KALEIDOSCOPE
WRITTEN & PERFORMED:
2020
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
~ Shane
~ Jack
~ Grace
~ Someone
2020
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
~ Shane
~ Jack
~ Grace
~ Someone
STAGE DESIGN:
A typical flat that houses typical flat-sharing types; students for example. Efforts have been made to
make the place more ‘homey’, but there remains an
aura of transience. Academic and general detritus
litter the space.
** The following passage of text is a only a short excerpt. Please purchase a box of Samphetamine to read the full playscript. **
** The following passage of text is a only a short excerpt. Please purchase a box of Samphetamine to read the full playscript. **
SOMEONE: Good evening ladies and gentleman. Thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, I thought it would be best to have a preliminary discussion with you about the shows content and the topics involved, like a precautionary disclaimer of sorts.
Before we begin I’d like to throw out a question, open up the room a bit. Would you slit the throats of 1000 babies?
Before we begin I’d like to throw out a question, open up the room a bit. Would you slit the throats of 1000 babies?
[pause]
No honestly, I’m asking. Would you take a 1000 babies and cut their throats? Feel free to answer.
[pause]
Okay. Easy answer right? Don’t worry, you’re not about to sit through an hour of being convinced that infanticide isn’t all that bad. So y’know, sit back, relax, bask in the comfort of moral absolutism.
[pause]
Now, same question, but a different situation. Would you slit the throats of 1000 babies, if it would result in the survival of 1001 babies? So to clarify, either option you’re killing babies. So y’know, make peace with that fact. Now umm...not really looking for a definitive answer there. Just let it roll around your brain for a bit. Getting your minds into that ‘zone’. The moral conflict zone, not the...baby killing zone.’
No honestly, I’m asking. Would you take a 1000 babies and cut their throats? Feel free to answer.
[pause]
Okay. Easy answer right? Don’t worry, you’re not about to sit through an hour of being convinced that infanticide isn’t all that bad. So y’know, sit back, relax, bask in the comfort of moral absolutism.
[pause]
Now, same question, but a different situation. Would you slit the throats of 1000 babies, if it would result in the survival of 1001 babies? So to clarify, either option you’re killing babies. So y’know, make peace with that fact. Now umm...not really looking for a definitive answer there. Just let it roll around your brain for a bit. Getting your minds into that ‘zone’. The moral conflict zone, not the...baby killing zone.’
Another scenario!
A man walks into a bar with an automatic firearm, he proceeds to shoot every single person, there are no survivors. This is a senseless tragedy and the man is a monster. Now, imagine the bar was filled with a terrorist organisation who were planning to murder a bus of children. The same man, is now a hero (assuming the person observing is both disgusted by said terrorists and believes in a vague philosophy of capital punishment).
Morality, and other examples of absolutism suddenly find themselves somewhat compromised when processed through the machine of Theatre. This is my personal belief. Do not misunderstand, or assume, that my considerations do not suffer from the same bias as any other opinion; a concept to keep in mind when reflecting on the following examinations.
A man walks into a bar with an automatic firearm, he proceeds to shoot every single person, there are no survivors. This is a senseless tragedy and the man is a monster. Now, imagine the bar was filled with a terrorist organisation who were planning to murder a bus of children. The same man, is now a hero (assuming the person observing is both disgusted by said terrorists and believes in a vague philosophy of capital punishment).
Morality, and other examples of absolutism suddenly find themselves somewhat compromised when processed through the machine of Theatre. This is my personal belief. Do not misunderstand, or assume, that my considerations do not suffer from the same bias as any other opinion; a concept to keep in mind when reflecting on the following examinations.
The common analogy for close inspection of a subject is to ‘put it under the microscope’. Unfortunately I don’t think that is actually the best approach in this case.
Instead...view this through a...kaleidoscope.
A kaleidoscope is described as a constantly changing pattern or sequence of elements. I feel this is an appropriate metaphor for this project, as the majority of the time you start to think you have a certain grasp on something...only for it to change slightly and throw your whole understanding into question.
***
JACK: Tea?
GRACE: Fruit?
JACK: Tetley.
GRACE: Please.
JACK: Biscuit?
GRACE: Chocolate?
JACK: Digestive.
GRACE: Regular?
JACK: Yeah.
GRACE: No thanks.
JACK: Want one?
SHANE: Earl Grey?
JACK: Tetley.
SHANE: Go on then.
[pause]
GRACE: Fruit?
JACK: Tetley.
GRACE: Please.
[pause]
JACK: Biscuit?
GRACE: Chocolate?
JACK: Digestive.
GRACE: Regular?
JACK: Yeah.
GRACE: No thanks.
[pause]
(SHANE enters)
SHANE: Tea?(SHANE enters)
JACK: Want one?
SHANE: Earl Grey?
JACK: Tetley.
SHANE: Go on then.
[pause]
JACK: Biscuit?
SHANE: Crisps.
JACK: Cheeky.
SHANE: Comfort food.
GRACE: Why is everyone so…nihilistic nowadays?
JACK: It’s those damn phones.
SHANE: Or violent video games.
GRACE: No seriously. Don’t you find it a bit odd? Like... okay, for example, when internet humour started…it was random shit.
JACK: I can haz cheeseburger?
SHANE: BADGER BADGER BADGER!
GRACE: But now it’s like…the punchline is always ‘lol wish I was dead’.
JACK: It’s a generational thing.
GRACE: You think?
JACK: Yeah. Different…um…different social…factors…effect things like pop culture.
SHANE: Not to mention humour is a common way for people to deal with pretty upsetting situations.
GRACE: So you think people are sad because the world is kinda shit?
JACK: Pretty much. I mean…our childhoods were kind of filled lots of bad shit happening. Where as the generation before us had a chance to make things better. They had hope, aspirations, a chance to make a difference.
GRACE: And what do we have?
SHANE: Netflix, reality tv and scratch cards.
(SHANE pulls out a bag of crisps.)
SHANE: Crisps.
JACK: Cheeky.
SHANE: Comfort food.
[laughter, pause]
GRACE: Why is everyone so…nihilistic nowadays?
JACK: It’s those damn phones.
SHANE: Or violent video games.
GRACE: No seriously. Don’t you find it a bit odd? Like... okay, for example, when internet humour started…it was random shit.
JACK: I can haz cheeseburger?
SHANE: BADGER BADGER BADGER!
GRACE: But now it’s like…the punchline is always ‘lol wish I was dead’.
JACK: It’s a generational thing.
GRACE: You think?
JACK: Yeah. Different…um…different social…factors…effect things like pop culture.
SHANE: Not to mention humour is a common way for people to deal with pretty upsetting situations.
GRACE: So you think people are sad because the world is kinda shit?
JACK: Pretty much. I mean…our childhoods were kind of filled lots of bad shit happening. Where as the generation before us had a chance to make things better. They had hope, aspirations, a chance to make a difference.
GRACE: And what do we have?
SHANE: Netflix, reality tv and scratch cards.
(A nuclear bomb detonates outside.
Bright flash.)
JACK:
They seem to be doing alright upstairs...
SHANE:
That’s because all they’ve been eating are anti-depressants.
SHANE: Does anyone have a cigarette?
JACK: I have a vape pen.
GRACE: Ew. No one vapes anymore.
SHANE: Not since all those hipsters got cancer.
JACK: I have a vape pen.
GRACE: Ew. No one vapes anymore.
SHANE: Not since all those hipsters got cancer.
(pause)
GRACE:
Oh shit.
JACK: What?
GRACE: Cancer.
JACK: What about it?
GRACE: We never cured it.
JACK: I was on a liberal arts degree…
GRACE: I don’t mean us us. I mean, like, in general. It was never cured.
SHANE: That’s depressing.
GRACE: All that time, and it never amounted to anything.
SHANE: All those fun runs and charity events.
GRACE: No one saved.
JACK: What?
GRACE: Cancer.
JACK: What about it?
GRACE: We never cured it.
JACK: I was on a liberal arts degree…
GRACE: I don’t mean us us. I mean, like, in general. It was never cured.
SHANE: That’s depressing.
GRACE: All that time, and it never amounted to anything.
SHANE: All those fun runs and charity events.
GRACE: No one saved.
JACK:
Well there was chemotherapy.
SHANE: That was more luck than a cure.
JACK: I suppose.
GRACE: Well you know pharmaceutical companies would do anything to delay a cure.
JACK: Yes, yes, here we go. Capitalism is the cause of all problems.
GRACE: Oh come on, I’m hardly saying that.
JACK: (Salutes) Of course not comrade! (Salutes)
GRACE: Well then… In true soviet style…
GRACE: Let’s have a drink. I could use a bit of chemical altering right now.
SHANE: That was more luck than a cure.
JACK: I suppose.
GRACE: Well you know pharmaceutical companies would do anything to delay a cure.
JACK: Yes, yes, here we go. Capitalism is the cause of all problems.
GRACE: Oh come on, I’m hardly saying that.
JACK: (Salutes) Of course not comrade! (Salutes)
GRACE: Well then… In true soviet style…
(GRACE goes to a cupboard and pulls out a bottle of Vodka and some glasses.)
GRACE: Let’s have a drink. I could use a bit of chemical altering right now.
(Weary laughter. Fade to black)