Following are selections from the adaptation for the 1992 production documented on this website. Write [email protected] for more information on access and performance rights, and for information on the later, more radical adaptation.
THE INSECT PLAY An Adaptation by Stephen Johnson of the play in Czech Ze zivota hmyzu (From the Life of the Insects) By Josef and Karel Capek Written 1920; First produced 1922 From a Literal Translation by Vera Dernovsek and Marie Franek c. 1993
Table of Contents:
Prologue The Tramp Pedant Three Dancers/Ephemera Two Puppeteers/Butterflies
Act 1, The Butterflies The Tramp The Butterflies: Iris, Clythia, Ottokar, Victor, Felix One Puppeteer/Butterfly
Act 2, The Predators The Tramp The Chrysalis Mr. Dung Beetle Mrs. Dung Beetle Another Dung Beetle Mr. `Ichneumon' Fly (a species of Hunting Wasp) Little Miss Larva, his daughter Mr. Cricket Mrs. Cricket Mr. Parasite In Pantomime: The Pedant, First and Second Engineer Ants
Act 3, The Ants The Tramp The Chrysalis First Engineer Ant Second Engineer Ant Blind Ant Inventor Ant Quartermaster Ant Ant Bureaucrat/Dictator Ant Bureaucrat/Yellow Dictator Ant Laborers/Soldiers, including Messengers, Journalist, Philanthropist, etc.
Epilogue The Tramp Three Ephemera, a species of fly The Chrysalis, who emerges as an Ephemera First Snail Puppeteer Second Snail Puppeteer First Woodcutter Second Woodcutter Voices
PROLOGUE
(Scene: Dark stage, with pin spot on a few flowers at extreme downstage center. The Prologue takes place in the front third of the stage. The lighting rises and falls on that area, while the Act One setting, with characters in tableau, is preset in darkness behind.)
(The Tramp enters from rear of auditorium, whistling a soft, slow romantic tune. He mounts the stage, trips and falls front and center. He laughs, and then falls asleep. The tune he has been whistling begins to play, as the lights rise to reveal the three Ephemera lying on the ground around him. They dance. The music ends. Strong, dissonant music replaces it, and the Ephemera exit in fright. The Tramp moves, unsettled, as if having a bad dream. He awakens violently as the music stops. He settles back onto the floor, and laughs.)
TRAMP Funny, isn't it? Oh, forget it. It's all right. You don't need to laugh. After all, I didn't hurt myself, did I? (Leans on elbows. To flowers) You--you--you think I'm drunk, don't you? Oh, no. I'm in complete control. Didn't you see how straight I fell? Like a tree. Like a hero. I was performing--the fall of man. (Gets up, becomes dizzy) Oh no. My head is not spinning. No! The world is spinning, everything else is turning round and round and round and round oh, boy, do I feel sick.... Stop! (Looks around) So--everything turns around me. The whole earth--the whole universe. Well--too rich for my blood. Excuse me, I'm not dressed for `centre of universe.' I don't do `harmony of the spheres.' (Throws his hat on the ground. Addressing the universe) Look. There is the centre. Turn round my cap--it won't get dizzy. (Pause) That's better.
(To flowers again) Now, where was I? Tree, hero, fall of man--ah yes, I know. I fell--I fell under the weight of my cross. (Removes crucifix, and places beside flower.) See? And you thought I was drunk. Pretty little flowers--looking so dainty. Don't be so self-righteous. I know who you are.
I have seen Your delicate, healing leaves Placed over open, festering wounds. O, let me lay you over mine!
(Drops to knees. Picks flower from front of stage, and places in lapel of jacket.) Maybe I am a little drunk. If I had roots like yours, I would not have wandered around the world. I would not have learned so many things. Why, I was in the late, great war. (Takes a medal from his pocket, and places it beside flower.) I have been to university. (Takes a small book from pocket, and places it beside flower. He rises.) Now I know everything. How to shovel shit, sweep streets, guard other people's property, slog beer. Everything nobody else wants to do. [THE TRAMP'S MONOLOGUE CONTINUES UNTIL--]
(During these last lines, two puppeteers enter, with butterflies on long poles. They stand upstage in near-darkness. The Pedant enters following them, carrying a large net.)
PEDANT Aha! Oh! Oh! (and various other noises during his speeches, as he tries to catch the butterflies). Oh what beautiful specimens! Apatura Iris! Apatura Clythia. Oh oh, now wait, wait. Now I have you! Oh-h-h, escaped! Carefully. Carefully. Quiet. Quiet. Slowly. Slowly. Oh. Take care. Oh, oh, oh....
TRAMP Hey, why are you after those butterflies?
PEDANT Quiet! quiet! Don't move! They are sitting on you! Be very careful. Don't move! They'll sit on anything that stinks. Mud, excrement, rotting flesh. Watch out! Oh, no! (They escape again.)
TRAMP Leave them alone. They're playing.
PEDANT What? Playing? This game is only an overture to mating. This is the time of mating. The male pursues the female. The bride runs away. She lures him with her sweet smell. Her pursuer tickles her with his antennae. He falls from fatigue. She flies on. Another comes, stronger, more handsome--she runs, she lures him with her sweet smell, the lover after her. This is the law of nature. Eternal battle of love. Eternal mating, eternal, eternal sex. Shh! Shh! Quiet!
TRAMP And what do you do with them after you catch them?
PEDANT What? A butterfly must be identified, dated and acquisitioned. Must not rub off the powder! The net must be made of firm, fine fabric! The butterfly must be killed with care, by squeezing its chest! And pinned, and stretched. Put into the case well dried. Needs to be protected against the dust and moths. Add just a bit of cyanide.
TRAMP And why all this?
PEDANT Love of nature! (The butterfly/puppeteers exit.) Man--my good man--you cannot understand the love of nature! Aha, there they are again. Watch out! Quiet! You will not escape me! (Runs off after the butterflies.)
[THE PEDANT'S ATTITUDE TOWARD NATURE SHOWS A DOUBLE STANDARD--LOVE AND THE NEED TO POSSESS AND CONTROL AT ALL COST--THAT "THE INSECT PROJECT" WILL EXPLORE. AT THIS POINT THE TRAMP SPEAKS ABOUT THE BEAUTY OF THE BUTTERFLIES, APPARENTLY MISUNDERSTANDING THE PEDANT'S CONTROLLING NATURE. THE SCENE FOR ACT ONE IS SET.]
ACT ONE The Butterflies
(Scene: Two long seating areas, center stage left and right. Large, colourful drinks, with straws, are accessible nearby. In between the seating areas sits a large mirror. On either side of the mirror actors can step up onto a raked upstage platform that represents the off-stage areas. This allows the actors to be out of the action of the play, but visible to the audience in tableau. When the lights come up on the scene, Ottokar and Clythie are in tableau upstage right, Viktor and Iris upstage left. Felix is facing upstage, in front of the mirror.)
TRAMP (Rubs his eyes and looks around.) This is beautiful! It's like--paradise. Better than any artist could paint. And what's that incredible smell?
[ACT ONE SHOWS A GROUP OF BUTTERFLIES ARGUING ABOUT POETRY, GOSSIPING VICIOUSLY ABOUT EACH OTHER, AND ATTEMPTING TO SEDUCE EACH OTHER. THE SPECIFIC PLOT OF THE SCENE IS NOT IMPORTANT FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT. THE ORIGINAL INTENT WAS TO COMMENT ON THE EXTRAORDINARY SELFISHNESS AND UNCARING ATTITUDE OF THOSE WHO HAVE THE MOST LEISURE AND THE LEAST WORRY IN SOCIETY. THE ALTERNATIVE READING IS THAT, AS BUTTERFLIES, THESE CHARACTERS KNOW THEIR LIVES ARE BRIEF, AND ARE DESPERATELY STUFFING IT WITH SENSATIONS, WHATEVER THE COST. ]
ACT TWO The Predators
(Scene: An open stage. Upstage are two platforms raked up toward the center. They are separated by a four foot gap that represents the entrance to the Ichneumon Fly's home.[1] There is sufficient space behind the platforms for Baby Larva, and the characters that will have to exit into it. The scene is bright, the colours tend toward greens and browns. There is a moveable seat for the Chrysalis USC, but she is not in it. Most entrances and exits in this Act take place through the audience, for comic effect.
The Tramp lies DSL. Dark lines have been added to his makeup during intermission; this might show the passage of time, the result of a long night out of doors, or a more artificial expression of his confusion. The Chrysalis sits on the ground center stage.)
CHRYSALIS I--I--I! The whole earth is exploding! I am about to be born!
TRAMP (Raises his head.) What's that noise?
CHRYSALIS Something wonderful is about to happen!
TRAMP That's nice. (Puts head down again.)
(Pause. Voices off. Mr. and Mr. Dung Beetle enter with a very large dung ball.)
MR. DUNG BEETLE You can't tumble it around like that!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Who, me?
MR. DUNG BEETLE Yes, you!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Me?
MR. DUNG BEETLE You!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Me?
MR. DUNG BEETLE You! Clumsy!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Clumsy! You blockhead!
MR. DUNG BEETLE Butterfingers!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Numbskull!
MR. DUNG BEETLE Peabrain!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Dung Beetle!
MR. DUNG BEETLE Dung Beetle! (Pause.) Careful with the ball! Watch it!
(The dung ball rolls away from them. The Extra Dung Beetle rushes over to help. Mr. and Mrs. Dung Beetle fall over themselves in a great show of physical clumsiness. The Extra Dung Beetle tries to escape with the ball, across the stage, with great difficulty. Mr. and Mrs. Dung Beetle, finally regaining control of their movements, retrieve their ball, and thank the Extra Dung Beetle while pushing her (or him) away. The Extra Dung Beetle retreats to her very small SL dung ball, but is in view and watching during the following scene, which is played centerstge. The whole to be played with slapstick and verbal improvisation.)
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Easy now!
MR. DUNG BEETLE Careful. Careful.
MR. DUNG BEETLE No damage?
MRS. DUNG BEETLE No. Nothing. Oh, my. That was really frightening. Are you all right, little darling? Our sweet, precious little ball.
MR. DUNG BEETLE Our little nest-egg! Our stockpile! Our capital! Our everything!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE You beautiful ball of shit! Treasure! Fortune!
MR. DUNG BEETLE Our love! Our only joy! How we searched. How we scratched and saved every stinking crumb. Went to bed starving for your sake. MRS. DUNG BEETLE Wore our little feelers to the bone. Oh--the shit we went through till we got you nice and big and round and neatly packed!
MR. DUNG BEETLE And neatly packed and round and big! Our sunshine!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Our jewel!
MR. DUNG BEETLE Our life!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Our life's goal!
MR. DUNG BEETLE Take a whiff, old girl. Beautiful. Try to lift it. Go on. So much of it!
MRS. DUNG BEETLE God's gift.
MR. DUNG BEETLE God's blessing.
CHRYSALIS The walls of my prison are cracking! I am about to be born!
(Tramp raises head.)
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Dung Beetle?
MR. DUNG BEETLE What is it? (Mrs. Dung Beetle giggles.) Wife?
MRS. DUNG BEETLE What is it?
MR. DUNG BEETLE It's wonderful to own things. Property! Dreams! (Mrs. Dung Beetle giggles.) I'm crazy with happiness. I--I--I'm going crazy with worry. I'm just plain going crazy.
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Why?
MR. DUNG BEETLE Because! We have our ball. We were so looking forward to having it. And now--and now, we have to make another one. So much work.
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Why another one?
MR. DUNG BEETLE Don't be stupid. So we can have two.
MRS. DUNG BEETLE Oh, two. Of course.
MR. DUNG BEETLE Imagine, two of them. At least two--maybe three. Once you have one, you have to start saving for another.
MRS. DUNG BEETLE So you'll have two.
MR. DUNG BEETLE Or three.
[WITH THE DUNGBEETLES, AS WITH THE CRICKETS AND FLIES THAT FOLLOW IN THESE EXCERPTS, NOTIONS OF FAMILY, AND OF THE RELATIVE CHARITY AND SELFISHNESS TOWARD SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, ARE SATIRIZED. THESE CHARACTERS ARE COMIC OR GROTESQUE, DEPENDING ON HOW THEY ARE PLAYED; IN PERFORMANCE, THEY ARE BOTH SYMPATHETIC AND RIDICULOUS. MR. DUNGBEETLE LEAVES TO FIND A HOLE TO HIDE HIS PRECIOUS BALL. MRS. DUNGBEETLE LEAVES THE BALL FOR A MOMENT, AND A THIRD DUNGBEETLE STEALS IT, AFTER AN ARGUMENT WITH THE TRAMP. MRS. D. RETURNS, PANICS, AND RUNS OFF LOOKING FOR THE BALL AND HER HUSBAND. THE SEQUENCE IS FAST-PACED SLAPSTICK.]
TRAMP Quite a different specimen to investigate. A whole new angle on insects. Much more like honest, humble Working folk. Stern-faced and single-minded.
I must have been drunk to think The world is filled with butterflies. Oh, beautiful they were --a little the worse for wear-- Searching for pleasure--selfish, conceited-- I hate the rich!
These others--they want Property, not pleasure. The stink of honest labour Outlasts perfume every time. And--well--the smell of money's Stronger than both combined. This is good--it all works for me. You love for selfish reasons. Work benefits the whole. It's always done for others.
A little greed, a little theft-- It's all in the name of Family. The rest can live on what is left.
CHRYSALIS Make room! Make room! Something wonderful is about to happen!!
TRAMP (Moving toward it.) And what will that be?
CHRYSALIS I will be born!
TRAMP Good for you. And what exactly are you going to be?
CHRYSALIS I have no idea! Something great! Could you help me up?
TRAMP Ah! (Helps her into her seat.)
CHRYSALIS I will accomplish something wonderful!
TRAMP Such as?
CHRYSALIS I--will be born!
[THE TRAMP DOES HIS BEST, IN EVERY SCENE, TO LOOK ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE CHARACTERS. IN PRACTICE, THEY DISAPPOINT, AND HE BECOMES CYNICAL. THE CHRYSALIS COUNTERACTS THIS CYNICISM WITH A NAIVELY POSITIVE ATTITUDE--IF ONLY SHE CAN BE BORN, EVERYTHING WILL BE ALL RIGHT. THE TRAMP BECOMES VERY PROTECTIVE OF HER. AT THIS POINT A LARGE ICHNEUMYN FLY, OR WASP, ENTERS. THIS CHARACTER HAS BEEN PRESENTED AS A LARGE PUPPET (McMaster 1992), AND PLAYED BY TWO ACTORS, ONE ON THE OTHER'S SHOULDERS (Brock University, 1996). HE BRINGS ON A DEAD CRICKET AND THROWS IT INTO THE ONSTAGE CAVE ENTRANCE. HIS "LITTLE LARVA", HIS DAUGHTER, GRABS IT AND IS HEARD EATING IT OFFSTAGE. THESE TWO CHARACTERS ARE PRESENTED AS A FAMILY, MR. FLY WORKING HARD AS AN ORDINARY BUSINESSMAN TO PROVIDE FOR HIS DAUGHTER, NOT THINKING OF THE CONSEQUENCES.]
LARVA Daddy, I'm bored.
FLY Aren't you sweet? Give Daddy a little kiss. Daddy will bring you something really crunchy next time. You'd like another cricket, wouldn't you?
LARVA I'd like--I don't know.
FLY Such a clever little Larva! You deserve something very special. Bye-bye, baby. Daddy must go to work now. Must get something for his darling, for his pretty baby. Go on in now. Eat. (Larva exits UC.)
FLY (Goes to Tramp. Pokes him.) Who are you?
TRAMP (Surprised and terrified, he jumps up between Fly and Chrysalis.) I am--me.
FLY Are you edible?
TRAMP No. I don't think I am.
FLY (Pokes him again.) No, you're not fresh enough. Who are you?
TRAMP A drifter.
FLY (Bowing slightly.) Ichneumon Fly. Do you have any children?
TRAMP No. I don't think so.
FLY Ah, did you see her?
TRAMP See who?
FLY My little Larva. (Repeatedly, as he speaks, Mr. Fly seems to forget the Tramp, and moves around the stage.) She's so cute, you know, such a clever little thing, and oh, how she keeps on growing--what an appetite! (Laughs.) Children--they really do bring great happiness, don't they? (Confronts the Tramp.)
TRAMP So they say.
FLY Yes, indeed. When you have a child, your work at last has a purpose. You take care of it, you work, you struggle through a lot. That's really what life is all about, isn't it? What children want is to grow, to eat their little meals, to have snacks, and to play. Am I right? (Again, confronts the Tramp.)
TRAMP Children want a lot.
[THE FLY SPEAKS FURTHER ABOUT HIS CHILD, ALL THE WHILE SNIFFING FOR MORE FOOD--THE TRAMP, THE CHRYSALIS. HE FINALLY LEAVES. THE LARVA ENTERS BRIEFLY, CRYING OUT FOR FOOD, AND ATTACKING THE CHRYSALIS. THEN MR. DUNGBEETLE RETURNS FOR A COMIC DIALOGUE WITH THE TRAMP, IN WHICH HE REPEATEDLY CONFUSES WHAT THE TRAMP SAYS ABOUT HIS BALL. WHEN HE FINALLY REALIZES HIS BALL HAS BEEN STOLEN, HE BECOMES, QUIET, HUMAN, DISBELIEVING--AND THEN STORMS OFFSTAGE WAILING.]
TRAMP (Imitating Mr. Dung Beetle.) Help! Catch him! Murderer! (Laughs.)
Clouds, weep! Sky, fall! A beetle's lost his precious ball! Ah, well-- Take comfort in the midst of sorrow. Think of the ball you'll make tomorrow. Think of this thief as a kind of brother. After all-- One ball--and one beetle's--much like another.
[AFTER FURTHER SCENES WITH THE FLY, MR AND MRS CRICKET ENTER.]
(He hears Mr. and Mrs. Cricket Off SR, and pushes Chrysalis SL.)
MR. CRICKET (Entering with sign and briefcase, which he places upstage.) Be careful, sweetheart. Watch your step. Here we are. Our new home. Oh, look out, now. Did you hurt yourself?
MRS. CRICKET (Entering with large suitcase, and eyes closed. She is very pregnant.) No, Cricket. Don't be so silly.
MR. CRICKET But darling, you must be careful in your delicate condition. (Mrs. Cricket arrives at center stage. She drops the suitcase and stumbles forward. Mr. Cricket is excited, moving constantly.) All right? Ready, now? Open your eyes. There. Do you like it?
MRS. CRICKET Oh, Cricket, I'm so tired.
MR. CRICKET Well, sit down, my precious. (He helps her to sit on the suitcase, facing front.) Easy. Easy. There.
[AFTER FURTHER EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE, MR. CRICKET EXPLAINS HOW HE MANAGED TO GET A NEW HOME.]
MRS. CRICKET Who built it?
MR. CRICKET (Pause. He looks suspicious.) Another cricket.
MRS. CRICKET Oh? Did he move away?
MR. CRICKET Moved? Oh, yes, he moved. He sure did. (He decides to tell her his secret.) Bet you can't guess where to? Betcha. Come on, guess.
MRS. CRICKET I won't. Cricket, it takes you so long to get to the point. Now, tell me. (Sits on suitcase.) Where did this other cricket go?
MR. CRICKET Well, then. (Downstage, toward audience.) Yesterday--he was grabbed by a Robin and rammed onto a thorn till suppertime. Oh, sweetheart. He was run through and through and through. So I'm walking along, see, and he's up there with his legs all hanging down and kind of flapping, like. He's still alive, see? And I look at him for the longest time, and I say to myself, I say, Cricket, I say--I wonder where his house is? MRS. CRICKET He was still alive?
MR. CRICKET Still is, last I saw. Just kind of wriggling.
MRS. CRICKET That's horrible.
MR. CRICKET Yes. (They pause for a moment of contemplation. Mr. Cricket returns to the matter at hand.) We're so lucky. (He sings.) Let's hang up our sign. (He begins to hang sign beside entrance to Fly's home. It says, `Cricket's Music Shop.') Where shall I hang it? Here? To the right? The left?
[THE CRICKETS ARE INTRODUCED INTO THIS SCENE AS VICTIMS WHO ARE NOT GUILTLESS. THEY KILL NO ONE, HARM NO ONE DIRECTLY; HOWEVER, THEY BENEFIT FROM THE NATURAL CRUELTIES OF NATURE. THE ETHICS OF THIS IS COMPLEX, BECAUSE THE CRUELTIES ARE "NATURAL"--THE BIRD MUST EAT, AFTER ALL. THE ANALOGY IS DRAWN WITH HUMANITY, WHICH IS ALSO A "NATURAL" SPECIES. HUMAN SOCIETY HAS A DIFFERENT CODE OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR; AND YET THE SITUATION DESCRIBED BY MR. CRICKET IS QUITE HUMAN, AND COMMON. WE BENEFIT FROM THE MISFORTUNES OF OTHERS. MR. CRICKET LEAVES, AND MRS. CRICKET IS KILLED HORRIBLY BY THE FLY, WHO FEEDS HER TO HIS LARVA. THE PARASITE, WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING ALL THROUGH THIS ACT, COMES FORWARD, FINALLY.]
TRAMP She died--so helpless.
PARASITE I feel exactly the same way. I've been watching--like you--for quite a while. I could never do that--no, I just couldn't. Everybody wants to live, am I right about that?
TRAMP Who are you?
PARASITE Me? Nothing, really. Just a beggar--an orphan. They call me `Parasite.'
TRAMP Oh, how is such violence possible?
PARASITE That's my question exactly! That fly--does he need it? Is he hungry like me? No way! He makes a killing and he banks the savings. It's a little layaway plan for him. He saves and he saves--while others starve. It's criminal--no justice at all. But he has the knife, as they say, and I only have my bare hands. Am I right?
TRAMP I--guess.
PARASITE Absolutely. There's no equality. For example. I can't kill, right? Too soft (Indicates teeth, then thinks better of it)--my conscience is too soft. I don't have the means of--uh--what do you call it. Oh yes. Means of production. I only have the hunger. Can that be right?
TRAMP (Barely listening.) No--no--nobody should be killed.
PARASITE My very words, my friend. Or at least--never more than you need now. To stockpile is to plunder from those who don't know how to stockpile. Eat your fill, and that's it. Then, there's enough of everything for everybody. Am I right, or am I right?
TRAMP I don't know.
PARASITE That's just what I say.
FLY (Re-enters from UC.) Eat up, baby. Enjoy yourself. Take what you want. Haven't you got a nice Daddy?
PARASITE (In a panic, hides behind the Tramp as he speaks, and handles Tramp as if a puppet.) How do you do, sir?
FLY (Momentarily confused.) What? Hmm. Edible? (Sniffs at Tramp.)
PARASITE Me? You must be joking, sir.
FLY (Recognizing Parasite behind Tramp. Tramp escapes SL. Mr. Fly takes a swipe at the Parasite, driving it SR.) Get away, bloodsucker! Leach! What do you want here? Get out!
PARASITE Exactly what I was planning, sir. Of course, sir. No problem, sir. [THE FLY PRAISES HIS DAUGHTER LARVA FURTHER, AND LEAVES. THE TRAMP AND THE PARASITE DISCUSS WHAT IS NECESSARY TO LIVE, HOW THE WEALTH OF THE EARTH SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED. THE PARASITE SHOWS HIS VIOLENT TENDENCIES. MR CRICKET RETURNS, AND THE FLY PROCEEDS TO KILL HIM AND FEED HIM TO HIS LARVA.]
TRAMP Look out! Behind you!
PARASITE (Stops him.) Stay out of it--Comrade. What will be, will be.
(The Fly approaches Mr. Cricket from behind, both facing upstage. Mr. Cricket is killed, and disappears behind the platforms. The Fly moves into the entrance, turns, and faces full front.)
FLY (The music fades.) Baby Larva! Darling daughter! Look what Daddy's brought for you--again?
TRAMP Oh Creator of all Things! Are you forced to watch this?
PARASITE My feelings exactly. That's his third cricket today, and I've had nothing! Are we supposed to put up with that?
FLY (The lights crossfade to normal, as the Fly moves forward.) No, no, baby. No time now. Daddy has to work. But eat. Eat. Quiet down, now. I'll be back in an hour. I'll be back. (Exits.)
PARASITE Now I'm really steamed. I'm boiling. I'm bursting. Tyrant! Injustice! I'll show him! Just wait. Is he gone? I'll just have a little look. (Exits into Fly's home UC.)
[THE PARASITE IS NOT JUST AN EXTREME EXAMPLE OF A SELFISH, UNCARING SOCIETY. HIS PRESENCE QUESTIONS THE VIOLENCE OF THE NATURAL WORLD, AND THE ETHICAL WORLD-VIEW THAT HAS INFLUENCED HUMAN SOCIETY THROUGH SOCIAL DARWINISM, ETC. IN ADDITION, THERE IS A STRONG ANALOGY BETWEEN HIS ATTITUDE AND THE IDEA MENTIONED IN THE PROJECT DESCRIPTION OF "THE AMBITIOUS BAD ACTOR," A BIOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF CANCER. THERE IS MUCH TO EXPLORE HERE. THE TRAMP IS NOT UNAWARE OF THESE LESSONS, AND PARADOXES, AS THE FOLLOWING POETIC MONOLOGUE SHOWS.]
TRAMP Murder and more murder! My heart stops. Quiet--quiet--a little drama in the grass. Beetle battles! I long for humanity!
And Humanity-- does not live by bread alone. Humanity longs To make, to do, to work, to plan, to build, to shape Until at last he can create A ball of No, no--those were beetles. Umm--Umm--
Humanity-- Longs for the grace of a peaceful life. So little need for happiness-- So little needed, for happiness. A small circle drawn around your home. No action taken. No harm done. No worries. Life spins around us While we sit and sing and watch Our neighbour wriggle his legs No, no--those were crickets. Umm--Umm--
That can't be right. A world that--small--could never satisfy humanity. Humanity must strive for something more Than cautious, uncaring happiness. We must reach out beyond our narrow lives And struggle with the world. We must subdue it and control it. Life is a battle. It calls for Heroes. If you would win the day Then seize the day And kill it No! No! Those were flies.
Silence. Do you not hear it? Throughout the world the sound Of chewing. Chewing. Chewing. The blood-stained smacking of lips Over heaving, crying food. Life betrays life. CHRYSALIS I feel something wonderful! Something wonderful!
TRAMP What is wonderful?
CHRYSALIS To be born! To live!
TRAMP (He moves to her, SL, and kneels at her side.) Chrysalis, Chrysalis. I will be with you always.
PARASITE (Emerges from tunnel, very fat, hiccupping, belching, and laughing throughout his broken speech.) This is-- That old miser, he really had a pile of--stuff for that--little girl of his. I feel like--throwing up. I think I'm going to--explode. Damned hiccups. Now I'm really--somebody. Not everybody could--am I right?--eat everything. Am I right, or am I right?
TRAMP And the little Larva?
PARASITE (Laughing and hiccupping.) Yeah! Oh--yeah! Her, too. I said--everything! Nature's table is set for all! (Stretches hands out to audience. Laughs.)
(Snap Blackout. End Act Two.)
ACT THREE The Ants.
(Scene: A large oval-shaped raked ramp encircles the stage on three sides, leaving the stage center and front open. Whether or not this is possible, the design strategy for this scene is to have a large circular motion for the ants, with some height possible upstage. When the Act begins, the ants, who are masked, are positioned around the ramp and elsewhere on stage, arranged so that SR is symmetrical to SL. Two Ant Bureaucrats are positioned extreme DSR and DSL. The Blind Ant is UC seated on a raised platform. In front of and lower than him, centerstage in her seat, is the Chrysalis. At the front center stage crosslegged is the Tramp. His makeup is more extreme, and more artificial than in Act Two; he `looks' mad, exhausted, and less human. The lights come up first on the Tramp, then on the Chrysalis.)
[ACT THREE IS A MOVEMENT-CENTERED PIECE THAT INCLUDES THE CREATION OF A FACTORY ATMOSPHERE OF DRUDGERY, OF ROBOTIC BEHAVIOUR, FOLLOWED BY THE CREATION OF A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP. IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT, THE ONE LEADS DIRECTLY TO THE OTHER. THE TRAMP DECIDES, AT THE BEGINNING, TO GO BACK TO THE CITY, BUT HE DOES NOT KNOW THE WAY. HE REALIZES THAT HE'S SITTING ON AN ANTHILL, AND BECOMES FASCINATED WITH WATCHING; THEN THE "FACTORY" COMES ALIVE. HE TALKS WITH THE FACTORY FOREMEN, WHO CANNOT UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS A WORLD LARGER THAN THEIR FACTORY.]
1. ENGINEER Where is the human hill?
TRAMP I see. There. And also there. Everywhere.
2. ENGINEER Ha! Everywhere! Mad.
1. ENGINEER Are there many humans?
TRAMP Many. They are called the masters of the world.
2. ENGINEER (Laughs. The Second Engineer occasionally hisses.) Ha! Mas-sters of the world!
1. ENGINEER We are the masters of the world.
2. ENGINEER The Ant Realm.
1. ENGINEER The greatest ant state.
2. ENGINEER A powerful state.
1. ENGINEER The greatest democracy.
TRAMP How so?
1. ENGINEER Everyone must obey.
2. ENGINEER Everyone must work. Everyone for Him.
1. ENGINEER Only He commands.
TRAMP Who?
1. ENGINEER The State. The Nation.
[THE ANT-ENGINEERS PUSH THE WORKERS UNTIL THEY CANNOT SURVIVE. THEN, IN THE FOLLOWING, THEY CANNOT QUITE DETERMINE HOW TO REMOVE THE DEAD. AT THIS POINT TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES IN THE FORM OF AN INVENTOR, WHO HAS A VERY LARGE HEAD. THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS RAISED HERE ARE OBVIOUS; BUT THEY ARE WORTH EXPLORING FURTHER THROUGH THESE IMAGES. THE SPEED OF LIFE, THE OVERLY-BUSY BUREAUCRATIZATION OF LIFE, THE INCAPACITY TO SEE BEYOND THE HILL, ARE JUST AS VIABLE TO DISCUSS TODAY.]
TRAMP One two three! Even faster! One! Drive out old Time with the whip of speed. Speed is progress. We rush headlong toward our destiny--destruction! So then, let it be faster! You! (To Blind Ant.) Count faster! One--
BLIND ANT --two three...
1. ENGINEER Faster! Faster!
(An Ant stumbles forward and falls center stage in front of the Chrysalis. He cries out. The circular movement of the ants stops. The Blind Ant stops counting.)
2. ENGINEER (Hissing.) S-s-s! What is this-s? Get up!
1. LABORER ANT (Leaning over the fallen ant.) Dead.
1. ENGINEER (Selecting two other ants.) You and you, carry him off! Faster!
(The two Ants lift the dead ant.)
2. ENGINEER What an honour! He fell in the battlefield of speed!
1. ENGINEER You are lifting him too slowly! Waste of time! Let go! (The two Ants drop the body.)
1. ENGINEER Grab his head and legs at the same time. One two three! Wrong! Let go! (The two Ants drop the body.) Head and legs one two three! March! One two, one two, one... (They rotate the body, and lay it down again.)
2. ENGINEER --two three! Faster!
TRAMP At least he died--quickly.
1. ENGINEER Back to work! Back to work! He who has more must work more.
2. ENGINEER And need more.
1. ENGINEER Have more to protect.
2. ENGINEER More to conquer.
1. ENGINEER We are the nation of peace. Peace means work.
2. ENGINEER And work means power.
1. ENGINEER And power means war.
2. ENGINEER That's the way it is!
INVENTOR (Offstage.) Watch out, oh watch out! Make way! (The Inventor enters, groping with his hands. He is wearing a very large mask, with a war machine coming out of it.)
2. ENGINEER Our Inventor.
INVENTOR Be careful! Don't bang into my head. It's made of glass. It's fragile. It's huge. Out of the way! My head will burst! Watch out! I am carrying a very large head! Don't bump into me. Back away.
2. ENGINEER Yes?
INVENTOR It hurts, it's bursting. It will hit a wall, bang! No--no--I can't hold it with both of my hands! No--no-- I am not able to carry it! Watch out, do you hear? Fu, fu, fu! (The sound of a machine.)
1. ENGINEER What have you got for us?
INVENTOR A machine, a new machine. Inside my head. Do you hear it work? It'll break my head! Oh--oh--ohohoh--a great machine! Out of the way! Out of the way! I am carrying a machine.
1. ENGINEER What kind of a machine?
INVENTOR A war-machine. The greatest, the fastest, the most effective exterminator of lives! The greatest progress! The pinnacle of science! Fu, fu, fu, do you hear it? Ten thousand, a hundred thousand dead! Fu, fu! It works non-stop! Two hundred thousand dead! Fu, fu, fu, fu!
1. ENGINEER What a genius!
INVENTOR Ohohoh, the pain! My head is cracking! Out of the way, out of the way! (He exits). Fu, fu, fu--
[THE ANTS GO TO WAR, DURING THE COURSE OF WHICH THEIR SOCIETY BECOMES A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP, AND THE ENTIRE ENVIRONMENT WITHIN WHICH THEY LIVE IS DESTROYED. THE TRAMP INTERRUPTS WITH HIS OWN MEMORIES OF WAR.]
TRAMP To arms! To arms! The road between two blades of grass is threatened! An inch of ground, A crack in the wall of green. The Interests of the State, Your Sacred Right, The Mystery of life. All up for grabs. ... I was in a war--an insect occupation. We dug and drilled and burrowed Ourselves into the earth. We swarmed Over meadowlands of corpses-- Doubletime, March! Fix bayonets! Fifty thousand dead to take a dangerous nest-- Of latrines.
[THE WAR ENDS, THE YELLOW ANTS INVADE AND WIN.]
YELLOW DICTATOR (Praying.) Oh, Just God, you know that we fight only for our rights. Our history, the honour of our nation, free access to markets, oil--
TRAMP Ah you insect! You stupid insect!
(The Tramp grinds his foot into the imaginary anthill downstage. With each movement of his foot, the Yellow Dictator on the platform behind falls lower, and the light on him becomes smaller, until only the light on the Tramp remains.)
(The Epilogue follows immediately, without a break.)
EPILOGUE
[IN THE EPILOGUE, THE TRAMP WITNESSES A DANCE BY THREE "EPHEMERA," FRAIL FLYING INSECTS (SOMETIMES TRANSLATED "MAYFLIES") THAT LIVE ONLY BRIEFLY. THEN THE CHRYSALIS, WITH GREAT FANFARE, EMERGES FROM HER SHELL. SHE DANCES, AND SHE, TOO, DIES. THERE IS A STRONG IRONY IN THIS DEATH--CERTAINLY WE WERE NEVER MEANT TO TAKE HER WORDS SERIOUSLY, OR BELIEVE SHE REALLY COULD SAVE THE WORLD. ON THE OTHER HAND, WE WERE MEANT TO HAVE SYMPATHY FOR HER. WHEN SHE DIES, SOMETHING INVISIBLE TAKES HOLD OF THE TRAMP. HE DANCES, AND WRESTLES WITH DEATH, JUST LIKE THE EPHEMERA. AS HE DOES THIS, TWO SNAILS ENTER.]
TRAMP Coward! Let me go, so I can tell--everyone-- Live, just Live! No! Go away! There's so much left for me to do! Now--I know--how to--live. (He exits backward UC into the shadows.)
FIRST SNAIL Well, that'th it for him!
SECOND SNAIL Oh, my God, what a blow! Thith ith terrible. Terrible. Oh, oh. Thuch mithfortune! Why have you left uth, beloved?
FIRST SNAIL What are you moaning for? He wathn't anything to uth.
SECOND SNAIL Well, you know, when thomeone dieth, thatth the thort of thing they alwayth thay.
[THE SNAILS MOCK THE TRAMP AS HE DIES. THE TRAMP DISAPPEARS UPSTAGE INTO TO DARKNESS AS HE DIES, LEAVING HIS COAT BEHIND TO REPRESENT HIS BODY. TWO PEOPLE ENTER, WALKING THROUGH THE WOODS, AND COME ACROSS THE COAT/BODY. THEY WONDER ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE DEAD MAN. AT THIS POINT THE "TRAMP" RE-ENTERS AS ANOTHER CHARACTER.]
(Enter Tramp from the upstage darkness, wiping his make-up off with a cloth. He continues to remove his make-up during the following conversation. He stops downstage center, in front of his `corpse' coat, just upstage from the Chrysalis. He faces front, looking out over the audience as if at the morning sky. The Woodsmen move a pace or two to SL and SR to observe him.)
[THE "TRAMP" OFFERS TO TAKE THE CORPSE BACK TO TOWN. THIS CHARACTER, IN THE ORIGINAL, IS CALLED A "PILGRIM" AND IS MEANT TO REPRESENT A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WORLD, THE TRAMP RE-BORN. ALTHOUGH IN PERFORMANCE THIS IS POETIC, AND AFFECTING, THE ENDING FOR THIS PLAY HAS ALWAYS BEEN PROBLEMATIC--THE CAPEKS WROTE TWO, AND THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM.]
TRAMP It's a beautiful, beautiful morning. Really--beautiful. Difficult to put into words. Look--look at the world. Look at how much there is to do. (Referring to his own corpse.) What--a--great--shame--he's missed it. Let me help you.
(The Tramp/Actor removes a flower from his lapel and, crouching down beside the Chrysalis, places the flower on her body. Music and long, slow fade into pinspot of flower, then to Black.)
END.
[1] The entrance to Mr. and Mrs. Cricket's home is also called for in the original, and can be used to advantage. In the following adaptation, for practical reasons, its presence is implied, and was not found to be necessary.