The Little Mariner

Spotlight a SCENE ONE: Open-air court in the ancient city of Athens. The accused arrive and proceed among curses and cries of Death! Death! SCENE TWO: A jail in the same city, beneath the Acropolis, walls half-eaten by dampness. On the ground, a miserly straw mat and in the corner, an earthenware jar of water. On the outside wall, a shadow: the guard. SCENE THREE: Constantinople. In the harem of the Holy Place, in candlelight, the Queen throws a pouch of gold coins to the Head Eunuch who bows and looks at her significantly. By the open door, his men at the ready. SCENE FOUR: Drawing room of a large Monastery. Oblong table, the abbot at its head. Sweaty monks come and go bringing news: a crowd spills into the streets, setting fires, destroying everything. SCENE FIVE: Nauplio. Greek and Bavarian officers outside the King’s quarters converse in low tones. A messenger takes the dispatch and heads toward the steps that lead on high to Palamidi. SCENE SIX: In front of an old and empty lot in contemporary Athens, a crowd, motley with priests and bishops, gathers to cast a stone, “the stone of anathema.” SCENE SEVEN: Low buildings of EAT/ESA. In the courtyard, drunken soldiers. Braying and lewd posturing. The officer leaving some cell says something to the military doctor. Behind them thuds and cries are heard.