A Sunny Morning written by Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero is a light comedy that narrates the reunion of two lovers now in their 70s meeting at a park who in their youth were passionate lovers but torn apart by the cruelty of fate. The setting of this play is a sunny morning in Madrid, Spain on a bench in the park.
About the writers
Serafin Álvarez Quintero
(1871-1938) and Joaquin Alvarez Quintero (1873-1944) were Spanish dramatists. They
grew up in Utrera, a small town near Seville in the region of Spain called
Andalusia. They began writing for the theatre at a young age. They were
popularly known as the Golden Boys of the Madrid theatre. They collaborated in almost
200 dramas depicting the life, manners, and speech of Andalusia.
Summary of the The Play A Sunny Morning
A Sunny Morning by the Quintero brothers is a
romantic comedy. The entire (सम्पूर्ण) play revolves around two major
characters Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura,
who were ardent (उत्साही) lovers at their young age. But their
affair was not a successful one as they had to part (अलग हुनु) with each other in life.
After several years of their separation (बिछोड) they meet each other in a park in
Madrid during their old age. But they are not able to recognize each other at
first. However, as they continued their conversation they knew each other.
The play begins on a sunny morning in a park in Madrid. An
old woman, named Dona Laura enters the scene. She is accompanied (सँगै आउनु) by her maid (सेविका) Petra (पेट्रा) and finds place to sit on a bench to
feed the birds with breadcrumbs.
Meanwhile, Don Gonzalo also enters the park with his servant,
Juanito (जुआनिटो). Don Gonzalo is seen to be quite irritated (रिसाएको) as he finds no bench in the park to
be vacant (खाली). The one that he usually uses during his visit to the park
is occupied (ओगटेको/ कब्जा गरेको) by three priests. He comes near
Laura and hesitatingly (हिचकिचाउंदै) shares her bench.
He looks negatively at every aspect of his life and goes on
complaining whereas Laura expresses her grievances (गुनासो) when others disturb her.
Laura gets infuriated (क्रोधित) as the old man has tried to scare
the pigeons and she calls him "an ill-natured man." But after a few
moments of disagreement (असहमत), both of them have a pinch (चुटकी) of snuff (सुँघ्नु/ श्वास फेर्नु) and reconciles (मेलमिलाप गर्नु) with each other.
Gonzalo says that he is from Valencia (भ्यालेन्सिया) and to his surprise Laura reveals
that she is from Maricela (मारीसेला), where she lived in a villa (फार्म हाउस). Gonzalo is startled (चकित पर्नु) by the revelation and he says that he knows a
woman named Laura Liorente (लौरा लिओरेन्टे) who lived in a villa there, who was
perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
After talking for a while, they recognized each other but do
not want to disclose (खुलाउनु) their true identities because they
were torn apart by the cruelty (क्रूरता) of fate (भाग्य).
So, they spin (घुमाउनु) fictitious (काल्पनिक) stories where Laura identifies
herself as a friend of ‘The Silver Maiden’ Laura Liorente while Don Gonzalo
identifies himself as the cousin of Don Gonzalo.
Gonzalo would pass by on his horseback every morning under
Laura’s house window and would toss (माथि फ्याक्नु) a bouquet (फूलको गुच्छा) of flowers up to her balcony. In the
afternoon, while he would return by the same path and catch a bouquet of
flowers that she would toss him down. When Laura’s parents wanted to marry her
to a merchant a duel (द्वन्द्व) was followed and the merchant was badly
wounded by Gonzalo.
Don Gonzalo fled away fearing of the consequences (परिणाम). Laura waited for days and months
and not hearing from him for a long time she left her home one afternoon and
went to the beach. While she was engrossed (तल्लीन) in Don Gonzalo’s thoughts she was
washed away by the waves.
Don Gonzalo also tried to spin his version (वर्णन) of a story about his supposed (मानिएको) cousin. Gonzalo also loved Laura
intensely/deeply. After injuring the merchant seriously, fearing the consequences,
he took refuge in Seville and Madrid. He wrote many letters to her but her
parents seized (जफत) them. As there was no reply, in
despair, he joined the army and went to Africa where he died muttering the name
of his love, Laura.
In reality, after two years of their separation, Laura
married someone and settled down in her life. Similarly, Gonzalo disappointed
over his lost love, three months later he too married a ballet dancer and
settled down in Paris. Though, they were separated, in their hearts the
yearning (तृष्णा) for the romantic love continued.
When they met in the park after nearly 50 years both of them
were able to recall their intense romantic affair. Although they came to know
about each other in reality, they did not want to reveal, as they had lost
their charming (आकर्षक) youth. Both realise that they are
lying but pretend (बहाना) to be unaware.
The play ends with a promise that they will meet the very
next day with a feeling of harmony (मधुर सम्बन्ध).