One Act Play 2: A Sunny Morning

One Act Play 2: A Sunny Morning

Introduction: ‘A Sunny Morning’ is a comedy in one act. It is written by Serafin and Joaquin Alveraz Quintero, known as the ‘Golden Boys of Madrid Theater’. The play revolves around two characters Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura, who in their youth were passionate lovers but torn apart by the cruelty of fate.

The meeting in the Park: The play begins on a sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park in Madrid, Spain. Dona Laura, a handsome, white-haired lady of about seventy, refined in appearance, is feeding pigeons.  Don Gonzalo, a gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient enters. He shares the same bench on which Dona Laura is sitting. Both of them annoy each other at first. Laura is angry because Gonzalo scared her pigeons. Gonzalo feels irritated as Laura is annoying him.

Snuff unites Gonzalo and Laura: Gonzalo takes out his snuff box and offers a pinch of snuff to her. Both of them say that they will sneeze three times after taking a pinch of snuff and finds it to be a strange coincidence. This unites Laura and Gonzalo after the disagreement. Then they start talking of their hometowns and other things. Now Laura reveals that she lived in a villa at Maricela, near Valencia-one of the largest cities in Spain. Gonzalo is startled to hear the name “ Maricela”. He then tells that he knows a girl who lived in that villa, who was perhaps the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He also reveals that the girl’s name was Laura Llorentee. Both of them realize that they were formerly lovers.      

The love episode of young Gonzalo and Laura: In her youthful days, Dona Laura was known in her locality as ‘The Silver Maiden’. She was fair as lily, with jet black hair and black eyes. She was in love with Gonzalo. He used to pass by on horseback every morning through the rose garden and tossed up a bunch of flowers to her balcony which she caught. On his way back in the afternoon she would toss the flowers back to him. But Laura’s parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant whom she disliked. One day there was a quarrel between Gonzalo and the merchant, the suitor. As the merchant was wounded, Gonzalo fled from his hometown to Seville and then to Madrid. Even though he tried to communicate with Laura through letters, all attempts failed. He then joined Army and went to Africa. Both of them realize that they were in deep love once they were young but never ever reveal it now.

Laura and Gonzalo devise stories of their own deaths: The old Laura says that she knows the woman named Laura; known as ‘The Silver Maiden’ and that she was her friend during her young age. She also lies that, she knows the tragic story of her love affair with a gallant young man named Gonzalo. The old Gonzalo says that he is the cousin of the young man. According to him the young Gonzalo had to leave his place as he was involved in a fight with a merchant, the suitor of Laura. Then he joined Army, went to Africa where he met with a glorious death. The old Laura reveals that without finding her lover her friend went to the sea shore, wrote her lover’s name on the sand and sat upon a rock. The tides rose to the rock and swept her out to sea. But in reality after three months Gonzalo ran off to Paris with a ballet dancer. Laura got married after two years. Both know that they are still lying.

Conclusion: At the end of the play they agree to meet at the park again, still not acknowledging what they both know to be true. However, the whole play can be viewed as a satire of a mockery over those who pretend to be true Romeo and Juliet. It leaves a message that nothing is stable and people are not ready to reveal their bitter truths.

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