The Piano Lesson Page #11

A loud improvised door slam and heavy footsteps. NESSIE, in costume,

freezes. The shadow of Bluebeard moves clumsily down the cut-out

banister and along the corridor.

BLUEBEARD:

I am home early my sweet wife

... where art thou?

The girl scrambles for the fallen key and rushes out of the closet

into the silhouette corridor.

YOUNG WIFE:

Hello husband, what a surprise!

BLUEBEARD:

Yes wife, a surprise indeed! So

now you know my secret you, the

sweetest and youngest or all my

wives must be prepared to die.

BLUEBEARD pulls out a cut-out axe and moves towards her.

Two of the young warriors in CHIEF NIHE's party rise to their feet.

Auc! Ha aba ra tenei?

(Hey! What's this)

SUBTITLED:

E Nilie, E Nihe he Kohuru, he

kohurn?

(Nihe, Nihe is this murder?)

SUBTITLED:

NIHE waves them down, but they are shaken up and only crouch above

their seats. The others stare anxiously between NIHE and the stage.

NIHE:

(Amused by them)

E te whsnau keite pai-he takaro

tenei.

(Everything is fine this is

just a game)

SUBTITLED:

BLUEBEARD moves closer, the young wife drops to her knees her hands

held up in prayer.

YOUNG WIFE:

No, no wait!

BLUEBEARD:

I shall not wait. Bare your

neck.

As BLUEBEARD raises his axe again, first one then the other of the

young warriors run forward, shouting a fierce war cry and parting the

audience, who flee to either side while the corpses come very much to

life.

Kia hiwara! Kin hiwara!

(Be on the alert! Brace

yourself)

Pokokohun - whakaputa mai ja

koc!

(Coward! Show yourself, come

out!)

SUBTITLED:

Only NIHE and his top-hatted daughter remain calmly in their seats.

The warriors have BLUEBEARD cornered and whimpering an umbrella held

spear-like above him. NIHE stomps his stick, his great voice booming

out.

NIHE:

Hoki rnai! Hoki rnai!

(Come back here! Come back

here!)

SUBTITLED:

Sc 70 INT SCHOOL HALL BACK STAGE NIGHT Sc 70

Backstage the CHIEF and his party are shown the theatrical devices;

the blood-bucket, the paper axe, the splits in the sheets.

Sc 71 INT BAINES' HUT DAY Sc 71

ADA goes to the piano, she is upset that BAINES has again left a plate

on top of it. BAINES intercepts her, stepping several times between

her and the piano. She sees the game and stands still. He steps aside.

She removes the plate, gently, lovingly wiping the surface underneath.

There is a sulky irritation in the ways BAINES watches her.

BAINES:

I have been waiting. You are

very late.

ADA starts to play, BAINES watches then looks away.

BAINES:

I don't want you to play. I

just want you to sit.

ADA keeps playing until she has finished. Without looking at him she

holds up two fingers against the piano.

BAINES:

(angry) No, not two keys.

ADA starts playing again, BAINES feels powerless. He no longer admires

her absorption with the piano, he is jealous of it.

BAINES:

(shouts) Two keys then!

She stops playing. There is an insolence or casualness in the way she

regards BAINES. He pulls her chair back from the piano. This upsets

her, as much of her confidence was associated with the instrument.

BAINES kisses her passionately on the mouth. ADA pulls back, BAINES

persists, he is desperate and romantic.

Sc 72 EXT BASE OF BUSH COVERED HILL DAY Sc 72

STEWART, with BAINES interpreting, talks with a group of MAORIS at the

base of a bush covered hill. The MAORIS sit behind a small

representation of the hill marked out with twigs on the ground. The

atmosphere is tense.

MAORI NEGOTIATOR

(pointing to the places)

Nga awa kau kau, nga ana koiwi

0 matoti mattia tunpuna; kei

runga katoa i te whenua nei

korerongia atu ki to tangata na

e Peini.

(The bathing waters, the caves,

that house, the remains of our

ancestors are all part of this

land. Explain it to the man

Baines.)

SUBTITLED:

STEWART:

(muttering to BAINES across the

previous speech) What do they

say? Are they selling? Offer

the blankets for half the land.

STEWART holds up his ten fingers and then two more.

STEWART:

T-w~e-l-v~e.

BAINES:

Te, kawnarna paraikete mo te

tahi hawlie 0

te whenna uci.

(he'll give you twelve blankets

for half the land.)

UNSUBTITLED:

The MAORIS look carefully at the quality of the blankets, noting the

depth of the weave and the strength of the Wool. They shake their

heads as they discuss them.

STEWART:

(Quietly to BAINES)

Offer the guns.

MAORI NEGOTIATOR

Kahore atu he kororo. Kahore

niaton Kote hake whentia. Engad

mate peaks ne.

(No more talk, we won't sell

the land. I will trade you

pigs, that is all.)

SUBTITLED:

He messes up the pattern of twigs as he speaks.

ANGRY MAORI:

(Angry to the NEGOTIATOR)

He aha te pononga 0 te whenus

pena kahore he Pu hei pupuri?

(What is the point of owning

our land if we have no guns to

hold it?)

SUBTITLED:

The MAORI NEGOTIATOR gets up to leave as do the others, STEWART

snatches back his blankets and sulkily shakes them out to fold.

BAINES:

E hoa ma, haria atu ra takit

kia Nihe.

(Give my regards to Chief

Nihe.)

MAORI NEGOTIATOR

(Others join in)

Ac ra. Kia Ora! Kia Ora! Te

Peini.

(Yes indeed! Thank you. Thank

you, Peini.)

Sc 73EXT BUSH AT NEW BOUNDARY MARKERSDAYSc 73

BAINES and STEWART walk through the bush. STEWART laden down with his

blankets, red-faced and irritable.

STEWART:

What do they want it for? They

don't cultivate it, burn it

back, anything. How do they

even know it's theirs?

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