Dramatis Personae

• Giasone – A noble soul, half-Floridian, half-Molisano, full of spirit.
• Paul of House Ensor – A steadfast expat, wise in matters of bins and bureaucracy.
• Alfredo Sforza – The town crier, bearer of rules and riddles.
• Naturlive – A spectral force, the new sheriff in the waste-laden town.
• Cara – The great love of Giasone.
• Also Appearing: Villagers, Carabinieri, Spectres of Bureaucracy, A Chorus of Bins.

Part the First: “A Bin There, Done That”

Scene: A small piazza in Castelbottaccio. A faded banner reads “Benvenuti.” Paul and Alfredo speak with growing concern as the bins take center stage.

Paul:
O Alfredo, why this tempest 'mongst containers four?
What mischief brews in brown and blue and green?
Shall yellow lie with grey in foul accord?
Or plastic mix with flesh of courgette spent?

Alfredo:
Good Paul, a sheriff new rides in this town,
Naturlive by name, though mercy lacks.
They count the bags, they weigh the sorted sins—
And punish those whose bins are not divine.

Chorus of Bins (singing):
We once were simple, sorted, clear!
Now wrathful eyes do draweth near.
Each misthrown shell, a mark of shame!
The Waste Reapers know thy name.

Enter Giasone, barefoot, a bottle of Montepulciano in hand

Giasone:
What's this? A town in trashy turmoil steeped?
Let not bureaucracy my people bury.
We'll sort with honor, color true and neat—
And drink 'til dusk, the olive trees still merry!

Alfredo (aside):
He speaks with heart, but doom rides on his breath.

Exeunt as the bins groan and thunder rumbles overhead.

Part the Second: “Wherefore Art Thou, Carta?”

Scene: A shadowed alley near the Ecological Isle. The bins are locked. Giasone is pursued by Carabinieri in slow, bureaucratic chase.

Carabiniere #1:
Show us thy card, thy proof, thy sacred tag!
Without the tessera, thou art but shadow.

Giasone (defiant):
I’ve paid my dues, my bin is true,
My rubbish reeks of loyalty and soap.
Yet still denied? Then let rebellion rise—
With one last drink, I’ll toast to Castelbottaccio’s hope!

He uncorks the wine bottle with a dramatic flourish. Lightning strikes. A cork rebounds, tragically catching him in the temple. He stumbles.

Paul (rushing in):
Oh no, not he! Not noble Jay of bins!
O Castelbottaccio, thou hast lost thy knight!

Giasone (whispering):
Remember me... and sort thy waste... well...

Dies

Paul (falling to knees):
The olive tree... it weepeth now for thee...
Let no man bin in vain again.

Chorus of Bins sings a dirge. Curtain falls.

Epilogue

Let this be lesson for those far and near,
Respect thy bins, and hold ID close dear.
For in the hills where olive branches grow,
Even heroes fall, when bureaucracy doth blow.