Pilgrims & Saints Written by Hayley Ace Mace

I.i - An Introduction To Love R With every new beginning, lies a new challenge. With every new challenge, lies a new beginning. With every challenge, begins a new lie. With every new lie, begins a challenge. Lying again, from the very beginning, challenges the new, and begins to lie upon the new challenge. M Sounds like something youd read on a fortune cookie. R Granted. M You had it right the first time. R What Im marinating in these days, is ones personal attachment to the outcome of said challenges. I was told, before the new year began, that IR/M Have an obvious attachment to outcome. (They share a look) R Realizing this was one of the most maddeningM And liberatingR Things Ive come to know about myself. So Ive been releasing the attachment, and thus farR/M Uber good. R I am currently abstaining from romantic endeavors. (M laughs) Take that in whatever way your mind wishes. This shall be no daunting task for me, but rather a walk-in-the-park so-to-speak, which Im finding unexpectedly easy to do. Sure, I might miss the milieu of warm comfort, filled by a lover who hugs/kisses/holds/hears all. But the ridiculousness I found myself in with relationships of past was simply too much.

M Word. (Grrl walks by, with a dress of lace [could be lingerie].) R I love lace. M Richard was a poet. Died around forty. Poor. Desolate. Cromwell, bastard, locked him up. Hated royalists. Wouldve hated you. R Woulda locked me up. M To Althea, from prison. R Love is a prison? M To Lucasta, going to the wars. R Love is a battlefield. M Boom! R Boom M My weapon, deriving its great explosive force from the sudden release of kinetic energy, avast the mass of splitting partsR (interrupts) Exceeds the critical mass. M The chain reaction multiplies rapidly into an uncontrollable release ofR (interrupts again) energy.

M Heat. R Shockwave. M Shocking. (J walks by in shadow upstage, R follows with his head.) M (after she passes) Attention? R Interest M Decision? R Action. (R exits offstage following J into the gallery scene. J is downstage center looking out downstage. R joins from offstage right.) R Whats this one called? J (looking at the title plaque) Last Man On Earth. R Poor guy J Hmph Lucky guy R Hows that? J Well set apart from the others by oneself some blissful, content quarantine free of any and all obligation quiet peaceful

R Quiet indeed quiet J Yes (turns to him) Quiet R Beautiful. J You are? R I dont think any songs are about me No Ive written things Been published. J Oo Writer. R Not so much. J Plagiarist? R Great mind J Big head. R Sharp wit! J Razor sharp. R Cuts deep? J Hmph to the quick. R The quick and the dead. J

Dark. R Black in art, a color as any other one vast spill of every other hue and tint bleeds into a shade of nothingness in life, physically, a body of such is the perfect absorber of light swallowing every visible bit of whiteness. J Smarty pants. R (shrugs) Rocket Scientist. J (laughing) Brilliant! R (humbly) No No. J The painting? R (recovering) Yes Yes! Yes. J Ringing affirmative. R Ding Dong. J How fast the mind wanders. (starts walking) R (following) Not to our two divisions male, and female not intercourse! (During these exchanges, the frame projecting the works of art should be shifting, as the scene continues, from one piece to another. As if the movement of the pieces carries the two around the room to view.) J Surely must be the intense affection for another, rising out of kinship or personal ties that strong feeling of attraction resulting from a wishing for, a longing forR

(looking at painting title plaque) Sex. J Of course Inter, that is. R No no no. The painting. (points to title plaque) J And here I thought my kismet lot. (shucks) R What of our predetermined course of significant occurrences? J Fate? R Destiny. J A strippers name Not mine. R And yours, of a more agreeable flavor. J Well arent you a regular Romeo. R (smiling) Thats the idea, anyway. J There isnt a stone rough enough to make a diamond of me. R Still my jewel, youll forever be. J And a poet. Im guessing none of that is published. R As of yet. (both laugh) J Theres still hope.

R I have a letter for you. J Where do you keep it? For me R It is here. It is I. J What a gift! Its in so many things. Not team but so many others. Infinite. Thrice there. R Aye. And these eyes of mine are yours for always. Never to belong to another. They will stay with you as I do. J Thank you for your letter. (pause) IR Dont. J What? R Just Dont. (smiles) You dont need to (sweetly) Dont. J How did you know what I-? R (interrupts) I know you. J YouR I know J (after a beat) I know. (She pauses, looks at painting, then with uncertain sincerity)

J Dost thou love me? (They kiss. Painting changes back to Last Man On Earth and J and R stare downstage at it, taking a moment to recover from kiss and begin to revisit Last Man On Earth.) R What do you make of it? J Love. R Hows that? (turns to her) J (still staring downstage, simply) Its atomic. R (after a brief pause) Youre a firecracker. (laughs) J Youre a rocket scientist. BLACKOUT

I.ii. Love Is What Brings Us Together Today (The following is a wedding ceremony, it acts as their exchange of vows and the reverends matrimonial summation.) J One serene evening, as we lay together You asked me, simply Why dost thou love me? I responded, splendidly You begged, for memories sake, for stanzas and sonnets of my hearts content my own minds memory failed But here, today, I give you these words as the gift they were then (slight pause) My dearest darling in red, always wearing, which needs not to be said I see you not for where you vocate, whomsoever you conversate, what clothes adorn, which literature you mourn, the lyrics sung to me, nor for whom you pretend to be But rather, as unlike any others before, a new manifestation of extraordinarity You use words fiercely, and mean what you say You hold back so, that whenst you release - something truly profound happens Something Real not an iota of dialogue betwixt any other and myself, prior to you, has met my wit and wisdom with as much marination Your counter-intuitive nature both intrigues and eludes me equally in mind For someone who jokes about clichs with such

stealth, you are anything but Ever the quintessential paradox If this is too much, or not enough - it must be writ and said for opportunity may never arise to impress or entice this is truth with a certainty I cant fully explain Knowing you, loving you, trusting with you, sharing stories and the illusion of time - has been the best use of myself I shall never wish to lose you nor the unequivocally special soul you are to me R I have this reoccurring dream Im in a house, at a party there are many a people all familiar faces all friendly having a good time jazzin to the music the beat feelin it feelin good Im walking through them following this figure through each crowded room one to the next through the next through to the next room I know her this figure Im not chasing Im following I have this reoccurring dream each time just the same Yonder night I relapsed once more into this redundant scene But this time on this occasion her hair was brown every previous vision was in descript non Id follow shed lead well into the final room and on and out the final door where beyond was a backyard bliss that shed fade into as she turned to me and I wake up (pause) This night past however your brunette locks carried me past every threshold onto which I clung tightly by, so as not to lose this color scheme priorly left vague and just past the end game passage of bliss you turned and I saw you there My blue-eyed, brown-haired beauty and I woke up to you PRIEST Marriage. The socially sanctioned union of one or more men with one or more women, called monogamy when only one partner of each sex is involved. In many societies, marriage has been the focus of creating and consolidating ties between families, with marriages often arranged by parents and the partners sometimes pledged in childhood. In the west, the Christian churches supervised marriage, declaring it a sacrament. Civil Unions are now permitted in most societies. In Anglo-American law, marriage differs from other contracts in that it may be terminated by a court, but not by the partners agreeing between themselves. Most marriages are solemnized by some ritual that conforms to law. All states establish age and other requirements for marriage, as well as conditions for legal dissolution of a marriage, that detail certain rights and obligations of the partners - particularly with regard to property. Law was formerly characterized by the view that husband and wife were one legal personality, in effect, that of the husband. During the last century, the rights of married women to own property, enter into contracts, bring legal suits and otherwise act independently of their husbands, have gradually been expanded. The dissolution of this socially sanctioned union is not an option. Amen. R A? J Men. (They kiss.)

BLACKOUT (What follows are the ritual toasts of maid-of-honor and best-man.) NURSE I loved a man once a marine he was oh such a man he was my lady cooked the meals cleaned the home walked the dog had the babies such a man I would only kiss him clean shaven him, not I my blood is not yet that of the genetic moustache I would take him out dancing free drinks for ladies we drank inexpensively on occasion he was Nichole Other times, Marie in rare form, he was my little sunflower and every so often, his heart would catch mine in just the right light, and in those moments, he was simply he My man Oh, such a man was he He would hold me with his big arms, as easily and tenderly as he held the babes I was his, body and mind Oh how we loved with our thoughts and words, with kisses and lies My sould never made love to him Such a man Nay, my memories lay back upon satin sheets with lovers of a more tender sort Mind you, he never lay a finger on me in rage or frenzy But the muses and dames of days gone by tore apart my heart and bruised my egos from constant chain burns He knew none of this Spoke of forevers and futures I saw nothing of myself in He didnt mind Oh, such a man Mr. Gable, Id call him My Clark Marriage is for everybody all types I loved him Once he was a man (BLACKOUT or lighting change between Nurse and Ms speeches.) M I had a dream in which all of the women in my life appeared to me in daily situations and not simply the ones I know in person stars women Ive never spoken to Some I never even knew I thought of I had a dream in which these women came to me only in appearance I didnt interact with all of them They certainly interacted with one another one of those Hollywood prime-time valley girls from a high school zip code was there trying to seduce me even after several polite rejections (as I can attest - even in my waking conscious - she was my least favorite), insisted on following me around stalking D was there with K, telling her how Id lied to L about A convincing her of the inconceivable and using the Beverly Hills starlet to do so I had a dream Behind these ex-women exfriends ex-lovers I saw my cousin walk behind a clear wall Walk behind a clear wall, to behind a solid wall It was the visible wall which she disappeared into My mother was having a shower, of sorts in which she had invited every woman I know, it seemed except the new one except her I had a dream my mother wanted me to stay at this shower with all this smothering femininity But I had to bathe and get to work to work a shift I never worked at a job I never had I had to walk past, through, between, around - all of these faces of womanhood after a bath, which I couldnt seem to get alone for the water had gone cold it took me too long to clear the water closet so I could cleanse myself I had a dream which I awoke crying from not sobbing that came later just tears running quietly down my temples to my ears to the back of my head to the pillow on the bed silently wiping them, so as not to wake her I had a dream full of sadness and anger and lust and fear because, awake, all I knew was love and joy and trust and peace shes the only thing Ive ever known that with I had a dream where the bad found its counter-balance to the supreme good in my waking life

she has never made me sad Its impossible for her to do She doesnt know how I had a dream which meant Id never leave Her, or this happiness BLACKOUT I.iii. The Bridal Sweet (During the following overlapping dialogue, R and J are in their nuptial bed. Lying on either side, respectively, one left/one right. Their words act as their actions. No physical interaction should be necessary in this act of intercourse.) R She has my heart Ive never done that before - give away my heart Ive let people in And given people my love But never my heart That was always mine for the keeping up with It was there for the taking, granted But I never gave it away before I mean Its my heart She has my heart Pear shaped Size of a fist Lies just left of center within the chest cavity Entirely self-stimulated contractions Divided into two cavities by a wall of muscle Divided, in turn, into two chambers Atria and ventricles Blood is distributed throughout the body and is prevented from backing up by a series of valves My blood is backing up True, I have hers Its there - just left of my center But I dont know how to use it Ive never been given a heart before J Where are you? We exchanged them one night You placed your hand on my chest and thumb to pinky rolled it right out of me Darling Youre beautiful Thank you so much for listening to me Im sorry Im so awful with talking about emotions I just wanted to remind you that youre precious because I feel like I cant tell you enough You took the words right out of my heart Where are you? Call me to tuck me in? Dont you miss my skin? I miss my face on your chest and my cold nose pressed against your warm skin Your arms wrapped around me Keeping all positive energy in and negative out whilst I sleepAnd our legs entwined A maze Puzzle pieces perfectly fit together My lips only seconds away from any part of your skin You crawl into bed with me the curves of your body The smell of your hair Where are you?...

(The next stanza of dialogue that follows ceases to overlap and, rather, begins a back-and-forth motion verbally. Should be rhythmic and build in banter-speed towards the end.) R She has my heart J Where are you? R Ive never done that before - give away my heart

J We exchanged them one night R Ive let people in J You placed your hand on my chest and thumb to pinky rolled it right out of me R And given people my love J Darling R But never my heart J Youre beautiful R That was always mine for the keeping up with J Thank you so much for listening to me R It was there for the taking, granted J Im sorry Im so awful with talking about emotions R But I never gave it away before J I just wanted to remind you that youre precious because I feel like I cant tell you enough R I mean J You took the words right out of my heart

R Its my heart J Where are you? R She has my heart J Call me to tuck me in? R Pear-shaped J Dont you miss my skin? R Size of a fist J I miss my face on your chest and my cold nose pressed against your warm skin R Lies just left of center within the chest cavity J Your arms wrapped around me R Entirely self-stimulated contractions J Keeping all positive energy in and negative out whilst I sleep R Divided into two cavities by a wall of muscle J And our legs entwined R Divided, in turn, into two chambers J

A maze R Atria and ventricles J Puzzle pieces perfectly fit together R Blood is distributed throughout the body and is prevented from backing up by a series of valves J My lips only seconds away from any part of your skin R My blood is backing up J You crawl into bed with me R True, I have hers J The curves of your body R Its there - just left of my center J The smell of your hair R But I dont know how to use it J Where are you? (J reaches across bed, puts her hand on Rs chest.) R Ive never been given a heart before BLACKOUT

II.i. Feigned Indifference (During this scene, R should be working diligently and be completely ignoring J physically casually.) J I met a man, lives east of here. RII Does he deliver milk? J No. Son of a business man. RII Death and taxes. J He was a somewhat bombastic ghost once, in London. RII A player. J A maturing talent of classical imitations, essentially. RII Idyllic Romance. J Unparalleled richness. RII His mother worked for Avon? J No, Stratford? RII He went to Stanford? J No, she ran a railway station in Australia. RII Its important for me to know this.

J As much as nothing else. Have fun with your speedboat. Im off to the store to fetch some milk for tonights breakfast. RII Have fun. Buy sugar. J (Starts to exit. Stops. Turns.) Raw or imperial? RII As you wish (she exits SR). BLACKOUT

(J enters Nurses apartment. Scrubs and other medical paraphernalia can be tossed around.) J Aye, me N Whatever ails you now, beautiful girl? J The everything I hear when Im not hearing myself N Hes off speaking to Abraham and Jacob again J To remain entwined and hold fast to this any longer seems like the most difficult thing N But an essential one Love life and god, indeed, yet you are not at war Find peace Miss Karenina J Be bold as love N Or if thou canst, resist separation Your sense of loyalty is strong J

However, his desire is published loud in crimson font His great grasping at broken glass maliciously interferes and his full will! He full well knows his mind N Its a play-marriage Just wait til he comes home and pause breathe deeply J I remain holding on attached emotionally embracing this being of bearable weight N Heavy baby doll heavy J How ever did you make it through the long tale of winter? N It is what it is Thats just what we did J And now N Im still doing J But how do you feel about that? N Never been happier except for when I was J Ill return my sticky adherence to my dear Zhivago, awaits N I just hope that at some point, some part of him reaches you and you reach back J No doubt, good madame I wished upon a shooting planet yester night It is what it is BLACKOUT

(R says the following with feigned indifference.) RII

Ahh, my indulgent jewel [Jule]. J Dost thou love me? RII Dost thou love me?? J (nodding) Dost thou love me? RII I dolefully chivalrously heart you. J Dost thou love me? RII I expectantly passionately want you. J Dost thou love me? RII I laboriously reluctantly stick to you. J Dost thou love me? RII I feel adequately enthusiastic with you. J Dost thou love me? RII I would like to reinforce our association, so I could scrutinize with you everything carnal knowledge has to offer, in a more invulnerable emotional ambiance. J Dost thou love me? RII I have an attachment to you, based on affection and habit. J

Dost thou love me? RII I feel as familiar to you as to my favorite old shirt. J Dost thou love me? RII (remembering) Do you remember what you said to me the first night we met? J Dost thou love me? RII I dost. And now I must away to my office to embark on cleaning up our messy trifles. J Catch you on the flip side. (exits SR)

(Scene shifts as RII goes off SL into office. Now, at door SR , M stands at. RII opens and pulls M inside office, Determined/not frantically.) M So its done I thought the sky lookedRII (interrupting) No, its doing M What it do? RII It resists your meager attempts to define it in so simple a manner M Aye! you can not literally see or touch love, but you can see its effects RII Nay not love time! M Ahh youre travelling now

RII Its not time travel, its rocket science M Its all in the stars RII The power of positive persuasion M You cant out think chemistry Dopamine Norepinephrine Oxytocin RII Obstacles not walls M We still live in a dimension of three the forth has yet to have been tapped RII But Ive stumbled upon the continuum which continues continuously M On the interwebs? RII No, friend Ive caught a falling star M And put it in your pocket? RII Actually, in this self-designed chest M Pandoras elusive paradox lives within? RII Dead within I didnt kill it! It came to me suffering unstable home life Daddy defying gravity and motherly pressures left my poor miniature mass of dark depth unbalanced died in my arms tonight M Stellar RII No, miniature plummeted to my feet just before the sun rose thrice a fortnight past

M It is the east? RII And Juliet is my white dwarf M Thats the matter RII In this box lies the very vessel leading her to a life free of me and my ambiguity M So youre off to ruin her, then RII Myself young and old She -shall remain intact M Thus your reputation is repugnated and rejected But what of your body? RII Its especially relative M Relatively simple RII Kerr saved me from the crushing idea of death by singularity my temple will make an exotic escape M This smells of gas and dust Its hot, and I emit (stops) admit I can see right through it RII Ill call you when I reach the event horizon M When shall we know of success or failure? RII Look up to the ballroom above Watch the women in white dresses wheeling right round You wont see their penguined partners, predictably invisible M

Well, its a marvelous night for a moon dance RII I fear she knows it so it must be now M Abandoned RII You cant abandon something you never had Ill simply make us a never had as never was (Pause as both seem to contemplate one another.) M Off, Mr. Dalloway The wind is blowing to the east (At this, RII opens final lock on box and jumps in.) BLACKOUT

II.ii - History According to Romeo (We see J enter, exactly as before in Act I. this time, however, our Act II Romeo comes in on Rs arm and -with cool sincerity-engages young Romeo to heed his words.) R Who art thou? RII Im an imperfect person, who sees the perfection in other people R Aye Me? (they stare at each other knowingly) RII She will give you what you want, but not what you need R I can expect no other manner, then RII

She will give you what you need, but not what you want R That, is the only way RII She will love you too much R As I know to feel the same as she RII Fond but not the other R Unquestioningly I want to write down every word she says so when daylight comes, I remember RII Her words are sweet and memorable they will not sustain you R How could a darling lovely, such as she, not produce every sustenance I will ever require? RII You will become sane in love Shift from melancholy in a despondent aeon, to elated in a gleeful one R (pause) An akimbo limbo No good RII Indeed But if you tarnish the object of her attraction R (he nods in agreement) Hush now, Brother Me I can prevail in this unpleasant prevalence epically RII And then, my twin paradox, Ill onto my pilgrimage to a parallel universe R To theorize an utopia free of meta-amorous physics, no less! RII Lust, like, and lies But not love (smiling) Lets?

R Lets. (At this point our two Romeos cross in center to join J, who is looking at painting. They sandwich her from either side, loudly professing the following.) RII Would you not attest, dear boy, that you were anything but nothing pleasing to the eye, appropriate, nor princely? R True sir, I am rather ordinary, offensive, and over-eager RII And surely your lack of an intelligent, generous and genuine personalityR (interrupting) Leaves me most impractical, whilst its my indecorous demeanor which some look upon me as irresponsible RII Would you not disagree to that charge? R I shant diss, my man for their observation is not incorrect J Do you mind, perhapsRII (interrupting) This negative Nancy has no mind for much He never listens to everything anything R Whats this one called? (points to painting) RII Witty does not become you, as effective and fantastic - you are none R Whenst I remain inattentive my mad mind reels so wasted (holds champagne unsteadily in hand) J (refers back) Whats this one called?

RII (jumps in) Love its called love (At this young R jumps into physical action, spilling his drink, then while frantically tearing at the painting on the wall, ripping it to shreds.) R Lust! Like! Lies! But NOT Love! (After an almost unbearably uncomfortable pause of shock, awe, and dismay, J speaks.) J You just destroyed love RII If we dont destroy love, it destroys us J turns to young R). J You I would never not if you were the (looks at title plaque) Last Man On Earth R Good J I hate you RII Success. (Our Act II R exits, as J and R stare with vile contempt for one another.) BLACKOUT II.ii - Persevere Until Nothing Happens M A wise noble warrior of arts and hearts once said, unrequited love is like beating you head against a brick wall that isnt there. This idea, when first received, struck me as true and deadon. It still proves to do such, as it pops into my conscious mind constantly. Logically, literally and figurealistically speaking, if youre beating your head against anything that isnt there then youre not actually hurting yourself. The pain is figurative surreal that of the soul and heart, not mind and body. So it doesnt really exist It only seems to. Why struggle, or even lose a moments worry, over something that cant really hurt you? You dont lose blood from cuts and bruises that dont occur while not really beating your physical head against a proverbial

wall that isnt even proverbial because it doesnt exist in the first place. Forgetting double negatives, thats a rather quadramega-negative statement But true nonetheless. BLACKOUT (Romeo returns from past. Out of box, into office. M again stands at door SR. R opens and pulls him inside, frantically.) M So its done I thought the sky lookedRII (interrupting) No, its doing! (looks around in disbelief) No, no, no M What it do? RII (taking everything in) Nothing it did nothing all is just as it was before M Stellar RII Its all in the stars M So youre off to ruin her, then RII Myselfyoungand old (pause) she shall remain intact (R exits out SR door. As he re-enters after blackout, his body language must shift from morosely melancholy to beginning enlightenment. Gradually building to obvious elation. He has fully realized his fate lies with her. And upon this understanding, he re-enters previous scene with J. This time with great sincerity in his words, and genuine affection for her. R enters from SL. J from SR. They meet around center.) RII Ahh, my indulgent jewel [Jule]. J Dost thou love me? RII Dost thou love me??

J (nodding) Dost thou love me? RII I dolefully chivalrously heart you. J Dost thou love me? RII I expectantly passionately want you. J Dost thou love me? RII I laboriously reluctantly stick to you. J Dost thou love me? RII I feel adequately enthusiastic with you. J Dost thou love me? RII I would like to reinforce our association, so I could scrutinize with you everything carnal knowledge has to offer, in a more invulnerable emotional ambiance. J Dost thou love me? RII I have an attachment to you, based on affection and habit. J Dost thou love me? RII I feel as familiar to you as to my favorite old shirt. J Dost thou love me?

RII (remembering) Do you remember what you said to me the first night we met? J Dost thou love me? RII (nodding and pulling J to himself) I dost J (after a beat she pulls away) I met a man lives east of here RII No wait again? (confused realization) J Dost thouRII (interrupting) How can this epic love possibly fail?! Were the stuff songs are made of (desperately) the truth that comes from wishing on stars The only explanation for anything feeling like home the reason carbon turned to diamonds and mussels begat pearls J Diamonds? And pearls? RII Precious (most affectionately) Jules J I met a man lives east of here RII (sincerely, smiling) Do you remember what you said to me the first night we met? (after a strained but profound pause) J You I would never not if you were the last man on earth

*BOOM*
(They freeze, staring at each other in cold comfortable silence. Amidst complete and utter atomic apocalyptic chaos. On large screen, upstage center, is projected - an atomic blast [as the black hole has evaporated and exploded with a force several trillion times that of our most powerful nuclear weapon] wiping out all of civilization - then fades into projection of Last Man On Earth painting from I.i. R looks pleadingly at J. She shrugs, turns slowly, then exits with awesome strength SL. Romeos head falls.)

fin