Act 1
Scene: late September: HOB and WOB walk into the main square of Vilnius, Lithuania.
WOB: Vilnius looks like a de Chirico painting.
HOB: Wait, remind me who de Chirico is? Oh, yeah, I think I remember. Is he the one with the steep perspective and shadows and the girl with the hoop?
Mystery and Melancholy of a Street by Giorgio de Chirico. Oil on canvas, 1914
WOB: Yes, that guy. But not just that painting. A lot of his stuff looks like Vilnius.
HOB: I don’t know any of his other paintings.
WOB: (after a few minutes have elapsed) OMG it looks just like a de Chirico!
HOB: (exasperated) I told you already, I don’t know his other work. Why don’t we look it up later?
End scene.
The Red Tower by Giorgio de Chirico. Oil on canvas, 1913
Act 2
Scene: a one bedroom apartment in Chicago in mid November. HOB is making pizza dough and WOB is surfing the internet while cuddling an elderly cat.
WOB: Hey HOB, come over here and look at this. (She pulls up google images on her screen).
The Disquieting Muses by Giorgio de Chirico. Oil on canvas, 1947
HOB: What are those?
WOB: de Chirico paintings.
HOB: Wow! They look just like Vilnius.
WOB: (Yells, wakes up cat) WHAT I WAS SAYING.
End scene.
The Evil Genius of a King by Giorgio de Chirico. Oil on canvas, 1914-15
(Playwright’s note: all de Chirico images courtesy of Wikipedia).
How we got to Vilnus: train from Siauliai to Vilnius.
Where we slept: Sofijos Studio Old Town Apartment. Price: €45 for a double. Recommended: yes.
Picnic at the Cathedral 
Why didn’t de Chirico paint hot air balloons? They would look so much like pictures of Vilnius.
LikeLike
Not sure if there were any hot air balloons around in Italy in the early 20th century but I think he was anticipating them with all his balloon-like shapes.
LikeLike
That was fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That satisfaction of reading an entire play in under 5 minutes….
LikeLiked by 1 person
That play is so … Beckett-like.
Oh, hang on, this is where we came in.
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course if this was really a Beckett play HOB and I would be having our conversation buried up to our necks in sand or something. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 No doubt the stage set design would be inspired by a de Chirico painting if sand was involved.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Uber cool!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, it is surprisingly cool city with quite an eclectic variety of architecture.
LikeLiked by 1 person