ABOUT THE SHOW

The new year brings rising tensions. Maria continues writing letters to Marianna, confessing both her joy in freedom and her fear of temptation. Rosalia intercepts one of these letters, discovering Maria’s conflicted feelings for Nino. Under the guise of duty, Rosalia begins maneuvering to send her back to the convent. When Rosalia confronts Maria with the letter, she forces her into silence, demanding that she announce her decision to return to the convent. That night, Maria prays in anguish. Nino climbs to her window in secret, to offer escape. He speaks of a world beyond the convent walls, of a life unbound by vows or fear. For the first time, Maria dares to imagine freedom and promises to meet him at dawn. Left alone, Maria gives in to the rush of feelings she can no longer contain. But her moment of abandon is cut short when Rosalia storms in. Sensing everything, she locks Maria in her room and declares that she will return to the convent in the morning. At sunrise, Giovanni—believing that Maria’s decision is her own—offers to speak with her, hoping to change her mind. Rosalia insists it would be useless and, as always, prevails. Giovanni, torn between affection and duty, agrees to accompany Maria back to the convent, unaware that her choice was never truly her own. Thanks to Giovanni’s complicity, Nino is allowed a final farewell before Maria walks through the convent gate. Their exchange is heavy with words left unsaid. Neither of them can explain Maria’s sudden change of heart. Maria takes her vows in a solemn ceremony, surrendering her hair and freedom to the Church. Giovanni visits her once more at the iron grates, revealing that Giuditta and Nino will soon marry. Maria masks her despair, but the news deepens her unraveling. In the days that follow, Maria keeps up her secret correspondence with Marianna. Marianna’s letters are filled with worry—she fears for Maria’s health, for the faint, unsteady tone of her handwriting, for the exhaustion that seeps through every line. During a solemn procession, weakened by fasting and exhaustion, Maria collapses. The sisters rush to her aid, whispering prayers, but Father Anselmo orders that she be taken below—to the dungeon, a dim underground chamber where troubled souls are kept apart from the community. There, she is locked with Sister Agata—the nun she had once been warned about. In the flickering light, Agata tells her story in a few broken phrases: she once left the convent, fell in love, and was cast out upon her return. The loneliness drove her mad—but madness, she says, is its own kind of freedom. As Agata’s voice fades, Maria drifts into sleep. Meanwhile, far from the convent, bells ring for Nino and Giuditta’s wedding. Amid the music and celebration, both understand that this union will not be their happy ending. Giuditta understands that Nino’s heart is elsewhere, yet resolves to bear it with pride. Nino—bound by duty and his father’s will—has married to silence the whispers about him and Maria. The joy around them feels hollow, the vows like chains. Back in the dungeon, Maria grows weaker. Agata urges her to eat,to accept the same fragile freedom that madness has given her. But Maria will not share Agata’s fate. If her life is to be consecrated to God, then God must take all of her. Back at the countryside house, a letter arrives from the convent announcing Maria’s death. Among her belongings are a rosary, a rose’s dried petals, and a lock of hair. As Giovanni reads the news in stunned silence, Giuditta opens the sparrow’s cage. The bird takes flight into the morning sky.