June 16, 2008
WHO WILL CRACK FIRST [a conceptual play in the form of a poem]
the beginning a distant hollow voice explains
the situation
two old friends have decided never
to speak to each other again
they feel that the affection
and respect they have for each other
is gradually dwindling away with each word
that passes between them
the voice emphasizes
the situation is dramatic
but not melodramatic
another voice explains calmly this is
a play for two actors
and two loudspeakers
and that
the voices on the loudspeakers
are the voices of the two actors
a third voice specifies
stage dark at first
gradual light reveals
the two friends seated
their backs to each other
one left one right of stage
another voice interrupts and specifies
loudspeaker over the head
of each friend
loudspeakers speak alternatively
loudspeaker left tells why
friend left will not crack first
loudspeaker right tells why
he thinks
friend right will not crack first
all three voices together chant
and so on
and so on
first voice explains
while loudspeakers speak
seated friends react restlessly
with bodily and facial gestures
to what is being said
above their heads
second voice emphasizes
loudspeakers get louder
more argumentative
more aggressive
angry and enraged
as play progresses
third voice explains
argument turns to a debate
it’s a competition
a trial
loudspeakers together improvise
words of encouragement
for friends to remain firm
in their silence
loudspeaker left
tells that the reason
friend left will not crack
is because he is a poet
and poets know
silence and solitude
poets know that one
suffers from not suffering enough
loudspeaker right retorts
that friend right is an actor
and actors know how not
to crack during a play
actor have control over
their emotions
loudspeaker L laughs and says
that friend L
will not crack first
because
once upon a time
during the great war
he was tortured
he was tortured
because he knew
something secret
something unspeakable
the enemy tortured him
but he did not talk
he refused to talk
he did not crack
for weeks and weeks
he remained silent in torture
and silence became for him
the reverse of torture
that is why friend L
will not crack first
loudspeaker R counters by saying
that anyone
in friend L’s situation
would have done the same
would have found the courage
not to crack
it’s normal it’s natural
it’s the rule when one is being tortured
loudspeaker R continues
friend R found much more
courage for something
much more traumatic
though less melodramatic
and he was only seven then
the day his father beat him
with his belt for no reason
slashing at his body
with the leather of the belt
and even the belt buckle
and that day friend R swore
to himself in his pain
that he would not talk
to his father for a whole month
and for a whole month friend R
did not speak a word to his father
and he was only seven then
loudspeaker R concludes forcefully
only a few human beings
can find that kind of courage
the happy few yes the happy few
and friend R was only seven then
after a long silence loudspeaker L declares
that friend L wants to become
a serious religious poet
that is why he can no longer
communicate with friend R
because he is an actor
actors are blasphemous
especially when they make
people laugh
loudspeaker R replies
that friend R can no longer
look and speak at the sad
face of Friend L
because he has just accepted
a role in the human comedy
to make people laugh
night and day
loudspeaker L sings softly
I am Jesus I am Moses
I am Mohammed
I am the Holy Ghost
I am immortal
loudspeaker R declaims eloquently
I am Hamlet
I am King Lear
I am Phedrea
I am Superman
I am Gogo and Didi
all three voices together chant
and so on
and so on
first voice explains
that loudspeakers
can improvise
any time
second voice explains
as the play progresses
it becomes gradually evident
that the two silent friends
are growing more and more
tense restless nervous
tortured in their bodies and minds
loudspeaker L murmurs
and I saw a mighty angel
come down from heaven
clothed with a cloud
and a rainbow was
upon his head
and his face was
as it were the sun
and his feet
as pillars of fire
loudspeaker R recites sadly
All the old ways led to this
all the old windings
the stairs with never a landing
that you screw yourself up
clutching the rail
counting the steps
the fever of shortest ways
under the long lids of sky
the wild country roads
where your dead walk beside you
on the dark shingle the turning
for the last time again
to the lights of the little town
the appointments kept
and the appointments broken
all the delights of urban
and rural change of place
all the exitus and redditus
closed and ended
all led to this
to this gloaming
where a middle-aged man
sits masturbating his snout
waiting for the first dawn to break
loudspeaker L sighs loudspeaker R laughs
third voice declares
suddenly
while loudspeakers
continue to argue angrily
in a cacophony of words
the two friends
let out a scream
at the same time
which they keep repeating
with anguish and despair
friend R & friend L screaming
say something
please say something
I can’t take it anymore
say something
please say something
I can’t take it any more
all three voices together chant as screams get louder loudspeakers more cacophonous
and so on
and so on
first voice states
stage goes dark
no applause
no curtain call
the end
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here is a short play in the form of a poem that might draw attention --
some theater director might want to stage it
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some theater director might want to stage it
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