Journée de Triste
Story by Vika Ishchuk, Tani German, Ryan Berres, Tony Carlson and Molly Miller
Script written by Molly Miller
Characters:
Demons
Female Demons
Hero
Soul
Old Mad Man
Angel
Guard
Man
Lord
Techies
Scene 1
Blackout.
SOUL
“I have fallen, Lord, once more.
I can’t go on, and I’ll never succeed.
I’m ashamed, and I don’t dare look at you.
And yet I’ve struggled, Lord, for I knew you were right near me, bending over me, watching.”
MAN
“But temptation blew in like a hurricane and instead of looking at you I turned away and stepped aside, while you stood silent and sorrowful—a spurned fiancé who sees his loved once carried away by his rival.
When the wind had died down as suddenly as it had arisen…”
SOUL
“When lightning ceased after proudly striking the darkness…
All of a sudden, I found myself alone, ashamed, disgusted, with my sin in my hands.
This sin that I selected as a customer selects his purchase.
This sin that now sickens me, which I once wanted but I want no more.”
OUR HERO
“That I imagined, sought, played with, fondled, for a long time.
That I finally embraced while coldly bypassing you.
My arms outstretched, my eyes and heart were irresistibly drawn.
I grasped and consumed with gluttony.”
MAN
“It’s mine now, Lord, but it possesses me.
As a spider web holds captive the fly.
It’s mine and sticks to me.
It flows in my veins and fills my heart.
It has slipped in everywhere, as darkness slips into the forest at dusk and fills all the patches of light.”
SOUL
“Lord, I can’t seem to get rid of it.
I run from it like the master of an unwanted and mangy dog.
But it catches up to me and rubs joyfully against my legs.
Everyone must notice it.
I’m so ashamed that I feel like crawling to avoid being seen.
I’m afraid of being seen by my friends, Lord.
I’m ashamed of being seen by You!”
MAN
“For you loved me, and I forgot you.
I forgot you because I was thinking only of myself, and one can’t think of several persons at once.”
OUR HERO
“One must choose, and I chose.”
Setting:
Spiritual nothingness, as portrayed by a room with two doors. The two doors are opposite each other. The door nearest off-stage is the door to Heaven and has a spotlight shining on it, the other one (positioned less then halfway across the stage) is the gate to hell. SOUL leans up against the gate to hell in a relaxed, drowsy position.
OUR HERO storms in from the door to heaven, slamming the door loudly behind him. He is muttering, half to himself, half to the audience.
OUR HERO:
“I’ll show you!”
SOUL:
“Pride always starts the fall…”
OUR HERO:
“I don’t need God!”
OUR HERO pounds his fists on the door.
SOUL:
“I don’t need God either… It’s why we’re here”
OUR HERO:
“I’m a man of position! Do you see me? Look at me!”
SOUL looks intently at OUR HERO, as if in a mirror
SOUL:
“Was a genius, I was.”
OUR HERO turns and sees SOUL, finally aware that he is not the only person in the room.
OUR HERO:
“Who are you?”
SOUL:
“Undecided.”
OUR HERO:
“What’s your name?”
SOUL:
“God forsaken.”
They sit for a very long time, quiet with thought and impatience.
OUR HERO:
“Now what?”
SOUL:
“We wait.”
OUR HERO:
“For what?”
SOUL:
“Severed Self.”
This time the silence is more intense as OUR HERO grows restless and angry.
OUR HERO:
“How much longer will it be?”
SOUL:
“A lifetime, maybe.”
OUR HERO:
“I’m sick of waiting! I don’t want to wait!”
SOUL:
“How old are you?”
OUR HERO:
“26”
SOUL:
“Not exactly a child…”
OUR HERO:
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
SOUL:
Not exactly innocent either. You’re gonna wait here a long time…”
OUR HERO:
“No I’m not! I’m leaving!”
OUR HERO stops pacing the floor and stands before the door to heaven.
OUR HERO:
“Where does this door lead?”
SOUL:
“Have you forgotten all ready? It doesn’t matter, I don’t remember either.”
OUR HERO:
“What about this one?”
SOUL:
“It will teach you things, that door. But I don’t recommend it.”
OUR HERO:
“It is better then wasting away to nothingness here! I make my own choices!”
SOUL:
“The journey will break a man.”
OUR HERO:
“I can’t be broken.”
OUR HERO starts talking about all the brave things he’s done. All his defining moments of pride and strength. He doesn’t hear SOUL.
SOUL:
“Neither could I…”
SOUL stands slowly as she speaks.
SOUL:
“But I was… I was broken. I’m nothing…”
Suddenly, OUR HERO notices SOUL.
SOUL:
“I’m nobody.”
OUR HERO:
“I’m not like you! I’m somebody! And I’m leaving!”
OUR HERO crosses in front of SOUL as he talks, in SOUL’S face. OUR HERO then turns away and doesn’t see as SOUL moves toward heaven.
SOUL:
“Look, come with me.”
OUR HERO:
“No! Shut up! I’m not listening!”
They open the doors at the same time. SOUL leaves quietly, but OUR HERO, upon opening the doors, finds a GUARD before him. He falls back with a cry of surprise.
LIGHT CHANGE
GUARD:
“Who are you?”
OUR HERO gets up, regaining his composure.
OUR HERO:
“A man.”
GUARD:
“What’s your name?”
OUR HERO:
“Mike- Michael. I want passage!”
GUARD:
“The journey will break a man.”
OUR HERO:
“I’m strong. I can’t be broken.”
GUARD:
“Enter.”
MUSIC CUE
OUR HERO steps through to hell. Guard shuts the door and stands behind it as before. Before OUR HERO is the rest of the stage, littered with blank pieces of white paper. An OLD MADMAN sits in the midst of it all, dragging a black crayon over the paper in a single line.
OUR HERO:
“What are you doing?”
OLD MADMAN does not look up, focused on his line.
OLD MADMAN:
“Drawing.”
OUR HERO:
“Drawing what?”
OLD MADMAN looks up blankly, delivers his line, then goes back to drawing.
OLD MADMAN:
“A map.”
OUR HERO:
“Why?”
OLD MADMAN looks up sharply and the crayon breaks as he does. OLD MADMAN looks to the crayon and finds it broken within his hand. He grieves it.
OLD MADMAN:
“It’s gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone. Blackness and dissolving. White papers explode.”
He animates his words insanely, picking up papers and throwing them all over and onto OUR HERO. He then sinks to his knees before OUR HERO.
OLD MADMAN:
“Gone! Gone? Gone where? Following… endless following… trails that lead nowhere… to white. To light.”
OLD MADMAN had started rocking, but stops abruptly.
OLD MADMAN:
“I remember light.”
He looks up at OUR HERO.
OLD MADMAN:
“There is no-
light here, no-
God here, no-
crayon here!”
OUR HERO:
“Where is here?”
OLD MADMAN:
“You do not know? I do not know? Let us see!”
OUR HERO:
“What?!”
OLD MADMAN:
“Look!”
He picks up various pieces of paper with lines on them and shoves them into OUR HERO’S face.
OLD MADMAN:
“We have a map!”
OUR HERO:
“Through where? More importantly; to where?”
OLD MADMAN:
“Hell! Bell…
Hell, bell!
Hell, bell…
Bell… Ding, dong.
Ding.
Dong.
Ding.
Dong.
Here, there,
nowhere…”
OUR HERO:
“Nowhere?”
OLD MADMAN:
“Yes! No! Let’s go nowhere… There’s nothing to see there. Fear there! Let’s go- you must see!”
OUR HERO:
“Will I return?”
OLD MADMAN:
“To the world? Yes. To the light…?”
OLD MADMAN looks away, to a world of his own.
OLD MADMAN:
“I remember light. I believe you will too.”
OUR HERO:
“Then I will go.”
OLD MADMAN
“Good. We’ll see… come now. The endless following. Footsteps through hell.”
OUR HERO
“What’s going on in here?”
OLD MADMAN
“Darkness will consume. Blazing. Consuming. Unquenchable. Sulfur thrown upon the waters, look? See? Ashes float here. Broke here. Things in things in things in dungeons of gloom. And it contains dead bodies. All the dead are weeping...”
OUR HERO
“And gnashing their teeth. I’ve heard it all before.”
OLD MADMAN
“Try listening… Demons gnash, you weep.”
OUR HERO
“Why should I weep? I’ve done nothing wrong.”
OLD MADMAN
“You don’t understand. No one does ‘til they walk this trail; ‘til they’re broken.”
OUR HERO
“I don’t plan to break.”
OLD MADMAN
“They do. They like to play with broken toys.”
OUR HERO
“I’m not a toy…”
OLD MADMAN
“Only unto yourself. Dance!
Dance when they say.
Puppets have strings, pull and snip
They will be free to dance.
Dance when they say.
Dolls have dresses, tear and snip
They will be free to dance.
Dance when they say…”
OUR HERO
“No one commands me.”
OLD MADMAN
“We’ll see. Dance! Watch…”
LIGHT CHANGE BEFORE AND AFTER HELL
SOUND CUE BEFORE AND AFTER HELL
The first level of hell is depicted here as either a film or dance.
OLD MADMAN
“Souls have God, sever and burn
They will be free to dance.”
OUR HERO
“I’m strong…”
OLD MADMAN
“Dance when they say.”
OUR HERO
“I can overcome it. I don’t have to do what they say… I can resist.”
OLD MADMAN
“My feet hurt; burning to the sole. A walk on fine thread. Sewing sinew
Through…”
OUR HERO
“Through what?”
OLD MADMAN
“Surely I do not know.”
OUR HERO
“Well, don’t you have a map?”
OLD MADMAN
“No scribbles can help here. Forgive me, I threw it away. But, silly me, I’ve forgotten the way.
OUR HERO
“What?! Are you telling me that we are stuck here?!”
OLD MADMAN
“Possibly. We must be careful, or we could lose our way… we must not be caught here.”
OUR HERO
“What if someone sees us?”
OLD MADMAN
“You see them. One more thread.
Weaving spider’s silk through flesh. Hearts pouring out content to leave a trail.
Most fail.”
OUR HERO
“I do not fail. We’ll get out of this place. I will not be trapped or cornered!”
OLD MADMAN
“I see. Do you?”
LIGHT CHANGE BEFORE AND AFTER HELL
MUSIC CUE BEFORE AND AFTER HELL
The second level of hell is depicted here in manner like the first..
OLD MADMAN
“Burned and cut by bonds. Ropes and cages. Imagine that.”
OUR HERO
“I’d get out.”
OLD MADMAN
“How? Why?
We sit and cry.
Tattered.
Battered.
Soul’s upon roses red
Violets blue,
The road De Dolores
Is calling to you.
Trapped in a cage…
Forever with the open road.
OUR HERO
“I’m clever enough. I wouldn’t be bound. I couldn’t be blinded.”
OLD MADMAN
“You’re lying!
Upon another’s bed.
Their bloody white death-bed.”
OUR HERO
“What in God’s name are you talking about?!”
OLD MADMAN
“I see you there. I see you there with your hand clasped ‘round a knife! You have shed innocent blood along the road and you will be damned! Who gave you the right to desecrate my LORD’S holy name?!”
The OLD MADMAN throws off his outer layer of clothing to reveal a messenger in white.
OLD MADMAN
“You have stolen them all away and do not care! You ask if the LORD is seeing you? I AM. I AM seeing you now. DO you see yourself?”
OUR HERO looks up to the screen where flashes from the previous levels of hell are playing.
OLD MADMAN
“I AM seeing you there!”
OUR HERO
“That’s… that’s my soul? That is my soul…”
OLD MADMAN
“There are many souls here.”
OUR HERO
“Yeah, and that one’s mine, isn’t it?”
OLD MADMAN
“I AM seeing you.”
LIGHT CHANGE BEFORE AND AFTER HELL
MUSIC CUE BEFORE AND AFTER HELL
The third level in hell is depicted here in the same manner as the others.
OUR HERO
“I’m there. Damned with… with everyone… why are they here? I couldn’t have… I couldn’t have condemned them. They must have done something wrong, right?”
OLD MADMAN
“I AM looking at you. I AM seeing you.”
OUR HERO
“It… it does not matter. I will get them out again! I can carry them!”
OLD MADMAN
“You think you can carry all their souls?”
OUR HERO
“Yes.”
OLD MADMAN
“You can’t even carry yourself! You need someone to do it for you.”
OUR HERO
“Yes! I can! I don’t need anyone to help me! I can make it on my own.”
OLD MADMAN
“Go then! Carry yourself back through that door…”
OUR HERO takes one step and falls, face-first, at the OLD MADMAN’S feet.
END MUSIC
Blackout.
OUR HERO, SOUL, and MAN
“And now, Lord, your voice, your look, and your love hurt me.
They weigh me down more than my sin.
Lord, please don’t look at me like that.
I’m naked and dirty, down and shattered, with no strength left.
I dare not make any more promises.”
OUR HERO
“I can only stand bowed before you, Lord.”
The light comes up to see LORD standing over OUR HERO.
BEGIN MUSIC; What Wondrous Love
LORD
“Come on Son, look up.
Is it mainly your vanity that is wounded?
If you loved me, you would grieve, but you would trust.
Do you think there is a limit to God’s love?
Do you think, for a moment, I have stopped loving you?
But you still rely on yourself, son.
You must rely on me.”
LORD carries OUR HERO back out of hell and places him near the gate to heaven.
LORD
Ask my pardon and get up quickly.
LIGHT CHANGE
When OUR HERO awakens (a rude awakening, with a start) he finds himself back in the room. He gets up, sleepily trying to remember where he is; he turns to see the door to hell. His eyes grow wide and he stumbles away, afraid, running to the door to heaven.
When he reaches it, he stops, aware of what is behind the door. He backs away, shaking his head defensively. He falls against the door to hell and sinks down to a sitting position not unlike SOUL had been sitting at the start of the play.
There is a long pause, where nothing is heard but OUR HERO’S heavy breathing.
Suddenly, a MAN storms in, slams the door to heaven and shouts at God.
MAN
“You’ve got to be kidding!”
OUR HERO heaves a great sigh and looks up.
MAN
“I don’t need your ridiculous rules! I’m free!”
OUR HERO
“Free to dance… it’s why we’re here.”
MAN
“I can do whatever I want!”
OUR HERO
“Whatever they tell us to… Whenever they call out to command us…”
MAN turns and sees OUR HERO, finally aware that he is not the only person in the room.
MAN
“Who are you?”
OUR HERO
“Unbroken.”
MAN
“What’s your name?”
OUR HERO
“God forsaken.”
They sit for a very long time, quiet with thought and impatience.
MAN
“What do we do here?”
OUR HERO
“We wait.”
MAN
“For what?”
OUR HERO
“Humility.”
This time the silence is more intense as the MAN grows restless and angry.
MAN
“Will it be long?”
OUR HERO
“A lifetime, maybe.”
MAN
“I’m sick of waiting! I don’t want to wait!”
OUR HERO
“You been waiting long?”
MAN
“Long enough!”
OUR HERO
“Not by far.”
MAN
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
OUR HERO
“You’ve not even seen the beginning. You’re gonna wait here a long time.”
MAN
“No I’m not! I’m leaving!”
The MAN stops before the door to heaven.
MAN
“Where does this door lead?”
OUR HERO
“You’ve forgotten already? It doesn’t matter… I don’t remember either.”
MAN
“What about this one?”
OUR HERO
“It will teach you things, that door. But I don’t recommend it.”
MAN
“It is better then wasting away to nothingness here! I make my own choices!”
OUR HERO
“The journey will break a man.”
MAN
“I’m free. I can’t be broken.”
The MAN starts talking about all the brave things he’s done. All his defining moments of pride and strength. He doesn’t hear OUR HERO.
OUR HERO
“Neither could I…”
OUR HERO
“But I was… I was broken. I’m nothing.”
The MAN notices OUR HERO again..
OUR HERO
“I’m nobody.”
MAN
“Well, I’m not like you! I’m somebody! And I’m leaving!”
The MAN crosses in front of OUR HERO as he talks, in OUR HERO’S face. The MAN then turns away and doesn’t see as OUR HERO moves toward heaven.
OUR HERO
“Look, come with me.”
MAN
“No! Shut up! I’m not listening!”
They both open their doors, MAN enters through the door to hell and OUR HERO goes to the door to heaven.
MAN freezes and the lights go to OUR HERO. The door to heaven is opened by LORD.
OUR HERO
“Please, Lord, forgive me…”
LORD
Welcome, my son!
LORD clasps hands with OUR HERO and leads him through.
Blackout.
Fin.
