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• The Shot : ACT ONE excerpt 1 , ACT ONE excerpt 2 , ACT TWO excerpt 1 , ACT TWO excerpt 2 , ACT TWO excerpt 3

The Shot, translated by Gwynneth Dowling

ACT ONE excerpt 1

Context:

This is near the beginning of the play. The action has moved back in time to when Larra first told his father he wanted to leave home to become a satirical writer in Madrid.

Sample text

DON MARIANO:

You want to leave us?

LARRA:

Yes.

DON MARIANO:

You’re only 17 and I’ve still got authority over you. You must keep on with your studies.

LARRA: (Gently.)

Maybe in Valencia, or in Madrid, if you’ll let me.

DON MARIANO: (Sighs.)

We’ve been separated for such a long time because of the political situation. Let’s stay together, now that we can. Here, in Valladolid. It’s a good university.

LARRA:

I want to go.

DON MARIANO:

You’re mother won’t stop crying!

LARRA:

She’ll get over it. It’s not a tragedy. All sons leave their parents sooner or later.

DON MARIANO:

If it’s any use, take the advice of this not-so-stupid old doctor… The advice of your father… Don’t take on the world just yet. You don’t know it.

LARRA:

That’s why I’m leaving. I need to get to know it if I’m going to write about it. If I’m going to rip away the masks.

DON MARIANO:

What masks?

LARRA:

Everyone wears one.

DON MARIANO:

You’ll need one too. It’s a bad world.

LARRA:

I’ll try not to wear one, even if others think I am. (He laughs.) Laughter will be my mask. But it won’t hide anything from those who can read.

DON MARIANO: (Sadly.)

A satirical writer. Teenage passion for the truth…

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Shot by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT ONE excerpt 2

Context:

Larra’s reputation as a critic of society is growing. In the ‘El Parnasillo’ tertulia his companions suggest a new nom de plume for him. One of Larra’s colleagues, Díaz, believes that the best form of protest against censorship is to say nothing. Larra disagrees.

Sample text

GRIMALDI:

We were just saying how good it might be for you to have a new pseudonym for the Revista Española.

CARNERERO:

And Grimaldi’s already come up with one.

BRETÓN: (He has not taken his eyes of them.)

Another nickname?

The men standing on the left watch GRIMALDI and wait.

GRIMALDI:

Something more… French… if I can put it like that.

CARNERERO:

Or Italian. (We start to hear Rossini’s Cavatina played very softly on the piano.)

MESONERO:

Why? Larra is Spanish.

GRIMALDI:

And so is what I’m suggesting!

VEGA:

Well I don’t understand a thing!

LARRA: (Smiles.)

I do. Either I’m mistaken, or you’re suggesting I adopt ‘Figaro’.

ARRIAZA:

Amazing!

LARRA:

It’s very simple! It’s French, by Beaumarchais. Italian, by Rossini. And Spain, because of Seville.

GRIMALDI:

Incroyable!

CARNERERO:

Do you like it?

MESONERO:

I’d prefer a more home-grown rogue.

GRIMALDI:

I think it suits. ‘The factotum of the city’. The beard-shearing barber, always laughing and keeping everyone in check.

LARRA: (Thinking of DOLORES.)

Very strange.

CARNERERO:

Why? (The sound of the piano slowly dissipates.)

LARRA: (Looking at him, smiling, saying nothing.)

Let’s not talk about it anymore. I’ll be Figaro.

GRIMALDI:

Bravo! (He bangs the table proudly.)

DÍAZ:

Or rather, it’ll be the same as always. Figaro will speak, but he’ll say nothing. (LARRA looks at him very carefully.)

VEGA:

Of course he’ll speak! And he’ll speak even more if they lift the censorship today.

LARRA:

I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Vega. But thank you.

DÍAZ:

Well if the censorship doesn’t vanish, he should keep quiet. Otherwise, he’ll be giving in to it.

LARRA: (Without making eye contact with DIAZ.)

Or maybe it will give in to us. Who can do more?

DÍAZ:

Trite! Either we must speak clearly or say nothing.

LARRA:

You’re already saying nothing, Señor Díaz. Leave it to me to say something.

VEGA:

Larra, don’t pay him any attention.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Shot by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT TWO excerpt 1

Context:

A new prime minister, Mendizábal, has come to power. He claims to support liberal reforms, but Larra and his colleague Espronceda complain about the way in which Mendizábal’s government disenfranchises the poor. Larra threatens to denounce Mendizábal in the press.

Sample text

LARRA:

The only joke around here is this war supposedly motivated by the problem of succession. But in all honesty, Señor de Mendizábal, what does it matter who reigns? When a queen sleeps with a groomsman, the heir to the throne will be the son of the groomsman.

MENDIZÁBAL:

Watch your tongue! I’m a loyal subject of Her Majesty the Queen.

LARRA:

Well I’m a loyal servant of the people.

MENDIZÁBAL:

Not any more than I am! Sovereignty lies with the people. But the Queen and Her Government lead.

LARRA:

We’ll see what the nation’s sovereignty has to say about that tomorrow… If, that is, they have a voice in the polls…

MENDIZÁBAL: (Ironically.)

You insist on criticising my electoral law?

LARRA:

The law. And its application. You only allow those with more than 12,000 reales in annual income to vote. You prohibit votes for the under-30s, even though they’re able to write and talk to you right now. They’re even able to be MPs.

MENDIZÁBAL:

You are, yes. But the masses… Let’s be sensible, Larra… the masses are ignorant. Giving them the vote today would end in chaos. And we’ve all seen what that leads to. Murders, mutinies…

LARRA:

Power is also a murderer.

MENDIZÁBAL:

What?

LARRA:

Don’t forget María Griñó, or the prisoners in Barcelona.

MENDIZÁBAL:

Ludicrous! Don’t you know that General Mina has been dismissed?

ESPRONCEDA:

The Government has shut its eyes to the outrages of others who haven’t been dismissed.

MENDIZÁBAL:

We can’t be left with no leaders!

LARRA:

If you want to win the war, concern yourself with the people and with our cause, not the leaders. Change the conditions of the land seizures and broaden the electoral law.

MENDIZÁBAL:

It would be a disaster and Carlism would win. Keep dreaming as much as you like. I need to stay vigilant. (He gets up. LARRA and ESPRONCEDA stand.)

LARRA:

So it’s a no?

MENDIZÁBAL:

Categorically. No.

LARRA:

In that case, Señor Mendizábal, listen to my final words on the matter. (He approaches and, while speaking, very gently removes MENDIZÁBAL’s mask and hands it to him.) You once were a politician exiled because you served freedom. But you haven’t given us any freedom. You’ve defended the popular cause in your speeches, but you’re a rich millionaire and your land seizures are another parlour trick in favour of the rich, not the workers. In summary: you’re ushering in another considerable series of privileges. And whether you fine us or imprison us, we will speak out.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Shot by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT TWO excerpt 2

Context:

Larra comes home to find his servant Pedro drunk. Pedro criticises Larra and his friends for not truly understanding the plight of the common man. Pedro has been reading some of Larra’s articles about the poor.

Sample text

PEDRO:

I’m sorry, it’s the wine. There! It says there that I’m an animal who only knows how to eat and sleep. And that if I’m not happy, it’s not that I’m unhappy. (He looks at his master.) As if a servant were less than a dog. And as if only grand folk had troubles. (LARRA goes to the bedside table and sits down, avoiding the gaze of his servant.)

LARRA:

Go on.

PEDRO: (Laughing and holding out the pamphlet.)

You’re right in what you say about the drinking. Can I go to bed?

LARRA:

No. Sit down. (He slaps the seat beside him.)

PEDRO: (Amazed.)

You want me to sit?

LARRA:

Please. (He points to the chair. Very surprised, Pedro sits.) Talk to me… as if I were your own son.

PEDRO: (Suddenly hurt, he half shouts.)

A son?

LARRA: (Picking up the bottle from the floor.)

Take a drink. (His servant hesitates.) Drink, man! (PEDRO decides, takes the bottle and drinks. LARRA speaks slowly.) And now, think of me as an ignorant child, with you as my father. (Silence. PEDRO removes his mask and leaves it on the table. He starts crying. Intrigued and moved, LARRA fixedly watches him. PEDRO presses down on his forehead and his eyes with a rough hand. Then, he shows his wet face: the face of a sturdy peasant with naïve eyes.) Why are you crying?

PEDRO:

I lost a son.

LARRA:

Go on.

PEDRO:

What do young gentlemen know of such things?

LARRA: (He puts his hand on the arm of his servant.)

What things?

PEDRO:

You don’t go to war.

LARRA: (Taking his hand away.)

What?

PEDRO:

No one from the café is fighting the Carlists.

LARRA: (Hesitating.)

Some are… Espronceda is an officer.

PEDRO:

So he can show his uniform off around Madrid.

LARRA:

Or wherever they send him! Escosura is second lieutenant in the Artillery. Pezuela’s a Calvary officer. Estébañez Calderón serves in the barracks of the northern army. (He gets emotional.) And my unforgettable friend, the Count of Campo Alange…

PEDRO:

I read what was written about his death. He was indeed one of the brave.

LARRA:

He was more than that. A selfless and decent man. Maybe my only true friend! And how little I remember him!

PEDRO:

But he fought because he wanted to. None of you has to fight, if you don’t want to.

LARRA:

Us?

PEDRO:

Noblemen, rich men, lawyers, writers, manufacturers. Nor do the landowners or cattle owners. The ranks are made up of day labourers, apprentices and beggars.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Shot by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT TWO excerpt 3

Context:

This is the end of the play. Pedro is now old and tells us what happened to Larra’s children after he died. He can still remember the shot that killed his master.

Sample text

PEDRO:

He was a young gentleman… I saw how his face turned pale when I said that they don’t go to war. Sometimes I wonder if I killed him. But I… I loved him. Who knows what went through his head during those minutes… (He sighs.) Luisín thought he inherited some sort of talent. Baldomerita’s now a moneylender. And Adelita, who found him with that black hole in his head, the little girl saying ‘Papa’… She’s very clever, oh yes. She must be 40 now and King Amadeo has made her his mistress. And the three others dead… like my poor kid. I suspect my little gentleman realised he couldn’t spare his children from anything. And that also made him bitter. He never learnt the lesson I knew well, even before I knew him – you have to have endless patience. He died from impatience. (Very slowly, the light leaves him as he speaks. Another spotlight illuminates the upright and immobile figure of LARRA in his office, the pistol in his right hand and his eyes fixed on nothingness. The servant keeps talking and the writer starts to raise his armed hand. PEDRO brings his fists to his chest.) But there has always been a lot of us. And now we’re starting to understand. (He moves his hand across his forehead.) It’s strange. I’ve heard so much gun and cannon fire in my life, I can hardly recall it all. But that shot, which I barely heard… I can’t get it out of my mind. (Impassioned.) And it needs to be heard. To be heard. Even though the years pass. (Pause.) Like a clap of thunder… may it wake us up!

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation The Shot by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 6 May 2012.

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