SCRIPT - sleepwalking apocalypse (first version - may 2005)
SCRIPT - sleepwalking apocalypse (first version - may 2005)
SLEEPWALKING APOCALYPSE
PROLOGUE
(Audience gathers outside in front of a fabric curtain that says SLEEPWALKING APOCALYPSE.
Audience members are given pieces of red paper and asked to write down something they fear.
The pieces of red paper are collected.
One performer, the Fear Carrier, is covered with the pieces of red paper. The red paper completely covers her or him, including eyes and ears. The Fear Carrier will be led by the hand through the following.
A performer walks through the crowd humming on a kazoo and carrying a red paper airplance. When s/he reaches the curtain, s/he flies the airplane over the curtain.
Drumming begins, then stops for an amplified voice.)
READER
On August 6 1945
at 8:15 in the morning
the all clear sounded
There was only one airplane and it was gone.
We all got up from where we were covering
and thought we were safe
Then a sheet of sunlight passed through us,
then thunder like gods coughing
and the world came to an end.
It was reborn one instant later
but different.
(Through the fabric curtain comes a woman riding a tricycle, wearing only a bathrobe. She is masked. She rides the tricycle through the crowd and away.
The Fear Carrier and the audience enter through the fabric.)
RUINS AND PRECIOUS THINGS
(A number of red-masked performers are standing frozen with their backs to us.
The Fear Carrier touches each one of these as s/he passes, and that performer turns to face the passing audience. Each one holds an object: burnt credit card, chocolate wrapper, computer screen, tennis shoe, disposable diaper, torn bit of the Constitution, teddy bear, toilet paper, ziploc, book, etc.
As the audience passes, dreams are being read aloud.)
READERS
(alternating voices)
in my dream
we're being invaded
the airplanes are big fat and white
like blimps
some of the planes have our flag on them
but shooting and bombing us anyway
by accident or what
my family's there
we huddle under trees
the fat white airplanes start to shudder and crack
they're not planes at all
they're larvae
and bugs with big black eyes and wings
come squirming out and fly down toward us
and bugs with no wings come tumbling down
and a shower of crawling bugs
buries us screaming
in my dream
a mushroom cloud of water rises from Puget Sound
Is it an attack
or a mistake
in my dream
there's a contagious disease wiping out everyone on earth
To find out if I have it
I drop a stone into a glass of special liquid
If the liquid turns green
I'm infected
I drop the stone and I wait
in my dream
I'm a kid playing in the yard
my mom runs out
says Get in the car
It's a minivan full of bottled water
I run inside to get my special hat
but my mom is screaming There's no time
We have to get away right now
They're coming
But I can't leave without my hat
we argue she pulls at me
and the minivan drives away
with nobody in it
we run after it carrying the baby
the baby is pointing at things while we run
and telling us words for them
flower
car
telephone pole
doggie hey buddy hey buddy
in my dream
there's an opera house with an ornate front
i duck insided to escape the bombing
inside there are many stages
each with a different war being played
Some US Marines come busting in
They're lost they tell me Where's the stage for Iraq?
I take them out back to a secret stone door
with long dark steps leading up to Iraq.
in my dream
i run outside
my face is covered with some kind of cloth
people are throwing molotov cocktails at airplanes
it's a stupid idea
i start to pray
but i'm speaking a language i don't know
i'm trapped with some people against a wall
and i'm debating in my head which religion i should use
to pray
in my dream
i'm trapped in an airport with Michael Moore
Someone has taken over and everyone's trapped
until further notice
Michael Moore is a pushy companion
i dreamed the human race was gone
the world was simpler
the world was colder
I had a dream the other night
and you were in it
We were driving a car in a desert landscape
looking for some way out
then the car was gone and we were walking
We come to a barrier and try to climb it
An alarm goes off and security comes up
It's my uncle
My country has been invaded.
The china lamp, a jar of sea glass
a child's paper airplane
and a great hole in the ceiling
where once the chandelier hung
solid and steady
as a dream over my head.
My house has been invaded.
My mind too is gone from here.
It climbed the attic stairs
when the soldiers burst in
with broomsticks
and fisted hands
and four sharp teeth that drew blood.
Bruises, ragged nails and shattered thoughts
these are what's left of me.
My body has been invaded.
The potted herbs, a trampled rug,
one battered can
of gasoline
and the radio humming the distant tune
of freedom marching in my living room.
this is my home.
this is my kitchen sink.
this is my window garden
now filled with metal rain.
this is my bed of dust,
these are my shattered walls,
these are all that’s left for me:
one last match,
one last breathe,
one last glance,
And one foot in front of the other
one foot
one foot
one foot
one foot
all the way
to far away from here.
(The red-masked performers join the procession.)
TOWERS
(Two ladders rise up as Towers.
(Drumming. A performer tosses a red paper airplane toward the Towers.)
READER
in my dream
i watch the towers falling
the smoke and glass come up
and become a mushroom cloud
I point and shout but no one else sees it
I run around shouting
There's going to be fallout
You can't live here anymore
You can't live here anymore
READER
When the towers fell
they punctured the crust of the earth
Most of the casualties were actually caused by
the outflow of molten magma
The magnetic pole was wrenched aside
East is now true north
The earth's crust is unstable
Tectonic plates have not yet moved to cover the hole
The ground is not solid anymore
my feet don't meet the ground anymore
I can't adapt to the new gravity
My organs shift I move differently
My heart is in a different place
My feelings combine in different ways
I can't see anymore what I saw
The world I was in no longer exists
Everything that stood under me is gone
CHORAL (w/audience)
Repeat after me.
Repeat after me.
Repeat after me.
Repeat after me.
We called it
the City of Minarets.
The flash of bombs at night
made the city
a garden of domes and light.
No one could sleep.
So many now
will never wake.
GRAVESTONES
(The Towers are taken down and carried like coffins. The Fear Carrier and the audience follows them through a graveyard. Faces look up from the pavement. No text; some music.)
READERS
(scattered, with no amplification)
This is the last movie I will see.
This is the last page I will read.
This is the last time I will be touched.
This is the last food I will taste.
This is the last time I will swallow.
This is the last sigh.
This is the last sound.
This is the last intake of air.
This is the last giving away.
(At the end of the graveyard a ragged street person starts shouting from around the corner. The street person appears, wearing a primitive animal/god mask. Behind him someone walks tapping on a small drum.)
STREET PERSON
wathufukizzis
wathufuka yall doin
gethufukouddaheer
wathufuck all these people
gethufuk away
standn round like buncha cows
wusso fukin funny
oooooooooo i geddit
youre peace people
ooooooo youre fukin speshl
youre the ones think Saddam Hussein
just din geddenough love when he was a kid
righ?
think we juss shoulda dropt him abirthday cake
steada all those bombs za righ?
(Etc. adlib, walks through audience and away.
Fear Carrier and audience move on.)
BOMB SQUAD
(The street person has left a crumpled bag in the middle of the sidewalk. The Fear Carrier is led to it, touches it.
A Bomb Squad guy with a whistle runs out, pushes the audience away as from a dangerous object. S/he has a table and some toy Godzilla tongs. The bag is gingerly lifted up and set gently on the table. The Bomb Squad crawls under the table and ducks and covers; then whistles and shouts "All clear!"
The Fear Carrier and the audience move on.)
HAZARD ZONE
AUDIENCE
click
click
click
click click
click click click click click
click click click click click click click click click click click click click click
VOICE
you have entered a zone of unacceptable radiation exposure hazard
you have been exposed to unacceptable levels of radiation
do not leave this area
do not expose others to yourself
do not take defensive action
it is too late to protect yourself
The radiation level is so high
your DNA is not safe
your DNA has already been impacted
your DNA is undergoing random mutations at an accelerated rate
your DNA is mutating so quickly
you are no longer whatever you were
one instant ago
you have only been what you are now for one instant
your cells have passed away
you have no memory of what you were
you will have no memory of what you are now
your memory is a random mutation
the person you were has no future
the person you are has no past
you may hold someone's hand if you wish
that person will not exist by the time you touch them
you will not exist by the time you touch them
someone new will hold their hand
and someone new will hold yours
(A man in a radiation suit walks toward the audience.)
You are no longer what you were.
You no longer laugh the way you did,
or smile
or think
or touch.
I have watched you change and move away
while I have stayed the same.
You are gone.
You no longer exist.
I'm still here.
I want to be with you but I'm afraid.
I love what you used to be.
I am alone with what I still am.
Nothing reaches me anymore.
(The man in the radiation suit moves through the crowd and away. Singing starts and the audience moves on.)
SONG: "What if the Russians Don't Come"
INTIMACY
(Audience moves along the sidewalk. From the opposite sidewalk, two voices, male and female, calling out:)
ONE
I LOVE YOU
TWO
I LOVE YOU
ONE
COME OVER HERE
TWO
I CAN'T
ONE
WHY NOT?
TWO
IT'S NOT SAFE
ONE
WHY NOT?
(pause)
I'LL PUT SOMETHING ON
TWO
NO
ONE
WHY NOT?
TWO
IT'S BETTER THIS WAY
ONE
BETTER HOW?
TWO
YOURE EYES ARE LIKE
ONE
WHAT?
TWO
DISTANT STARS
ONE
THEY'RE BETTER UP CLOSE
TWO
DON'T RUIN IT
(pause)
ONE
TOUCH ME
TWO
I AM
ONE
TOUCH ME
TWO
I AM
(pause)
TWO
TOUCH ME
ONE
I AM
TWO
TOUCH ME
ONE
I AM
(pause)
ONE
I LOVE YOU
TWO
I LOVE YOU
DREAMS AND FEARS
READERS
in my dream i'm in chains with no escape
till fire comes up and melts the chains
but then i'm falling through fire
so i grab at the redhot chains to save myself
in my dream
i wake up in someone else's room
my clothes are spread out all over the floor
all the clothes i own
all over the floor and the grass outside
clothes i haven't seen in years
clothes i wore when i was a kid
clothes i only imagined spread out
across the grass and the sand beyond it
in my dream
I'm buried in a pit of dollar bills
they're worthless and nobody wants them
I scramble and flail to get out
but every time I reach the top
someone pours more dollars on my head
in my dream
i'm falling
but then I wake up
but I'm still falling
but then I wake up
but I'm still falling
but then I wake up
but I'm still falling
in my dream
I'm attaching scorpions to clocks
on the edge of a cliff
When I attach a scorpion to a clock
its pinchers stretch out
and become a crucifix
in my dream
i have two wombs
a man with the face of Jesus fills them both
one with my life on this earth
the other with my life in forever
my life in forever already exists
it grows in my womb like a child
and i build it with all i take in like a child
and it takes the shape of my soul
in my dream
they were right
I was wrong all along
I'm shaking Joseph McCarthy's hand
he's patting me on the shoulder forgiving me
in my dream
the voices in my head are gone
they've stopped and gone away
and I'm alone
there's a voice in my head still
but it's just my own voice
and it never stops
in my dream
the sky rains biscuits and pornography
anyone eating the biscuits or looking at the porn
will fall into the pit of molten cheese
but those who resist temptation
will be taken to a place in the sky where they can have
all the biscuits and porn they want
in my dream
i'm gazing at Earth from a distance
it turns out there's a whole portion of land on the planet
no humans have ever discovered
thousands of acres untouched
should i tell anybody?
For a lover gone off to war
How am I to know you my love
when the seas are rising,
when the glaciers melt and the sun goes cold?
How am I to know you then-as lover or foe or only in passing?
You promised me forever, love; I continue to look forward.
The tiger lilies have wilted since you left my side, love,
the anthill is still and the birds stay silent.
From our mountains, the sun sets like a fireball,
or painting,
or something too golden for life.
For you the grass waits,
covering my feet as only the dirt lies at peace.
.
Every second, how many die, love?
How many of hunger or love or flaming entrance into heaven,
Only their charred bodies left to comfort souls?
In the wind I hear their wives, shreaking to the rain,
their sons, packing their bags,
their mistresses, calling on the streets for a buck.
How am I to recognize you
when the trees are burning
when the wind is still and the rain falls hard on my back?
How am I to love you then- your body, your face, your pain?
You promised me forever, love- how do I look forward with you gone?
WALLS/FENCES
(The ladders block the path and become fences. The audience is pinned inside. The fences are held by helmeted soldiers.)
READERS
wall
noun
a material layer enclosing space.
any upright structure having a length much greater than its thickness, used for support, enclouse, etc.
a rampart raised for defensive purposes.
wall
verb
to protect, confine,or divide
to seal or entomb
fence
noun
a barrier meant to prevent escape or intrusion or to mark exclusive possession
fence
verb
to enclose
to separate
to attack with a sword
to receive or sell stolen goods
barrier
noun
a material object or set of objects that separates, demarcates, or serves as a barricade
anything that restrains or obstructs
a border or boundary of any kind
(During this text, the soldiers' helmets are removed and their heads are covered by black hoods.
Then their helmets are replaced, but on top of the black hoods.)
READER
The wall is not a wall but a fence.
Much of the wall is not a wall but a fence.
Some of the wall is not a wall but a fence.
We can agree to call it a barrier.
A necessary barrier.
For protection and defense.
It is just defense.
A barrier is just defense.
It is just defense.
It is just defense.
READER
when I am asleep
I dream of grass and water and soft skin
when i am awake
i dream that i live in a house of rubble
i dream that my mother is buried there
and my family driven out
i dream that an iron wall
splits the ground where i was born
i'm screaming but no one can hear
i'm screaming but no one can hear
SONG: JOHNNY HAS GONE FOR A SOLDIER
SLEEPING KINGDOM
(The fence becomes a wall of thorns: a green cord with red paper airplanes on it. .)
READER
The Sleeping Kingdom came about
because the king was afraid for his daughter.
If he heard a sound in the night he would rise
to see she was still in her bed
and not being kidnapped by pirates.
If she stood on a chair his hands would hover
like angels or prison guards.
To protect his beauty, he sealed the kingdom
with a hedge of roses that no one could penetrate
in or out.
The roses bloomed, the petals fell
and all that remained was a wall of thorns.
Over time, cut off from the world, the people
began to lose their taste for daylight
and the prick of a thorn would send them to sleep.
By the time his daughter pricked her finger
she barely knew she had fallen asleep
because everyone else already was
and none of them knew they were sleeping.
(Audience walks past the green cord, behind which are masked performers.)
SLEEPERS
The rapture will come and all the good people will be taken away and the four horsemen of the apocalypse . . . nah.
Someone will push the button and nuclear holocaust . . . nah.
The Mayan Calendar will come to an end in 2012. 50000 years of darkness over, then 50000 years of . . . nah.
The rainforests will all be cut down and we'll only have oxygen for 8 years . . . nah
I lost something.
You took it.
I lost something.
You took it.
I lost something.
You took it.
I lost something.
You took it.
peekaboo
i see you
do i look okay
peekaboo
i see you
do i look okay
No I love YOU more.
No I love YOU more
No I love YOU more
No I love YOU more
No YOU'RE full of shit.
No YOU'RE full of shit.
No YOU'RE full of shit.
No YOU'RE full of shit.
the sky is blue beautiful
the sky is gray sad
the sky is red murderous
the sky is green pregnant
the sky is yellow sickly
the sky is orange dawning
the sky is violet distant
the sky is black hidden
outside the wall there are monsters
outside the wall there is a wall of water
outside the wall is a desert
outside the wall is a garden
outside the wall there are meteors falling
outside the wall are bacteria
outside the wall are lightning bolts
the wall goes on forever
there is nothing outside the wall
when i touch you i'm a caterpillar
when i touch you i'm a starfish
when i touch you i'm a nutshell
when i touch you i'm a rosebriar
when i touch you i'm a stone
when i touch you i am water
READER
In the Sleeping Kingdom
handsome princes tried to break out
by slashing the wall of thorns with their swords
But every thorn they destroyed
created two more
and the deeper the prince goes into the hedge
the more the thorns multiply and surround him
and pin him inside the wall forever
PATRIOT ACT
(A man in a suit wears a green cord with paper airplanes around his neck. He reads some of the following:)
MAN
DOMESTIC SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2003
CONFIDENTIAL -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
Draft--January 9, 2003
Section 503
CONFIDENTIAL -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
The Attorney General does not have sufficient authority to bar an alien from the United States, or to remove an alien from the United States, on the basis of national security. . . .This provision would give the Attorney General sufficient authority to deny admission to the United States, or to remove from the United States, those individuals whom the Attorney General has reason to believe would pose a danger to the national security of the United State.
Furthermore, the Administration strongly urges the conferees to include the Real ID Act of 2005 in the final version of the bill. This important legislation will strengthen the ability of the United States to protect against terrorist entry into and activities within the United States. In particular, the legislation tightens procedures for non-citizen entry into the United States, facilitates the building of physical barriers where appropriate to protect U.S. borders, and facilitates the strengthening of State standards for the security and integrity of drivers' licenses .
Section 201
CONFIDENTIAL -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
In certain instances, the release of information about persons detained in connection with terrorism investigations could have a substantial adverse impact on the United States' security interests, as well as the detainee's privacy. Publicizing the fact that a particular alien has been detained could alert his coconspirators about the extent of the federal investigation and the imminence of their own detention, thus provoking them to flee to avoid detention and prosecution or to accelerate their terrorist plans before they can be disrupted.
Although existing Freedom of Information Act permit the government to protect information relating to detainees, defending this interpretation through litigation requires extensive Department of Justice resources, which would be better spent detecting and incapacitate terrorists. This provision thus establishes a specific authority under Exemption 3 to clarify [that] the government need not disclose information about individuals detained in investigations of terrorism until disclosure occurs routinely upon the initiation of criminal charges.
Section 202
CONFIDENTIAL -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act requires private companies that use potentially dangerous chemicals to submit to the Environmental Protection Agency a "worst case scenario" report detailing what would be the impact on the surrounding community of release of the specified chemicals. Such reports are a roadmap for terrorists, who could use the information to plan attacks on the facilities.
This provision would revise section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act to better manage access to information contained in "worst case scenario" reports. . . .The revised section will require that public access be limited.
Section 501: Expatriation of Terrorists.
CONFIDENTIAL -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION
This provision would make clear that, just as an American can relinquish his citizenship by serving in a hostile foreign army, so can he relinquish his citizenship by serving in a hostile terrorist organization. This provision also would make explicit that the intent to relinquish nationality need not be manifested in words, but can be inferred from conduct . . .
(While he speaks, a troupe of women all dresssed in red come up and perform a power dance around him. The women dance a circle dance several times, then dance away and off.
The man looks after them. Looks around. Looks at his papers.
Crumples his papers, drops them. Rips off the green cord, tosses it away. Takes out a another paper, unfolds it. Starts shouting the text as he exits opposite.)
MAN
We hold these truths to be self-evident! That all people are created equal! And endowed with certain inalienable rights! Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! And whenever a government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it! Let facts be submitted to a candid world! Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!
SONG
[serpent belly song - in Spanish? English?]
TOWERS TWO
(The Towers rise up, one on each end of the audience.)
READER
On July 16 1945
the first atomic explosion
melted the desert sand into glass.
(A red sheet is snapped up into the air, settles to the ground and is spread as a mat.)
READER
For one instant
before the human race was vaporized
we were able to see into the heart of the earth.
READER
in my dream
my 85 year old mother
is squatting over a ditch
she's not used to it
but it's all we have
i'm trying to help her
by holding her arm
she keeps trying to tell me
It's alright dear
but she's in pain
READER
in my dream
everyone has my face
i'm buried under piles of my own face
i claw at my faces trying to get out
but there's always more of my face
Noone notices I'm not there
because everyone has my face
READER
I want to protect our children.
I want to protect everyone's children.
I want to protect my freedom.
I want rivers to stay alive.
I want the world I grew up in to be here for my children.
I don't want to lose my child. I don't want my child to hate me.
I don't want my tiny spot to become tinier.
I want everything to stay the way it is.
I want everything to change.
Please stay.
Please go
I want what is true to still be true
(The Fear Carrier is led forward between the Earth Spirits. The audienced is not allowed to follow. The Earth Spirits lead the Fear Carrier some distance away from the audience.
As this happens, the red-masked performers step up one at a time and lay their objects on the ground in front of the Earth Spirits. They also take off their red eyemasks and lay them down.)
READER
and there will come a passage
o child of endless sky
when demons will surround you
do not fear them
recognize them they are your own
they are images of your mind and your heart
they are images of your strength
savages will attack you
do not fear them
tyrants will threaten you
do not fear them
poisonous insects will infect you
do not fear them
they are only the body of your desires
if you fear them and run with fright
they will turn into devils and vampires and your flight
will become a battle that is never won
do not fear them they are only your thoughts
you are empty you are a form of emptiness
and your thoughts take on form in this emptiness
you will come toward death at the gate of darkness
death by the spear of the dark savage
death by the blinding light
death on the slaughterblock
do not fear it
it is only the face of your hatred for yourself
o learn it is yours
the revolving flame of death is only
the appearance to your body of the final pathway
which leads to the ocean of light
the crossing to fullness o do not fear it
it is yours it is the reward of your birth
if you stiffen with terror and turn your back
you will bring into being the death by spear
you will give teeth to the blinding light
and the body of death will overtake you
do not fear the demons your mind brings forth on the world
they are only the children of your heart
your love and your hate give them body
they are angels of your desires
they are you recognize them they are only yourself
they are you o child of endless sky
o love them
they are you
(The Earth Spirits have led the Fear Carrier far away but not quite out of sight. They surround the Fear Carrier, mostly blocking him from sight. They will take away his red papers, sit him down, and perform a simple healing with smudge/smoke on him, but the audience will not necessarily see that.
Behind the audience, a gong is struck.)
GONG
GONG
GONG
GONG
GONG
(Several masked creatures -- demons? animal heads? gods? -- have been sitting unobtrusively around the area. They now begin to gather in front of the audience.)
(The several animal-head Earth Spirits have formed a line in front of the audience.
Guttural throat singing is heard.)
CHORAL
Repeat after me.
Repeat after me.
Repeat after me.
Repeat after me.
The earth dreams
of galaxies and footsteps.
Stars take shape
and draw closer
as universe follows universe.
The planet dreams
the collapse of space.
When all footsteps
have fallen silent
galaxies will walk the earth.
(GONG)
READER
The towers are fallen, that stood so proud.
Dust and smoke spread wings to the sky
and everything's blotted out.
Troy is gone forever.
The tide of fate has twisted round
and we are drowned beneath it.
You Greeks, you masters of the world,
we were the world masters once.
Our power has passed, and yours will too.
Your sky-reaching towers will fall to the ground,
you will scrape in the dirt for your family's bones,
you will end up dirt yourselves.
You will live in fear of your world of slaves,
you will live in fear of their children,
and their children's children.
You have set the end of your world in motion.
It is already underway. It's begun.
Oh your children themselves. And their children. And theirs.
I pity your children. I pity them all.
Troy, country where I was born, live in my heart forever.
(Gong. A sheet is unfurled that says
THE END.)
end
sleepwalking apocalypse
READER
in my dream
i'm in a desert
and gravity is failing
To keep from flying out into space
i have to remember things from my past
Sometimes i remember things i love
sometimes its too painful
and i remember irrelevant things
to keep gravity working
and lift the earth to my feet again