Shadowplay: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Carrion Bird, Act IV
Shadows on the Wall: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Carrion Bird
A Play in Five Acts by Gathering Shadows Kashira Theatre
ACT IV: Dance, Dance, Revolution
Back to Act III
[Scene: The Maxfield Parrish hall of pillars from Act I. B-KO, dressed in the boy's Ohtori uniform, is sitting sideways on the throne holding what can only be some sort of game controller and looking at a widescreen television which has been installed since Act I. The chamber is messy with various piles of clothing, pizza boxes, and paper. On the floor, between two pillars, GIR and CHU-CHU are apparently absorbed in playing a game of cards.]
B-KO: Damn, out of ammo!
GIR: Now I put out cards for you! One, two, three. And a strawberry.
CHU-CHU: Chu! [Eats strawberry]
B-KO: Fuck, where is the armor upgrade? Fuck!
GIR: Here is the girl with swords over her head, that's nine. And there is the girl with swords stuck through her, ten. And here is thirteen! I like this card, it dances with me!
CHU-CHU: Chuuuuuuuuuuu. [Sounding scared]
GIR: Dance, dance, the shaking of the sheets! Dance, dance, when you hear the piper playing!
CHU-CHU: [Gets up and twirls around; for some reason he is suddenly wearing a skirt]
GIR: Everyone must dance the shaking of the sheets with me!
B-KO: PIPE DOWN OVER THERE! I'm trying to get through a boss battle! [To the screen] Damn you, I'm going to kill you and eat you!
CHU-CHU: [Sits down abruptly, looking chastened.] Chu.
GIR: Aww, don't you like to dance? Everyone likes to dance!
B-KO: SHUT UP!
GIR: A-ko would have danced with us.
CHU-CHU: [Nodding] Chu!
GIR: Let's go get A-ko! And she will take us out dancing, and we can get funnel cakes and go on the tilt-a-whirl!
CHU-CHU: Chuuu!
GIR: A-ko can ride on my steamroller! [Leaps to zir feet and runs out, stage left; CHU-CHU follows]
B-KO: [bellows after them] PICK UP A PEPPERONI PIZZA, NONE OF THAT WEIRD SHIT ON IT! NOT HONEY AND SHRIMP LIKE LAST TIME!
[Lights down; scene change. Scene: the enormous cavern where A-KO is hanging. C-KO is sitting on her chair brooding, her chin in her hand; her wings are back to their small size. A-ko's belongings and gifts are still scattered untidily about C-ko's feet. GIR and CHU-CHU enter stage right.]
GIR: Aw, A-ko's all broken!
CHU-CHU: Chu!
GIR: I know what will help! A cupcake! [The two of them go over to the wall and GIR extends long robot arms out of zir head and lifts A-KO down from the wall, placing her on a low dais. Then zie pulls a cupcake out of zir chest and puts it down by A-KO's head.] Cherry chocolate cheesecake caramel is my favorite!
CHU-CHU: Chu! Chu! Chuuuu chu chu! [Produces a bottle of chocolate soymilk which he had apparently been drinking -- there is a straw in it -- and also puts it down by A-ko's head.]
C-KO: [In a low and expressionless tone] Who has entered my domain without my permission?
GIR: I'm naked! With my monkey friend!
CHU-CHU: [Indignantly] CHU! Chu chuuu chu chu chuu chu chu! [Steps a few pointed steps away from GIR and flounces in his little skirt.]
C-KO: I see. And what do you here, little ones?
GIR: Dancing!
CHU-CHU: Chuu chu chu chuuuu chu chu. Chuuuuuuu. [Twists hands in front of him pleadingly.]
C-KO: Very well. My realm is large; I don't need another body cluttering up the place.
GIR: YAAAAAAAAAAAY! [Runs around in circles and falls down.] What's going on?
CHU-CHU: Chu chuuu. [Bows politely]
C-KO: [Waves a hand] It is not kindness. Now go.
CHU-CHU: [Trots over to the pile of A-ko's things and starts bringing them over to her body.]
GIR: A-ko needs dancing shoes! [A pair of ballet slippers pop out of zir head]
CHU-CHU: [picking up a shred of red velvet and shaking his head over it sadly] Chu. Chu-chu, chu chuu?
GIR: I only have purple thread. [A sewing machine arm pops out of zir head.]
[Lights down; scene change. Scene: the same cavern as before, but A-KO is standing on her feet, clothed in a dress of red, black and white scraps patched together, with a dagged skirt. Her beads of lapis and gold have been sewn to the dress, and she wears both the sword and the chatelaine at her belt. Her feet are bare, her basket is at her feet, her ring is on her finger, and her hair is bound back into a braid wound though with green leaves and the small purple and yellow flowers of belladonna. C-KO yet sits in her chair, her chin in her hand.]
GIR: Now you can come home and pipe a tune to dance to! With waffles!
CHU-CHU: Chuu. [Looks up at A-ko]
A-KO: [Places a hand on each of their hands] Thank you. [She moves her hands, both of them, slowly to the center of her chest.] It hurts.
C-KO: That is to be expected. I broke it.
A-KO: Careless of you.
C-KO: I had no need of borrowed finery from you. What adornments, what flourishes, what dissertations and circumlocutions I need, I have already.
A-KO: You might have left me my own. Must I go?
C-KO: This place is not for you.
A-KO: I gave up much to come here.
C-KO: Your friends have restored the brightness of May to you. Can I say the same?
A-KO: I came here to try.
C-KO: You cannot give me back what I have never had.
A-KO: Why not? Why will you not accept my gifts?
C-KO: Tell me, Rose Bride, why your Prince will never come.
A-KO: No one can ever be rescued.
C-KO: Thus it ever is. Now go. Get out of my sight. It makes me sick to look at you.
A-KO: If you were to come to me, I would welcome you.
C-KO: I cannot come. We live in different worlds.
A-KO: But it is not by my desire.
C-KO: [Standing up, shouting] What makes you think I care about what you desire? What makes you think I care about your world? This is the world I know, this is the world you have trespassed in, this is the world you leave -- now!
A-KO: Let me make reparation.
C-KO: There is no need. Where you have come, another will follow. All who seek me will find the same fate.
A-KO: You are hard.
C-KO: You know nothing of me. You know nothing.
A-KO: [Bows, says nothing, turns and leaves, stage right]
[Lights down; end of Act IV]
To Act V
A Play in Five Acts by Gathering Shadows Kashira Theatre
ACT IV: Dance, Dance, Revolution
Back to Act III
[Scene: The Maxfield Parrish hall of pillars from Act I. B-KO, dressed in the boy's Ohtori uniform, is sitting sideways on the throne holding what can only be some sort of game controller and looking at a widescreen television which has been installed since Act I. The chamber is messy with various piles of clothing, pizza boxes, and paper. On the floor, between two pillars, GIR and CHU-CHU are apparently absorbed in playing a game of cards.]
B-KO: Damn, out of ammo!
GIR: Now I put out cards for you! One, two, three. And a strawberry.
CHU-CHU: Chu! [Eats strawberry]
B-KO: Fuck, where is the armor upgrade? Fuck!
GIR: Here is the girl with swords over her head, that's nine. And there is the girl with swords stuck through her, ten. And here is thirteen! I like this card, it dances with me!
CHU-CHU: Chuuuuuuuuuuu. [Sounding scared]
GIR: Dance, dance, the shaking of the sheets! Dance, dance, when you hear the piper playing!
CHU-CHU: [Gets up and twirls around; for some reason he is suddenly wearing a skirt]
GIR: Everyone must dance the shaking of the sheets with me!
B-KO: PIPE DOWN OVER THERE! I'm trying to get through a boss battle! [To the screen] Damn you, I'm going to kill you and eat you!
CHU-CHU: [Sits down abruptly, looking chastened.] Chu.
GIR: Aww, don't you like to dance? Everyone likes to dance!
B-KO: SHUT UP!
GIR: A-ko would have danced with us.
CHU-CHU: [Nodding] Chu!
GIR: Let's go get A-ko! And she will take us out dancing, and we can get funnel cakes and go on the tilt-a-whirl!
CHU-CHU: Chuuu!
GIR: A-ko can ride on my steamroller! [Leaps to zir feet and runs out, stage left; CHU-CHU follows]
B-KO: [bellows after them] PICK UP A PEPPERONI PIZZA, NONE OF THAT WEIRD SHIT ON IT! NOT HONEY AND SHRIMP LIKE LAST TIME!
[Lights down; scene change. Scene: the enormous cavern where A-KO is hanging. C-KO is sitting on her chair brooding, her chin in her hand; her wings are back to their small size. A-ko's belongings and gifts are still scattered untidily about C-ko's feet. GIR and CHU-CHU enter stage right.]
GIR: Aw, A-ko's all broken!
CHU-CHU: Chu!
GIR: I know what will help! A cupcake! [The two of them go over to the wall and GIR extends long robot arms out of zir head and lifts A-KO down from the wall, placing her on a low dais. Then zie pulls a cupcake out of zir chest and puts it down by A-KO's head.] Cherry chocolate cheesecake caramel is my favorite!
CHU-CHU: Chu! Chu! Chuuuu chu chu! [Produces a bottle of chocolate soymilk which he had apparently been drinking -- there is a straw in it -- and also puts it down by A-ko's head.]
C-KO: [In a low and expressionless tone] Who has entered my domain without my permission?
GIR: I'm naked! With my monkey friend!
CHU-CHU: [Indignantly] CHU! Chu chuuu chu chu chuu chu chu! [Steps a few pointed steps away from GIR and flounces in his little skirt.]
C-KO: I see. And what do you here, little ones?
GIR: Dancing!
CHU-CHU: Chuu chu chu chuuuu chu chu. Chuuuuuuu. [Twists hands in front of him pleadingly.]
C-KO: Very well. My realm is large; I don't need another body cluttering up the place.
GIR: YAAAAAAAAAAAY! [Runs around in circles and falls down.] What's going on?
CHU-CHU: Chu chuuu. [Bows politely]
C-KO: [Waves a hand] It is not kindness. Now go.
CHU-CHU: [Trots over to the pile of A-ko's things and starts bringing them over to her body.]
GIR: A-ko needs dancing shoes! [A pair of ballet slippers pop out of zir head]
CHU-CHU: [picking up a shred of red velvet and shaking his head over it sadly] Chu. Chu-chu, chu chuu?
GIR: I only have purple thread. [A sewing machine arm pops out of zir head.]
[Lights down; scene change. Scene: the same cavern as before, but A-KO is standing on her feet, clothed in a dress of red, black and white scraps patched together, with a dagged skirt. Her beads of lapis and gold have been sewn to the dress, and she wears both the sword and the chatelaine at her belt. Her feet are bare, her basket is at her feet, her ring is on her finger, and her hair is bound back into a braid wound though with green leaves and the small purple and yellow flowers of belladonna. C-KO yet sits in her chair, her chin in her hand.]
GIR: Now you can come home and pipe a tune to dance to! With waffles!
CHU-CHU: Chuu. [Looks up at A-ko]
A-KO: [Places a hand on each of their hands] Thank you. [She moves her hands, both of them, slowly to the center of her chest.] It hurts.
C-KO: That is to be expected. I broke it.
A-KO: Careless of you.
C-KO: I had no need of borrowed finery from you. What adornments, what flourishes, what dissertations and circumlocutions I need, I have already.
A-KO: You might have left me my own. Must I go?
C-KO: This place is not for you.
A-KO: I gave up much to come here.
C-KO: Your friends have restored the brightness of May to you. Can I say the same?
A-KO: I came here to try.
C-KO: You cannot give me back what I have never had.
A-KO: Why not? Why will you not accept my gifts?
C-KO: Tell me, Rose Bride, why your Prince will never come.
A-KO: No one can ever be rescued.
C-KO: Thus it ever is. Now go. Get out of my sight. It makes me sick to look at you.
A-KO: If you were to come to me, I would welcome you.
C-KO: I cannot come. We live in different worlds.
A-KO: But it is not by my desire.
C-KO: [Standing up, shouting] What makes you think I care about what you desire? What makes you think I care about your world? This is the world I know, this is the world you have trespassed in, this is the world you leave -- now!
A-KO: Let me make reparation.
C-KO: There is no need. Where you have come, another will follow. All who seek me will find the same fate.
A-KO: You are hard.
C-KO: You know nothing of me. You know nothing.
A-KO: [Bows, says nothing, turns and leaves, stage right]
[Lights down; end of Act IV]
To Act V