Cesura: the black rites of space
A Dream Play
By T. R. Pickerill
2011 -2012
© T. R. Pickerill- All rights reserved
characters:
a. one, (m), naked mostly, covered in a white flakey matter, and wearing only a partial shirt in tatters, with white hair and stubble, he has a knife which he never uses only passing from one hand to the other
b. the other, (m), a shadow dressed in black with white gloves
c. one who is mostly silent, (f), naked and painted white and with a rainbow burst of light
and veiled (iridescent)
a. is blind to c.
set:
- 5kw Fresnel with red (R27) gel, should be seen by the audience like a sun in the sky
- 500w Fresnel with green gel, like a planet off from the larger red orb
- shaft of light placed on the set, no color
- a large boulder off center stage right
- 2 large tarps, one clear, and one blue, dirty and tattered hang haphazardly behind the transmitter
- footlight behind the transmitter
- a transmitter/audio stack with flashing lights and an antenna
- transmitter produce a periodic audio pulse
- a voice calls out the characters letters
- each time the lights are turned on and off this is accompanied by a 'tick'
Begin
b.
begin
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
- a. is working at a transmitter
- b. is perched on the rock, watching a.
- c. is standing behind the transmitter observing a.
a.
read it again for me
b.
three planets
three mountains
three pyramids
three space ships
three characters
three masks
one is lost
- lights off ('tick') - wait 5 seconds
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The day begins.
b.
It's You.
a.
I begin again.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
b.
You will never see her.
a.
I see her now.
b.
You see nothing,
and even that I will take away.
a.
You lie!
I will make it out of here.
b.
It's all in your mind.
There is nowhere to escape.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The day begins.
b.
It's You.
a.
I begin again.
b.
You will never escape me.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
read it again
b. (b. leaves his perch,)
How long has it been since I've seen you?
I dreamt of you again. Sitting,
smoking on the edge of the mattress.
Not naked, your innocence
not yet relinquishing your body to the world.
Then you were gone.
A mirage could not have been more real.
I searched for remains of your cigarettes
like bread crumbs in the forest.
I ran my hand across your impression,
cradled my head in its saddle.
A well to pull forth memories,
to peer into its dark still water.
Hoping, in that mirror, that
I might find that you have returned.
Your hand on my shoulder
pulling me back to bed,
to rest again in your arms.
The stillness is shattered.
a.
I am alone.
b.
A dream that never was,
you are at a cross roads.
I will take you.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The day begins.
b.
It's You.
a.
I begin again.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a. (b. laughing)
The cliffs rise up,
the sky falls
upon them,
warring
I am stranded,
head on a pike,
body open for display,
blood crying
for the night
and sleep
for the stranger
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The day begins.
b.
It's You.
a.
I begin again.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
I saw you again,
in my dream.
You were the earth
white and glowing,
heat and wetness
The universe in revolutions
about you spinning.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The day begins.
b.
It's You.
a.
I begin again.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
b. (into a.'s ear)
First There Was one hole.
a.
I try to write it down
but there is nothing left.
b.
There is no thing left.
a.
She was with me once.
I have visions.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
b. (into a.'s ear)
I am a maggot
death is not far
on my side
a body grows foul
waiting to rise, holding
back beasts with
outstretched hands
searching the abyss
for a look from her
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The sky is purple and there are yellow stripes like veins
I bleed radioactivity off the thermal piles
Complex molecules ignite
My veins are rivers
liquid fire
I flow across her body
b.
A dream.
a.
She was with me once.
I have visions.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The day begins.
b.
It's you.
a.
I begin again.
b.
It is your heart that you have forgotten.
a.
All I can do is think of her.
b.
To remember her
is not enough.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a. (is curled up on the ground with b. perched atop like a vulture.)
read it again
b.
Born on cliffs and rocky slides,
terrorizing the earth, piercing the sky,
the little girl road the small Mongolian horse.
Slowly traversing a sky masked in haze and dust,
lifted on heels searching the abyss.
The caravan is pursued as night
rises up in shadows vaporous and milky.
She is alone in her fear.
On either side the limits rise and fall,
in rocks and crags, toothy and howling,
indifferent to her loneliness.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
I try to remember?
b.
You will forget her.
a.
Lier!
She was with me once.
I have visions.
- lights off ('tick')
- wait 5 seconds
- lights on ('tick')
a.
The day begins.
b.
It's you.
a.
I begin again.
b.
You will never escape me.
a.
Is there nothing more?
- lights off ('tick')
a. (screams)
Can you hear me?
End
