Silence is Golden

(No hay cosa como callar)
by Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Translated by Sarah Grunnah

10m/3w (can be cast 6m/8w, and with as few as 11 actors if doubling)
Runtime: TBD

Summary

Silence is Golden tells the story of Doña Leonor as she struggles in silence following a sexual assault. The impetuous Don Juan falls in love with Leonor from afar, and is thrilled when—upon returning home on an unexpected errand—finds Leonor asleep in his bedroom, taking refuge from a fire in her own home at the urging of Don Juan’s father. Don Juan violates the woman, then sneaks off into the night, his identity unknown. Two months pass, and Leonor has stayed silent on the incident, and even turned away the man she truly loves, but reveals that she has seized a gold, scallop-shell locket from Don Juan’s neck, which inside contains a miniature portrait (of Marcela, his former lover)—a token she hopes will help her unlock the identity of the assailant. When the very same woman from the portrait has a coach accident in front of her house, Leonor seizes the opportunity; she finds out her identity and goes to visit her, though she ends up leaving her only witness—the locket—with Marcela. When Marcela offers the locket to a new lover—Don Diego, Leonor’s brother—as proof she is no longer with Don Juan, Leonor steals back the locket. When Don Juan, by accident of proximity, bursts through Leonor’s door in the final scene of the play, the two eventually recognize one another. In private, Leonor asks Don Juan to remain silent so that she can withdraw to a convent and not face public shame, but the couple are overheard; Don Juan has no choice but to offer his hand to Leonor, and the (unhappy) couple are to marry. 

Production History

for Audio Performance, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Spring 2021 (dir. Michael Hackett)