A Play A Day #156

It Was Dark!


Cast:
The Very Powerful Voice
Those Who Come And Go
The Forces Of Evil
Stage Manager

Setting: Bare, black stage.


The Very Powerful Voice: It... was... dark!!

(We hear from the stage some sounds of people falling over each other, adlibbing yelps and curses under their breath, ongoing sporadic whispers and pained, suppressed shouts)

VPV: Those Who Come And Go walked the land with the grace and knowledge of their great ancestors.

(More adlibs, more collisions)

VPV: Carrying with them the Great Stone Shield and the Great Sword of Victory.

(We hear the sound of something massive hit the stage floor, then the screams of someone obviously trapped under this newly-fallen weight, he grunts and strains. We hear another massive object thud, another scream, more adlibs as people attempt to free a second trapped person, angry commands and name-calling ensues)

VPV: Those Who Come And Go knew the land as no other, they walked with great confidence...

(More nasty sounds and people slamming into each other, walls, tripping)

VPV: Under the cover of The Great Dark, The People Who Come And Go evaded The Forces Of Evil that sought to destroy them!

(The Forces Of Evil enter, and immediately start tripping, one of them starts whimpering in a decidedly non-evil fashion. Cursing under their breath too, commenting that they can't see, etc...)

VPV: Those Who Come And Go would prevail. They would find their way to The Light, and thus, our story... begins!!!

(Lights come up quickly, revealing a scene of pathetic self-destruction. Several cast members appear to be crying, one is still trapped under a massive round shield, another appears to have been stabbed by the huge sword, blood on the stage. Long pause as the shocked members of Those Who Come And Go and The Forces Of Evil simply stare at the audience. We hear very quick motion from backstage, unintelligble whispering, getting louder until we finally hear a stage whisper of "Blackout! Blackout! Now!" Lights out immediately, completely.)

VPV: (continuing with the lines) In the New Light of this New Land, Those Who Come... (a shocked noise, some whispering, muffled curses, then, regaining composure) It... was... (longer pause) fairly... dark!!

(Lights bump up a bit. In the ghost lighting, we see the cast members start to pull themselves offstage, some subdued adlibbing, a pully drops from the ceiling as some stage workers enter to lift the shield off the crushed actor, they pull him offstage, long pause, then the shield slams very loudly back to the stage.)

(lights out completely again)

(end)