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The Worlds(2007)
The Worlds is a one-act play, the following excerpt of which was performed as part of the collaborative performance Cook County Clare in the sixteenth-century castle tower at the Ballyvaughan College of Art in Ireland on August 10th, 2007.
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First Lover, Second Lover First Worker, Second Worker Tour Guide First Tourist, Second Tourist, Third Tourist Musician ***** First Lover Mmm. Wow. Second Lover What? What is it like? First Lover I’m not telling you that. You ought to come up here and see for yourself. Second Lover Fine. I don’t need to see anything besides what I can see right here. First Lover Wow. Amazing. Second Lover Either keep it to yourself or tell me what it is like. First Lover It’s not like anything. It is blue, green, grey, and it is very windy. Second Lover Hmm. First Lover Were you shivering from the cold? Second Lover I think I was just on a fault line, only now I realize it. First Lover I was holding your hand before. I metered you, and then it stopped—didn’t it? Second Lover Our hands are meters. Is that what you’re saying? First Lover I’m saying that I metered you with my hand, and you meter mine with a needle. I’ve learned to forgive the little bit that the needle inscribes as it meters… the impressions of your touch are so ornate. Once I forget, I give a little—what you might call a centimeter, or a hair — towards the center. When we were in the group, and I was punched, I think it scarred. The holes in the roof leaked on us, and the whole gathering of roofless wrecks. Second Lover There was a massive shiver… First Lover And the heartless one, he kicked my spine when I rolled over to get to the dry spot. Second Lover No! First Lover Yeah, he did. I still have holes in my back — so much that I can’t lean back on anything that might scrape my negative body. Second Lover I held your negative hand. First Lover But we were never complimentary. First Lover What have you heard from the workers? Second Lover Only that they either have too much work, or none at all. First Lover And still? Second Lover They don’t move, not an inch. Second Lover I love you hand. First Lover I love you hand.
A bell chimes. Second Lover What have you heard from them? First Lover I heard nothing before I woke up. The windows were still broken, and the roof wasn’t fixed again. Without warning. Second Lover I’ll give them a call. No, wait, I’d better not. First Lover Don't ask me what I’ve heard if you’re not willing to call. I’ll call on them. First Lover We would like something to eat. If you aren’t busy. First Worker We are making food for the whole island right now. Please come back next year. First Lover Oh, sorry… It didn’t seem like you were doing anything. We are here to write, and we have gotten pretty hungry while writing. Second Worker You know when you are writing and somebody interupts you? And it may only be for a moment, but it throws off your whole train of thought? Our writing is in the kitchen. First Lover I’m sorry. Will there be food provided on the ferry? First Worker Have a seat, and we will take your order. First Lover Thanks… I mean “cheers”, I mean… you know what I mean. First Lover I hope we get to see more ruins. I am really becoming interested in ruins. Second Lover Are you? That’s funny because I am an amateur acheaologist. I was just in Lebanon, where they are making ruins as we speak. First worker I am ready to take your order. Just bear with me while I write it down. I have a very poor memory. First Tourist We’ll have three of your finest local alcholic beverages. Second Tourist We shouldn’t get too wasted, man. We’re at sea. We might get sick. Third Tourist We should order water too. First Tourist There’s plenty of water out there. Tour Guide You are all very welcome on the island ferry, where every man or woman is their own island. Please take care when drinking, as we will be crossing through some rough weather. If you should spill, just hold your hand above your head and one of the workers will come clean it up for you. There are flotation devices located above your heads in case of emergency. Tour Guide On the left you can see the cliffs coming into view. First Lover That’s where I was yesterday. I saw lots of boats but I never thought I’d be on one looking back to where I was standing. Second Lover I was standing on that cliff three years ago. Oh no, that was a different place. Third Tourist (To First Worker) Thank you. Second Tourist Let’s toast to the friendly workers. First Tourist, Second Tourist, Third Tourist Cheers. Tour Guide We’ve just entered the Atlantic ocean. And if you look into those caves, under certain meteorlogical conditions, you can see the frozen waterfall.
Another bell chimes. Musician begins to play. First Tourist The music here is hilarious to me. Tour Guide On the right are the ruins of the jail where your fathers died. Those formations are the best preserved example of chevaux de frise in the country. Third Tourist I remember when my father died. Right there, in that jail. We couldn’t have a burial party for him because his body is still in there. Second Tourist Look. Can you see all those bones? First Tourist I think those are just crab skeletons. That’s where the chowder ends up. There, and in the toilet. Tour Guide And there on the left, you can see the farthest point the empire ever reached. It is marked by that structure on the left, which we call the physical occult. As the story goes, the writers—who always follow the soldiers—came here and changed what they saw. They made it into the opposite of themselves. They built those walls. Music ends. Second Worker I am ready to take your order. Just speak slowly so that I can remember everything you say. Second Lover Oh, no, we don’t need to order. We wanted to know if we could reserve a bed for the night. Actually, sorry… one bed or two? First Lover One. Second Lover Right, one bed. Second Worker Of course. We have already prepared it for you. It is bed 3-0-9-2-8-7. I hope it is the most comfortable bed you have ever slept on. I made it with my own hands especially for your visit in the traditional style of the small town that I am from. First Lover Really? That’s amazing. Second Worker Yeah, right. Tour Guide On the right is the reconstructed Ohio River Snake Mound. Who here has been to Cahokia? We are 80 miles from dowtown St. Louis. Those mounds next to the expressway used to be pyramids. Nine hundred years ago, twenty thousand people lived here. As we come out of this valley, we will form a stereoscopic image. County Clare and Ballyvaughan on the left, Cook County and Chicago on the right. We are writing with two hands, two eyes, two bodies, two audiences. Second Lover I think we are missing some good stuff out there. First Lover You’re just nervous to be alone with me. When was the last time we were alone? Second Lover Like this? I’d say it’s been years… maybe eight years. We were teenagers. First Lover Is that what makes you nervous? That we were teenagers? Second Lover We were different people. I mean, look at me. My body has completely changed since then. I don’t understand how you could see the same person when you look at me. First Lover I see a different person. A different person than myself. I have always seen a different person from myself when I look at you. Tour Guide The sign on the left has two languages. They are separate. They say two different things. Irish and English. In America, the words are absorbed, and along with them, the preexistant cultures and those on the frontier were absorbed. We call them English. We call them America. We call them pagan, occult, new age. They are not something different from the dominant religion, the one you feel is familiar. You grew up near henges, you learned to tell time on watches with dials. You should be thankful. You should always learn to say thank you in the language that was born in the place you are standing. There’s hardly a spot on the earth that doesn’t have it’s own words.
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