Socioeconomic Crisis in Santa Eulalia: A 2-Act Play
Act 1
When he returned, the police and Marga Antonia were frightened because the police wanted him to feel warm and had allegedly refused to acknowledge her pregnancy. A Civil Guard officer appears, and they pretend to go along with the officer’s request to get an examination because they refused to register anything. They insist on going to the hospital. However, the Civil Guard was determined to take them to a clinic. Marga and Antonia go with him.
Joan Lluís appears at home looking for his wife, Marga, as she was not at home and everything was open. Lluís tells Joan that some people from his company revolted on the train and have blocked roads, demanding that transportation be free. Joan tells Lluís about Marga’s supposed pregnancy, stating that this is impossible because his wife is barren. He demands to know which hospital she is in.
The story ironically recounts the crisis of the time and how people are unable to pay. Here, not even God pays! The play is divided into two acts: the first has ten scenes, and the second has twenty.
The first act deals with the rising prices of everything. Joan works in a factory where workers have complained about the food and refused to pay.
Joan comes home and complains about what has happened to his wife. He mentions seeing a large group of women who looted a supermarket, and he finds it outrageous.
Joan knows that his neighbor, Antonia, was one of those women. Antonia, taking advantage of the women’s demonstration against rising prices, and amid cries of “Here, not even God pays!”, took everything she could and went home.
Once home, Antonia received a visit from her neighbor, Marga. She tells one lie after another but finally tells the truth: that she stole things from the supermarket. She sees that there is food for dogs and canaries.
Ajax, frightened by Joan’s potential reaction, hides some of the stolen food in the shelter before her husband arrives.
On their way, Joan and Marga cross paths with Lluís, who is coming home. His wife, Antonia, has discovered the hidden food. Ajax, a compulsive liar, tells Joan a series of lies about a possible five-month pregnancy of Marga’s that her husband, Lluís, had concealed by bandaging her belly until that day. Joan innocently believes everything.
Antonia went to Marga’s house, and in her absence, the police appear to search the house. After chatting with the police and telling them that she wanted to make it clear that his wife was unable to steal anything, the police leave without searching.
Act 2
Marga and Antonia return home, and Antonia decides to bring food to her father’s house, hiding it in their coats and pretending to be pregnant.
Joan Lluís goes around the city’s hospitals in search of their wives. They find a dump truck with sacks of flour, sugar, and rice and help recover the stolen goods because, according to Joan, stealing is a mortal sin. He then tells Joan Lluís that he has been discharged because the factory closed and moved to another country. Joan decides to steal the bags and go home, while Lluís is caught by the Civil Guard.
The Civil Guard arrives at Joan’s house, where Marga and Antonia are. He tries to arrest Joan, but the imaginative Antonia tries to convince the Guard that it is the work of a miracle: that all of Santa Eulalia’s women in the neighborhood have been pregnant for a while, a pregnancy so advanced that the Civil Guard does not believe it.
The Civil Guard officer faints, and Antonia hides him in her closet. Once Joan and Lluís are hidden, Joan’s father arrives to visit them and deliver a letter stating that they are going to have their car repossessed because they have not paid for it, nor have they paid for Antonia’s electricity or gas. The father also brings the food Antonia had taken to his house. Joan’s father departs, and the four end up confessing everything to each other.