O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow)

---

GEBO AND THE SHADOW

based on the play by

Adapted and directed by

It wasn't me!

It wasn't me!

Poor old man, he'll be freezing.

It's been raining all day.

A lifetime of bad weather.

It's difficult to see anything out there.

Mother, could you give us

a bit more light?

Ah! His old rug and slippers!

Or he'll complain...

It's been so many years!

- Father's late. Could he have taken ill?

- He'll be chatting with the neighbours.

- Is everything ready?

- Yes.

Call me when he arrives!

He'll have news today.

News from who?

From Joo, your husband, my son.

You're always the same!

Don't forget the old rug

and the shoes...

On the chair. I've got them,

didn't you see?

Everything's ready.

Except the books.

He doesn't like us touching them.

Good.

It's already so dark!

Always this illusion!

We can't even weep...

so that she can keep her illusion.

She gets on with life, forgets, while

we spend hours mulling, fretting...

That's his voice, his footsteps.

He's coughing.

He's talking to someone.

Mother, he's here!

I'm coming!

I'm coming!

Who's he talking to?

Father's coming!

He's knocking.

I'm coming!

I'm coming!

How he talks!

I'm coming...

- Come in. No need to knock.

- "Ladies..."

I didn't know, Doroteia.

Won't you come in, Chamigo?

Not now, Gebo. The orchestra

is giving me a lot of work.

Nothing but the bass drum!

How the bass drum annoys me...

No one cares about art any more!

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

See you later, or tomorrow.

Come early so we can talk.

- I'm chilled to the bone!

- I know, I know...

I could feel you coming...

Sit here behind the kitchen door.

You'll be warmer there.

It's been so cold this year!

The last time I remember

a year like this was...

- Take off your boots. Here are your

slippers... - Thank you!

So did you see him?

Did you see him?

See him?

Who?

The fellow who writes to our son!

Did you speak to him?

Didn't you say that you'd bring

news of our son today?

I saw him, yes!

You bring this up out of the blue!

You don't give me time to think.

Of course I saw him.

He sends his regards.

- Is he well?

- He's fine!

You used to talk such a lot,

too much, even.

Now it's like getting

blood out of a stone.

I'll go and see if the coffee's ready.

Then I want all the details.

Don't upset yourself, father.

It's my fault. I'm so forgetful...

You should have reminded me.

Poor thing... If she knew!

If she had any idea!

Do you have any news?

Yes, I do.

News, yes...

- I think I saw him.

- You saw Joo?

I saw a shadow in the night.

If she hears of it!

She's already suffered enough.

Lie, Gebo, deceive her.

Lie today, tomorrow, always,

spend your whole life lying, Just

don't let her suspect. Not ever!

Let her live her last days happy...

Yes, happy...

And you...

We left everything behind,

went far away,

moved to another part of the country

so she wouldn't find out...

Always telling her... always...

Yes. Always lying to her.

If you knew how hard that's been!

Worse than writing a serial

every evening.

I don't even know what to say

any more.

Stick it out, old man, stick it out...

so she doesn't ever find out.

So you saw him?

If he ever comes round here, father...

Round here? No.

If ever...

No, it can't have been him.

Just a shadow

that vanished into the night...

It's been eight years...

The wretch!

Forget him, lass.

A terrible life.

A different life...

A quite different life...

Yes, a wretched life...

Say it, father... say it...

He won't come. Don't worry.

I'd already seen him...

Did you speak to him?

It was over a year ago,

in a street far from here...

It was evening and...

I felt myself

being pulled into a dark corner...

Was it him?

He didn't speak.

I could only see his eyes.

But I recognised him right away.

Perhaps it was the hands.

They were frozen...

I recognised him right away

I gave him all the money I had on me

We didn't say anything to each other.

But I understood

even without speaking...

He's been gone many years.

But recently I sense I'm being followed

like being engulfed by a shadow...

A shadow?

A shadow, father?

It can't have been him...

But it was him, it was!

Oh, if she ever finds out that

the son she raised...

Father, tell me everything...

No. We have plenty

of time to talk.

I'd rather enter these accounts

in my book...

This is a great business,

Ramires 8. Ramires!

Just look at the balance for August,

ten contos and seven hundred and fifty

thousand reis. Not bad, huh?

Twenty thousand reis a month

and I still have to work at night

so we don't starve to death.

What do you say to that?

Nothing. I'm just thinking.

Brooding about our misfortune.

About that other life he leads...

Why does he lead such a wretched life,

such pain and hunger?

- There's so much I'd like to know.

- Come on.

The light is good today.

Was it you that did the lamp?

It was me!

Here's your coffee.

We depend on your eyes.

Would you go and look

at the stove?

Here I am, every day,

waiting to hear you..

I've got a lot to do this evening.

Don't get irritable.

Age tans the hide.

Let me cover your feet.

You can tell me everything

over coffee. Don't write.

So, you went into his house, that

fellow that writes to our son...

I did.

- And he read you the letter from our son?

- He did.

What did it say?

It said... it said...

He sends greetings.

As usual...

And he asked after his mother.

He did?

Why didn't you say right away?

You know I live for that...

I love to hear you so much! Go on, talk.

And next?

Next?

Goodness!

Next... Well, we talked about this

and that, etc, etc.

Etc?

You treat me so harshly!

Here I am waiting every day

just to hear you.

For years that's all I've had...

And then you come home and

don't say a word to make me suffer.

Doroteia!

What do you want me to say?

I don't know what else to invent...

I don't know... I can't...

In the business world, we don't

usually discuss family matters.

You always say the same,

half a dozen words.

And God knows, I have no

joy whatsoever in my life.

We live in this terrible poverty,

which gets more unbearable

by the year.

But I don't have

anything to say...

What there is I know very well!

Perhaps you don't even

know yourself...

And you've not noticed that gradually

I've changed into someone else...

someone full of pain and despair.

I've become another person,

without you even noticing,

in the silence of someone

that can't take any more.

Speak!

Speak!

For years I've been waiting for you

to tell me what I want to know!

Oh, Doroteia, know what?

What do you want to know?

Always misery, misfortune!

And me here waiting...

Leave me alone...

Could you get me some more coffee?

Yes, of course.

If you don't speak, I'll die.

If I didn't know you were my friend,

I would doubt you.

You know this is the only happiness

I have... you are taking it from me!

Don't torment me, listen...

You and Sophia, nothing affects you!

But me! Oh, how I've wept!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes