Act 5

ACT FIVE: Plaza

SCENE ONE: All characters

Pantalone, the Captain, and a Judge are gathered for the wedding. The Doctor arrives, offering his best wishes and apologizing for Orazio, who was too grief stricken to attend. The veiled bride comes in, and the ceremony starts. It is interrupted by the late arrival of Arlecchino, dressed in his best clothes. The Doctor wonders why Arlecchino isn’t off with his new bride. The ceremony resumes, and is completed. When the bride’s veil is lifted, it is revealed that the Captain has just married Columbina. When it is pointed out that Columbina is supposed to have been married to Arlecchino that morning, the Judge replies that that is not possible; he personally married Columbina and Arlecchino, and these people in front of him are not the people he met. Aurelia and Orazio then arrive, dressed in their servant’s clothes. They are the ones who were married by the Judge that morning. Pantalone is so horrified that he has a heart attack. The Doctor goes to work treating him and, miraculously, cures him. In a moment of thoughtlessness, Pantalone pays the Doctor out of gratitude. The Doctor, thrilled to have not killed his patient (a first) gives the money to Orazio, without whom this opportunity would have never come. At this point, the Captain admits that he doesn’t mind having Columbina as his new wife, and so everyone goes off to celebrate the two weddings.