(no subject)
The script for The Post Modern Plagerists performance - Untitled.
Original Concept by Danielle Young
Script written by Jen Sullivan (except scene three which was cowritten by Jen & Janine Cetin)
N.B. All lines in italics are taken from the poetry of William Blake.
Character List
Patient
Doctor
Priest
Child
Partner
1st Student doctor
2nd Student doctor
3rd Student doctor
Scene One
[House lights down. Patient is sitting on bed, playing Cello. The music is soft, sweet, Innocent. As the tune progresses, the music becomes darker, moodier, Experienced. As the music reaches its climax it suddenly stops. The title {lets think of one} flashes onto multimedia screen. House lights come on, flooding stage.]
[Doctor & students doctors stride into room, without acknowledging protagonist]
Doctor: Symptoms, Dr. Butts.
Student doctor 1: Delusions, hallucinations, insomnia, speaking nonsensical gibberish, paranoia experiences cognitive disequilibrium & compulsive detachment from reality.
Doctor: Diagnosis Dr. Eliot.
Student doctor 2: According to the studies carried out during my schooling at Oxford and our asessment of the patient, the subject appears to be a routine case of schizophrenia, with acute psychosis
Doctor: Treatment Dr. Hayley.
Student doctor 3: Suppressants daily; electrode treatment pending.
Doctor: Good.
[All four doctors walk out, student doctors exit stage left, as Doctor examines chart in waiting room.]
[Partner enters]
Partner: Doctor? How is she?
Doctor: Ah yes, your wife. You were right in bringing her to us.
Partner: I didn’t want to, I was just so worried, I wasn’t sure I could cope. I love her, but lately, she’s just been so…. [falters]
Doctor: I understand. Can you tell me a little more about your wife, her condition?
Partner: [hesitant] Well, she doesn’t seem to see the world like you and I. She sees things that aren’t there….and ignores the things that are. She looks…past people. Past reality.
Doctor: I see.
Partner: She doesn’t sleep at night; often she wakes me to tell me about her latest hallucination - her ‘visions’ she calls them.
Doctor: And what do these ‘visions’ as you call them entail?
Partner: she often tells me that she talks to her brother, but you must know that he died years ago…one night she told me that the virgin Mary had come to her with instructions.
Doctor: Mm hmm. And you mentioned in our first meeting that she has become reclusive as of late.
Partner: Well not reclusive as such; she spends a lot of time on her art. She is very talented, her drawings are amazing. She writes poetry too.
Doctor: [Dryly] Yes, so I’m told.
Partner: [Checking watch] I have to go. Please tell her that I love her, very much.
[Partner exits stage left]
Scene Two
[Doctor enters patient’s room]
Doctor: How are we feeling today?
Patient: [To herself]
“The wild winds weep
And the night is a-cold;
Come hither, Sleep
And my griefs infold”
Doctor: Yes... [Makes notes] Can you tell me where we are?
Patient: Can you?
Doctor: [Furiously scribbling]. How do you see yourself?
Patient: I am but a fly.
Doctor: A fly? You think that little of yourself?
Patient: Do you think you are better than a fly? Are you better than say, a worm?
Doctor: Well we are both human. Humans have intellect, wisdom, the power of reason. Do flies and worms have these?
Patient:
“Cruelty has a human heart
And Jealousy a human face
Terror the human form divine
And Secrecy, the human dress”
Doctor: Humans are not perfect. Does this upset you?
Patient:
“Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face
And Love, the human form divine
And Peace, the human dress”
Doctor: You do realize you are contradicting yourself?
Patient: You will never understand.
Doctor: Explain it to me. Show me how you see the world.
Patient: [Angrily]
“Is this a holy thing to see,
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurous hand?
Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
Is it a land of poverty?"
Doctor: We can never truly eliminate all the problems of the world. But you and I live in a first world country. Things are not truly as bad as you make out. ……
Patient: [wearily] The mind - forg’d manacles I hear.
Doctor: Ok, lets try a little exercise. I am going to hold up some images and I want you to tell me what you see.
[Doctor brings out ink blots, he holds up the first one]
Doctor: What do you see?
Patient: What do you want me to see?
Doctor: Just describe exactly what is there.
[MULTIMEDIA: As patient examines blot, a wide array of images flash onto the screen]
Patient: A thistle
Doctor: A thistle?
Patient: An old man
Doctor: Now you see an old man?
Patient: The thistle is the old man.
Doctor: I see.
Patient: Do you?
[Doctor’s beeper goes off.]
Doctor: I have to go now. We will continue this discussion later. Oh, and your husband sends his love.
Patient:
“Love seeketh only Self to please
To bind another to its delight”
[Doctor exits stage left, making notes as he does].
Scene Three
[Priest enters from stage left, after knocking on patient’s door enters the room]
Priest: My child. I have been told that you seek counsel.
[Patient looks blankly at priest]
Priest: Be assured, that even in your darkest hour you can find salvation in the church.
Patient:
“Dear Mother, dear mother, the church is cold
But the ale-house is healthy and pleasant and warm
Besides I can tell where I am use’d well
Such usage in heaven will never do well”
Priest: You seem to take a negative view of the church. But you are mistaken. The church is benevolent; the church is warm, full of hope, full of love….
Patient:
"I went to the garden of love
and the gates of the chapel were shut,
and thou shalt not writ over the door;
and I saw it was filled with graves,
and tombstones where flowers should be:
and priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds
and binding with briars, my joys and desires”
Priest: I think you misunderstand the role of the church-we advocate harmony, the church promotes compassion and peace
Patient:
“Prepare, prepare the iron helm of war,
Bring forth the lots, cast in the spacious orb;
Th’ Angel of Fate turns them with mighty hands
And casts them out upon the darken’d earth!
Prepare, prepare”
“Soldiers, prepare! Our cause is Heaven’s cause;
Soldiers, prepare! Be worthy of our cause:
Prepare to meet our fathers in the sky:
Prepare, O troops, that are to fall to-day”.
Priest: You seem to believe that the church is responsible for many of the problems of the world-but humans have free will, people are responsible for their own choices and actions. You cannot blame the church for everything. You must have faith. Look to the heavens in your time of need - you will find your answers there.
Patient: I have faith. I have found my answers. They are within me just as they are within us all.
Priest: Excellent! Will you join the bible study group this evening?
Patient: What are you doing here?
Priest: I am here to guide you, here to watch over you. You might say I am like one of God’s Shepherds.
Patient:
“Why of the sheep do you not learn peace
Because I don’t want you to shear my fleece”
Priest: (sighs) I will show you the way back to the church. God be with you child.
Scene Four
[Patient is sitting on bed, playing cello. In waiting room we see Child become intrigued by music, and slowly walk across to patient’s room, until standing in doorway. ]
Patient: [Stopping playing cello] "Welcome stranger to this place, Where joy doth sit on every bough".
Child: [laughs] Play me a song, please?
[Patient begins playing cello; a soulful and beautiful tune. As the music concludes the child seems stunned - moved by the beauty]
Child: Wow. That was amazing. Thank you.
Patient: [Considering child] Are you visiting someone here?
Child: Yeah, my dad. But he got upset and mum told me to stay in the waiting room. I wanted to play in the gardens but mum said I wasn’t allowed. She doesn’t want me to get my uniform dirty. [sighs] Oh well, at least I got out of half of school today.
Patient:
“To go to school in a summer morn ,
O! it drives all joy away”
[Child chuckles]
Patient:
“How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?”
Child: You’re not the same as other grown-ups. [Notices book on bed] Can I look at this?
Patient: Of course
[Child flicks through book - book is filled with the patient's drawings, artwork and poetry]
Child: Why are you here?
Patient: Here?
Child: In this place. Mum says dad is here because he needs special care. [Sighs] Bobby at school says that dad is nuts. But you don’t seem nuts.
Patient: (thinking) I am here because…. I see a world in a grain of sand….heaven in a wild flower I believe that you can hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.
Child: [Considering] What if grains of sand were worlds? Does that make a sandcastle a universe?
Patient: [Looking at child with admiration] "Little Lamb, who made thee"?
[Offstage a voice calls out ‘Michael, where are you?’]
Child: I have to go. [Hands back book] Can I visit you again?
Patient: Please.
[Child leaves room, exits stage left].
Patient:
“Love and harmony combine
And around our souls intwine
While thy branches mix with mine,
And our roots together join
Joys upon our branches sit,
Chirping loud, and singing sweet;
Like gentle streams beneath our feet
Innocence and virtue meet”
[ House lights down]
Original Concept by Danielle Young
Script written by Jen Sullivan (except scene three which was cowritten by Jen & Janine Cetin)
N.B. All lines in italics are taken from the poetry of William Blake.
Character List
Patient
Doctor
Priest
Child
Partner
1st Student doctor
2nd Student doctor
3rd Student doctor
Scene One
[House lights down. Patient is sitting on bed, playing Cello. The music is soft, sweet, Innocent. As the tune progresses, the music becomes darker, moodier, Experienced. As the music reaches its climax it suddenly stops. The title {lets think of one} flashes onto multimedia screen. House lights come on, flooding stage.]
[Doctor & students doctors stride into room, without acknowledging protagonist]
Doctor: Symptoms, Dr. Butts.
Student doctor 1: Delusions, hallucinations, insomnia, speaking nonsensical gibberish, paranoia experiences cognitive disequilibrium & compulsive detachment from reality.
Doctor: Diagnosis Dr. Eliot.
Student doctor 2: According to the studies carried out during my schooling at Oxford and our asessment of the patient, the subject appears to be a routine case of schizophrenia, with acute psychosis
Doctor: Treatment Dr. Hayley.
Student doctor 3: Suppressants daily; electrode treatment pending.
Doctor: Good.
[All four doctors walk out, student doctors exit stage left, as Doctor examines chart in waiting room.]
[Partner enters]
Partner: Doctor? How is she?
Doctor: Ah yes, your wife. You were right in bringing her to us.
Partner: I didn’t want to, I was just so worried, I wasn’t sure I could cope. I love her, but lately, she’s just been so…. [falters]
Doctor: I understand. Can you tell me a little more about your wife, her condition?
Partner: [hesitant] Well, she doesn’t seem to see the world like you and I. She sees things that aren’t there….and ignores the things that are. She looks…past people. Past reality.
Doctor: I see.
Partner: She doesn’t sleep at night; often she wakes me to tell me about her latest hallucination - her ‘visions’ she calls them.
Doctor: And what do these ‘visions’ as you call them entail?
Partner: she often tells me that she talks to her brother, but you must know that he died years ago…one night she told me that the virgin Mary had come to her with instructions.
Doctor: Mm hmm. And you mentioned in our first meeting that she has become reclusive as of late.
Partner: Well not reclusive as such; she spends a lot of time on her art. She is very talented, her drawings are amazing. She writes poetry too.
Doctor: [Dryly] Yes, so I’m told.
Partner: [Checking watch] I have to go. Please tell her that I love her, very much.
[Partner exits stage left]
Scene Two
[Doctor enters patient’s room]
Doctor: How are we feeling today?
Patient: [To herself]
“The wild winds weep
And the night is a-cold;
Come hither, Sleep
And my griefs infold”
Doctor: Yes... [Makes notes] Can you tell me where we are?
Patient: Can you?
Doctor: [Furiously scribbling]. How do you see yourself?
Patient: I am but a fly.
Doctor: A fly? You think that little of yourself?
Patient: Do you think you are better than a fly? Are you better than say, a worm?
Doctor: Well we are both human. Humans have intellect, wisdom, the power of reason. Do flies and worms have these?
Patient:
“Cruelty has a human heart
And Jealousy a human face
Terror the human form divine
And Secrecy, the human dress”
Doctor: Humans are not perfect. Does this upset you?
Patient:
“Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face
And Love, the human form divine
And Peace, the human dress”
Doctor: You do realize you are contradicting yourself?
Patient: You will never understand.
Doctor: Explain it to me. Show me how you see the world.
Patient: [Angrily]
“Is this a holy thing to see,
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurous hand?
Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
Is it a land of poverty?"
Doctor: We can never truly eliminate all the problems of the world. But you and I live in a first world country. Things are not truly as bad as you make out. ……
Patient: [wearily] The mind - forg’d manacles I hear.
Doctor: Ok, lets try a little exercise. I am going to hold up some images and I want you to tell me what you see.
[Doctor brings out ink blots, he holds up the first one]
Doctor: What do you see?
Patient: What do you want me to see?
Doctor: Just describe exactly what is there.
[MULTIMEDIA: As patient examines blot, a wide array of images flash onto the screen]
Patient: A thistle
Doctor: A thistle?
Patient: An old man
Doctor: Now you see an old man?
Patient: The thistle is the old man.
Doctor: I see.
Patient: Do you?
[Doctor’s beeper goes off.]
Doctor: I have to go now. We will continue this discussion later. Oh, and your husband sends his love.
Patient:
“Love seeketh only Self to please
To bind another to its delight”
[Doctor exits stage left, making notes as he does].
Scene Three
[Priest enters from stage left, after knocking on patient’s door enters the room]
Priest: My child. I have been told that you seek counsel.
[Patient looks blankly at priest]
Priest: Be assured, that even in your darkest hour you can find salvation in the church.
Patient:
“Dear Mother, dear mother, the church is cold
But the ale-house is healthy and pleasant and warm
Besides I can tell where I am use’d well
Such usage in heaven will never do well”
Priest: You seem to take a negative view of the church. But you are mistaken. The church is benevolent; the church is warm, full of hope, full of love….
Patient:
"I went to the garden of love
and the gates of the chapel were shut,
and thou shalt not writ over the door;
and I saw it was filled with graves,
and tombstones where flowers should be:
and priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds
and binding with briars, my joys and desires”
Priest: I think you misunderstand the role of the church-we advocate harmony, the church promotes compassion and peace
Patient:
“Prepare, prepare the iron helm of war,
Bring forth the lots, cast in the spacious orb;
Th’ Angel of Fate turns them with mighty hands
And casts them out upon the darken’d earth!
Prepare, prepare”
“Soldiers, prepare! Our cause is Heaven’s cause;
Soldiers, prepare! Be worthy of our cause:
Prepare to meet our fathers in the sky:
Prepare, O troops, that are to fall to-day”.
Priest: You seem to believe that the church is responsible for many of the problems of the world-but humans have free will, people are responsible for their own choices and actions. You cannot blame the church for everything. You must have faith. Look to the heavens in your time of need - you will find your answers there.
Patient: I have faith. I have found my answers. They are within me just as they are within us all.
Priest: Excellent! Will you join the bible study group this evening?
Patient: What are you doing here?
Priest: I am here to guide you, here to watch over you. You might say I am like one of God’s Shepherds.
Patient:
“Why of the sheep do you not learn peace
Because I don’t want you to shear my fleece”
Priest: (sighs) I will show you the way back to the church. God be with you child.
Scene Four
[Patient is sitting on bed, playing cello. In waiting room we see Child become intrigued by music, and slowly walk across to patient’s room, until standing in doorway. ]
Patient: [Stopping playing cello] "Welcome stranger to this place, Where joy doth sit on every bough".
Child: [laughs] Play me a song, please?
[Patient begins playing cello; a soulful and beautiful tune. As the music concludes the child seems stunned - moved by the beauty]
Child: Wow. That was amazing. Thank you.
Patient: [Considering child] Are you visiting someone here?
Child: Yeah, my dad. But he got upset and mum told me to stay in the waiting room. I wanted to play in the gardens but mum said I wasn’t allowed. She doesn’t want me to get my uniform dirty. [sighs] Oh well, at least I got out of half of school today.
Patient:
“To go to school in a summer morn ,
O! it drives all joy away”
[Child chuckles]
Patient:
“How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?”
Child: You’re not the same as other grown-ups. [Notices book on bed] Can I look at this?
Patient: Of course
[Child flicks through book - book is filled with the patient's drawings, artwork and poetry]
Child: Why are you here?
Patient: Here?
Child: In this place. Mum says dad is here because he needs special care. [Sighs] Bobby at school says that dad is nuts. But you don’t seem nuts.
Patient: (thinking) I am here because…. I see a world in a grain of sand….heaven in a wild flower I believe that you can hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.
Child: [Considering] What if grains of sand were worlds? Does that make a sandcastle a universe?
Patient: [Looking at child with admiration] "Little Lamb, who made thee"?
[Offstage a voice calls out ‘Michael, where are you?’]
Child: I have to go. [Hands back book] Can I visit you again?
Patient: Please.
[Child leaves room, exits stage left].
Patient:
“Love and harmony combine
And around our souls intwine
While thy branches mix with mine,
And our roots together join
Joys upon our branches sit,
Chirping loud, and singing sweet;
Like gentle streams beneath our feet
Innocence and virtue meet”
[ House lights down]