Once upon a future time... E-Book

Hiltrud Schinzel

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 46

Beschreibung

Formation, Transformation, Eternal minds in eternal recreation Mephisto in Goethe's Faust II 6285 The author conveys reflections on viruses and people in the form of a fairy tale comedy danced on a laptop. Emotions matching the text in each case are offered by music via link. Agreement with the TRUE STATEMENTS laboriously worked out by protagonists is neither necessary from a scientific nor an artistic point of view, because irritation and amusement are intended by the author.

Leseprobe

“Formation, transformation, the eternal mind’s eternal delectation” Mephisto in Goethe’s Faust, Part Two 6285

Fairy tale about viruses and humans in the form of a Dance theatre on a laptop

The play is based on a heavily modified version of “Gamesters”, an idea developed by artist Franziska Megert in 2006. Write start: 2006 — Restart/coronavirus pandemic update: 2021. The roles consist of representations of groups of people who share typological similarities. This play can be presented conventionally (i.e., in a theatre) or virtually.

Designation of the groups of persons and their corresponding abbreviations:

Positive: Bull red

Negative: Bear brown

Intelligent know-it-all: I

Uneducated simpleton: Sim

Killjoys: K

Inhibited (Slow): S

Vain aesthetes/daydreamers: A yellow

Boss character: Boss

The following elements are emphasized by means of text design and size:

Title

General information, six key questions, true statements

Stage directions

People

The computer

The viruses

There are explicitly masculine and feminine characters and a number who are more or less androgynous. All actors wear a uniform that somewhat resembles construction workers’ attire. Those belonging to the same group wear the same colour and their affiliation can thus be readily identified. It is possible to hint through the costuming that some of the characters may be unemployed.

16 characters sorted by groups male (m), female (f) and androgynous (a) The author’s illustrations are intended to provide a visual insight into the nature of the characters. All composed with a brush in Indian Ink, from either 1985 or 2021.

Boss: male, “Man of Action”, portly/athletic, aged around 40

First Bear: male, normal build, aged between 40 and 50, maudlin

Second Bear: male, between 50 and 60, endomorphic body type, aggressive

Third Bear: female, elegant, overbearing, between 30 and 40

First Bull: female, young, inventive, early 20s

Second Bull: male, normal build, between 40 and 50, temperamental and aggressive

First Sim(pleton): male, young, between athletic and fat, clumsy

Second Sim(pleton): female, young, plump, clumsily sexy

First A(esthet): female, elfin figure, slightly overwrought to hysterical, late twenties or older

Second A(esthet): male, youthful, romantically long-haired figure, in his late twenties

First I(ntellectual): imposing domme figure, around 50

Second I(ntellectual): male, eager/engaged, normal build, ageless

Third I(ntellectual): androgynous, contemplative, ageless

First K(illjoy): male, wiry but athletic, mid-thirties

Second K(illjoy): androgynous, smug, asthenic, ageless

S(low): androgynous, undefined/ambiguous, ageless

The characters loiter at various points across the stage. The Boss arrives and explains their task to them: “You are congregated here in order to test our new computer game. Your task is to assemble computer-based stage scenery using physical labour and at the same time use your minds in dialogical group-work sessions to figure out how the computer has changed the world and could continue to play a decisive role in future. Your work will be assessed by a panel of experts and, depending on the outcome of the assessment, made public via the internet. You will then all receive the COMPUART company’s First-Class Award, which consists of a virtual journey into space with the famous entertainment ensemble COMPUFUN.”

The characters applaud and begin to assemble an enormously large laptop. With great effort, they haul around the heavy components that they are required to join together. Each letter-key is large enough for a human to comfortably stand on. After the laptop’s external components have been assembled, with only the keyboard left to be incorporated, they treat themselves to a break, wipe the sweat from their foreheads etc., and begin to talk to one another.

Bear 1 (m): What was the author thinking, getting us to toil like this?

Answering simultaneously:

K 1 (m):

Today people would rather work others to death in the theatre than do a little thinking themselves.

Bull 1(f):

We are contra-virtual—the green tree of the golden life of the worker calls (loosely based on Faust)!

Sim 1 (m):

Green—I see no green, where is the tree you speak of?

Sim 2 (f):

Green nothing—it’s called the

red

shoes

in ballet!

K 2 (a) smugly: This play is bad, because the protagonists don’t understand anything—we need a new playwright!

Boss (m) annoyed, banging on the exclamation mark key: Look everyone, listen! We’re doing a play about the significance of the computer. First, we need to work together to set up the stage, otherwise we’ll get bogged down in the keyboard.

K 2 interrupts: Not bogged down, stuck— to S, who has been sitting on the same letter key since the beginning and doing little to contribute: You can be the cleaning lady in a minute if you’re just going to slide around on your key like that.

Boss frustrated by the interruption, commandingly: so, red gets the R, brown gets the B, and yellow speaking to First A gets the C.

A 1 (f): I don’t want that, I don’t want that! Someone like me is born for vowels: I want the I.

K 1 (m) spitefully: You’re much too fat for that.

Boss: Sure, whatever. Any other letter requests?

The process drags on for a while in an almost-balletic fashion, because the Killjoys annoy Slow, no-one wants the Q, etc. Finally, they all come to an agreement and in very short order insert all the letters and other keys. They then stand around a bit confused about how to proceed, as it is now time for the more cerebral collaborative task, which they are unaccustomed to.

I 1 (f) breaking the silence: What do you all think—why should the computer be in the theatre (or, in the case of a virtual performance, in the computer)?

I 2 (m) eagerly