OUTPUT 1 – REWRITES, NARRATIVES AND TRANSNATIONAL DIALOGUE
SCENE VI
IZEN GABEA / scene inspired by "Izen Gabea" synopsis made by French students ; and translated by MG
Characters: Vlad, the Queen, Hope.. and Izen Gabea (Maylan ROY). Basque people (dancing or playing soka-tira)
La place Louis XIV
A meeting between Vlad and Izen Gabea
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IG: I’m sorry for your mother. It was nothing personal.
Vlad: She was not the only vampire to be chased and buried in your mountains by you, in fact ! (Seriously): This must come to an end. I’m asking you. Otherwise, the creatures of the Night will join their forces against you and they will invade the Basque Country.
IG: Well, I suppose I’m sorry for all the others, as well. When I was younger I would not tolerate any other creature of the Night in my territory. And tonight, I’m about to negotiate with two young vampires, one must believe that something has changed (he looks at the Queen and then gets elated) You see, my country’s here, I wouldn’t want it to change. Thanks to me, it preserved its sense of originality.
Hope (disapproving): it is well-known that the vampires from here, the only ones in this case, have never recognized the authority of the Prince of Transylvania, (to IG) You know that here and now, you don’t negotiate, but you are here to receive orders from the King of the Vampires
IG (shrugging his shoulders disdainfully): This golden- wigged monster and his friends from London and Paris ! I hate it !
The Queen : London and Paris, such elegant cities. You’d love them if you knew them.I bet you’d love Latvia, too. But I admit it’s cosy here…I love these dances !
IG (in turn, to Vlad and Hope): This young girl, who is she ? You haven’t bitten her, neither one, nor the other ?
Vlad: It’s a friend. Her fate has bound her to mine for a while. (very official) You know that Count Dracula is no longer alive. I’m his heir.I have got almost all his powers. I made this girl my queen. It is hard to cope with her charm (He looks at her) She’s so beautiful …
Hope: Very beautiful!
IG (gloomily):Too beautiful. (suddenly threatening) You are,therefore, my enemy.
Vlad: I don’t even think of that (he takes out his sword) You see this weapon which belonged to my uncle : The King of the Vampires, the Prince of the Night, Governor of Transylvania, Count Dracula.
IG: I recognize it. I defeated Dracula in the past. And I took his sword from him. I thought to have cleared the world by letting it in Rome in the hands of the ghosts of the Tiber.These revenants are not reliable, definitely. Unfortunately : Only Dracula and the princes of his family can use this weapon in a duel. All the others must be content with handling it as a useless gadget : it gives the exact time and enables tracing and tracking. Not better than a smartphone ! Only an unexperienced amateur would use it to move around, for a genuine vampire can achieve that by magic. I wish I had destroyed it. Unfortunately it was impossible. So, you’ve come to practise your vengeance ?
Vlad: No, I want to retire here, to go to sleep in a cave of a Basque farm, or in a cavern of witches and rest for the next few decades.
IG : But if all worldly vampires come here, my country is going to lose its identity ; I’m afraid my Laminak will suffer, and that soon enough we’ll all end up speaking English.
Hope: What’s the point, the language we choose to speak, since we understand each other ?
The Queen: we only truly understand by our hearts
Vlad: I don’t want to change anything about traditions, nor do I wish to interfere with the creatures of the Basque Night, don’t worry. I only want to rest where my mother has gone, and then choose between being a vampire or a human being.
IG: But in this case, how could you be a king ? And how would you avoid that dozens of creatures should come here to woo you ?
Vlad: I’m going to give up. A commonweath seems to me a proper form of organisation to replace the dictatorship of my uncle. Hope will preserve my sword, he’ll conjure up an assembly in Rome to elect the president of the vampires or something like this…
Hope: The latest news! But it’s so interesting.
IG: Doing a biltzar ? great idea …. I will give up, in such circumstances, on all violence against the other vampires.
Hope: All’s well that ends well. It’s time for me to go home. (He stands up and takes a leave)
Vlad: Don’t forget about the sword !
Hope: I can do without it, I’m not a novice anymore ! Keep it !
Vlad and Hope are leaving...
IG: And.... the young lady ?