Scene 4
It’s dinner, and the entire family, including ALEXEI, 13, sit around the table. Watching them is GUARD #1 joined by GUARD #2. They eat in silence. Nicholas seems particularly uncomfortable.
NICHOLAS
Excuse me, Guard?
Both Guards watch.
NICHOLAS
Any word on the letters from our family?
The Guards share a look.
GUARD #1
Nothing yet.
Nicholas takes a deep breath. He doesn’t believe them, but knows better than to say anything. But Alexandra isn’t quite ready to drop it.
ALEXANDRA
Surely our family must want to know how we’re doing.
GUARD #1
(curtly)
I said there are no letters, Mrs. Romanov.
NICHOLAS
You watch the way you speak to the-
After a moment of awkward silence, Nicholas catches himself and turns back to his family. There’s a long silence.
NICHOLAS
Do you girls remember when we had Crown Prince of Romania over for dinner? What was his name?
OLGA
Carol. Why?
NICHOLAS
Whatever happened to him? He was a nice boy.
Olga blushes and sighs, but doesn't respond.
ALEXEI
Mama?
Alexandra turns to her son.
ALEXEI
Mama, can Olga take me sledding again?
ALEXANDRA
You'll have to ask Olga.
OLGA
ON Christmas?
Alexei nods.
NICHOLAS
Just two more days.
Scene 5
Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia lie awake in bed, in their nightgowns. Outside, they listen to the howling of the wind.
TATIANA
Is this what ordinary girls have always felt like?
MARIA
In Siberia, maybe.
ANASTASIA
In America, I’ve heard every home has heat in the winter.
MARIA
Of course every home does. No one would be able to survive without it.
ANASTASIA
I meant, not just from firewood.
TATIANA
Soon it will be summertime.
ANASTASIA
Not for six months.
OLGA
Where shall we go, when this is all over?
ANASTASIA
America. I’m going to be an actress in New York City.
MARIA
Who would want to see you act?
ANASTASIA
A lot of people. I could do Shakespeare or… Tolstoy.
MARIA
Tolstoy wasn’t a playwright.
TATIANA
Why are you so mean to Anastasia, Maria?
MARIA
I’m not.
OLGA
Girls, let’s not go at each other’s throats.
ANASTASIA
He wrote plays. And if someone adapts Family Happiness, I could play Masha.
OLGA
And we will all be in the front row.
They smile sadly.
OLGA
I would love to sit in Central Park and eat a hot dog.
MARIA
We could see the Ziegfeld Follies.
TATIANA
First we have to make it to England.
The girls say nothing, suddenly faced with harsh reality.
TATIANA
And I don’t think Mama would let Alexei come to America.
MARIA
He’s not a child anymore. And Mama needs to stop treating him like one.
ANASTASIA
Papa just sits and does nothing. (Pause). You should have been Empress, Olga.
OLGA
Me? I don’t know. I certainly don’t envy Mr. Lenin.
MARIA
Don’t you mean Comrade Lenin?
The girls laugh emptily.
TATIANA
You know, I heard Mama and Papa talking yesterday. Papa was saying because he made so many other people suffer, he deserves to be here. Do you think we do?
OLGA
I’ve tried to be kind to other people.
ANASTASIA
I don’t want to talk about this any more.
OLGA
What shall we talk about?
ANASTASIA
I want to sleep.
The girls all turn off the lights.
Points: 10714
Reviews: 122
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