The FIFTH CHILD
Stage and Screenplay
In a tenement fire, four 6-year old girls are burned beyond recognition. A fifth child, Alice, escapes and is found dazed and wandering alone. She is taken to a children’s shelter and later sent to live with a crass, lower-class family who has no affection for her. With no memory of her life before the fire, Alice clings to the hope that she will one day find her parents. Seven years later, she meets the Serenas, an Italian immigrant couple from Pomegranate Lane who had lost a child in the same fire. Alice’s resemblance to their daughter causes Ana Serena to believe that Alice is actually their daughter, but her husband wonders – “…then who is the girl buried in St. Theresa’s Cemetery whom the coroner said was theirs?”
Thirteen-year old Alice re-visits the old tenement neighborhood. She relives the horror of the fire. Memories flash back. Now she knows who she is—and who the girl is buried in St. Theresa’s Cemetery.
“The house on Pomegranate Lane stood under a dark sky, emptied, but not alone. Promises had been made among people whom the house trusted, heart-felt words spoken that would be held within its structure, perhaps to be echoed back at others who might enter in the future, lonely lives who would need reminding that sorrow shared is more gratifying than nothing shared.”
