Thursday, March 1, 2007

EATEN BY GOD (a short play)

cast: Z, young man,early to mid twenties short hair wearing black pants and coat, green shirt. adolf wearing pink version of priests smock.

setting: a moderately well lit room, very few things in the room; a cross on a wall behind Z, Z sits on a large plate. Adolf stands to the side.

Z: I AM HERE WAITING.
WAITING HERE FOR THE ALL-CONSUMING NOTHINGNESS TO CONSUME AND TURN HERE INTO NOWHERE.WHEN I SAY HERE,I MEAN WHEREVER I AM AT THE MOMENT WHEN I SAY HERE,SO I SIT HERE,THEN HERE IS HERE,IF I GET UPWALK TO OVER THERE,THEN THERE WILL BE HERE.

I WONDER NOW,SINCE WHERE EVERI AM I AM HERE,IF I DIE AND THEREFRE I AM NOWHERE, DOES NOWHERE BECOME HERE, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, DOES HERE BECOME NOWHERE,SINCE I AM IWILL NOT BE ANYWHERE IN HERE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TO MAKE IT A PLACE CALLED HERE?
AND WHAT THEN OF THERE? THERE:THE PLACE BETWEEN HERE AND THE OTHER HERE,LIKE SOME COMBINATION OF EGG AND CARCASS,THAT IS WHAT "THERE" IS...
BECAUSE BEFORE WE GET SOMEWHERE TO MAKE IT HERE,ITS OVER THERE,AND AFTER WE LEAVE THAT AREA TO MAKE ANOTHER AREA HERE,THAT AREA THAT WAS JUST HERE IS A "THERE" AGAIN.IT IS ALL SUCH A MESS. SUCH A CONFUSING MESS,THIS MESS,SO CONFUSING AND SO MESSY THAT WE HAD TO INVITE OR INVENT GOD TO LET HIM TRY AND SORT THIS MESS OUT SINCE ITS GOTTON OUT OF OUR HANDS,LET IT BE PUT IN GODS HANDS,LET US HOPE THAT HE HAS BIG HANDS;BECAUSE THE WORLD IS NOT A SMALL PLACE AND ALL THE WORLD IS HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS MESS WE HAVE MADE AND YET,WE DONT WANT IT UNMADE, WE WANT OURSELVES UNMADE,TO BE INTO THE NOTHING, BUT LET THE MESS STAY HERE,WE WILL PASS AWAY FROM IT,IT WILL STAY HERE AS SOME KIND OF REPRESENTATION OF WHAT WE WERE,LIKE ART...WE WILL DIE FEELING LIKE ARTISTS.

SUCH A CONCEPT, THE ARTISTS,MAKING ART,WHATEVER ART MAY BE,
THOSE ARTISTS CAN MAKE ANYTHING BE CONSIDERED ART,AS LONG AS WE CAN FIND A WAYTO SHOW IT TO OTHERS,O MAKE A STATEMENT,TO STATE TO OTHERS THATTHAT THIS ART, IN OUR MINDS,OF OUR MINDS,THAT WE HAVE THE MINDS OF ARTISTS,WHICH ARE LIKE NESTS,ART LIKE BIRDS SITTING IN THESE MIND NESTS AFTER WE INVITED THEM IN BECAUSE OF OUR INTREST IN ART,THE ARTS INSPIRE,INSPIRATION BEING THE BIRTH OF IDEAS,IDEAS LIKE EGGS BEING LAID,THESE EGGS THAT WILL HATCH INTO ART,GROWING INTO STRONG BIRDS,LEAVING THE NEST TO FIND OTHER NESTS, AND LAY MORE EGGS,MORE AND MORE ART,DESPITE THE INFLUX OF ARTWE WILL BE LEFT A BARREN NEST AGAIN EMPTY AND WAITING FOR SOMETHING.

ADOLF: (COMMING UP TO Z AND STRIKING HIM ON THE HEAD WITH A SPATULA)
MEAT! SHUT UP! GOD IS COMMING! ALL HE WANTS IS A QUIET DINNER!SHUT UP!

Z: FINE! I WILL BE QUITE, AT LEAST WHEN HE COMES, BUT HE HAS NOT COME YET.
OH, THE PATIENCE I NEED.TO WAIT FOR A PERIOD UNDEFINED,I CANT REMEMBER WHEN I STARTED WAITING AND NOBODY GAVE AN EXACT TIME OF WHEN HE WOULD ARRIVE,THEY ONLY SAID SOON, AND THEY SAID THAT A LITTLE WHILE BACK,I SUPPOSE THEY MEANT IN A LITTLE WHILE, BUT THAT WOULD MEAN NOW,BUT HE IS NOT HERE,SO IT MUST HAVE MEANT A LITTLE WHILE LONGER,MEANING SOON.
HE WILL BE HERE SOON,I WILL DIE SOON.

SOON, I WILL BE DEAD,SOON HE WILL BE HERE,IF HE IS NOT HERE,WHICH HE IS NOT, THEN THAT MEANS HE IS "THERE"; THERE BEING SOMEWHERE THAT IS NOT HERE,SO GOD IS NOT WITH ME....HE IS NOT HERE WITH MEHE IS THERE,IN SOME UNDEFIABLE AREA,PERHAPS LOOKING DOWN?
I WOULD LIKE THAT,LIKE MANY WOULD LIKE THAT,MANY ALREADY THINK THAT, THAT THEY SET BESIDE THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT IN PRAYER,HOPING THE WORDS THEY SAYWILL TRAVEL AWAY FROM HERE TO SOME "THERE" AND WILL BE HEARD BY SOMEONE WHO IS MORE THAN SOMEONEAND MAYBE THAT SOMEONE WHO IS MORE THAN SOMEONE CARES,BUT IF SOMEONE IS MORE THAN SOMEONE,THEN THEY ARENT SOMEONE,IF YOU ARENT SOMEONE, THEN YOU ARE NO-ONE; THEN WE HOPE NO ONE CARES, DEEP DOWN,THAT IS SOMETHING WE ALREADY KNEW WE KNEW THAT NO-ONE CARED,AND THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE,IT IS COMFORTING WHEN WE THINK OF IT IN THIS LIGHT:GOD CARES,GOD IS NO -ONE AND NO-ONE CARES.

BUT WHO IS NO-ONE?
HOW CAN YOU DEFINE SOMETHING/NOT SOMETHING/NOTHING ? NOTHING ,I ASSUME,IS THE HOMELAND AND PROPERTIES OF NO-ONE SO SOMEONE WHO IS NOT SOMEONEWHO IS THEREFORE NO-ONEIS SURROUNDED BY NOTHING,WHICH IS IMMEASURABLEBECAUSE NO-ONE HAS EVER MADE THE EFFORT TO ATTEMPT MEASUREMENT FOR NOTHING;AND FROM WHAT WE CAN TELL, NOTHING IS EVERYWHER AND INFINITE,EVEN IN BETWEEN THINGS THAT ARENT NOTHING,EVEN IN SPACE,INFINITY ITSELFIS NOTHING SPECKLEDWITH A FEW SOMETHINGS HERE AND THERE,BUT MOSTLY A VAST EXPANSE OF NOTHING, OH,THE GLORY OF IT!
(Z STANDING UP)

ADOLF: MEAT! SIT DOWN!SHUT UP! DONT MAKE ME HIT YOU!

Z:BUT I CANNOT CONTAIN MYSELF ANYLONGER! I UNDERSTAND NOW!THE GLORY OF NOTHING AND NO-ONE!NOTHING AND NO ONE MUST BE ONE AND THE SAME,WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT,BECAUSE TO BE SOMEONE YOU HAVE TO BE SOME SORT OF SOMETHING IF YOU ARE NOT SOMETHING AS NOTHINGIS,THEN YOU ARE NOT SOMEONE,HERE NO-ONE LIKE GOD IS NO-ONE,GOD IS EVERYWHERE,SURROUNDED BY THE OCCASIONAL SOMEONE AND SOMETHING!
ADOLF! WHO IS HERE BESIDES YOU OR ME?

ADOLF: NO ONE.

Z: DO YOU SEE? HE IS HERE,THIS NO-ONE THIS NOTHINGTHIS GOD,ALL OF THIS TIME,I WAS AFFRAID HE WAS DENYING ME THAT HE WOULD NOT CONSUME ME,BUT I REALISE NOW,THAT BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE BONES OF ME,IN BETWEEN THE MOLECULES OF AIR IN MY LUNGS, IN MY MIND BETWEEN MY THOUGHTS, GOD IS HERE,DRAGGING ME DOWN INTO FATIGUE WHEN I CANNOT ANYLONGER SUSTAIN MYSELF,CANNOT ANYLONGER MAINTAIN BEING ABLE TO BE ME, TO BE SOMEONE,CLOSER TO BEING NOTHING.I AM CLOSE WITH GOD.
SOON,I WILL BE GOD.


(LIGHTS FADE,CURTAIN COMES DOWN)


THE END

1 comment:

SophieD said...

Hello Poet Zombie!

I enjoyed my initial reading of your short play. This is an intense and intricate piece that deserves several reads. But I wanted to let you know that I did stop by. I found your play to be fairly original. I am not surprised by your theme, you speak of it in a more muted fashion in your excellent poems.
I love the surreal existentialism of this piece. You have some very intriguing concepts.
Love
Sophie