“Nude….”
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
Ladislaus, a pill! But let us hope, by a subdued light under a scarlet shade, with the intoxicating sounds of a gypsy band in the background, ah, ah, hors d’oeuvres and bacchantes, with champagne foaming in our blood, gypsy trills, your fragrance inflames the senses, I lean forward, you retreat, I lean forward, you retreat, evoe, evoe, you retreat, ha, and then Iiiii … ah, gypsies, oysters, I begin to….
ALBERTINE:
Oh, dear! To undress me?
CHARMANT:
Oh, no! Not undress you! Dress you! A muff made of moles’ tails from Worth’s.
Franciszek Starowieyski’s poster for Maciej Prus’s production, Słupsk, Poland, 1977.
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
Stockings made of Parisian inlet!
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
Pink unmentionables with a meringue trim!
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
Jumpe bombée, crème apricot!
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
A blouse with mushrooms in a sauce provençale…
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
A bonnet with panache de legumes!
(Darkness, wind, storm, thunder.)
ALBERTINE:
Count! Instead of undressing me
You want to dress me?
CHARMANT:
Pardon? Pardon? Pardon?
ALBERTINE:
Can’t you see
Under my dress
I’m naked as can be!
(Thunderclap.)
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
Stockings made of Parisian inlet!
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
Pink unmentionables with a meringue trim!
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
Jumpe bombée, crème apricot!
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
A blouse with mushrooms in a sauce provençale…
ALBERTINE:
Oh!
CHARMANT:
A bonnet with panache de legumes!
(Darkness, wind, storm, thunder.)
ALBERTINE:
Count! Instead of undressing me
You want to dress me?
CHARMANT:
Pardon? Pardon? Pardon?
ALBERTINE:
Can’t you see
Under my dress
I’m naked as can be!
(Thunderclap.)