The Point Of No Return

DON JUAN (PHANTOM - behind the curtain)
PASSARINO - Go away!
For the trap is set and waits for its prey . . .
(PASSARINO leaves. CHRISTINE (AMINTA) enters. She
takes off her cloak and sits down. Looks about her. No-
one. She starts on an apple. The PHANTOM, disguised as
DON JUAN pretending to
be PASSARINO, emerges. He now wears PASSARINO's
robe, the cowl of which hides his face. His first words
startle her)
DON JUAN (PHANTOM)
You have come here in pursuit of
your deepest urge, in pursuit of
that wish, which till now
has been silent, silent . . .

I have brought you, that our passions
may fuse and merge, in your mind
you've already succumbed to me
dropped all defences completely succumbed to me, now you are here with me:
no second thoughts, you've decided,
decided . . .

Past the point of no return -
no backward glances:
the games of make believe
are at an end . . .

Past the point of "if" or "when" -
no use resisting:
abandon thought,
and let the dream descend . . .

What raging fire shall flood the soul?
What rich desire unlocks its door?
What sweet seduction lies before us . . .?
Past the point of no return,
the final threshold, what warm,
unspoken secrets will we learn?
Beyond the point
of no return . . .

AMINTA (CHRISTINE)
You have brought me to that moment
where words run dry, to that moment
where speech disappears into silence,
silence . . .

I have come here, hardly knowing
the reason why . . .
In my mind, I've already
imagined our bodies entwining
defenseless and silent -
and now I am here with you:
no second thoughts, I've decided,
decided . . .

Past the point of no return
no going back now:
our passion-play has now, at last,
begun . . .

Past all thought of right or wrong -
one final question:
how long should we two wait, before
we're one . . .?

When will the blood begin to race
the sleeping bud burst into bloom?
When will the flames, at last, consume
us . . .?

BOTH
Past the point of no return
the final threshold, the bridge
is crossed, so stand and watch it burn . . .

We've passed the point of no return . . .
(By now the audience and the POLICE have realized that SIGNOR PIANGI is dead behind the curtain, and it is
the PHANTOM who sings in his place. CHRISTINE knows it too. As final confirmation, the PHANTOM sings):

PHANTOM
Say you'll share with me one
love, one lifetime . . .
Lead me, save me from my solitude . . .
(He takes from his finger a ring and holds it out to her.
Slowly she takes it and puts it on her finger.)
Say you want me with you,
here beside you . . .
Anywhere you go let me go too,
Christine that's all I ask of . . .
(We never reach the word 'you', for CHRISTINE quite calmly reveals the PHANTOM'S face to the audience. As
the FORCES OF LAW close in on the horrifying skull,
the PHANTOM sweeps his cloak around her and vanishes. MEG pulls the curtain upstage, revealing PIANGI'S
body garotted, propped against the bed, his head gruesomely tilted to one side. She screams.)