74-77- Immigration Officers Raid;
As soon as the immigration men turn up at the door I want there to be a mad panic inside the house to save Marco and Rodolpho. This will be done by Beatrice franticly rushing the immigrants upstairs whilst Catherine runs around the house trying to hide anything which would be associated with the immigrants. Lots of quick movement and whispering will be used to highlight the panic and rushing.
In my first section of the scene, Eddie tries covering up the immigrant’s presence by pretending he knows nothing about them. I want my men from the Bureau to be presented as reasonable representatives of law and order with smart uniform, handcuffs and badges etc. In scene I want them to be seen by the audience as just two men doing their job and wanting to get in and out- hassle free and always remaining in control of a dramatic situation when things get out of hand. I will point out examples of this when they are reached in the scene.
The officers yell to be let in and Eddie immediately comes to the door and says;
“All right, take it easy, take it easy.
He says this in a calm voice so not to annoy the officers. The officers don’t await an invitation in to the house and with their authority they just step inside and Eddie says;
“What’s all this?”
He says this with an astonished look upon his face, making the arrival of the officers appear to be a complete surprise to him. But unlike the characters in the play, the audience has full knowledge of his deceitful phone call to the Bureau, so it is ironic when he appears to know nothing. The first officer in a demanding voice says;
“Where are they?”
He says this expecting a straight answer and no messing about. Eddie will now put on a puzzled expression and frown as he says;
“Where’s who?”
He makes out to be confused and pretends to know nothing about their presence as an attempt to mislead the officer. The officer doesn’t accept his over up and tries to reason with him. This shows the audience that the officer is in control of the situation and is used to people making attempts to cover up and trick him. The officer now says;
“Come on, come on, where are they?”
This is said in a calm reasoning voice to try and just get an easy answer so they can capture the immigrants hassle-free. Again Eddie with a confused look says;
“Who? We got nobody here.
He says this with a clueless expression and an astonished voice to try and convince the officer that there has been a mistake.
In this first section Eddies attitude was ironic as he made out to be bewildered and surprised by their visit, but he was the one that contacted them about the immigrants in the first place. In the second section, we get to see Beatrice’s reaction to his deviousness, as she immediately knows that it was Eddies doing when the officers turn up.
Eddie glances at Beatrice and she quickly turns her head away to make out she is tempered towards Eddie and he confronts her straight away;
“What’s the matter with you?”
He says this with a raised tone of voice to sound annoyed as she’s accused him for the officers. Even though she only gave him one glance and angrily turned her head away, I want the audience to sense her suspicion and accusation, of him calling the Bureau. The officers continue to search the building and one approaches Eddie and asks if he has the correct room number, Eddie replies with;
“That’s right.”
I want him to say this in a shaky voice so the audience can sense that he is beginning to crumble and he is fearful of the consequences of his actions. He then stares at Beatrice and I want the expression on his face to say everything. He will put on an expression, which will suggest that he’s just been hit by reality, and realises the terrible situation he has got everyone in to. Eddie’s fearful look at Beatrice will give her conformation of his deceitfulness. But there is still the question of why he is worried? Is it to maintain his reputation in the street or the fact that he has landed Marco and Rodolpho in trouble? Maybe Both? The fact that he carries on to deny that it was him that made the phone call suggests that its to maintain his reputation. When Beatrice accuses him I want him to get frustrated to cover up for his actions.
After Eddies fearful glance at Beatrice, she too is struck with fear and this is made clear by the stage directions: [weakened with fear]: She goes on to say;
“Oh Jesus, Eddie.”
She says this in total disbelief and she puts her hands on her face. This will tell the audience that she cannot bear to know what her own husband has done. Eddie continues to protest his innocence and Beatrice’s final action is to turn towards him, instead of running. This shows the audience that even in crisis she will not desert her husband. Her final words to him are;
“My God, what did you do?”
I want her to say this with lots of fear and anger at Eddie’s actions. However the fact that she didn’t run from him doesn’t take anything away from the shock and horror she is experiencing at the realization of what he has done.
In the third section, Catherine and Beatrice make a last effort to save Marco and Rodolpho and fight with the officers. However, the officers are immune to the pleas of Catherine and Beatrice for mercy and do not express an opinion or concern. I want Catherine to seem desperate and more aggressive when attempting to persuade the officers and I want her to be more frustrated and argumentative. The first stage direction says: Catherine [backing down the stairs fighting with the first officer]. The audience can immediately tell that she is taking a more aggressive approach. She then shouts;
“What do yiz want from them?”
I want her words to have aggression in so they know that she isn’t going to back down. She then says;
“They ain’t no submarines, he was born in Philadelphia.”
I want the audience to see her determination to save Rodolpho and her sheer frustration at what is happening. On the other hand, I want Beatrice to be seen by the audience to be taking a calmer and more diplomatic approach. She tries to reason with the officer;
“Ah, Mister, what do you want from them, who do they hurt?”
I want Beatrice to say this in a calm, less-threatening voice, so not aggravate them. The officer takes little notice of Catherine or Beatrice and merely just says to Catherine;
“Step aside, lady.”
I want him to say this in a calm, but firm voice to show the audience that he doesn’t want any trouble and remains in control of the situation. I want Catherine to now appear upset and infuriated. I will do this by using her body language and tone of voice. I want her to speak in a quite angry and distressed voice;
“You can’t just come in the house and-”
I want her body to be blocking the officers from getting past. I also want her to really speak face to face with the officers, to look like she is trying to intimidate them. She becomes increasingly upset as her campaign doesn’t seem to be working and she screams;
“No, you can’t! Now, get outa here!”
I want this shout of hers to turn in to an upset scream as she realises that she can’t save Rodolpho. The men proceed to take away the immigrants and Beatrice confronts them one more time. Instead of an aggressive approach like Catherine, I want the audience to see how Beatrice stays calm in the chaotic situation. Beatrice makes an emotional appeal about what drove the immigrants to leave their own country;
“what do you want from them? They’re starvin’ over there, what do you want?”
I want her to say this in a persuasive voice to try and play on their consciences, but the officers just walk off. I want them to just ignore her to suggest to the audience that they are not affected by her emotional appeal and are immune to her pleading.
From this section, the audience gets to see the aggressive and frustrated Catherine character that I wanted them to see and the calm Beatrice. The audience also gets to see the very calm and dominant officers who always stay in control of the dramatic situation and do not show concern or opinion to the pleas and appeals of Catherine and Beatrice.
In this next section Marco performs the malicious act of spitting in Eddies face, which results in Eddie becoming extremely furious and mad at him. This is where I get to reveal the ruthless and unpleasant side of Eddie, which I want the audience to see. It starts when Marco breaks from the group while being escorted out by the officers and spits in Eddies face. This is a powerful dramatic moment in the play and is conveyed by actions, rather than words. I want the act of spitting in his face to not only show Marcos contempt for Eddie, but also contempt for Eddies breaking of the social code. By informing the immigration bureau a social taboo has been broken and the act of spitting in his face tells the audience Marco’s identification of the culprit.
I want Marco to run in the room and face Eddie, look him in the eye with deep hatred, then spitefully spit in to his face. I want Eddie to react initially with an expression of disgust at what Marco has just done. The officer splits them up but Eddie can’t control his anger and makes an outburst. Eddie showing him self to be violent, ruthless and out of control is how I want him to be seen by the audience, so this is a good part for doing so. His first action is to bawl at Marco;
“I’ll kill you for that, you son of a bitch!”
I really want him to say this in a fierce, meaningful voice to show the audience how enraged he is. As the officers and immigrants walk off Eddie calls out again, after them;
“I don’t forget that, Marco! You here what I’m sayin’?”
I want this to be said in a tone of voice to try and alarm Marco and make him think about what he has accused Eddie of. In one sense, Eddie can be seen to be pretending to get angry, to convince everyone that he is innocent of the accusation. As the argument is taken out on to the street members of the street are watching so Eddie has to think about maintaining his reputation, by putting on an infuriated act. He tries to make Marco take back his accusation;
“That’s the thanks I get? Which I took the blankets of my bed for yiz? You gonna apologise to me? Marco! Marco!”
When he says this I want Beatrice to be struggling while she restrains him. I want him to say this in a furious and aggressive voice so the audience can see his sheer anger at the situation. The officers do a very good job of stopping any trouble and they try hard to keep Marco and Eddie apart. When they get outside and are by the car I want Catherine to become very emotional to show how much she cares for Rodolpho. I want her to fling herself into his arms whilst weeping dramatically and not letting go when the officers try to split them apart. With the officers being occupied Marco takes advantage of the distraction and grabs the opportunity to publicly identify Eddie as the culprit and ruin his reputation. He frees himself from the group and confronts Eddie;
“That one! I accuse that one!”
He shouts this in a hateful voice and points at him in front of the street. I want the officer to now lose his temper slightly and walk up to Marco and grab in by the scruff of his neck and say;
“Come on!”
I want him to say this in a vigorous voice to show everyone that he has had enough. I also want him to get slightly physical just to remind everyone who is in control. With all the shouting and chaos I want the street to slowly get full of spectators as they see come out to see what is going on. This makes what Marco is saying affect Eddie significantly. As the officer leads off with Marco, I want Marco to turn around and have his last go at Eddie. As he does this, I want the officer to keep pushing him along to take him off the scene and away from trouble. He screams;
“That one! He killed my children! That one stole food from my children!”
His final words spell out to the street the awful consequences of Eddie’s act and really make Eddie look like an evil and heartless man.
Now Marco has left the street, I want all the spectators to turn round and stare at Eddie. I want Eddie to have a very stunned and angry expression to suggest to the audience that he has been hit with the realisation that he has been publicly shamed. I want a few of the neighbours to just walk off shaking their heads and mumbling in disgust at what he has done. Eddie still tries to keep his name;
“He’s crazy! I give them the blankets off my bed. Six months I kept them like my own brothers!”
I want Eddie to say this in a less aggressive and persuasive voice to try and make himself out to be the good guy, and Marco the one that’s thrown it back in his face. By now I want all the neighbours to have walked off in disgrace at him, so just Lipari and his wife are left. I want Lapari to just look at Eddie in the face with utter outrage, then put his arm round his wife and walk back up the street shaking his head. It’s just Eddie, Beatrice and Catherine left now and I want Eddie to look at them as if expecting a look of sympathy, but I want them to just walk straight past him without saying a word. This will create huge tension as Eddie is left all on his own in the street and has not only been deserted by his neighbours but by his family as well. I want the lights to dim, and a spotlight to be focused on Eddie as he shouts;
“He’s gonna take that back. He is gonna take that back or I’ll kill him! You hear me? I’ll kill him! I kill him!
I want him to shake his head, grit his teeth, wave a clenched fist and say it with a furious expression upon his face, so the audience know how much Marco’s actions have angered him.
I want this section to end with the lights completely fading then a spotlight on Alfieri in the reception room of a prison with Marco, Catherine and Rodolpho.
