I WANT TO BE YOUR CANARY
By Seth Koproski
ACT I
Scene 1
Enter King Leo
Leo: How glorious it is to be back on my own soil! How glorious it is to tread the earth that I know so very well! There is nothing better than a homecoming after a long journey, to the place where there is no king before thyself!
Enter Princess Cornelia with handmaidens
Leo: Ah! My daughter, Cornelia! How fare you?
Cornelia: I should think that thou should know! Leading me on some long, arduous adventure when you know I should very well be content to sit at home with mother. My handmaidens are tired, my dresses have been fouled, and I myself am quite flustered! To think, that a loving and caring father should drag along his daughter as he wanders all over the neighboring kingdoms!
Leo: Bah, wandering! Surely you cannot complain about the wretchedness of the whole! I should think that there was nothing arduous about it, nor anything that might dirty thy clothing. Did you not enjoy your time spent in Verinai? Did you not take part in the festivities there?
Cornelia: Well, yes... I suppose I did... and there was that enchanting fellow, Marcus...
Leo: Who is this Marcus?
Cornelia: Just a man that I met in Verinai... don't worry yourself over him, father.
Leo: I shouldn't think that I am! No matter, we must prepare a feast to welcome ourselves home! Oh yes, and I have need to speak with the king of Milean, so I shall not see thee on the morrow.
Cornelia: Oh father, can you not busy yourself with one, your own, kingdom?
Leo: Haha! I am afraid not, dear daughter.
Exit King Leo.
Cornelia: You should prepare for the feast as well, I should think that the blue dress that I wore in Verinai is clean? If so, I will wear that tonight.
Handmaidens: Yes, m'lady.
Exit Handmaidens
Voice: Well, can you not release your mind from thoughts of Verinai even for but one second?
Cornelia: Who are you?
Enter Marcus.
Marcus: What, hast thou forgotten me so soon?
Cornelia: Marcus! Perish the thought! Why, I believe that I shall never forget my sweet memories of our time together! But why are you here? By being in this very castle, your life is in grave danger!
Marcus: Any risk is trivial enough to risk, as long as I might be able to see thy face again! I could bare no longer our absence from each other.
Cornelia: And I neither! But my father... to him you are merely peasantry. He would never condone any marriage between us.
Marcus: Aye, 'tis true. But do not fret, for I shall find out some way of removing that which impedes our love!
Cornelia: It is not unlike you to resort to drastic approaches, I should know, but I beg of you- do not endanger yourself further. We shall meet on the morrow, when my father is in Milean. Come to the corner of the market in the center of town at noon, I shall be waiting.
Marcus: I shall be there.
Cornelia: Now flee! Lest someone might detect you within these walls!
Exit Marcus.
Cornelia: 'Tis no fallacy when it is said that the course of true love never does run smooth!
Exit Cornelia.
Scene 2
Enter Blank, Avon, and Cinna.
Cinna: Avon, Blank, look here! I do say King Leo has once again increased our burden of taxes! No doubt, I dare say, to fund his trips of luxury abroad!
Blank: There is no doubt when it comes to the king.
Avon: If it were not enough that he should start those wars in which so many of our persons hath died, now those who live must endure his hellish rule. It is a wonder, Cinna, that us three and Marcus have escaped his double-bladed sword!
Cinna: It is a wonder how he, so burdened with such shortcomings, should have a daughter so fair as the lady Cornelia!
Blank: Haha! A wonder, indeed!
Cinna: And where has Marcus gone off to?
Avon: He left after we departed from the ship. I assume to find some woman that he might entertain for the night.
Blank: I shouldn't be surprised.
Enter Marcus.
Marcus: My friends, I have found the bright morning star that shines from the northern skies! I have found that which I should think I would always hold dear! She is my canary, my beautiful bird of love and grace!
Cinna: Does she love thee in return?
Marcus: Oh with the same fire! The same fire that has pierced our hearts and left us longing each hour for the other's gentle caresses!
Avon: And who might this burning woman be?
Marcus: None of you shall ever guess! We met in Verinai, but it so happens that we both are home here! How impossible! It must be fate! There is no other explanation for such good fortune!
Blank: And what of her name?
Marcus: Her name? She is the sweetest of all canaries and her name is as melodious as their song!
Cinna: And what, pray tell, is your canary's name?
Marcus: Cornelia. Oh, how the seraphim sing their songs of beauty and love at each syllable! Oh how—
Blank: The princess? Your canary is Princess Cornelia?
Marcus: Oh yes, but I should think of her as the queen! As the wondrous and heavenly—
Cinna: Where are your wits! Have they been shattered? Was the Verinaian ale too strong for thy mind!
Marcus: No, 'twas only her beauty—
Avon: Think nothing of beauty! She is the princess! This is madness, for sure. You are a peasant! The lowly dregs and the bottom of all society! She is the epitome of class!
Marcus: You all think of nothing! For when our eyes doth meet there is no class... Such thoughts hold no place in our love. But there still is one problem...
Cinna: Only one? I should think that more than one problem might arise in such an affair...
Marcus: Still thy tongue! If it were not for her wretched father than we would wed this very day! I beg of your help, my friends!
Avon: We all too have quarrel with the great King Leo. Surely, if it is your intent to speak thy vows with Cornelia, it would prove quite useful in our attempts to dishonor His Highness. The shame of his own daughter, married to a mere peasant!
Cinna: It would be ideal for our endeavors.
Blank: Then it is settled?
Avon: Yes, Marcus, we will help you get your canary!
Marcus: Oh I should thank you forever if I had so long to live!
Cinna: There will be plenty enough time to thank us, but now we must scheme, for 'tis only by careful scheming will we be able to wed you and the princess.
Exit all.
ACT I
Scene 1
Enter King Leo
Leo: How glorious it is to be back on my own soil! How glorious it is to tread the earth that I know so very well! There is nothing better than a homecoming after a long journey, to the place where there is no king before thyself!
Enter Princess Cornelia with handmaidens
Leo: Ah! My daughter, Cornelia! How fare you?
Cornelia: I should think that thou should know! Leading me on some long, arduous adventure when you know I should very well be content to sit at home with mother. My handmaidens are tired, my dresses have been fouled, and I myself am quite flustered! To think, that a loving and caring father should drag along his daughter as he wanders all over the neighboring kingdoms!
Leo: Bah, wandering! Surely you cannot complain about the wretchedness of the whole! I should think that there was nothing arduous about it, nor anything that might dirty thy clothing. Did you not enjoy your time spent in Verinai? Did you not take part in the festivities there?
Cornelia: Well, yes... I suppose I did... and there was that enchanting fellow, Marcus...
Leo: Who is this Marcus?
Cornelia: Just a man that I met in Verinai... don't worry yourself over him, father.
Leo: I shouldn't think that I am! No matter, we must prepare a feast to welcome ourselves home! Oh yes, and I have need to speak with the king of Milean, so I shall not see thee on the morrow.
Cornelia: Oh father, can you not busy yourself with one, your own, kingdom?
Leo: Haha! I am afraid not, dear daughter.
Exit King Leo.
Cornelia: You should prepare for the feast as well, I should think that the blue dress that I wore in Verinai is clean? If so, I will wear that tonight.
Handmaidens: Yes, m'lady.
Exit Handmaidens
Voice: Well, can you not release your mind from thoughts of Verinai even for but one second?
Cornelia: Who are you?
Enter Marcus.
Marcus: What, hast thou forgotten me so soon?
Cornelia: Marcus! Perish the thought! Why, I believe that I shall never forget my sweet memories of our time together! But why are you here? By being in this very castle, your life is in grave danger!
Marcus: Any risk is trivial enough to risk, as long as I might be able to see thy face again! I could bare no longer our absence from each other.
Cornelia: And I neither! But my father... to him you are merely peasantry. He would never condone any marriage between us.
Marcus: Aye, 'tis true. But do not fret, for I shall find out some way of removing that which impedes our love!
Cornelia: It is not unlike you to resort to drastic approaches, I should know, but I beg of you- do not endanger yourself further. We shall meet on the morrow, when my father is in Milean. Come to the corner of the market in the center of town at noon, I shall be waiting.
Marcus: I shall be there.
Cornelia: Now flee! Lest someone might detect you within these walls!
Exit Marcus.
Cornelia: 'Tis no fallacy when it is said that the course of true love never does run smooth!
Exit Cornelia.
Scene 2
Enter Blank, Avon, and Cinna.
Cinna: Avon, Blank, look here! I do say King Leo has once again increased our burden of taxes! No doubt, I dare say, to fund his trips of luxury abroad!
Blank: There is no doubt when it comes to the king.
Avon: If it were not enough that he should start those wars in which so many of our persons hath died, now those who live must endure his hellish rule. It is a wonder, Cinna, that us three and Marcus have escaped his double-bladed sword!
Cinna: It is a wonder how he, so burdened with such shortcomings, should have a daughter so fair as the lady Cornelia!
Blank: Haha! A wonder, indeed!
Cinna: And where has Marcus gone off to?
Avon: He left after we departed from the ship. I assume to find some woman that he might entertain for the night.
Blank: I shouldn't be surprised.
Enter Marcus.
Marcus: My friends, I have found the bright morning star that shines from the northern skies! I have found that which I should think I would always hold dear! She is my canary, my beautiful bird of love and grace!
Cinna: Does she love thee in return?
Marcus: Oh with the same fire! The same fire that has pierced our hearts and left us longing each hour for the other's gentle caresses!
Avon: And who might this burning woman be?
Marcus: None of you shall ever guess! We met in Verinai, but it so happens that we both are home here! How impossible! It must be fate! There is no other explanation for such good fortune!
Blank: And what of her name?
Marcus: Her name? She is the sweetest of all canaries and her name is as melodious as their song!
Cinna: And what, pray tell, is your canary's name?
Marcus: Cornelia. Oh, how the seraphim sing their songs of beauty and love at each syllable! Oh how—
Blank: The princess? Your canary is Princess Cornelia?
Marcus: Oh yes, but I should think of her as the queen! As the wondrous and heavenly—
Cinna: Where are your wits! Have they been shattered? Was the Verinaian ale too strong for thy mind!
Marcus: No, 'twas only her beauty—
Avon: Think nothing of beauty! She is the princess! This is madness, for sure. You are a peasant! The lowly dregs and the bottom of all society! She is the epitome of class!
Marcus: You all think of nothing! For when our eyes doth meet there is no class... Such thoughts hold no place in our love. But there still is one problem...
Cinna: Only one? I should think that more than one problem might arise in such an affair...
Marcus: Still thy tongue! If it were not for her wretched father than we would wed this very day! I beg of your help, my friends!
Avon: We all too have quarrel with the great King Leo. Surely, if it is your intent to speak thy vows with Cornelia, it would prove quite useful in our attempts to dishonor His Highness. The shame of his own daughter, married to a mere peasant!
Cinna: It would be ideal for our endeavors.
Blank: Then it is settled?
Avon: Yes, Marcus, we will help you get your canary!
Marcus: Oh I should thank you forever if I had so long to live!
Cinna: There will be plenty enough time to thank us, but now we must scheme, for 'tis only by careful scheming will we be able to wed you and the princess.
Exit all.