SCENE NINE: THE RECEPTION
1963
A royal cocktail party is under way on the royal yacht, Britannia, anchored in the harbour with a view of the opera house under construction. An abundance of society ladies in glittering evening dresses are among those raising their glasses in a toast to the Queen.
AIDE DE CAMP
The queen.
CHORUS
The queen.
The queen.
The queen.
The Queen nods to her assembled guests and starts to chat to some of them.
LADIES CHORUS
Look at me,
Look at me!
I'm so happy to be
At a glittering royal occasion.
I’m a sight,
I’m a sight,
I’m a Queen of the Night!
Clinking glasses,
In what passes
For an extravagant Paris creation.
A particularly gross hat parades across the stage.
There's a zing
In the air,
I could come
over queer
At the luscious proximity of gentry.
And if dawn should betray
A world somewhat more grey,
We can dine out on this
For the rest of the century!
It feels apt.
It feels right,
And though we’re not ones to skite,
While we’re veering to port
It’s a sobering thought:
What are the poor doing tonight?
What are the poor doing tonight?
SOCIETY LADY 1
The dashing Dane is here, my Master Builder!
LADIES CHORUS
Mutton jammed into lamb
But we don’t give a damn...
SOCIETY LADY 2
He’s with his wife,
And, darling, Ibsen was a Swede.
LADIES CHORUS
Dressed to kill,
What a thrill!
Who says we’re over the hill?
SOCIETY LADY 2
He’s a genius! I’ll sound him out regarding my extensions.
I’m sure he can squeeze them in on the side...
LADIES CHORUS
When we curtsy on cue
With the privileged few,
Far removed seems our humbler escutcheon.
On this opulent yacht
Oh so eas’ly forgotten
Our unfortunate forefathers’
Stint in the dungeon.
What a night!
My heads so light.
Christ, I’m high as a kite!
But we’ve consciences too,
As we drink in the view:
We pity the poor folk,
The sorry and sore folk,
Who just can’t afford oak-aged plonk
To get tight.
What ARE the poor doing tonight?
Earth and Sky enter as two society guests
SKY
Who compiled the guest list?
Who’s Who?
EARTH
No one turns down the chance to feel the royal glove.
Even the famous writer,
Who turns his mouth down at most things,
He's here.
Getting on famously with the famous swimmer...
Two men pass, chatting to each other. One of the men is the Maestro the other man is The Politician - the architect's nemesis)
POLITICIAN
What a nice young man he is.
MAESTRO
A champion.
POLITICIAN
A hero.
SKY
And our architect,
He's here too.
An honorary native tonight.
The architect is surrounded by women
The man of the moment,
For the moment.
Some men and women are looking at the opera house construction site from the yacht.
MUSIC LOVER
Timeless...
Like some ancient monster
Waiting to come to life!
WOMAN 1
What will it be like
To roam it's decks
I wonder?
WOMAN 2
All the glamour of a night at the opera...
POLITICIAN
It's taking too long...
MAESTRO
And there’s still no sign of
The plans for the inside...
POLITICIAN
At the rate it's going up
We'll be lucky to live that long!
SOCIETY LADY 2
I hope there's lots of gold
And chandeliers.
SOCIETY LADY 1
Will there be a royal box?
There'd have to be,
Wouldn't there?
SOCIETY LADY 3
My dear, we’re pushing hard to have it named
The Royal Opera House.
The queen has been introduced to the famous writer.
THE QUEEN
I believe you're writing a book
About the naked lady.
THE WRITER
Excuse me?
THE QUEEN
Who joined the blackfellows...
THE WRITER
Eliza Fraser, Maam.
I'm thinking now it would make a good opera
For our new opera house,
If I can convince a certain composer...
THE QUEEN
What a clever idea.
But I’m sure this building will inspire
Many such clever ideas.
(Almost conspiratorially)
We have one of your books with us,
You know,
On board...
THE WRITER
Which one, Ma’am?
THE QUEEN
Is it...Floss?
I'm afraid I haven't opened it
But my equerry tells me it's rather a good read.
AIDE DE CAMP
Introducing the Architect to the Queen
The architect of the opera house, Ma'am.
POLITICIAN
To the Maestro.
I tell you if we were in government
He wouldn't get away with it.
MAESTRO
I would have thought
A politician like yourself
Would be grateful.
POLITICIAN
Grateful?
MAESTRO
The more it drags on,
The more you talk up the issue,
The more likely it’s you
Who calls the shots
When the next election’s won.
THE QUEEN
What a marvellous building.
My husband and I
Are so looking forward to the opening.
When may that be do you think?
ARCHITECT
Some years still,
Your Majesty.
POLITICIAN
Two more years
In opposition...
MAESTRO
Two more years of waste and delay...
POLITICIAN
Two more years til the next election...
MAESTRO
What a perfect opportunity!
POLITICIAN
Are you implying I’m an opportunist?
MAESTRO
Not at all.
But private and public good can ...harmonise.
POLITICIAN
What public good have you in mind?
MAESTRO
The future of Concert music.
THE QUEEN
I must say it’s good to see
The Dominions mature.
Roll on galas!
Roll on concerts!
THE ARCHITECT
Do you like opera Ma'am?
THE QUEEN
Oh ...yes.
Although they do go on a bit don't they?
THE ARCHITECT
All good things take time...
AIDE DE CAMP
Ma'am, may I introduce the Olympic Champion?
THE QUEEN
Oh I AM pleased to meet you!
She whisks him off. Her entourage follows leaving The Writer and the Architect. A little non plussed.
THE WRITER
Poor boy.
Tossed from Queen to Queen...
CHORUS
What are the poor doing tonight?
What are the poor doing tonight?
I haven’t a clue
What the poor are doing tonight.
AIDE DE CAMP
Ladies and gentlemen,
With the architectural marvel
Rising before us,
Her Majesty thought it fitting
That one of your rising operatic stars
perform, tonight
In honour of this royal visit.
Miss Alexandra Mason will be accompanied by her husband
Mr Stephen Goldring.
Alex enters in a formal gown and Stephen moves to the piano.
ALEXANDRA
When English ships first sailed between the heads
And slipped inside the harbour's open arms,
About their prows the welcome water spread
And bathed their flanks with blue refreshing balms,
And English soldiers armed with flag and drum
Set foot on land and camped beside its streams
To toast their king with shots of navy rum
And build their gaol beside this port of dreams.
The harbour though was never held in thrall
It watched a city grow and, treading time,
It spoke in whispers of the things it saw
And nightly washed the city's feet of crime.
And now each night as lights, reflected, gleam
The harbour wakes to watch its city dream.
POLITICIAN
She sings like an angel.
I feel a surge of power,
How strange.
How strange.
MAESTRO
Music defies time but needs its timekeepers:
Even beauty must sometimes grasp
The grubby helping hand of the real world.
ARCHITECT
These are the moments
We wish we could capture and hold forever.
The guests applaud. A burst of fireworks offstage draws the guests away, leaving the Architect, Stephen, Alexandra and the Minister.
STEPHEN
Darling you were wonderful!
MAESTRO
As always,
Glorious my dear.
POLITICIAN
Miss Mason
You have a unique voice.
ARCHITECT
Such a voice belongs to the world
Why are you still hiding here?
ALEXANDRA
I’m waiting for your
Opera house.
MAESTRO
Aren’t we all?
And this lad
Will conduct my orchestra there
One day.
That is,
If there’s room for them all on the stage!
ALEXANDRA
What will it be like on the inside?
ARCHITECT
Like... a frozen wave.
A series of frozen waves.
MAESTRO
aside
An acoustic nightmare...
POLITICIAN
aside
One slip and a frosty wave goodbye
Is all he’ll get from me...
STEPHEN
Alex, did you hear what he said?
It’s what I’ve dreamt of!
ALEXANDRA
He said my voice belonged to the world
Why am I still hiding here?
STEPHEN
He’s made his choice,
He’ll hand me the reins.
My future is secure here!
MAESTRO
I’ve sewn the seed:
This has proved a most productive night.
A most productive night and now
ALEXANDRA
And now I feel I could conquer the world.
STEPHEN, POLITICIAN
Now I know,
Now it’s clear and now...
ARCHITECT
They love me here.Time’s on my side!
ALEXANDRA
I know it now
It’s clear at last
My future’s secure!
ARCHITECT, STEPHEN, MAESTRO, POLITICIAN
Nothing can stand in my way
My future’s secure,
Secure!
Alexandra, Stephen, The Maestro and the Architect disappear, leaving the Minister alone. As he sings his aria, the parliament scene assembles around him.
POLITICIAN
Seize it!
Seize the moment!
Steal the thunder.
Blaze it,
Blaze the scandal!
Trumpet his every blunder.
The sails of his folly
Propel us to power.
Time to take the knife
To this tall foreign flower.
I’ll champion prudence and caution
In the face of gross excess.
The profligate’s self-destruction
Guarantees my sweet success.
Art may be pretty,
Politics ain’t!
Let common sense prevail:
I’ll prize the halo
Off this high and mighty saint!