Cast: 
Subject: Sam Johns
Scientist 1: Greg Hernandez
Scientist 2: Tera Kilbride

That Uncanny Feeling of Déjà vu

(The basement. Subject is alone, speaks directly to the audience. He is showing the audience an image that cannot really be seen: a small image on a larger piece of white paper. This ambiguity is important.)

Subject
I want you to look at this carefully.
Focus.
Please give all of your attention over.
Exclude everything else.
The whole world, the entire universe melts away and only this image remains.
-
Good.
Very good.
-
Now, do you feel how this image you see before you is merging with your consciousness?
-
It’s becoming you.
You’re becoming it.

Scientist 1.
(Entering) stop this!
You’ve been told about this.
You’re not to…go over there.
Your tricks of the mind don’t work any more.

Subject
I was so close.
Just one more chance.
I’m perfecting the system.
It really could work.

Scientist 1.
Too late for that.
I think you’ll agree that we’ve been more than fair.
Indulgent I would say.

Subject
Spell that.

Scientist 1.
What?

Subject
Indulgent.

Scientist 1.
i-n-d-u-l-g…oh no you don’t!

Subject
please…just a few more letters. You were almost there.

Scientist 1.
Then what?
Once I’ve spelled this word out, then what?
you’ve been warned.

Subject
If you only knew.
Could only believe enough to understand the nature of your relationship to things.
I could show you if you’d only give me more time.

Scientist 1.
But that’s just it my friend.
Time.
You have no more.
We’ve given you all you’re going to get.

Subject
You could just … allocate more.
Simple.
The psycho-spiritual rewards will make it all worth it.

Scientist 1.
We have bigger plans for you.
-
your system has attracted the attention of higher ups.
-
yes, they’ve decided you have potential.
Not that I’ve encouraged them in this thinking.
They have their own systems.
You think you know something about how the mind works.
But you don’t really.
They do.
They’ve allowed you to continue because it suits their purpose.

Subject
You’re lying.
My mind system can’t be corrupted.
Be careful, my friend. I have strong mental powers.
Up until now I’ve showed you mercy, but don’t try me.

Scientist 1.
(laughs hysterically) thank you, yes I’d like to thank you for that.
that’s very helpful…(begins to exit)

Subject
wait.

Scientist 1.
I’ll be back (exits)

(short pause. Subject resumes his ‘mind exercises’ with the audience)

Subject
where were we?
Oh yes…look again, if you will, at this image.
Reflect your own light onto its surface.
Feel how it reflects back.
-
good.
Now I’m going (to

Scientist 2. (entering)
What ) are you doing?
What’s the meaning of this?
-
(to Scientist 1.) Were you aware of these activities?
This doesn’t look good, I’ll tell you.
You were to be responsible for his actions.

Scientist 1.
Yes…well…I’ve needed…(that is…

Scientist 2.
Never) mind.
We’ll deal with this later.
-
a word please.

Subject
You’ve deprived them of a true experience.

Scientist 2.
Well that can’t be helped can it?
We’re not interested in ‘a true experience’ here.
This isn’t the place for such things.
-
we’ve been watching you.
Carefully.
We’re aware of your …. Interests.
We share some of the same interests, in fact.
-
if you would indulge me a moment I’d like to show you something.
Something I think you’ll find…profitable.
-
(He produces an image very like Subject’s)
I want you to look at this carefully.
Focus.
Clear your mind.

Subject
But this (is

Scientist 2.
Don’t) worry about that right now.
This is our time.

Subject
But…are you trying to …

Scientist 2.
Ah! That my friend is a good question.
A very good question.
And if you’d bestow a small amount of patience I’d answer that question.
-
all of your questions will be answered.
-
you see the images you use and the ones we use have more in common that you think.
They both have limitations. There is a frame around them, you see.
An intent, isn’t there?
A deliberate exclusion of all else.
-
what you hope to achieve by sharing these images is ultimately undermined by that exclusion.

Subject
But the inclusive nature of the relationship between subject and (object

Scientist 2.
You are) an idealist. Like your images you consider only that which serves your own purpose. Flatters your own predisposed attitude.
-
but consider this: I’m working on a method to project my thoughts into the future.

Subject
That’s ridiculous.

Scientist 2.
You say that now. That my work is ridiculous. But you won’t be so dismissive when they turn up some day. Inhabiting the brain of another. Or even your own.
-
it’s a very complex form of (whispers into his ear)

Subject
why didn’t you say so?
That is interesting.
What do you hope to achieve with this once it’s perfected.

Scientist 2.
(diffuse) Many things…many things…

Subject
don’t be coy with me.
After all we’ve been through together?
Surely there’s a specific (objective

Scientist 2.
We’ve) discussed this for too long.
It’s time to get back to the party.

Subject
I’m…not sure that I’m actually invited.

Scientist 2.
That doesn’t matter. You’ll be my guest.

Subject
Please, if I can be of any service in the development of (your

Scientist 2.
No. No). It’s important I work in isolation.

Subject
Well I’ll just get to the (party

Scientist 2.
one more) thing. As you know I’ve been working on a new photographic series.
-
today I’ve arrived at a title for my series.
I’ve decided to call it: That Uncanny Feeling of Déjà Vu.

Subject
Excellent…it’s…wait a minute…

Scientist 2.
Before you say it let me say that I am aware of some of the difficulties this title presents. But let me assure you I’ve considered carefully and arrived at this conclusion: regardless of the image, the suggestibility of the viewer of photographs combined with my ingenious title will result in an experience of déjà vu. This is the true purpose of my photographic project.

Subject
Suggestibility? And how did you reach this conclusion?

Scientist 2.
This is where my thought projection system comes in.

Scientist 1.
Before you continue I wonder if I may interject with a demonstration.

Scientist 2.
What?

Subject
This is a bit inappropriate, don’t you think?

Scientist 2.
I do .

Scientist 1.
But nevertheless I’d like to demonstrate to you the relative strength of the common black ant. (He produces a small terrarium or one of those ant farms kids used to have in the 1970’s. They gather round).

Subject and Scientist 2.
Jesus!
How did you…(various exclamations of awe as…..)

Blackout

Copyright 2004

This play was originally produced in Minneapolis at Franklin Art Works by Flaneur Productions in May of 2004; it made its international debut in August of 2004 at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. Direction by the author; sound by Rich Barlow; Light Design by Don Mabley-Allen. 

Players: Person in a bucket: Barbara Meyer;

Sam: Charles Campbell;

Student: Don Mabley-Allen;

Professor: Cherri Macht;

Director: Jim Bovino.

(an empty room. A man or woman(androgynous) is at the center standing in an ordinary bucket filled with water. He slowly drops marbles or stones into the bucket. This action continues throughout the play.)

Person in a bucket

No film today. There will be no film today. You’ll have to get your memories somewhere else.
-
Like that time the electricity went out. The storm. You had to stay in. then. Then you went outside. Stood by the gate. Four, maybe five minutes.
-
Sat down on the bench. That bench with the wobbly legs. Rocked back and forth back and forth. No film that day either. Back and forth rocking on a broken bench. What was next?
-
You don’t remember…did you go outside? Did you open the gate and go out? Out of the garden. Into the street. There were others out there. Walking past. It was still light out. Just barely. Dying summer sun. after the rain. Rain still gathered around your face and on your lips. in your mouth. It was salty. Salty rain.
-
You don’t remember. The garden. It smelled fresh. You looked back to the dark house. The house in darkness and shivered. Shivered in the summer heat. the rain on your face and neck gave a chill. you shivered then turned toward the gate. Toward the outside. They all walked up and down.
-
You left. You don’t remember leaving but you left. Now you start to remember. Leaving. How could you forget? The whole world outside of that gate and you stepped into it.
-
went a long way that night down past the street lamp and into the dark summer. Thinking about the last film you saw. Thinking about the mountains and the battles and the horses and the women and the brave men and you walked toward the west. Toward the dying sun and you thought of the ending…the ending of the film and you shivered again. But you kept walking, you kept moving and you came to the end of the street and turned left and kept walking, trying to recall the last time you came down this street and seeing unfamiliar houses and shops and hoping for something more now that you left the gate and the broken bench and the darkness of the house.
-
you hoped. Don’t you remember? You hoped for something, something abstract. You couldn’t quite place it, couldn’t put it into words for yourself but you did, you hoped. It was like…what? Like the lightening off in the distance. Off in the eastern sky. Following you. That hope. Hope for something magnificent. Something that joined the earth and the sky in you. Like being struck by lightening.
-
But you couldn’t put it into words. Couldn’t figure out how to do it.
-
You kept walking. You kept walking toward the west. Leaving the eastern sky and the lighting and the hope behind.

(Sam enters from audience)

sam
the library’s on fire. I went there with the best of intentions….but…. It’s on fire.
-
and now I’m here.
-
I should be leaving…I should …I should …

bucket man
….the library is on fire?

sam
it’s beginning to burn.

Bucket man
But…

sam
…I don’t know….

No more words. No more books …I’m .. not sure how to feel.
-
No more words. Nothing left to…. to…we have nothing but experience now.

bucket man
We could break into the library . rescue the books…
-
The words. The books. The information. we could retrieve it all.
-
bring it back.
-
We would have all the knowledge.

(points to the water he’s standing. in) I have commitments, of course….. so you’ll have to go.
-
bring the books back.

sam
I’ll need help. I’ve never done anything like this.

bucket man
I know.
-
I know. It can’t be helped. Your time is now. This is your moment. History will remember you as the one that saved the books. You’ll be loved. Yes, you’ll be loved. You’ll make your mark.

sam
I don’t know. Maybe it’s not what I want to do.

Bucket man
This is no time for reflection, man. Time to act.

sam
But what if we started over? No books. No assumptions about things, just…?

Bucket man
This is madness. The most decisive day of your life and you’re daydreaming!

sam
But what if everything in the library were to be lost? Just forgotten?
-
We could start over. Make entirely new discoveries. Would we come up with the same world? Or would things be entirely different? Would the world run on different…mathematics? Maybe everything up to now has been built on completely random applications of knowledge…incorrect knowledge. Knowledge that could have just as easily been overlooked in favor of other ideas about nature?

Bucket man
(indicating the bucket) If I weren’t otherwise obliged I’d ……

(Sam is gone. He has withdrawn to a collection of hanging pots upstage and begins counting the pots.)

this architecture is internal, a project of the mind. Catalogues of memory are consumed by flames.
-
Structure creates anxiety over its limitations…its loss.
-
but outside of these structures is the endless plain…earth and sky stretch for miles in all directions, filling me with the dread of possibility.
-
-
-
we must have buildings. A place to house our thoughts. our dreams.
-
it begins here. It always begins here.
-
with the limitation. Something concrete and measurable. Thoughts left to wander in open space are consumed by the wind.
-
there are limits.
-
there are limits.

(lights down on bucket man. Lights remain on sam as he counts. He starts, then stops, starts again. He appears as if in a panic. Sweats. Curses. Looks tense. This goes on for 1-2 minutes. Lights down. This pot counting action will emerge during the student’s asides. As each aside begins the dim light will again come up on sam as he furiously counts pots.)

scene

(The Institute for the Blind)

Prof
it’s true.
-
the students here don’t see each other…. They are, after all, blind. But remember…blindness too is a kind of seeing.
-
to see darkness is not to be blind. darkness is a memory of light

Student
I feel at home here.

Prof
The world you wish to see will only become available when you have taken this great step.

Student
This is what I’ve come for.
…things didn’t work out. Not like I wanted. Not like they should have. All of my efforts…

Prof
It’s alright.
-
you’re here now.
-
here, things will be different.

Student
But how do I know this?

Prof
Please, relax. It’s been a long trip. There will be time to discuss all of this. At length
-
Now you must realize that it’s different here than it is out there. You can be yourself. All of those things you wanted before…they can be yours now.
-
Please …. Let me show you the Institute.

S
aside: they are all blind because they have looked upon my face

where are the others?

P
They‘re here. But don’t worry about them. Now we’ll focus on you. Isn’t that what you…want?

S
(Long pause)
Of course (but

P
Please) you must allow yourself to be comforted now that you have arrived. Everyone has some trepidation at first. A difficulty leaving behind the old models. The illusion of advancement and infinite progress.
-
there is so much you wished to accomplish.

S
Yes…no… …accomplish? I’m not sure….that is…there were certain outcomes…

(aside: In that year of the flight a man had entered my house. And after purifying himself and praying he cut off my head and took it up to the heavens. Borne in his right hand my head was taken before the almighty who bade me speak prophecy, entrusting me with such words of antiquity that speaking them burned my mouth and gave my face such resplendence that mortal eyes could not look upon it.
-
When each of you is able to profess my great law you will look on my face without fear.)

I only wished to do good, never thought of myself…wanted to make the (…world

P
Indeed)
–

S
you’ve heard this before.

P
Here is the end of the illusion of the life you thought you wanted. The real work can begin now that you’ve left behind those expectations
-
You are on the inside.
-
-
this is one of the rooms. There are others. Which one you will occupy depends on your level of….
-
here is where you will spend your first terms.

S
how long will this be?

P
This isn’t decided at the beginning …our program is perfectly designed to fit the individual.
-
your arrival here is unusual. You see. This is unprecedented

S
yes.
-
but how did you know?
-
… I’ve come …. to lose myself.

(Aside: in all my incarnations, Akhnaton, Moses, Osiris, I had to fight. My spiritual development was far in advance of the time.)

P
Remember, you must remember this is an island. Think of it as an island set apart from the past and its heavy ties.
-
-

S
When will I meet him?

P
He’s very busy. The operation of the Institute is most demanding.
-
It involves intense commitment of concentration.

-
you must know that great pain is taken here to provide the student with every comfort. Ours is a program dedicated to the exact needs of each one of our pupils.
-
I don’t mind being frank with you. your enrollment has caused some…consternation. Not among the other pupils, mind you. They do not know.

Student
I wish to be of assistance. To learn their ….

Prof
( he becomes distracted)
-
forgive me. I’ve …I must attend to a matter of some importance.

S
But…

P
….please make yourself comfortable.

(exit)

(he looks around the room.)

(Professor reappears.)

p
clarity of purpose is not assured in achievement.
-
specifics? A condition suffered. Many herded into a pen. Believing they are on the summit. Alone in their success. And yet…

S
without clarity?

P
Yes. Outwardly playing the part of the victor. A role so many of us rehearse all our lives. Until one day you wake up and realize it means nothing.
-
Nothing we’ve ever done can make up for the time and energy wasted…believing we were on to something. God, how we worked to convince ourselves we were right. That our aspirations represented something noble.
-
you hold yourself responsible for something.

S-
I don’t have a thought in my head.

P
you must.
-
nothing?
-
no, it’s impossible. You have enough in your head to indicate you have nothing in your head. That’s something.

S
…now it’s gone. You’ve disrupted it.

P
how can nothing be gone?
-
or disrupted for that matter?

S
now it’s something.
-
(prof and student’s voices overlap)
here it is: it was hard to understand…there seemed to be so much around. Everyone had what they wanted. it was right here in front of me. I wouldn’t be left out. The odd man. I’d have it too. I could see them staring at me. Laughing. Watching to see if I made a mistake. Showed a weakness. I didn’t care. nothing to worry about. It was coming to me. My dessert. No one would take it from me. Funny. Seemed like there were as many who wanted me to have it as didn’t. That was reassuring. I knew though…I knew I’d only have a limited time to get it. after a certain age it just gets pathetic. Then they all stop wanting you to have it.
-
and then it happened. At the edge of dawn I recoiled. Couldn’t take the light and the beauty. That darkness was a private one. The threat that the dawn might come and sweep it away was more unsettling than the prospect of a lifetime of solitary confinement inside myself.

Scene

The man in the bucket and sam.

(enter sam)

Man: what’s happening?

Sam
so much…it all…it was all there…shining…full and shining…they told me…did they tell me? … I thought…think they did but…I thought it was mine. The library was mine…just take it…just go in and take the books. but first some…a few…matters of business…not much…not too much…just some formalities. But…but once they’ve been … once we’ve been satisfied that you…that these things are settled then…everything…all of it…but…these things…are you comfortable? Do you feel…at all unsettled or…maybe …maybe there is a sense of…incompleteness we must…that could be addressed…that might be…something of a…I don’t know…a distraction…a hindrance from…from focus on your prize…life is short…there is no guarantee…but we are offering…we have something here…it’s for you. for me it was…there’s never been so much of this…I’m sure you’ll find this…that…there’s no less a demand in other places…here though you are all that matters…you and …it’s unimportant…not so insignificant but…for now we’ll leave this…leave that concern to go back to our business…there are some details…trifles…but nonetheless necessary…essential for our moving forward…to these things…they’re waiting …you too…we know…you are…its evident this is what someone said to me…out there…I remember… where did they where did I leave off…here…here we are…the business…the contract…nothing free…libraries…no not absolutely…but practically …I wouldn’t say for nothing but almost…virtually…there is just a small detail and it’s this…what is it….? what was it…it seems so long ago now…I know there was something…this kind of life cannot be…imagined. Not just found. It must be forged. Forged in this contract. It seemed easy … just…just a detail or two…the others…they want it too..we can easily…no…but true. Easily give to them…they are waiting…they have expressed an interest…in this place. This spot. Without seeming…seeming pushy…something like this…but we all have problems delays in … resolve…in…comfort levels. But we must know…this is what they said…if you…that is me…if you are with us…we must know…there are other things we do…not just this…not just these negotiations, but other things as well…other significant things…there was a man once…once we dealt with… one who didn’t want these things….or other things either…we don’t know…can’t say what happened…this is what they said to me…what became of him…he seems to have … disappeared…but that’s not why we’ve come, no, not to tell stories and reminisce…not to do these things but to offer you some things…you see it…you’ve seen it all over…it’s a land of milk and honey…milk and honey,…right? you know this…this is only what you’ve known and there are ways of…obtaining what you see…and is it safe…to say desire…yes…it was at that time safe to say this…desire…youth is filled with lusts… unfocused and easily aroused…yes…desire…the world garden seemed fertile…but the business at hand…I have yet to arrive at…I digress, yes….all the years they spent in that business, it was impressive…the nature of the contract…the beginning eludes me as I’ve worked to fulfill…but a contract it was and here I am to tell you…you wanted to know, you asked me when I came in…to tell you…the details of the bargain…a deal made…yes, I agreed … I think…yes, no mistake, I agreed, no complaint….there was put before me…all of those things…advantages to me….as a favored…I must have been…there were others there…present…but it was made to me…as I went into the burning building…it was made to me…this is something…I couldn’t turn my nose up…it was an opportunity…sacrifice is part of it yes, but I had learned this. Sacrifice is a holy duty…without this…this ensures victory…good things…ours…i…recall this…ours was an enterprise one that would have far reaching impact…the business at hand…was ….solemn….(he collapses)

Scene

Prof:
What we think we know and what really is are different things. How can we be aware of that which we are ignorant?
It’s a philosophical conceit, yes, I am aware of how little I know.
But this is only fashion.
Were that same man to truly fathom his blindness he would become unhinged from himself.
-
We work day and night searching for what we like to call truth. Certain we must have the outline of what must be the ultimate model…the way things really work. But we are children playing in a sandbox. We know nothing of the sand, nothing of the box, only that it makes shapes that please us.
-

the darkness is everywhere. Our knowledge decreases with every celebrated breakthrough. I fear that as we uncover each small fragment of the whole we only succeed in pulling it further from its true place in the greater scheme.
-
I have seen the darkness. Only I know its true outlines. Other seekers have yet to even open their eyes. Have yet to discover their presence in the darkest, coldest place in the universe.
-
this place. This…last place in the galaxy. We are standing at point zero. As far away from any understanding of the true nature of things as the lowest creature.
Further.
Each of them, the most insignificant vermin has more sense of its place in the order of things than you do.
You believe the stories you tell yourself, make mythologies; build civilizations atop bed time stories. Call the song you sing yourself for fear of the dark truth. And you consider yourself evolved for it.
here we will teach you that you cannot trust your senses.
What you see before you is a projection of your limitations. You have formed beliefs about the world based on flawed input.
-
But here you will learn to see.

Scene

(professor and student are in tableaux: prof above, student below)

Student
I should have like to have done something. There are others who have. Why not me

Prof
this is sickness

S
I just thought…when I was young I wanted to …. I wanted to serve…to be of service somewhere.

P
But then you didn’t, did you? you were false with yourself

S
False? … no, not false, but not able to achieve my goal.

P
the goals set out for you by others. These others…they hate themselves as much as they hate you. they planted this idea in your (head

S
…no.) no. I was … I was meant for something…they knew….something to set me apart.

P
This is self-hatred. Self-denial. A foolish and weak condition. You bought into someone else’s definition of a life.
-
the ego is formed by a delusional sense of moral responsibility.

S
but I wanted to serve…(to

P
this is a lie) You wanted to serve out of vanity. Wanted the world to reflect the image of yourself you wanted to see. And so you wasted your life trying to win their approbation. Trying to play the hero.

S
I had convictions. ….

P
you see? You are an idealist. Forever running from reality in pursuit of something that does not exist. Which you probably wouldn’t want even if it did.
-
-
S
where are we?

P
we are at the summit. At the end of the world. Whatever you do…don’t look down. From this place you can see everything.
-
it will all be clear. You will see here what you’ve never seen before.
-
you’ll look out over centuries. All the way back into a history you never learned about.
-
our work is the true religion.

Scene

(as before. the student is with the same actor as played the professor, but he has adopted a new aspect. The student seems somewhat abstracted. Lost. He believes he has begun to lose his sight. A sympathetic affliction, perhaps?)

P
who are you?

S
…I …

P
don’t bother. Doesn’t matter.

S
what doesn’t matter?

P
who you were. Before.

S
it matters to me. I’m not just anybody. I’ve come for a reason.

P
yes.
-
How is your vision?

S
my vision?
-
not good.

P
everyone who comes here has bad eyesight. They don’t realize it until they come here. Everything’s out of the way. so one can see what one can’t see much more clearly.

S
I did see better … before now…you weren’t supposed to know this…but…it doesn’t matter now.

P
yes…but… I don’t think you saw better before. not better. you had arranged things in such a way as to not notice. There’s quite a bit you don’t know about. Things you didn’t know you didn’t know about.
-
you actually see more clearly up here.
-
you will remain blind to a world you never knew anything about.

S
but I have plans…to return.

P
the world you came from is a hallucination. This is what you’ve seen.
–
S
I have forgotten why I’ve come here. it seems…trivial.
–
P:
–
somewhere there is another just like you. two others. Thousands. They don’t know it’s night either. They don’t know their own faces in the mirror. They think they do. They leave their homes each day with great plans and ideals to implement. But they don’t know what it is they’re doing. They are blind to nature. Like you they care only for themselves but believe they are selfless.

Scene

(as before)

S
I think I’ve come home.

P
have you?

S
I’m beginning to see.
-
have you seen him?

P:
No.

S
has anyone?

P
no one I know.

S
what do you know about him?

P
he’s completely self-contained.
-
he runs this institute because he’s looking for someone.
-
waiting for someone to arrive with news.

S
I’d like to meet him.

P
there is no way to him. He will have to decide to speak to you.
-
and why would he?

S
maybe I have news.

P
are you the one?

S
I don’t know. I might be. The one. I’m no other than what I am . but I’ve begun to change from what I was before.
–
I was ill.
-
…I…maybe I’m the one he’s waiting for….

Scene.

(as before)

P
the man in the canteen today…did you see him? They took him away. He just got here a week before you. he thought…he also thought he was the one.

S
how could he be the one? Ridiculous.

P
I heard him scream.

S
what will happen to him?

–

P
you should come with me. Watch television. There are many things on television. Things…things you’ve never seen before. Nature programs. They show you right on the television how wild animals feed. On each other mostly. Mostly carnivores. They don’t show too many non-meat eating animals.
-
we can go inside…watch the television.

S
I don’t know…my sight…maybe it’s not good for it.

P
television will soothe your eyes. Please…come this way.

Scene

(in front of the television. The student’s eyes are clearly irritated by the glow.)

S
I…I can’t… Forgive me …

P
please don’t go yet. You… have to try . it will get better.

S
why do you want me to watch television?

P
there’s so much you’re missing being here. And it’s as they want you to see it.
-
remember you can’t trust your eyes right now.

S
but the outside doesn’t interest me.
-
I’m here. A part of the group now.

P
(pointing to the television) look….look…can you see all of those people?
-
Do you see them?

S
…I see shadows…maybe they’re people.

P
trust me . please trust me. They’re people.
-
each one has his own way of seeing. His own way of experiencing the world. They think they’re all having the same experience. They’re all participating in something. Watching this parade. But none of them has the means to see what is before them objectively. They’re part of it, so unable to see it in its entirety.
-
and yet…and yet they’ll return home…to their families, their friends and tell them about the wonderful parade they attended. How it was … the colors. The sounds… the music. They’ll go on believing they have seen something whole. Complete.
-
They’ll go on like this. Certain. confident in their objective participation in the parade. This parade will become a memory to them…an organizing principle.
–

S
I should practice my lessons.

P
you needn’t.

Scene

(Student is alone.)

S
…I remember….. something of the impulse. The sense of … disappointment. That was it. Sadness. But why? Why so sad? Why so helplessly….

(enter professor, apparently as yet another character)

P
have you been to the entertainment room?

S
… no. No I haven’t.

P
we should go…you and I…to the entertainment room.

S: (puzzled)

P
yes, yes…it’s one of the features of this place. Please come with me…

(cross – fade to entertainment room. There is a small television upstage before which sam stands transfixed. On the floor is a game board. It looks as if there is a game in progress… several pieces are off the board)

P
here we are…isn’t it inviting.

S: ….

P
(indicating chess board) should we have a game?

S
it looks like the game’s already under way.

P
Never mind that…we’ll take it over for them…they won’t be coming back.

S
(to the sam.) excuse me…is this your game?

(sam looks at him with dumb smile. Fix for ten seconds. Exit. Student goes to reset pieces on board)

P
oh no…no never…once a game has been started we can’t have a new one until it’s been settled.
–
it would upset everything.

S
but the black has a clear advantage.

P
I’ll take black.

S
but…that’s unfair…I start the game at a deficit? No…no I won’t play unless we start from the beginning.

P
but that’s impossible. No… This game has already gotten under way. we can’t just abort it…it isn’t done. No. No. no. what is begun must be completed. There are no new beginnings.
-
do you think that just because you’ve come here everything can begin again for you? you can just start over with nothing left from before?

-
-

are you listening to me?
-
we have to finish the game.

S
But we didn’t begin it…who began this game?

P
that’s hardly our concern right now.

S
I think it is ….yes…it most definitely is. I can’t be held responsible for some else’s game.

P
nevertheless this is what befalls you. this is your game now. You inheritance, if you will.
-
you’ll overcome this obstacle.
–
your move.

Scene

(the Student is alone. He faces upstage and speaks in a monotone.)

S

there was a parade. I was… I was in the parade. I wasn’t watching. I was riding in a car. So many people. Such a noise. People were blowing horns and banging on things. There was smoke. .. so much…it made things unclear. A little cloudy. But… I was in the parade. And people were cheering. They were cheering. For me. I must have done something. Something great. Something worthy. What was it? what did I do? I know I did something…really…really great.
-
there’s something else…not something that happened. Something…I felt. I remember feeling… contempt. Contempt for all of those cheering people. All of those small people who hadn’t ever done anything great…feeding on me…on my achievement. Believing in their hearts that they shared in my fame.
-
-
I’m sure I’ll be called by him soon. I’m sure he knows I’m here.
-
That I’m…that I could be…the one.
-
I’m not like the rest of them.

Scene

(the same. Student is in the same place. An episodic passing of time.)

where were you when the time came? The time you knew would come. The time you’d been preparing for all your life. No certainties of course but it seemed…it seemed reasonable to expect you would be needed at some point. One point. At one point in your lifetime there would be that moment, the moment you had to be aware. Present. Prepared to act. And now that time has past. Past and it won’t return. Not in your lifetime, anyway. Senseless to sit here really. I could go somewhere. Walk off this feeling. Feeling….The end of possibility. No more opportunity to wait for. What’s the use in sitting. I should walk. Walk to the end. Then what? Once there’s no place left to walk…just one time. one time to be awake. To be available. This is what it’s like to feel left behind. Now…time has past me by . like a train that only comes through once. I’ve missed it….

(a bang on the door)

A Voice
open the door. There are no locked doors. This doesn’t look good. We’ll have to sit down about this…no way around it now….

Student:
It’s here, then. The moment has come here. Possibility has emerged. Unexpected. Getting darker. Time to act. To complete my task before I can’t see anything. They’ll be in here any second. They’re already in here. Already taken me away. Put me in that room. The locked door. The door that should never be locked. I tried. I tried here. To do well. to learn. To improve… No use…no use…the darkness… is too insistent.

Scene

(enter student. He is clearly shaken. Sam is counting pots. Student addresses him for the first time.)

Student:
I was thinking about what you said.

sam
…what I said?

Student:
About him. Why would he be interested in seeing me? You’re right. I have no news. That’s it. no news. I look back over these weeks here and all I can…all that’s there…it’s totally…I’m totally ordinary.

–

Sam
he wants to see you.
–

…I just heard. I came in here to tell you.

student:
why didn’t you say so?

Sam
I couldn’t believe it myself

Student
How does is work?…do I…do I go to him now (or

Sam
No). he’ll send for you.

Student
When

Sam
When he’s ready. He has his own way of doing things.

Student
Well…this is great…I mean…what a relief. I really started to believe my life was…was unexceptional. It’s not that…what I mean is…there are six billion people on this planet…how many of them are truly … are really great? Have done anything extraordinary? This condition is unimaginable. This obscurity. To be one of the herd.
-
I am one. No one of many. Unique. This …this is essential. Otherwise. What do I do? Where …where can I go? This is the end for me. I can’t go anywhere else.
-
(lights dim on sam again. He resumes his furious counting of pots)

Scene

(In the basement with the man in the bucket)

Bucket Man

this is the beginning.
-
the books.
-
everything begins by fabrication. By the catastrophic collision of mind and matter

Scene.

Back at the Institute. Sam is counting pots. We see sam for the remainder of the action in various light levels.)

Student:
are you there?
-
I knew he wouldn’t abandon me here. Didn’t I tell you? to live in obscurity…without any means of achieving my true potential. Such a man….such a leader as he wouldn’t waste an opportunity such as I present.
-
our collaboration will be legendary…a true dialogue of greats.
-
the place I was born to occupy….don’t feel badly…we can’t question destiny, much less begrudge it. some ideas can’t be understood by inferior minds.
-
what will he ask of me?
-
surely nothing I wouldn’t give. I would sacrifice my life for this lofty cause…a cause worth involving ones’ self in is certainly a cause worth dying for.
-
nevertheless I should consider what might be asked of me…what kind of information he might be seeking….a solemn exchange of ideas and insights will inevitably ensue, yes…but there remains the rumor of his looking for something specific
-
once he asks it will all be clear. Certainly I’ll have this information at my disposal….my diverse experience will come to bear on my future with him…the beginning of our time together will begin with a heady rush of recognition, of familiarity. We’ve always known each other…our lives have been drawn together from the beginning by larger forces.
-
-
my patience will be rewarded ….
He’s busy, of course.
The demands of the Institute are taxing…this will undoubtedly by my first assignment: to help him with the operation of the Institute.
He’ll be relieved at my presence, my capable influence.
How freeing it will be for him, really….how…nurturing.
I will ease his burden, throw myself into the work…my hands twitch with anticipation at the….assumption of… responsibility.

Scene

(student is alone again. The director speaks to him via one of the speakers placed on-stage. The Wizard of Oz)

Director
I’m waiting for someone (

Student
Yes…I ) (know

Director
Don’t ) interrupt!
-
I’m waiting for someone with news…specific news of the world outside.
News of the new world.
-
what was out there will be no more.
-
when we come together…to create a new way.
-
the light…does it hurt your eyes?

Student
Not any more.

Director
I see.
-
I’ve lost count of the days I’ve spent in meditation.
-
days…weeks…years. It’s all the same.
-
patiently awaiting this advent…I’ve been aware of movements beyond these walls, of course.
-
always…vigilant.
-
no one but me truly understands the significance of this project.
-
the Institute. The purpose of The Institute is unknown to all but me. They believe they understand something of the mission here. They are not altogether incorrect. But each….each has his own unique way of misunderstanding.
A solipsistic harmony.
-
Imagine it. A universe founded on erroneous assumptions. Half understood concepts

Scene

(as before. Student seems agitated as he has not heard from the director for a while.)

Am I the one?

Hello?
-
Pardon me…I’m sorry…it’s just…I’ve been waiting….i…forgive me….

(he produces a photograph from his pocket)
You see this?
-
no, of course not…but it’s me. I mean it’s me but not me. See this was taken…before I was born.
-
don’t you get it?
-
me, but not me.

-
this is significant. Yes, I would say it is. It’s quite significant. I was this person before. I have proof here….proof. photographic evidence. If you could see you would know. You would agree. This is me. Me.

Scene

(as before. )

Director (from the speaker)

In the Old Testament we find the figure of the favorite son. The favorite son.
Despite the common origins of all the brothers the one emerges in the father’s heart as the dearest to him. The one he pins his hopes on. The one on whom he intends to bestow his legacy.
-
and how does this happen?
How does such an unnatural situation emerge within the family?
-
Is it due to the machinations of the preferred?
This preferred status is, of course, quite important to him.
So important he is willing to conspire against his brothers for this position. Or is it a weakness in the father a sort of shortcoming of the heart. A diminished emotional capacity?

(Director reveals himself.)

I’ve watched you. these last weeks…your sense of disorientation is quite attractive to me. Yes, I feel I can admit this to you.
-
I could crush you. I could put my fingers through your skull. Bash your brains against the wall. Yes…I could do all of this. And more. So much more.
-
but this isn’t why we’re here. This meeting … you’ve been expecting it. hoping for it, even.
-
you’ve sensed, haven’t you, a mission awaiting you. awaiting your attention. Something…noble. Something that will impact the next 1,000 years.
-
yes…to project ourselves into the future. Into the lives of future generations. You can imagine, can’t you, the adulation. The respect. The love of schoolchildren, singing your praises…
-
I will speak frankly. Ours is a noble path. The path so few have walked. So few have even conceived of. And yet it is there before us both. Together we will walk down this path out into the world and beyond. The world and its children await our work together, my young friend. Together we will wield the mighty sword of justice and uproot the evil doers and their depraved minions…the time has come my friend…for us to venture out…I feel I can lean on you…your strong physique, your capable shoulders.

Scene

The final scene is in silence save fore some snatches of text which can be heard from the director. they are leaving the Institute. It is raining out. Night is falling. A strange silence falls on the scene. Lights shift back to the empty Institute.
FIN

(a note on the production: the scene breaks are mostly pauses, most beginnings will be on top of the end of the previous scene. All efforts will be made to minimize black outs except where explicitly noted)

Overture
( a lone figure sits at an ordinary table with a light on it that obscures his features. There is an air of conspiracy about him. He nervously turns the light on and off)

you think you know something of who I am.
What I stand for.
How it is that I function in your world.
-
this is useful.
I find this a convenient distraction. A sleight of hand projected out.
I’m not even a magician.
-
belief is a powerful tool.
It frees me to be who I really am.
I’m sure you’d like to know who that is but it’s too early for that.
Identity is such a childish preoccupation. A gross misunderstanding of history.
Most of you believe in some Arthurian past or a middle earth when magic was everywhere. That this is the true source. The blood of heroes and magicians still courses through your veins, waiting for the chosen to emerge. To inherit that noble blood and reclaim that ancient birthright of all of us.
-
the king returns and leads his chosen people into a new golden age.
-
these are the stories you believe you tell yourself but are in fact being told.
-
the real stories are locked safely away.
-
there are layers of events piled one on top of the other, some so deeply buried they’ll never again see the light.
But these are the ones that matter most.
The ones that hold up the whole structure.
-

look for this man, this hero.
Keep waiting, he will come.
Don’t attempt to be like him. This is beyond you.
-
special people.
-
but let’s let this go. This candor.
It’s so dull…so unbelievable. We want a story…some magic…a little escape.
-
maybe I have the key to the real stories.
Maybe I’m the one who’s locked them away.
-
there was a man once…or was it twice? Two men…it’s hard to remember…so long ago. So deep inside the memory I can’t tell if I should trust it.
but this man, or men existing once or many times…
had a context didn’t he? Didn’t they?
A milieu.
-
what occurred? What took place here in this atmosphere of primordial significance?
Many things, of course. Many things that have a direct bearing on all that you know. But these things are now lost.
But this doesn’t make a very interesting story does it?
Fiction allows so much more detail, so much more in-depth human interest.
This man, or men as the case may be…I have yet to provide the details of his relevance to us. To this moment.
To this hour of stories.
-
well…this man, or men…were storytellers themselves…a kind of storyteller.
Not like those who gather crowds to tell their tales of heroism and bravery.
No, more modest than this. More discreet.
They believed their stories would not be as effective if told too overtly.
-
now this man, or men, told stories in whispers. Short explications on events and persons left their lips and traveled on the wind. Never became fully formed stories with beginning middle end. No. not this kind of tale but a promise. A suggestion.
-
with these fragments he, or they, created…interest. A collective desire. The desire to know more. Hear more. Understand and ultimately be a part of the story. Without a clear plot line or author even the events of the story seemed open. Anyone might be a protagonist in this drama.
-
each developed his own version of events. His own arrangement of these fragments to place himself solidly in the center of the action.

Scene

Missing Stories and the Adult world

A: Christian
B: Don
C: Barbara

A
It’s not easy living in a world of adults.
-
their ways are…

B
(entering)…not to be questioned!

C
(from the shadows)they think this is a movie!

A
Are you on a…is this a case?

C
What do you know about the stories?

B
Nothing…well he was…
That is…
We were…

C
They’ve been moved. They were to remain there.
For now.
-
until we’re to move them again.
-
they’ll tell us.
-
to move…the…they’ve been moved.

A
Someone stole some of the stories?

C
Stole?
I said moved. They’ve only been moved.
-
remember that. Don’t forget
-
I’m telling you…

A/B
We know…yeah…yeah…

C
No. you don’t.
You don’t know anything.
-
I’ve told you nothing.

B
But the stories…

C
What do you know?
-
-
things have been arranged to look a certain way.
To reflect a certain…certain ideas about the world. Stories contain important visual cues, have a specific resonance with our collective and individual psyche.
By moving them…someone…has interrupted the mise en scene.
(C Exits)

B
Maybe he works for the movies

A
House detective for the movie studio.
In charge of the set. The location.

B
I’m secretly…no I can’t tell you.

A
What? No you have to tell me now. You can’t hold out a secret in front of a person then deny them.
-
secretly what?

B
Well…I’ve always wanted to be an actor. To be a hero of stage and screen.
-
do you really think he’s from the movies?

A
I don’t know…why would he talk to us?

B
(Opening his wallet) I’ve got … twenty seven dollars …maybe he was attracted to the money. You know how those Hollywood types are…they smell it out. Maybe they thought we’d be good prospects…backers, you know.

A
That isn’t, I don’t think, a great deal of money. Not for a Hollywood type.

B
I could get more. There’s more you know.
-
anyway he said mise en scene…he seemed a real artist. All that concern and care for the way things look.
-
I wonder what kind of film they’re making.

A
If he’s concerned about those stories the set must be around here somewhere.

B
Maybe all over the city. The whole city one big movie set.

(they pause to consider this…look around, check their clothes, hair)

A
(looking through a newspaper) It doesn’t say anything about a movie shoot.

B
(looking at other side of the paper) look at this picture. I know this place. It’s been on my mind lately. The city within the city. Do you know it?
-
-
a
that’s for you. I haven’t been thinking of any place lately.
-
it’s not in here. They must have left it out on purpose.

B
A secret movie?

A
Being shot right here! In secret!

B
Things look different now.

A
They’re movie sets now. Before they were buildings, streets , cars,, and shops. But now they contribute to the fiction.

B
My every action is being viewed and interpreted.

A
You’re contributing to the story, to someone’s idea of what’s going on. What the intent of the director is.

scene

There are Other Things Besides Movies

A: Jeff
B: Jillia

B
I can pretend I go out into the world often.

A
Often you do.

B
But I don’t know how to leave my room and confront the adult world.

A
A little further now. Just a bit of medicine and you’ll be fine.
(A hands B a set of headphones. B puts them on. Listens. 10 count)

B
Ready to go, ready to leave this world of pretend.

A
It’s out there. the world is beyond this wall

B
What’s here then?

A
The world stops being the world when you’re the only one in it.

B
I know, in my mind about all of that.

A
Today I will give you something you’ve never had.

B
I’ll write it down then.
-
this is the day something new happened.

A
You should write it in bigger letters than that. That’s … you will lose that scrap of paper.

B
I’ll put it in a prominent place.

A
There are no prominent places here.
Everything is equal.

B
I think I need a doctor. One to check inside me to make sure everything’s there that should be.

A
Are you afraid you’ve lost something?

B
There are times…well not everything feels connected.

A
You would have noticed had you lost something

B
Not necessarily. I often ignore what I don’t want to see.

A
If we wrestled we could find out…

B
…are we doing that already?

A
There are no surprises.

B
Except the lack of surprises. That’s surprising.

A
But you have to wait for that realization before you feel surprised.

B
But it comes.

A
How does it come?

B
By waiting for it.

A
This is like that movie….

B
…what isn’t like that movie?

A
The other movie.

B
But that is very similar to that movie in that it is a movie. All movies exist in the same place in my imagination.
-
they crowd it.

my imagination is mostly movies I’ve seen. Or thought I’d seen. Mostly I’ve forgotten them. They’ve become other things that crowd out all other things.

A
Are there other things besides movies?

B
Buildings. Trees. Sidewalks. Rutabagas.

A
All of these things are in movies.

B
Rutabagas…might exist outside of the camera’s eye.

A
This is a start.

B
But I don’t like rutabagas.

A
You could try to acquire a taste for rutabaga.

B
Not if there’s a movie to watch.

A
You can always see a movie. Everywhere you go.

B
This is beginning to sound familiar.

A
See? This is one of them too.

B
If this were a movie…then…

A
Sssshhh! Don’t say it. that’s enough to make them self-aware. We’re talking about your problems.

B
Do I have problems?

A
I’d say. Big ones.

B
I’ve not wanted to consider them for fear of having to do something different. But now you’ve brought it up so..i’ll…. do you smell something?

A
This is your way of distracting me from discussing your problems.

B
I wish you wouldn’t speak so frankly.

A
Sorry. You’re right. I’ve broken one of the unspoken rules.

B
Back to the smell

A
…yes…shall we try to track it. could be dangerous.

B
Then we’d both have problems of a different sort.

A
Yes… but manageable at least.

B
I’m not feeling so well…

A
Let’s do an experiment. Run around the room four times, changing directions each time.
(B does so)

a
what does death smell like?
Chocolate?
Furs?
Coffee?
Dog…wet dog?

B
I think it’s working. I can feel a difference.

A
The space around you is definitely starting to look more solid.

Scene

THE SECRET MOVIE
A: Christian
B: Don
C: Barbara

A
You still don’t understand.
This is a secret movie…part of a secret production.
-
the whole city is part of the same continuous story being told for someone’s overwhelming entertainment.

B
(pointing to a door) I’m looking for the people in charge. The crew.
(opens door)
hello?!

A
(to the audience)
look over there. The new shopping district.
Isn’t it beautiful?
Like no other, I’m sure. This city is the only place on earth. Each brick, each window and doorknob and light fixture is perfect, perfectly placed to sustain the ultimate effect, the ultimate clarity of purpose of the director. I’m honored, humbled really by the trust and good faith of the director. I mean we’re a part of this grand conceit,
this homage;
more real now that there’s an idea at work, a deliberate arrangement of properties and lighting to fill us with these feelings.
-

B
I love the movies.

(returning from behind the door) look I found a list with some of the details of the shoot.
-
it says here you’re to be removed by the time we’ve gotten through this conversation.

A
What? Let me see that
(takes the paper, looks it over)
(producing a second paper)
well I have here a list of all your critics.

B
(taking paper) let me see that…
you’re on this list…why I… what’s the meaning of this…I hope this is only a part of the story…you’re not really going to do what it says are you….?

A
How can I say… something’s got to start happening here…there’s got to be some action in this film…we can’t just talk the whole way through.
(an exchange of uncertain looks)
all right we’ll change it
(begins to try to light the paper on fire)
they’ll never notice this part’s missing…

B
No…we have to find more pages from the script….I don’t like to improvise.

(C re-enters. She is being live fed from a corner of the room onto a screen)

C
how long have you been here?
-
has anyone else seen you? Come this way…I want to show you something.

(they approach the screen, obscuring audiences view)

A& B
(in shock. Over one another)
where’d you get that?

What the hell???
-
you don’t expect…

we can’t … I haven’t even…

C
too late for that. You guys seem pretty smart, you’ll figure it out.

A
But…the movie…we’re … …are we in it….?

C
how do you know this isn’t part of it?
You bums stand over there and I’ll sort things out with the authorities…don’t worry, I’m certified.

A
do they know about this?

C
Hard to tell.
I said it’s hard to tell.

A&B
Yeah.

Okay we know…

C
you don’t know…I haven’t told you anything…

A
No…no that’s true.

B
You want us to stand where?

C
over there…by the intersection of those vectors

A&B
Vectors?

C
please try to be professional. We have to wait for the right cue to change our relationships.

A
You said you were certified right?

C
by the best. Never doubt it.

B
Are you the director?

C
ssshhh! What are you playing at?
Have you gone through the necessary briefing?

B
I’m not sure…that is…yes. Yes I think I have. I’m fully aware of the difficulties we all find ourselves in as to the cinematographic specificities.

C
Well I’m glad someone’s done their homework.
-
now please step over there
(they do as they are told. )
this is all a scene.
Accepted.
Believed in.
What a perfect scenario, really. What an ideal entertainment.
The sands quietly shift as the masque trips along.
It’s a delight to see your dreams projected into the streets of the city.
Who doesn’t, tell me, Who doesn’t want to see their dreams over and over and over again?
Who?
Softly scraping along down a wet and dark side street will not compare to the joys to be had at the center of town.
Inside we are all brothers.
Inside we all live in this city of ideal purpose. Nothing’s real beyond the lens.
Nothing matters, nothing remains in the memory that isn’t captured.
Solidified by the caring considerations of this arch-driver.
-
What’s outside of the movie?

A
Nothing that matters.

C
Did it ever? How can anything be certain…

….unless it’s been preserved in film.

A
he must be brilliant director …

C
You have no idea how lucky you are. This won’t last so you’d better enjoy it
-
let me tell you clowns something, in all of my years I’ve never seen such a convergence of coincidences.
Uncanny, really.
You guys walk around like you know something. Something of the plot, the overall concept.
You do not.
You do not know.
Better I tell you, though.
At this point it’s just as well.

A&B
…tell us, please…

…yes, please fill us in…

C
easy does it boys. These things take time.
A movie is a delicate work of art.
Location, script, extras, don’t even get me started about sound.
-
this is the most significant moment in either one of your lives. You’ve never been in a movie before.
Never known what it was like to live as they do.
And now you will.
Now you see this whole thing…the city…one big movie…one big fantasia.
-
you’ll never be the same.

Scene

The Apocrypha of Shopping

A: Jillia
B: Jeff

A
There are voices telling me to buy something unnecessary.

B
Can you hear them now?

A
Clearly. They tell me to tell you to buy something also.

B
What do they suggest?

A
I don’t think the item is as important as the act.

B
I don’t hear anything.

A
They’re talking to me right now.
-
describing in detail all of my shortcomings. The actual areas in my life to be enhanced through this solemn act.

B
I have this song in my head. It’s from the 1970’s. soft rock. Set in some tropical tourist town. Miles from anything resembling my life.

A
Can you hum a few bars?

B
It’s my song right now. It was placed there for me.

A
I’ll be back. I have to go buy something.

B
Will you go by the church on your way back?

A
If necessary.

B
You’ll probably want to have your new item blessed by the priest. He’ll be waiting. He always blesses new purchases mandated from (points upward).

A
It’s all out of my hands, really. What I do is taken from cues placed around me. The city is a message board with specific instructions on how I should proceed. For this I’m grateful.

B
This music keeps getting louder and louder. I can barely hear you.

A
I said I don’t have to think about what to do next. It’s all written out for me.

B
My pleasure centers are being activated. All through sound vibrations.

A
You’ve discovered something important the…something about sound.

B
Sssshhhh! stop talking about sound.

A
I was leaving but now I’m fascinated by this song in your head. I think I can hear it.

B
You should leave. Only long enough to know that it was the wrong thing. Now, like this you’ll never know.

A
That’s too many options. Too many decisions. I’d have to make on my own.
I’m not equipped.

B
All this talk about options has made me hungry.

A
Just when we were onto something.
We’ll have to start over, then.
Once you’ve eaten.
Once you’ve had you full.

B
Fill.

A
Fill.
-
your eating is an empty ritual. No significance beyond the mastication of the edible matter, no purpose beyond the completion of a habitual task.

B
I’m no longer hungry.

A
Well it’s too late anyway. You’ve broken the moment.
Opened it wide to expose its less relevant aspects.
It didn’t have a chance.

B
It’s not too late…I haven’t eaten anything yet.
-
we could go back to before.

A
I think I’d better get back to what I was doing before before.

B
I’d like to be somewhere they can’t reach me with their music.

A
The quiet places are extra.

B
I used to like music.
Before so much of it began to play.
Everywhere there’s music.
Sounds piped in from nowhere.

A
You can arrange for quiet.
It’s just an amenity.

B
(he moves downstage center. Long pause)

Everyone else seems to have so much to say.
So many things to talk about.
-
I’m here now with the opportunity to speak my mind but…nothing’s really coming to me.
-
I thought…I did have a great deal to say.
There was a time when…

A
Time’s up.

Scene

Snack Foods

A: Christian
B: Jeff
C: Jillia

A
I’m ready to get started.

B
The casino hasn’t opened yet.

A
It never closes for players.

B
Are you a player…or just a patron?

A
They serve snack foods there.
Many varieties.
Chips. Nuts. Fruit cocktail.

B
Cocktails with fruit, you mean.

A
Yes, fruit cocktail.

B
You’ve confused your snack foods.
Such things happen.
Confusion isn’t uncommon.

A
Please don’t let that become common knowledge. I’ve made an effort to cultivate an image of control.

B
It’s okay to let off a little steam.

A
But you see how t his could lead to the wrong ideas circulating.

B
Every effort is made to keep the truth about you unknown,

A
There should be a certain amount available to create a reasonable doubt
-
you see, I’m receiving messages.
Messages from the right side of my brain.

B
Are these messages…of general interest, or are they specifically for you?

A
Oh no…the world must know. These things can’t be kept inside long.
It’s my duty to spread the news.

B
News?

A
That’s all for now. Too much of this information might disturb your equilibrium.
-
and, I’ll need to speak with the priest.

B
(producing a priest’s collar)You’re in luck.

A
Are you…legitimate.

B
Of course.
They don’t just give these to anyone.

A
But…I’ll need further proof. This news…it’s of a particularly sensitive nature.

B
Well…I could absolve you of your sins.

A
Could you? Oh that would be great. They’ve begun to slow me down.

B
I absolve you of your sins.

A
That’s all there is to it? no ritual? No ceremony? How do I know they’re really gone?

B
You have to believe. Then it’s true.

A
That’s not very convincing. Is this what you call faith?

B
Yes. A very important concept if you want your sins wiped away.

A
The messages inside my brain are more believable. I can actually hear them.

B
Well anyway…I’ve held up my part of the deal. Out with this news…I need to keep up on the latest prophecy now that I’m a priest.

A
Isn’t there a newsletter or something?
-
what would such a newsletter be called?
Imagine if we called it…’The Long Walk Home”.

B
There may be such a journal. It may be called “The Long Walk Home”. Is this what the speaking hemisphere of your brain tells you?

A
You think you can trick me.
Trap me into telling you the news I’ve received.
It’s not that easy, my friend.
Such information always comes at a price. Sacrifices are made by those intent on obtaining this kind of news.
-
I’ve been here before.
I’m sure I have.

B
Of course you’ve been here before. There’s nothing you do now that you haven’t done in the past.

C
(entering)
This is a continuation of the set of habits you adopted in your late teens.

A
I want to do something I’ve never done before.

C
I think it might be too late for that.

A
Oh no…you won’t trap me in your belief systems.
There…I’ve never said that before.

B
You seem confident of this.

A
I’m certain I haven’t

C
I’m going to check…I think you’ll find you have said that before.

A
Well if I have it was in a different context.

C
No. you did say that before. A few months ago. Standing in this very spot.

A
This place could go up any second.
Just like a torch.
-
then things would be different.

B
But you like it this way.

C
Don’t you remember?
It’s like you remember it. it’s like it was when you were a kid.

B
All those nights, sitting in your room.
Listening to the radio.

A
No radio. I didn’t listen to the radio.
No.
how could I?
They transmit messages not meant for me.
I wouldn’t be able to listen to what wasn’t meant for me.

C
Did you say messages?

B
What messages?
-
there are no messages on the radio.

C
How could you impute our sacred airwaves in this way?

B
He did listen.
He did.
This is why he slanders our broadcast tradition.

C
You listened to what was not meant for you.

A
Listen to me. I have something to say to you.
I’m sure I do. It’s…on its way…the message.
And it’s especially for you.

C
We have many things to accomplish.

B
Things that can’t wait (for

A
I’ve got) it!
It’s coming through now..
Here it is

(they gather around him as if to hear the secret)
(v.o.)
you’ve come to this reunion with the mind’s voice. Listen and become acquainted with what was once god. This voice will guide you toward new actions and unsanctified experience.

scene

Our Little Talk Continues
(figure at table addresses audience directly)

There are those out there who resemble others…countless faces repeated in the same basic pattern. The same essential structure. A tribe of…
-
well…
not you.
Not you at all.
You’re different.
Unique.
I’ve never met anyone as unique. As uniquely…unique.
It’s impressive, your singularity.
Yes. This is what we’re talking about.
Singularity.
When they made you they broke the mold.
And there you are.
Here you are.
Just being…. just…well…
You can’t learn this can you?
You can’t buy it in a store..
Take it home in a box to wear at special occasions?
No. this is blood.
Genetic.
You’re…well.
This puts you in an interesting position.
-
I admire you.
I do. I would like to, right now, take this opportunity to praise you. To offer you a gesture of my esteem.
-
what I do…here…what I have to do…in my line of work…my business. It’s just that. Business. Nothing personal. Not usually.
Certainly not with you.
I feel we have an understanding now.
Almost…almost a bond.
You believe me, I’m sure, when I indicate my high regard for you.
-
but larger matters require my attention and vigilance.
-
we must carefully consider your position.
-
and, I should tell you we have.
Let me show you what we’ve found…

(he puts the light out on his table and house lights come up. They stay on for 20 seconds. When they go out and it’s totally dark the light on the table goes back on)

you are very clever. Very clever. Your vision is seductive, I’ll give you that.
-
a person could really start here… I mean build something from a vision so empty.
Possibility.
-
this is what you’re suggesting, isn’t it?
that there are places…empty.
-
even in your mind.
-
these options…this sense of limitlessness is dangerous.
Nihilistic.
You discourage the people with such promises.
-
don’t you feel like you own an apology?
At least a clarification that…
Suggests some limitation.
-

I think it’s only fair to warn you that your silence does not indicate cooperation.
-
I’m going to have to ask you to continue sitting there.
-
we will pick up our little talk later.

Scene

Mandarin Rhapsody

A: Jillia
B: Jeff
C: Christian
D: Don

A
The methods aren’t what they used to be. There’s a sense now that they all have a place.

B
Communication then.

C
Communication of a kind. Information. But of a kind.
-
all roads must lead to Rome.
-
And, all buildings.

A
Images and necessary…sssshhhh!
What was that?

B
I didn’t hear anything

A
We can’t be too careful
-
someone could blow the lid off this thing.

B
Hahahahaha! They already have!
They have, and you know what? No one cares. No one thinks it’s real. We can operate in the open practically.

A
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
-
let’s remember why we’re here and involved in these deliberations. We’re all distinguished individuals in our respective fields. Have made great sacrifices to reach these heights of Nietzschean grandeur!

B
Watch it!

A
Sorry Father.
But the point is…these other people. Wasting their lives,
They’re meant to be right where they are.

B
Which brings us back to methodology
-
we’ve seen some positive developments lately.
Masses of people prostrate
-
this is good.
This is our opening.

A
But a new initiative is needed.
One that no longer employs just words but enforces specific patterns of behavior.
Physical structures.
Spatial arrangements which point them in specific and controllable directions.
-
Words have become meaningless, friends.
Nostalgia is power.

Scene

The Architect Fingers a Patsy
(this is a continuation with E entering)

D: Don

….D
I’ve come to have my palm…my fortune told.

B
That isn’t possible here. Exactly. We can tell you what to expect. What you can hope for.

D
It’s a start. Are there rituals involved?
Do I need to prepare in some way?

B
It’s all been handled.

C
It’s all been handled.

B
The city is like a story or a poem. Each building, block and avenue conveys specific information and ideas.

D
I was afraid you were going to tell me that.

C
You knew?

D
No. I didn’t know.
But you’ve given something concrete to wrap my fears around.

B
It will change.

C
Soon there will be other things to fear
Things the at make this seem unimportant.

D
How does an architect know about my fears?

C
Where else do your nightmares play themselves out but among the buildings and streets of the city?
-
come over here, please.

B
don’t go over there, come over here.
Come over here and make yourself comfortable.

C
Over here your can take all of the time you want.

B
Here you can perform acts of carnality you’ve never before imagined.

( D tries to exit but is stopped)

C&B
come here!

D
I think I should stay right here for now.
You’re all welcome to join me, of course.
But I’ll stay here if it’s okay (with…

B
Suit) yourself.
-
have you always been this selfish?

C
Some people have no sense of history.

B
Or gratitude

C
You have to choose sometime.

B
You can’t be idle forever. Eventually you will have to choose.

C
Of course this means one of us will be disappointed.
Enraged even.

B
You might find yourself with enemies.

D
I’d better decide then.

C
Think carefully.

B
This is going to take all your reserves of strength.

C
All of your concentration.

B
Once you’ve decided there’s no going back.

C
Oh, you can go back but once you start changing your mind.

B
Absolute mental chaos.

C
You’ll need psychotherapeutic attention.

B
Intensive most likely.

C
No, you really should consider carefully.

B
Even if you change your mind and avoid the psychological cataclysm that’s sure to result you might end up with more enemies than you had if you hadn’t changed your mind.

D
What if I decide to go on my own.?

B&C
Then your sure to have enemies.

C
Look here’s the list.
Quite extensive.

B
Now you know what you know.
You’ll have to see one of us before you leave this place.

C
You’ll need some information.

B
A history

C
A version of events that can be corroborated.

B
Backed up by textual references.

C
You don’t go wandering about without textual references.

B
Sweet jesus, no.

D
This seems unlikely…but what if I’m confronted out there without anything to back up my position?
I’ve learned a few things, sure…but can I really argue my point of view?
What is my point of view?
If I managed to make sense out of some corner of the city, some forgotten side street…like a revelation…and I’m found without a context?
Some syntactical consistency?
-
could I share my time amongst all of you?

A, B, C
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Scene.

Another Talk
(you know who)

you think you’re on the outside somehow.
That you could possibly be on the outside.
Whatever your definition of this may be I can assure you; it’s lacking in some very crucial insight.
So there you are. Smug.
In the shadows.
Anonymous, yes?
It’s comfortable, isn’t it?
To lurk on the fringes.
Just beyond my ability to distinguish the details.
Puts me at a bit of a disadvantage. Temporarily.
In here we can be polite.
We can keep things civil.
But once we’re in the ring.
Out there.
Then I’m no longer your humble servant, guiding you through your education in objective insight.
That’s the illusion, actually.
Not all of this here.
But in there.
In you.
The spectacle takes place in your simultaneous desire to be swindler and swindled .
But you see this…what we’re doing right now.
This little dance.
This meaningless exchange of self-congratulation. This is a substitute for actual progress.
Actual results that impact lives.
Real.
Real reality.
But what’s that?
We could start this conversation: ‘what is reality?’; ‘what is the meaning?’
And this way I carry you further and further away from really knowing, don’t I?
It’s a little trick I learned while traveling with the circus.
Works every time.
Especially with the smart ones.
You’re smart aren’t you?
You love a good philosophical discussion don’t you?
You can stay up all night as the candles burn down debating fine points and carefully considered definitions.
-
you love being engaged.

Scene

Historical Preservationists

(man stands downstage in thought, it looks as if dictating to man upstage at writing table)

A: Jeff
B: Jillia
C: Christian
D: Don
E: Barbara

A
remembering words is much harder than remembering things.

B
I’ve run out of paper.

C
(entering) There’s no more paper.
No more writing materials.

A
Imagination is the intermediary between perception and thought.

C
Or film.

B
Or paper?

C
No, not paper. Film though. You don’t need imagination if you have that.
Lots of films I haven’t seen yet. Probably an unlimited number. They keep making more. I’ll never run out.
Who needs imagination?

A
Who’s watching you?

B
Someone.
Someone’s watching me, I hope.

A
Yes…I think there is someone watching you.
Watching all of us.

C
It’s not so necessary to remember things or have imagination if someone’s watching.

B
I’ve tried to get work watching but there are too many watchers.

C
Everyone wants to be a watcher. Soon we’ll all be watching other people watching.

A
Well that will solve some problems, don’t you think?
-
time? What to do with it.
I mean when you don’t have it you want it then when you get it you don’t know what to do.
But if we all watched each other we’d know exactly what to do.
I think I should start now.
-
would anyone like me to watch them?

(they exit)

no one to watch.
I didn’t anticipate this problem.
But I’m glad it came up. I’ll need to work out the kinks.

C
(entering)
you’ve forgotten one very important thing: you hate people.
How can you watch something you hate?
You can’t do it for long. You’ll crack.

A
Maybe my hatred for people can be constructively channeled into my watching.
I could watch with hatred.

B
(entering)
you’re a very clever man. Very clever.

C
But you still haven’t answered the question about memory. How do you propose to remember everything you see in your watching?
-
I’ve told you there’s no paper. You can’t write things down.

A
I have an elaborate system for remembering things. Everything is catalogued and arranged. It’s fool proof.

B
I have a system to remember all of the people I’ve slept with.

A
Do you find that engaging? Sleeping with another person?

B
Well…It’s a way of saying what cannot really be said.
So instead of saying it you say something else.
Something you may or may not have actually done with that person.

A
Seems a flawed system to me. My system is much more direct. Would you like me to explain it to you?

C
No, we’d only become discouraged.
-
such a clever man of your obviously superior intellect intimidates and discourages the average person. To hear your system would only send us into a despair.

A
Well maybe I’ll write it down.
oh, I can’t

B
This watching, has it begun?

A
At last it has. It’s under way as we speak.
I’ve developed a (system.

C
Please), no you mustn’t
-
I wanted to ask you about t he city of your birth…a few questions regarding the architecture.
-
are there buildings there that remind you of anyplace else you’ve been?

A
No…but there are some which remind me of places I’d like to go.
-
places in time.

C
Would you support a universally standardized methodology of guidebooks?
Before you answer consider carefully the frustrating and time consuming confusion of the current heterogeneous nature of our guidebook industry.

A
Well…as long as they looked different…the covers I mean.

B
How will we eradicate the current system which, by your own admission is clumsy and filled with potentially unforeseen events for the contemporary traveler, if we don’t first start by acknowledging that the surface of things is what counts most?

A
I want to answer a question relating to time travel.

C
But I don’t have one prepared.

A
Here’s one.
I’ve sealed it in this envelope to protect it from those unsympathetic to our concerns.

C
Shall I open it right here (or

A
Of course) not. You’ll need to conceal it as you read then destroy it.

C
But I might forget it.

B
Stalling on this doesn’t look good.

(C reads question. Burns it, the goes to A, whispers into his ear)

a
that wasn’t the question!

C
I felt it unfair that you should write your own question.

A
You didn’t have one prepared. What choice did I have?

C
Well nevertheless can you answer the question?

A
But hat’s no the question I wanted to answer. About time travel.

D
(entering)
times up. It’s our turn to waste these people’s time.

A
Time. Exactly. Perhaps by wasting time…we travel through it.
No. that’s not it.

B
But close. If you continue down this road…

A
…what road? Are you substituting concepts again?

D
But isn’t this the only way to begin to outline what we don’t know?
We box in the unknown by surrounding it with the known. This way a shape begins to emerge.

C
You can take any image and if you look at it just right it becomes pornographic.
-
try it.

b
but this is a picture of…your right.
Let’s try it with another picture.
-
it works. We could call this the pornographic principle.
Everything is governed by it.

C
This could be big. Really big.

A
How did we get from time travel to here?

D
look at his forehead and ears. If you just turn you head slightly and…

c
yeah! That looks like…wow….

A
Maybe we traveled in time. Maybe we keep traveling in time, jumping around and landing in the same place but at a different time.
I could be on to something.

B
Can you hold this…just at this…no…like this and slightly back…yes. Thank you .
No…hold it there.
Thanks,
-
yeah, like that.

(B,C,D gather before him in an erotic trance)

A
perhaps my memory system holds a key to the time travel question. Surely the soul travels through time and isn’t memory the presence of the soul in our daily lives?

D
To the left a little!

A
To access those carefully constructed chambers of memory is to travel in time. And there is even a specific physical place represented.

E
(entering)
your spiritual inquiry is coming to a close.

A
But I’ve just started to put some things together. Please just another moment.

E
The requirement is that you make sense.
That you begin to articulate a vision that someone besides yourself can understand.

A
But…what if they don’t want to understand?
What if they’d prefer to remain unaware of this form of (spiritual

E
You heard) me. Now .. . I’m going to count to 25. then you’re finished.
You’ll have to move on to the next topic.
1,2,….25.

(B, C, D from the floor)
oh god oh god

E
That wasn’t so hard.

A
but I didn’t…

E
Now…in a certain place in a certain quarter of the city you’ll find a restoration of an old building…a very old building…
On the outside of this building is a plaque explaining the original function of this place. I’m sure you’ve been there before so I will proceed with my question.

A
Wait …I think I know the building you talking about. I know what you’re up to. You’re part of the historic preservation society.
You want to emotionally manipulate me. I’ve seen this before.

E
But you haven’t heard my question yet.

A
All of you historical preservationists are the same. You feed off of my desire for the good old days. My nostalgia for your fictional times.
As of today my nostalgia is not for sale.

C
You are a very clever man. Perhaps too clever. We’ll see about that. There are more tests.
But before we begin let me warn you to not besmirch the reputation of the H.P.S.

A
Let me ask you a question…do you disagree that the real and imaginary worlds exist side by side?

`C
I’d have to see a map before I could go on record with an answer.
-
Just imagine that instead of this story we are in a story entitled: “A Stroll Down Memory Lane”.

D
Now that’s my kind of story.

A
Just as I suspected.
And where do you think you’re going to sell your false histories?

C
Don’t you worry, my friend, I have buyers. In fact, there’s a waiting list. I can name my price.

A
So there it is.
You’re the one keeping the stories.
I’ve been looking for you for quite some time.

C
Well…here I am.
But there’s one thing you’ve gotten wrong.
There are others.
It’s not just me keeping the stories.
I can tell you this now.
But, now that you’ve found me out, you’ll have to make a choice.

Scene

A Breakthrough Talk

(return to the lone figure at the downstage table)
I trust there’s been some kind of…
…that you’ve…
…that in my absence a change of…
I’m sure you’ll want to cooperate. To go down on record as having cooperated.-
These things I’ve showed you.
I’ve tried to indicate were….were…are a part of a healthy…
You’re lucky, do you know that?
I’ve never been so fortunate as you.
I can say this.
-
so many opportunities.
This for example.
Do you see that this is a clear opportunity?
-
the things we do…they’re for you…for your benefit.
-
Christ, you’d have to be stupid to pass up this opportunity.
To live a life of such extraordinary good fortune.
Anything you want…could desire…here.
I’m…we’re offering this.
-
you could be one of them.
In a few years I could be sitting on that side of the table. You could be talking to me.
Saying these things to me.
-
it’s that big, my friends.
Just a few small matters.
Trifles, really.
To synch up…to align our perspectives on this thing.
-
your ideas are…we think, brilliant.
-
they’ve, I think I can say this, they’ve given us a new perspective.
Yes, you’ve taught us much we didn’t know.
-
with a few adjustments. Minor.
These things you’ve conceived of could become…part of the way we…part of the story.
The big one.
The overall narrative.
There are larger forces at work here.
These forces…they are dynamic. Dynamic and your ideas…your version of events could have direct impact on the overall picture.

Scene

Poetry is the Real Threat

A: Jilllia
B: Jeff
C: Christian
D: Don
E: Barbara

A
opportunities are everywhere.

B
This must be examined. What is opportunity if not a potential h ole in the system?

A
A test for us then?
One that allows us to monitor the success of our projects.
Projects which can easily become unconsciously carried out.

C
Every day we lose one or two to these tests of yours.

B
You are a pessimist. We must see each weakness as an opportunity for further strength.

C
This is going nowhere.
I don’t need theories or affirmations.
I need security. Assurance.

B
There are compatibility issues that must be examined.

C
The whole goddamned world is slipping out of our hands and you want to talk about compatibility issues.

A
We should get help. A fresh set of eyes. Someone to reframe our situation for us.

D
If I may…I should like to suggest myself. I’ve been with this organization the least amount of time….and it wouldn’t be prudent to attempt to bring in an outsider.

C
Nice one!

A
Yes, well spoken…I’d like to hear your take on these issues our colleague h as called to our attention.

D
Well…yes…now then it seems to me…it seems to me there are a number of ways this could be looked (at

C
Balls!) this isn’t going well already.

A
Give him a chance. Just a moment, please.

C
This whole exercise makes me uncomfortable.

D
I’d like to show you gentlemen something.
(pulls out a large manila envelope. He reaches in and the lights go out. The lights come back up to reveal a new actor standing where D was previously. E ‘enters’)

B
Where( did…

C
Security breach!
This is a code 1 security breach!

A
Please calm down gentlemen. This is agent 179, a 0 level.

B
0 level? Why didn’t you say so?

C
Please to make your acquaintance 179. I’ve never actually met one of you boys but I’ve always admired your work.

E
Yes, well now it’s time to discuss business isn’t it boys?

B
Yes…yes.

C
To the point. That’s what’s great about you 0 levels; nothing superfluous.

E
Gentlemen you have a problem. All of our informers working outside are flashing white hot.
-
People are building around us.

A
What?

B
Is it that bad?

C
Damn it! I knew your theorizing would get us into a fix!

E
Please let’s be reasonable. Now that I’m in here I can see partly why we’re in this situation.
-
now I’ve run a few scenarios you fellas might find interesting.
Lights please
(they adjust. A “power point’ presentation is produced so the audience cannot see it.)
-
now if you look at this you will see a clear image of the Fabled City and its outlying areas. Now look at these areas here. Six months ago these areas were empty. Didn’t even show up on our L.P.B.’s.
-
you can see they are most definitely not empty now.

C
Scooter did you know about this?

B
I…I…guess I didn’t. I mean I had a suspicion things weren’t airtight but this…how could I have?

C
You could have stuck to protocol that’s how….

E
Now gentlemen…I want you to listen to this.
(he produces a small book. It’s tattered and old looking)
this was intercepted by one of our best agents. I should tell you he perished in the operation.

C
Bastards!

A
Cold blooded killers!

E
(reading)
“ where did the man go?
The man who left his friend on that empty beach so long ago…
His world was not yet formed.
Not yet visited by the hoards of manic slaves.
These would be his to create under the sign of his malicious naiveté.
There is no island,
no far away place of isolation.
Only an inner word made smaller by allegiance.
And still he waits, counting grains of sand.
Certain in the necessity of his function.
His friend would not have left him behind had he not seen the truth in this vocation.

(they all look on aghast as lights go down)

scene

The One About the Aardvark

A: Christian
B: Jillia
C: Jeff
D: Barbara

A
I used to know a joke that would be perfect for this moment.

B
Don’t be so sure. Jokes are seldom perfect. Normally they only serve to punctuate a general insecurity.

A
But it had a clever narrative, and a deaf mute president.

B
Oh, that is good (laughs hysterically)

A
But…that’s not the joke. That’s only an element.

B
But you see, I’m laughing anyway.

A
But it’s not what I intended for you to laugh about.

B
Well you can’t always control these things.

C
(peeking from behind a door)
tell the one about the aardvark.

A
Ssshhh. Not yet. It’s not time for that one yet.

C
(disappearing)
don’t tell it if I’m not here.

A
All right, all right, just go.

C
Call me!

A
Okay!

C
Because if you don’t call me before you tell it I’ll know.

B
What’s the one about the aardvark?

A
Not now…no, it’s not right

C
(entering)
yes, tell it.

a
now look what you’ve done. Forget it. go back and finish you work. I won’t tell it until you’ve finished.

B
Well I don’t care about jokes anyway. Mostly people tell jokes to distract themselves from their fears. To cheapen conversation and (trivialize….

A
Ah hah!) I remember now!

B
Please, (I was…

A
Don’t) interrupt!
I’ve remembered the joke.
Alright…on the eve of the election the president, a deaf mute, goes to deliver a speech. As he takes the podium…um…as he takes the podium…he takes the podium…and … ascending the podium….
It’s gone again.

B
Your memory is slipping. You need a system…some mnemonic arrangement of (elements

A
This is) the problem.
Every time I go to tell it you interject with some philosophical distraction. Who can tell a joke with someone around philosophizing?

B
But isn’t that the true purpose of the joke?
To distill a particular world view?

A
I thought I was a screen to hide from our fears.

B
I was only trying to make you feel better about the decline of your memory.

A
You’re kind. It’s true I’m having a difficulty recalling all the jokes I know.
I used to have a million of them. But now I can’t remember any.

C
(he’s been listening)
not even the one about the aardvark?

A
Not even the one about the aardvark.

C
(entering)
my god..i can’t believe it. this is…this is a disaster.
It was an organizing principle.
A central myth.

A
Have you finished?

C
What?

A
Your work. Is it done?

C
No…well…no…but it doesn’t matter does it?
I mean…if you can’t remember the one about the aardvark then why should I finish my work?
I mean that’s what kept me going, kept me believing there was something I was working for.

D
(entering)
your faith in humanity has been shaken.

C
There’s too much to think about to know whether or not that’s true.

D
Your faith in yourself then?

C
Perhaps, yes. I’m not sure I believe in myself.

D
Is this belief ontological or existential?

C
Neither.

B
How is that possible?

C
Belief in the sense of truth.
As in everything I say seems to me a lie.
I can’t help it. I open my mouth and lies pour out.

B
That makes this conversation very tricky
-
shall I assume the opposite of everything you say is true?

c
that could get confusing. You can if you like but I’m afraid it will make us both paranoid.

D
I’m already quite paranoid. I don’t think I’d notice the difference.

A
Look at this picture.
-
what do you see? Think carefully…much depends on your answer.

C
It seems an image of pastoral peace. An idyll. Trees. A green meadow. Children laughing. Strong boned women. Yes, quite soothing.

A
But what else? What do you think is behind this image?

C
Behind it?… outside of the frame?
(begins to get paranoid) Certainly someone with a camera.

D
Aahh! So you aren’t as asleep as we suspected. Do you see yourself in this image?

C
Why yes…yes I do…that is…it’d like to be here. Among those trees, that woman…she’s beautiful. A picture of feminine poise…strength…I’m sure she could love me in time. If only I were worthy of such a scene…such bliss.

A
Perhaps you are. I’m sure there’s a way for you to experience such a state.
-
Of course there’s sacrifices…work.

C
Of course…yes…anything.

D
…and the necessary lifestyle adjustments will have to be made to accommodate such an atmosphere of fullness and conviviality…excuse me…I think I hear the phone….i’m expecting an important call.

C
I don’t hear anything.

A
That’s because it’s not for you.,

D
(offstage)
yes.
Yes, he is…

No, not yet.
Yes, he has.

Oh, very much.

There’s a few more details to go over but I’m confident we can…oh, I agree….of course.

And that’s why I’m here…I’m working this out.

Yes, I did.

Yes, he’s been warned.

No, not really. Seems to have forgotten it as soon as….

No I don’t think that will be necessary.

Right.

(entering)

excuse me, I had to take that.

C
(he’s been looking at the picture) who is this woman?

D
(escorting him off) oh, well you might as well ask who she isn’t…you’ll have to…that is you and I should talk further.

Scene

One Last Chat

M: Ben
B: Don
C: Jillia
D: Jeff
E: Christian
F: Barbara

M:
These people you see here. These voyagers adrift .
They find themselves…inadequate. They don’t know why. Have no idea what’s missing, just that it’s never quite right with them.
Just that, no matter what they try, how they re-arrange their circumstances they can’t hear the ‘click’.
The click.
The moment when it’s alright. When everything is just enough.
The city they’ve built is a monument to reason. Rational consideration of what’s best, what will result in maximum efficiency. Nothing’s wasted, nothing’s idle. Each building and side street has its function in the plan.
But they’ve forgotten the plan. They only remember that it must, at all costs, be implemented.
Is it religion? A call to serve a higher power or idea.?
The kind of devotion they show to the ongoing project begins to look strangely similar to service to a cruel and jealous god.
But the rituals they enact day and night seem far too fixated on outcome to be truly religious in nature. The prayer they speak in the morning, must by noon at the latest receive an earthly answer. Far too impertinent of a position for a god of any historical aspect.
Who then do they serve? For, without too close a look one can see they serve with a constant devotion. Or is it fear? The difference is often hard to tell.
What do they fear?
We could ask them.
We could approach each one and ask them what it is that spurs them on. That keeps them moving at such a determined rate.
I’m certain that, were we to approach any on with such a question we wouldn’t get an answer. Or if we did this answer would seem strangely incompatible with the behavior we see.
-
-
should we?
Should we approach one of them and see what motivates them?
My fear is that, by calling their attention to their own behavior we cripple them.
-
well, no matter…
here’s one.
Excuse me…I’d like to answer…no…I’d like to ask you a question if I might.

B
Is this…are you from the television?

M
Not exactly (but

B
Then) who are you?

M
Well…a researcher of a sort.

B
Not from the television?

M
No, not from the television.

B
Why should I answer your question, then?

M
You answer might be of a particular scientific interest.

B
My answer?
Well…I suppose it would after all.
How can I be of service?

M
Yes, well I wonder if you could speak to what it is that motivates your daily behavior. That is, your motivation for turning up every day, working hard at your job, chasing the dollar…doing what you do….
-
-
B
Yes, always glad to be of service, to impart wisdom toward the overall good of my fellows.
-
yoga. Yoga every other morning or so. This is one of the key components to my success. Meditation. Strong mental and spiritual health. You can’t remove the spiritual component. No carbs either. Lean. Focused. Success is earned, not given. Measured in results. This is key: results. A lot of people can talk about education. Training. Results. This is it. this is…results.

A
Yes, well…that’s excellent, (but…

B
Thank) you. Very busy..thanks all the best. Glad to be of service. Good luck.
(B exits)

(c enters)

M
Excuse (me

C
Fuck ) off.

M
Hmm.
Oh…excuse me.

D
Yes, what do you want?

M
Just…if I could ask you a question. It won’t take a moment… yes, thank you…(well….

D
What is this?

M
Research. A study.

D
What study? Are you selling something?

M
No, no, not at all. Just an inquiry. Scholarly.

D
You’re not selling something?

M
Absolutely not.

D
Why not?
Just going around asking strangers useless questions?
You should sell something.
Or buy something.
Quit wasting hard working people’s time
(exit D)

M
yes..well..
oh, excuse me. I’m conducting a survey. I’d like to ask you a simple question if I may.

E
Question? What question? What good is that?

M
Well, I don’t know, (but

E
Don’t) know! Look my friend, I am a busy person. I have responsibilities. If I stood around on the street corner asking questions of strangers where would I be?
Nowhere that’s where.

M
Yes, true but I’d like to ask you about what you do.

E
Oh well, yes (I’m

M
Or more) to the point why you do it.

E
Why?
Ridiculous!
(exit E)

M
this is proving more difficult than I anticipated.
-
I’ll try a new strategy.
-
hello…yes, excuse me..may I ask you a few questions? I’m conducting a kin of a survey, research, really.

F
Yes?

M
Well…I’d like to ask you a few questions for which I will provide the answers.

F
Well…that’s sounds fair. Yes, I’m sure I could participate in such a project.

M
Excellent.
(handing F a sheet of paper) now here’s that and you can start here. Right. Now then.
-
what you would say was your motivation for conducting your daily business? You seem, like the other people in this city, quite driven.

F
(reading)
well you see my life feels empty. I find everything in it lacking something undefinable. My relationships, my inner life, my position in society all fail to live up to the expectations i have. I watch the television, read magazines and books, go to the movies, and all the lives I see there seem happy. Rich. Fulfilled. Even when obstacles emerge there seems to be the necessary solution close at hand. I work, live, shop, even relax with the idea in mind that somehow my efforts will result in that elusive happiness finally being attained. I fear that if I stop moving, driving, buying, exerting myself in pursuit of total conformity with the images I see that happiness will escape me forever.
-
-
(hands him the paper back)
so what’s the question?
M
Thank you.

Curtain

by Jim Bovino

Copyright 2003

Original production in March of 2003.

Visual Design: Nate Cutlan

Sound and Graphics: Rich Barlow

Direction: Jim Bovino

”This network of times which approached one another, forked, broke off, or were unaware of one another for centuries, embraces all possibilities of time. We do not exist in the majority of these times; in some you exist, and not I; in others I and not you; in others both of us. In the present time, which a favorable fate has granted me, you have arrived at my house; in another, while crossing the garden, you found me dead; in still another, I utter these words, but I am a mistake, a ghost.”

Jorge Luis Borges- Labyrinths

Cast
Howard: Barbara Meyer
Sydney: Cheri Macht
General: Christian Gaylord
Agent: Don Mabley-Allen
The Boss: A Ventriloquist’s Dummy

Scene: a hotel on a resort island. The island is currently being evacuated due to the imminent eruption of a volcano.

The Dream of Sycorax

( Howard enters, crosses to stage right, reaches inside a curtained wall and pulls out a beaker containing a fleshy object of some sort. Voice over plays as she looks longingly at beaker)

While dreaming his creature dreams he tries to tell me of their landscapes. He dreams of unity, of a solid One: indivisible and sure. His attempt at describing what he saw becomes more and more strained until he cannot be sure that this was in fact what he dreamed…when do his desires begin to dictate the details of the dream?

Scene

THE GIG

(In the basement of the hotel. The General and the Agent exist in a world of half-light. There are sounds of bubbling water coming from an upstage tank with three flesh colored jellyfish looking creatures floating inside. We hear the occasional
rumble from the volcano)

General
(as the scene opens it is apparent that we enter into an ongoing conversation)

…we don’t want to know the details….. We just want it done.

-
I’d do it myself if…well; you understand how impractical that would be.
-
she thinks she can keep them from us, take them to the outside … that there is an outside.
-
but you and I both know there is no outside…nothing’s out of reach.
-
-
we keep our promises…this is the secret: keep your promises.
-
and know who your friends are.
-
you think you know what you’re dealing with.
-
You do not know what you’re dealing with.
-
I don’t know if I do.
-
It occurred to me long ago that there was always the possibility of individuals even higher up the chain of command that I am not aware of…
-
those in deep silence.
-
These are the ones to fear.
-
these are the people who believe they speak for god.
-
There is nothing more intractable that a man who believes he speaks for god.
-
-
very important people have put their support behind this.
-
they understand the significance of this operation
-
History will say nothing about it.
-
-
He’s coming here, you know.
-
And he mentioned you.
-
Mentioned you by name.
-
Said, ‘My boy’
-
He holds you in high esteem. Ever since Dalry
….the double-decker thing.
-
Now, rest.
-
Clear your mind.
-
Tomorrow you go into the volcano.

Scene

VISITOR

(Howard and Sydney’s room. It is dark. Sid is sleeping at her work table which is covered with papers. Howard is in a heap in the upstage right corner. There is a microphone attached to a flexible arm protruding from the back stage wall. There is also a large magnifying glass over the mic. At various times throughout action howard speaks through mic, rather than directly to Sidney. Sidney suddenly wakes. First two lines of dialogue are interwoven)

Sydney

You’re here. I knew you’d come…for this….I told them …it’s not…something from the past.

Howard
I’ve never left. I’ve been right here, under your skin. You don’t feel me anymore. Too used to me now. Open your eyes and our work can begin….

Sydney
I’ve been preoccupied by …by your chronic state of arrival.

Howard
You’ve never recognized me.
-
Somewhere, off in a corner of the universe, they’re waiting, ready.
-

Sydney
The babies… ….

Sydney
…. unique….

Howard
Exactly. Unique.

(an alarming sound…)

when the inside becomes the outside….the work can begin…

Sydney
….when the inside becomes the outside

Howard
The volcano. even when it’s quiet it still has the power to create and destroy…

-
Howard and Sydney (together)
There’s a way for me to be destroyed and created at the same time.

Howard

(Looking out window with telescope)

All those babies…. waiting.
-
to come here.
-
Now that we’re together, they’ll come to us.

Sydney
….and end this separation.

Howard
You’ll be one.
-
not half of two…looking for the other with binocular nostalgia.

Sydney
The distance became time.

Howard

(she crosses upstage, sticks her head in a breach in the wall…only her body is visible)

Sydney
We’re getting down to business…

(Headless, Howard speaks, but audience cannot hear)

Sydney
it won’t be long now.

(loud sounds from the volcano)

it will be different for them…

Scene

THE BOSS

(In the basement. The agent is in half shadow. He is holding a ventriloquist’s dummy that is addressing the general who listens in horror.)

Dummy
You’ve come all this way…the window of time is closing…soon this place will be covered in boiling rock.
-
so you’d better get it right.
-
she doesn’t know she’s dangerous.
-
That’s what makes her dangerous.
-
And it’s her weakness.
-
She thinks something magnificent is happening.
Something seminal
-
She might be right.
-
That’s up to you.
-
But something tells me you have no idea what’s at stake here.
-
The babies…
-
The answer to the question of what’s on the outside.
-
What is whole. Real.
-
What has. … Glow?
-
No one with any stake really believes in the idea of the Glow.
-
But it’s important, vitally important to them that they get to define it anyway.
-
Do you understand what this means: to control how authenticity is determined?
-
We control what is a Pentecostal experience for them.
-
Nature cannot be left to the translation of what is spoken in tongues.

Scene

NATURE LOVES TO HIDE

(Howard’s head is sticking out of the wall, a reversal of her position in the previous scene.)

Howard
Do you know the secret word?

Sydney
(Sydney is paging through a large volume entitled Para-Obstetrics)

I’m sure it’s in here.

Howard
If you don’t there’ll be things you won’t have access to.

Sydney
Then these things don’t exist. I can’t be responsible for them.

Howard

If you don’t have access to them they don’t exist?
-
What doesn’t exist?

Sydney
What doesn’t exist.

Howard
There are things outside of existence?
-
…I’m very interested in these…things that don’t exist.
-
aren’t you?

Sydney
I can’t talk about something that doesn’t have form.

Howard
Thoughts have no form…
-
Then do they exist…without form…?
-
Think of how many thoughts have been lost to formlessness.
-
thoughts like babies…formed babies.

Sydney
We’re becoming creators.
-
We won’t need secret words.
-
We’ll make secret words.

Howard
There are creatures that are completely invisible from certain angles. You can be looking right at them and not see them… they spend their lives not being seen.
-
do you know what they look like?
-
They look like all other creatures not seeing them.

Sydney
This is giving me an idea.

(He begins to write frantically in margins of book until….)

Howard
…nature loves to hide….

Sydney
…. I’m dizzy…I have to sit.

Howard
(Howard produces a chair from behind curtain. It’s covered in tacks.)

Then sit.
Sydney
I couldn’t sit down now…not now.
(He rushes to the window, looks out with the telescope, then begins counting, making notes on the wall)

Howard
There are colors that have not yet been named. The human eye can’t see them.

Sydney
The color of the formless ones….

Howard
only the blind can see them…the blind and the mad.

Sydney
It’s beginning to work. This is the part where we begin.

Howard

That high-pitched buzz …it’s gone.

Sydney
Now we can begin.

Howard
Yes…but….I’m experiencing everything in a different way now…
-
I’m beginning to see with my mind…not my eyes.
–
The level I want you to reach is outside of your experience with nature … This is our task: to uncover what cannot be seen.

Sydney
…I can’t visualize it…

Howard
This is when the work can begin.

Sydney
There’s another way…right here
-
Don’t you see them?

-
They’re here… all around.

(To the little ones)
I’ve talked to someone that had a dream once…a dream unlike any other…where the black spaces became light… an anti-universe. And here…she met …the part of herself that’d been missing
-
(a whisper)That’s how she learned the secret word.

Howard

Has it gotten darker in here?

Sydney
It will.

Howard
This is real. Just like the movies.
-
I saw a film once. Just sat in the dark and watched as someone I never met showed me the limits of my imagination….

Sydney
(For the remainder of the scene Sydney is addressing ‘the little ones’.)

They come in the dark and build fences around you. It only happens in the dark. They can’t see in the light to build…
-
but I wouldn’t trust them if I were you…not like that. Not the way you feel right now.
It’s too new. The light of this world burns.
-
I’ve been waiting for a moment like this since I was seven…that’s when I began to speak. Total silence then I began to speak…I spoke many languages.

…My parents were surprised to hear me speak Chinese…

Howard
The buzz is back.
-
I missed it.

Sydney
They said the languages were caused by a tumor in my inner ear…they found it on x-ray and decided that was the cause (of my knowing so many languages.)

Howard
When it left I thought it was gone for good.

Sydney
They removed it but not before I wrote several volumes of a history of human civilization from Neolithic times through the 14th century.
-
I did.
-
All those tests.
-
I could move things…without touching them.
–
After the tumor came out I didn’t speak any of those languages any more. In fact, I was silent again until I learned my own language. They stole my secret powers.

Howard
I love so deeply there is no harm I would be unwilling to inflict upon the object of my affection.

(Sydney produces a baby with a diamond embedded in its forehead.)

Scene

THE DREAM OF SYCORAX-2
v.o.
His description becomes more elaborate, it begins to take on more characters, kings and queens fighting for control over mythic lands, heroes, and unified purposes; his dreams become his history: unfathomable, and therefore, impossible to refute.

INSIGHT

(Howard is creating an altar in front of the baby. There is smoke pouring in from offstage…Sydney is sweeping it back with a tattered broom)

Howard
The black spaces become light…

Everything is proceeding as I feared.

Sydney

We’ll keep them from vanishing in this…reversible reality….
-
Let’s call it a reversible reality.
-
-
I have to admit something to you….
-
I…have a hard time distinguishing individuals in a crowd.
-
The crowd… always looks like a multiplication of the same person.
-
Endless clones of …. me…
-
Maybe everyone only sees what they look like…we’re all unable to recognize anything different from our own design or what’s familiar.

Howard
Do you think they will appear different to you?
-
Don’t answer…not yet…
-
The way you think you’ll react is most likely the way you will react…
-
Maybe there’s no real originality of human thought either…there is no innovation in human physical appearance.
-
You’re just programmed to see difference….when in fact it doesn’t exist at all.
-
In reality people are all endlessly repeated copies.

Sydney
I look in the mirror
I’ve never seen you.
I know I’m seeing you, but not you.
Me, but not entirely me…an average.
But never unique.
Never whole.
-
You can’t see me…it’s impossible now. One of us has to choose…

Howard
I’ll live inside you…beneath the skin.
-
I’ll live beneath the skin.

Scene.

THE ARGUMENT

(Howard and Sydney’s room. There is a crack in the upstage wall where Howard was in the previous scene. A voice can be heard coming from the hole in the wall. The only light onstage is coming from the breach. Howard and Sydney are in tableaux.)

Voice Over
The child was left to wander. A journey taking him through ancestral landscapes. Rocks and trees sang out in a way the father never heard. It’s still there… lovely. A small bird sails over his head with a whisper…the falling sky bids him continue. But he stands still, enraptured by this moment that might not be real. Might be the memory of a fairy tale to take into sleep. This is that part. The part that moves between worlds. He stands with his feet beneath him, testing the ground below. It’s life inside the volcano. About to become something new…something never imagined before. A small tremor, and perspective shifts from inside to outside. to where these things seem small again. Inside there are larger things than volcanoes. No time for what can become smaller than it seems…that’s changeable. Dependent. A few steps more to the edge of the falling wall, and his hands run over the heating rock. Even that cannot last. Can’t take him out of what has become an upwardly spirally fantasy, one without increments. All has become visible. The sum of all care can be reached like fruit on a tree…it makes his head spin, then drop backward to where he sees his twin. At that it becomes obvious; he hasn’t been here before…not like this. His reflection softens as he moves his hand toward his own head. This has always been. This figure walking beside me like a shadow. Waiting for the time when they would meet and look with the same eyes in opposite directions. They enact a creation story inside their fixed stare, the one giving birth to the sky, the other, the earth. A clear beam of light shoots between heaven and earth joining them in significance.

Sydney
This is it.

Howard
Maybe this is it. This is what’s happening everywhere right now.

Sydney
I’m glad. I don’t need any more information.
-
I have a difficult time distinguishing between my thoughts and those of others.

Howard
You have other people’s thoughts in your head?

Sydney
Anonymous interjection fills my mind…any original thoughts have been drowned out.

Howard

You have no opinions?

Sydney
…Right now my mind is bursting with opinions… other people’s opinions and ideas. I’ll probably never exhaust them. Any topic, and I’m ready to weight in…
-

it’s like a … a guiding helper…I only need to look and listen, cast myself into the teeming information world and there is the sum total of my brain’s content out in the street.

Television, radio, magazines, newspaper…all of it…my mind is a vast network of ideas and information …so enormous it must be projected out into the world…can’t be contained in anything smaller.

Howard
Is there anything smaller than the world?

Sydney
The outer world an overflow of the life of the mind.

Howard
Then what’s on the inside?

Sydney
There is no inside…it’s all outside.
-
The flesh isn’t a boundary …the visual world is the self seeing the self.

Howard
The external world terrifies me…it reminds me of what I never became…

Sydney
the plans you leave behind get picked up by others …they do the work you can’t.

Howard
Then …I’m trapped on the fence between worlds?

Sydney
The fence is beginning to fall… …soon we will be a part of the great outside of the mind….

Howard
Fetus in fetu….
-
There’s no limit to where the babies’ work will take us…
-
We were together once.
The same.

Sydney
The world was different then.
-
dark and oceanic; a mystery.

Howard
Now we return to the state of the gods…the state of pre-conception.
-
Blood. Semen. Destruction. Part of a future not stumbled into but created.

Sydney
I’m slipping now… …I feel my head expanding in all directions. No end now…skin no longer binds the fullness of my mind.
-
It’s becoming the outside.
-
But all this doesn’t explain the existence of the other world. The one right here.

-
…now it’s become obvious…please…look at this…no…(sounds of a scuffle) you have to see it… ….

(lights up …dim, very dim. Howard and Syd pad around the stage)

Howard
i…i…i…I’m in a trance…the babies…gone…all gone….just an endless….reproduction….originality….is nostalgia….
there’s never been anything to come before us.
All the old explanations poison the mind…build walls of poison around us…

Sydney
I have a list of frequently misspelled words…they wallpaper my room…whenever I can I study them.
(she moves toward the wall, inches away she blankly stares…a small spot comes up on her)
it’s important to me…correct spelling…how else do we maintain the fragile realness of things?

Howard
Where are you?

(she is crawling around the stage with an attachment on his head that looks like a deep sea fish with the glowing bulb in front of their faces. her head is down so we only see the floor in front of her.)

Sydney
I update the list regularly…there’s no end to the words that are misspelled…I can hear it happening right now, endless misspelled words…it’s happening everywhere … all over…all over!

Howard
…I …we have to stay together…things have changed now…things are not the way they were…

Sydney
The words…the words will be the same.

Howard
Audivit sed quibus auribus nescio vox auditur divina (he heard a divine voice, though I know not with what ears that voice was heard.
-
There’s no more words here…no more words….

Scene

SILENCE

(In darkness we hear a tearing sound. Lights come up on Howard tearing the wallpaper off the walls. After pulling it all down and piling it up in center of stage he takes it, then all of the contents of the room upstage to the hole in the wall and begins to fill it in)

Howard
heat… tremors…. The old mind is dying…

(Sydney looks on: a silent scream)

Scene

DREAM OF SYCORAX-3

v.o.

A culture of dreams emerges from the morning haze…so unsure of itself it destroys any question of its verity.

Scene

SEQUENCE

Sydney
(Clutching a white flower) there is no way of telling the original from a copy….

Howard
(holding a flat of eggs)
The originals possess genetic sequences that copies do not…rare, ancient sequences…The scripts from countless scenes in history.
-
The knowledge is priceless.

Sydney
That my genetic material hasn’t been harvested calls into question my originality..

Howard
One of us must be the original. …we didn’t emerge simultaneously…no, there are sequences…all phenomena must take place in its own space-time….things don’t overlap in their genesis…

Sydney
They will come together…the volcano will give birth to them simultaneously…then there’ll be no question anymore….

Howard
(he begins carefully candling each egg)
We don’t know that, do we? Really…certainty will elude us as the truth of our sequence has eluded us all this time…
-
Perhaps experiments are under way as we speak…there are scientists secretly observing our every move…my every move.
-
-
(in shadow, continuing with the eggs)
What if you and I just sat here? Just sat here and stared at each other? Tested the limits of our endurance? How long could we do it? How long could you stare at my face? At anyone’s face, before you became uncomfortable? Before you convinced yourself that you were actually staring at yourself…how long before we become one another? Before we realize we have, at long last, discovered ourselves? What is the threshold for beholding humanity? Real, in the flesh, not just an abstract notion of what that is? Do you become more compassionate as our little game progresses, or do you feel a growing need to attack me? An atavistic response to what you perceive as a threat? But we’re different aren’t we. We are the same.

(Howard has moved downstage and is staring at the egg. Sid looks in mirror.)

Vocation

He hovers in space like the earth itself, like a photograph of the earth from outer space. That cruel perspective of humanity watching itself. If only he could forget. Leave behind this insistent awareness. The desire to throw himself into something and, for just one moment, be unaware that he’s involved in that thing…pure. No self-involvement, only the drive to build something from the ground up. Something never seen before…the creation of phenomena out of nothing. This act of seminal production could liberate him from even here. To build, not be built around. This effort would give life more than meaning or purpose, but the experience of forgetting that these things carry value. To be in that pure state of grace beyond memory…
-
one solemn effort, one inspired idea is all that’s between him and this softness of mind. A meditation of excess that becomes pure function…involvement in this sacred project his only aspiration now. He listens, listens for your arrival, listens for that tone that will set his mind to performing this supreme act, to create this product of a singular mind.

Scene

GET IT STRAIGHT

(The basement. Agent is conversing quietly with dummy upstage in front of tank.)

Agent
Sir, there are still several that have not been identified.

General
Several?

Agent
It’s too close to tell, as you know we haven’t developed an accurate measurement for this stage.

General
Yes….but some pre-natal behavioral tic, some mark or …

Agent
…they’ve been very thorough.

General
Hard to really trust anything anymore.

Agent
Almost impossible.

General
But children?

Agent
Sir; these are not ordinary children.

General
(with pacifier)
That’s why it’s essential the formula be administered.
-
There’s something else isn’t there?
-
…something quite…nauseating about this…I can’t describe it…I actually feel sick …I’m sorry…it’s quite strange.

Agent
Sir, yesterday… I saw a woman… standing in the airport, waiting for my flight …a beautiful woman. I stood still…completely taken by her…she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen…I missed my plane…. …I just had to keep looking at her…admiring her ….i thought I’d become ill…I …I couldn’t move, I couldn’t swallow…I could barely breathe….then, just when I thought I’d better force myself to move one…another woman walked up, stood next to her…just as beautiful, then another. And another. They just came in one after another until the gate area was filled with these women… then, I realized….they all looked the same. Not just similar.
The same.
Exactly.
They were, for all I could tell, the same woman repeated endlessly.
-
The woman I love…

General
The original, or the copy?

Agent
Maybe it’s the idea that a copy can be made I feel most attracted to…that there cannot be a true original
-
… …that the truth is in reproducibility, not uniqueness.
-
That only those things that can and would be reproduced have value…that a singular phenomena is an accident of nature, one more piece of trash in the overflowing wastebasket of evolutionary progress.

General
Oh no!
Oh no my friend, my very confused friend…
….you will not call into question the significance of my originality…

Agent
But after you there will be more and more and more supposedly unique individuals…you will be (forgotten..

General
I will) live on in my deeds.

Agent
But if you were worthy of duplication…of reproduction, then your continued existence would be assured…

General
You’ll never erase the significance of the One.
-
Let me tell you a story of primary significance…to our operation…
-
…when I came through. A bright light. Blood. Patches of images here and there…no concrete memories…until…
-
they took me into the room…quite a bit darker…it was a relief. Dark…warm…soft music.

…comfort. Comfort again. I felt safe. Taken care of…they gave me something sweet. A candy or something…all those colors…all those nice people paying so much attention to me. They made me feel like I belonged to something. Even at that age…I was part of something great. They gave me sweet little candies all day. I felt so good…so full of power…a power I drew from them. That room…the lights. Every baby…each one that comes through this world deserves to feel that.
-
these…rites of passage are essential to our civilization. –
no child can be left behind. No one.
-
if we begin omitting people from these very necessary milestones …of a normal, productive life, what do we become? Animals, son. brute beasts, completely disconnected from …(he becomes agitated).
-
we each have a job to do…we must each find ourselves in our respective roles in the maintenance of….. .
-
do you understand what this means?
-
do you have any idea of the importance of the operation?
-
he wants to create a class of outsiders…a whole generation of people who haven’t’ had the same formative experiences we have.
-
my god I’m getting sick again…the thought of it…i…oh god…

Agent
I’ve lost the feeling in my head….
-
My hair’s falling out…each day, hair falls out …

(Agent has put on a large wig. General looks on in horror, begins furiously sucking on bottle)

Scene

THE DREAM OF SYCORAX-4

V.O.

A culture of dreams emerges from the morning haze…so unsure of itself it destroys any question of its verity. What came before the sleep that birthed the dream he never spoke to me of. His history a restless attempt to describe itself; it grows less and less interested in events, increasingly aware of its own logic, its own need for integrity.

Scene

RUBICON

(Syd and Howard’s room. The phone rings. Syd, alone, stares at it. It continues ringing…finally, he answers. He does not speak immediately. Listening, he reaches for a pen and paper and begins writing. )

Sydney

…….you are my sunshine
my only sunshine
you make me happy
when skies are gray
you’ll never know dear….

(Syd turns away, sees Howard. A look of horror as lights fade)

ADVICE

The basement.

(The agent and the general are hunched over a large wooden box. they are arranging something inside of the box that cannot be seen by the audience. They are speaking in inaudible tones as lights come up.)

General
Did you hear something?
-
…they’ve begun.
-
We have to be prepared for anything.

Agent
What about……

General
…..you were ordered not to bring that up…

Agent
I never remember anything because I never know anything.
-
Still….I have to take care of these things. They get left undone for too long. Get beneath someone’s … that is … someone notices these fragments.

General

(As he speaks below he climbs into box. he is locked in.)

It’s all handled. Trust me.
-
What you don’t know about these … fragments…
–
There are people. Taking care. looking after things. details. this is how we sleep. in the…small hours. knowing there’s someone who cares. who loves as much as we do. more. it’s inspiring to think of it. to actually allow this, the real significance of it…allow it into your head. when you do…you’ll see. you’ll feel it. that sense of…of relevance. purpose. the great enterprise we’re a part of….
-
You see… There are people in our organization that we each do our small part in…. They care.
They spend years.
No sleep.
Refusing food.
Pleasure.
Recreation.
Absorbed as they are in calculations. Meditation. On specific problems you can’t even begin to appreciate. Problems we never have to encounter thanks to their loving care.
-
There seems to be a draft…

Agent
(He begins to look for the hole in the box)

General
I can’t be too careful.
Colds.
Flu.
Pneumonia before you know it.
-
Vitamin c.
Zinc.
Rest.
Fluids.

You know this. You know this yet you still eat the way you do. Look at me. Have you ever known me to be sick? To be incapable of doing my duties?
-
No. Of course not… I don’t take the advice of experts for granted. If I’m told by one such expert to follow a particular regime, diet, what have you, that’s what I do.
-
We have this information available to make our lives healthier, longer. More productive. And yet we refuse it…we don’t listen. it’s rudeness. Disrespect for one’s vocation.

Agent
(Finding the hole…he exits)

General
Productivity! It’s our mission. All of us. Can’t just lay fallow my friend. We each have a role to play… a part if you will. If however one spends one’s lifetime infirm, sidelined by chronic ailments, one becomes a burden…isn’t pulling one’s share…there is a great task before us all and it is sacred duty to put ones’ self fully behind it…

(Agent returns with a patch for the box. with a flourish he seals the box…the General is silent)

Scene

THE DREAM OF SYCORAX-5

v.o.
I ask him how long he slept, how long did the dream last? And before that? What happened before he slept? This time before the dream seems a mystery. This time is what I am most curious about.

Scene

PRESSURE
(Sydney is alone.)

Sydney (v.o.)

The pressure has built up, more and more intense as time has passed.
-
it started low, at the base of the brain, gradually moving higher and higher up until it took over the back of my head…I thought the back of my head would shoot off.
-
then, it began its forward assault, over the back to the top, always expanding, reaching in all directions, enveloping all I did, all I saw into its sinister purpose, until finally, it’s arrived between my eyes in a cold, sharp point.
-
it could go at any time.

(She turns around to reveal a stream of blood coming from between here eyes. sound of the volcano)

Scene

NO BABIES

(The basement. The general is still in the box. A phone is off the hook on top of the box; General is speaking from within. Dummy can be seen by himself with phone in half light opposite general and box)

General
Yes sir.
-
She thinks she knows.
-
The boundaries of the program.
-
She does not know.
-
Yes, an end-run.
-
Move to the outside then surround us. Engulf us in the catacombs of her sickness.
-
-
That is what we’re dealing with.
-
Poor bastard thinks it’s enlightenment.
-
How does she think?
-
(Becoming nauseous) We don’t know.
-
It makes me nervous.
I’m not ashamed to tell you this. It’s not natural.
-
Authenticity.
-
Realness.
-
The bedrock of experience is individuality.
-
We can’t allow this to continue.
No telling where it will go.
-
Yes.
-
Yes, sir.
You know I consider you a visionary.
-
Yes.
-
Like a father to me.
-
No sir…no sir.
-
You can rest assured: there will be no babies here.

Scene

INTERFERENCE

(Lights up on Howard and Sydney standing faced upstage before the microphone. Both of their voices come through mic.)

Sydney
…Last night… heard a strange sound….moving up and down the hallway…I thought there were no others…

Howard
Only you …
…We’ll soon be one again…
We will be one again.
-
We’ve ridden the ship around the world…
We’re rediscovering the universe….

Sydney
I always knew there was something great awaiting me…to distinguish me from … …from you…from them….

Howard
Now, we become one.

Scene

TRAP

(the basement. Dummy is speaking to agent alone.)

Dummy

She’s gotten closer…
-
I’ve enjoyed watching her stumbling toward…the ultimate revelation about our project.
-
but even if she does succeed she won’t know how they become the same….she might even think he’s wrong. That there are…distinctions.
-
and why not? There are.
-
until we get them.

Scene.

THE DREAM OF SYCORAX-6

v.o.

. The dream has become a confusion, no longer offering insight into a single person, only a labyrinth of desire and self-referential fantasy. More of the dream has been forgotten than recalled. A voice inside him dictates details and greater, more intricate details, further obscuring the time before he slept.

Scene

ERUPTION

Sydney
Sad that we have to meet under such ominous conditions.

Howard
These conditions make it possible for us to meet.

Sydney
You’ve been arriving as long as I can remember

(Sid pull back curtain and reveals medical table with instruments. She picks up the beaker Howard had in the first scene.)

Howard
….don’t say it…not that. That’s over now.
The trip that took us further and further away from each other has ended now.

Sydney
(speaking to the beaker)
You’ve never left.
Nothing’s wasted.
Extra parts.
Extra abilities….
No application up till now.
-
Perhaps this is the work I’ve been prepared for
-
a life can be spent in preparation for something concrete.
Time not wasted, but directed unconsciously. A spiritual hunger satisfied by time.
-
Those babies.
-
Those beautiful babies all accounted for.
Each one passing through this place into the world of forms.
It’s a dream…each one…intact.
Complete. Individual.
They won’t wait for something to arrive that will never come.
-
Everything will be right here for them when they arrive.
-
The glow…
They will glow.

Howard
I’ve labored to introduce you to the world you did not understand.

Sydney

I don’t want to understand that world.

Howard
Only by not understanding could you have come here.

Sydney
The shadows are becoming clearer than the bright spots.

Howard
You will reach me then.
When you are completely blind and able to see all the darkness then our work will be complete.
-
Blind clarity.

(a loud sound. The lights flicker. the volcano is beginning to become deadly…)

We’ll be reborn as children.
-
-
We’ve made it possible for the future to arrive.

Sydney
I’m beginning to feel a bit shaky…

Howard
This is your moment
Where everything you’ve lost will be returned to you.

Sydney
But you’re here…

Howard

Sid, I’m not here
I’m dead Sid.
Dead.
You…ate me. in this world only one can survive.

Sydney
…all of this…it’s for you…not me.
This is a welcoming party. ..
Your arrival

Howard
My arrival is the future…
It’s always only the future.
I exist as an impending sense of completeness.
Always just out of your reach.

Sydney
I’ve been denied solitude.
Haunted by your arrival.
I’ve kept myself surrounded by the crowd.

Howard
Sid, be good.
Be good, Sid.
no point in looking for solitude now.

Sydney
But you’re here….we can be complete now.
.

Howard
The babies, Sid.
That’s all that matters now.
Your time…our time is over…time to welcome them.
Make them feel comfortable.
Do you understand what will happen?

(silence)

they are the new ones.
The children…they’ve never been here before.
One mind.
Unified.
Perfectly decided in purpose.
-
They can’t be stopped.

Sydney
I can’t.
I can’t let it go.

Howard
It’s too late, Sid.
This is the act that distinguishes you.

Sydney
I’m not …
I’m part of something else.
Something incomplete.
Something that must be completed.

Nothing.
-
nothing’s happened. The volcano’s begun but no babies…
no babies….

Howard.
It will continue.
We hold out by standing on opposite sides of each other. There are no more than two. Two sides of one person…multiplied into the outer reaches of the universe.

Sydney
…you’ve wandered.
Wandered into chaos.

Howard
Where I’ve met you…

Sydney
I’ve come to be buried alive.

Howard
The only possible outside of outside…is inside.

Sydney
Buried alive…I…we…will become the outside

Howard
There to project our thought forms upon the world.

Sydney
Resisting the confines of that world.

Howard
The plan to reject its limitations on us has emerged

Sydney
Potential for thought preserved…
…the babies.

Howard
The secret legend of the self: revealed once and for all time…

(The agent enters with the dummy. The dummy begins to speak but in a whisper. Audience cannot hear him…Sydney moves closer to the dummy to hear. Howard walks away toward downstage. Sid sits at his feet and listens to his inaudible words as the volcano erupts at full force in the background….until…)

Blackout