IT ALL BEGAN WITH MARIANNE
by Dr. Mehmet Murat İldan
Act I, Scene One opens with Marianne, a playwright, sitting on a bench in a park near the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Antoine comes and wants to sit next to her. He has come to meet a sexy woman he made contact with through an ad in the newspaper. Silvia appears but she does not fit the description given in the ad and she is married to the owner of the Duparc Hotel chain. Disappointed, Antoine leaves and so does Silvia after him. Marianne is waiting for Charlotte, her best friend; when she comes, Marianne asks her to put a marriage advertisement in the newspaper, not in her own name, but in Charlotte’s name. Marianne is interested in Antoine and she wants Charlotte to help her meet him through this ad.
In Scene Two, a week later, we see Victor in the same park. Victor is married. His friend Antoine, has sent him to meet Charlotte, who thinks he is Antoine. When they are sitting and talking, Charlotte saying that she wants to find a husband, a fat man, Flaubert appears who happens to be Charlotte’s husband. Charlotte hides behind a newspaper. Victor and Flaubert get talking and Flaubert says that he has come to “catch” a young “bird”. When Victor asks him about his marriage ring, Flaubert takes it out, throws it down and goes to the toilet. Charlotte is angry to hear her husband’s comments about herself and about their marriage. Saying that she wants to see Victor again, she leaves. Then Silvia enters and wants to sit next to Victor. She has come to meet Flaubert and she takes Victor to be him. She wants to take him to the Painters’ Bar. They leave but Victor comes back on the excuse of picking up his newspaper and asks Nun to help him by telling Flaubert that it was herself who has given the ad. Flaubert comes back and tells Nun that he is looking for salvation in women. Nun tells him that she has given that ad with the aim of meeting and “correcting” sinners. Flaubert gets angry and leaves.
In Scene Three, Victor and Silvia are at the Painters’ Bar, where artists make pictures of lovers, sweethearts, and married couples. Silvia wishes to attain immortality by getting her picture made. When she goes to speak to Painter, Victor’s wife, Jacqueline, accompanied by a young man comes to speak to him. Victor leaves a note for Silvia and exits. While Jacqueline is talking with Painter, we learn that the young man with her is a homosexual but she says she feels “safe” with him. Painter refuses to paint their picture because they are neither lovers nor a married couple. Jacqueline decides to bring her husband to the bar to get the picture completed.
In Scene Four, Charlotte is alone, wondering why she has been betrayed by her husband. When Flaubert comes home, she presses him for an explanation, who explains the smell of incense on his clothes by telling her that he met a nun in the park. Charlotte does not believe him and decides to give her heart to Victor.
Scene Five takes place in a theatre. Victor and Charlotte are watching Marianne’s play, “The Time Machine”. We see Quasimodo and Esmeralda from the XVth Century and Liebermann from the 1930s. Liebermann, an anthropologist from Hitler’s time, has travelled back in time to the XVth Century to write a book on vergers. He asks Quasimodo some questions about why and how he chose to be a verger. Esmeralda wants Quasimodo to give her permission to enter the church to pray to God to give her a husband. Then Krüger, a Gestapo agent, enters and wants to arrest Liebermann, saying that he is at the wrong place at the wrong time. There follows a heated argument about Jews, Communists, Bolsheviks, and gypsies. Krüger and Liebermann have a fight and Krüger shoots himself with his own gun. Esmeralda kisses Quasimodo to get her permission to enter the church. Act One of the play, “The Time Machine” ends here. Victor and Charlotte like the play, discovering in the meantime that they are in love with each other. Deciding to be honest towards each other both confess that they are married and promise to get divorced from their spouses. Jacqueline, who has been watching them from the back row, decides that her marriage has come to an end and that she will find another man to take to the Painters’ Bar to get her picture completed.
In Act II, Scene One, Marianne is sitting in the same park, expecting the news to be brought by Charlotte. Instead of her, there appears Flaubert, Charlotte’s husband, and tells her about his encounter with Nun, and how jealous and angry Charlotte was to learn this. Flaubert is sure that his wife is betraying him with a lawyer called Antoine. Marianne realizes what she has done and gets a shock because she herself is interested in Antoine. Flaubert leaves and Nun comes. Complaining that times have got bad, she tells Marianne that nuns put ads into the newspapers to catch sinners red-handed. Nun, pretending to be Vivette , has come here to meet a businessman who is looking for a mistress. Priest also comes for an appointment and sits on the next bench. Nun calls the businessman she is going to meet on her cell-phone and Priest answers her call turning out to be him. Priest declares his love to Nun and they leave holding hands. Marianne, sitting alone, feels sorry for having caused to bring Charlotte and Antoine together.
In Scene Two we see Jacqueline telling Painter that she will leave her husband and quit her gay friend. Painter proposes to her and she accepts his proposal. She tears up Victor’s photograph. Silvia, who is sitting at the next table, brings the torn pieces together and recognizes Flaubert, that is Victor. Jacqueline explains the situation to Silvia, saying that her husband, Victor, has been betraying her and that she has decided to leave him. Silvia, terribly disappointed in men, decides to become a nun. Painter and Jacqueline are in love and happy to find each other.
In Scene Three, players are rehearsing the play “The Time Machine”. Quasimodo (François) kisses Esmeralda (Caroline) passionately and Krüger (Paul), Caroline’s husband in real life, gets very angry. Liebermann (Claude) tries to prevent Paul from shooting François. However, Paul is dead and Caroline is very sorry that he died because he could not accept the fact that she loved François. Marianne enters and gets a shock to discover that the comedy she wrote has turned into a tragedy!
Scene Four takes place a week later at the same park, next to the Descartes bust. Marianne meets Charlotte, who explains that she got divorced from her husband, Flaubert. Marianne, thinking that Charlotte stole Antoine’s heart, is offended. Charlotte tells Marianne that she is going to marry Victor at the church the following week and wants Marianne to be her bridesmaid. Charlotte leaves and Antoine enters, who is full of admiration for the bright playwright, Marianne. He also invites Marianne to the same wedding ceremony, where actually his friend Victor will be marrying Charlotte. Marianne is fond of Antoine, but she can’t do anything because she has promised her friend, Charlotte.
In Scene Five, nine days later, in the courtyard of the Saint-Jacques church, Father is talking to Silvia who is listening to him unhappily, dressed as a nun. Priest and Nun enter the courtyard, and Father learns that they have both decided to leave the church and marry each other. Victor and Charlotte enter, and Nun recognizes Victor as the man she met in the park. Victor tells her that he is marrying the woman whose marriage he asked her to help him save. Then Jacqueline and Painter enter and Jacqueline recognizes Victor, her ex-husband. Victor recognizes Silvia, who is now dressed as a nun, as the girl he met in the park. Then Antoine enters and recognizes Silvia, who answered his ad, but he is surprised that she now looks like a nun. When Flaubert enters, Silvia tells him that she divorced her rich, old husband. Charlotte warns Victor that Flaubert is there and she is afraid of a probable scandal. Father is very much surprised to learn about so many ex-husbands. Quasimodo and Esmeralda enter in their costumes in the play, also wanting to get married in the same church. Flaubert is angry with his ex-wife, Charlotte, for quitting him. Flaubert, thinking that Silvia was the nun he met in the park, also accuses Silvia for having played a dirty trick on him. Silvia explains that it has only been a week since she decided to become a nun, upon which Flaubert proposes to her and Silvia accepts to marry him. Then Krüger and Liebermann enter. Quasimodo and Esmeralda are quite surprised to see the dead man appear before them in flesh and blood. It turns out that Paul and Claude played a trick on the other players. All the relationships being sorted out and re-arranged, Father enters to marry Caroline to François, Silvia to Flaubert, Marianne to Antoine, Nun to Priest, Painter to Jacqueline and Charlotte to Victor.
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