One Act Play 2: A Sunny Morning

Set on a sunny autumn morning in a retired park corner in Madrid, Serafín and Joaquín Álvarez Quintero’s charming comedy "A Sunny Morning" brings together two elderly strangers on a park bench. Doña Laura, a white-haired woman of seventy, is feeding breadcrumbs to pigeons when Don Gonzalo, a gouty gentleman accompanied by his servant Juanito, arrives and irritably scares the birds away. After exchanging sharp, humorous insults about park etiquette, Gonzalo offers Laura a pinch of snuff, which unites them in mutual sneezes and breaks the ice. As they discuss literature and memories of Valencia, each suddenly recognizes the other: Laura was the famous "Silver Maiden" Laura Llorente of Maricela, and Gonzalo was the handsome gallant who serenaded her balcony seventy years ago before a duel with a nobleman forced him to flee. Too proud to reveal their aged, physically decayed identities, each invents a melodramatic, heroic death for their younger selves. Gonzalo claims he died in the African desert murmuring her name, while Laura claims she drowned in the sea washed away by waves. Secretly knowing the truth, they smile knowingly, agree to meet again tomorrow if it is sunny, and depart with rekindled romantic affection.

Practice questions curated specifically for One Act Play 2: A Sunny Morning.