Beginning With What We Know ____________________________ A Play in Five Scenes Adapted from Native Alaskan Myths by Charles R Powell
Copyright Š 2008 By Charles R Powell
Characters MAN: A man, acts as an overarching narrator. He also plays several other characters, notably Raven. Raven should be a focal point for the energy of the piece. Raven is a strange deity, being both a wise and good spirit, as well as a prankster and a clown. WOMAN: Predominantly female roles such as mother and daughter. OTHER GUY: Plays several roles, notably Grandpa. Grandpa should be an old, wise man somewhat jovial and an excellent story teller. General Notes The script uses several techniques notably chamber theatre, choral work, and storytelling to convey Native Alaskan stories. In production, one should take care to honor the work. This is made more difficult by the difference in culture as well as the large swathes of comedic elements, however the comedy should be used to liven and illuminate, not to mock. The story moves quickly from being lighthearted to being very somber and serious. It is important that any production can capture the dynamic changes well, or the piece will fall flat. Before each scene, the stage should become totally dark and silent for two or three beats. This builds a ritualistic atmosphere and helps center the audience, so don’t leave it out. Also, the fifth scene calls for a song at the end. The song was not used in the original production, but if a production does use a song, be sure to use a real Native Alaskan song.
Scene One: The Distant Time The stage starts black as the characters quickly move into place. The lights come up on MAN, the other actors are in shadow. MAN: When I was a kid, I remember it was really cold outside. Grandpa used to sit by the fire and all of us kids would gather around him to listen to him tell stories. Grandpa loved to tell stories, especially the ones about... OTHER GUY: (as grandfather) The way things used to be. Our ancestors call this “The Distant Time.” No one exactly knows how things began, so we each tell what we know. A long time ago, the world used to be very different. It was dark and quiet. One day, the creator made... WOMAN: Me, Heron. Tall, slender, and very wise. MAN: And me! RAVEN! I’m good, and I’m wise, WOMAN: And he likes to play practical jokes.. all the time. OTHER GUY: And Heron and Raven served the creator very well. The creator was so pleased with Raven that he was made head man. And one day, the creator decided to make people. WOMAN: (speaking slowly in a forced manner as if made of stone) And he made some of stone. MAN: (quickly, but not too quick, somewhat hyper) But he made others out of leaves. OTHER GUY: The stone people moved too slow so the creator only made people out of leaves. ALL: But the earth was still dark. OTHER GUY: so Raven came up with a plan. MAN: (as Raven) I’ll turn myself into a pine needle (drops needle into a glass of water) and drop it in this glass. Man hands woman the glass and she proceeds to drink it. WOMAN: And suddenly I was pregnant. Nine months later.. MAN: Me, Raven! WOMAN: And there was something different about my baby MAN: Mommy, I wanna play with the stars! WOMAN: No, sweetie, those are for adults MAN: Grandpa, I wanna play with the stars! OTHER GUY: Ask your mother. WOMAN: I told you no, already! MAN: Stars! Other Guy: Oh, all right. Come on, daughter, let my grandson play with the stars! MAN: So I got to play with the stars. WOMAN: (irritated) And he flung them in the sky. OTHER GUY: But that wasn’t good enough for my grandson.
MAN: I wanna play with the moon! WOMAN: No, you can’t play with the moon. Look what you did with the stars! OTHER GUY: Oh, come on.. he’s not gonna lose the moon too! MAN: So I got the moon! WOMAN: And guess where that ended up! OTHER GUY: But that still wasn’t enough for my grandson. MAN: Mommy, can I play with your sun? WOMAN: With my what? No! Look what you did with the stars AND the moon! MAN: Grandpa? WOMAN: Don’t do it dad. Look what happened the last two times.. The other guy reaches to somewhere and pulls out a small box ornamented to suggest the sun is probably in it. He hands the sun to the man who begins to play with it like a dump truck or some other archetypal wheeled children’s toy. MAN: So I got the sun too! WhooWhoo! Grandpa: See, I told you it’d be fine. MAN: Hey, it opens, cool!
WOMAN: No, don’t...
The entire stage is brightly illuminated for a beat then plunged into darkness again with only the spot on the man, standing there. MAN: And by the time my grandpa got to that part of the story, he’d laugh so hard he’d fall out of his chair. The man starts his last line laughing. At some point during the last line from MAN, the sounds of the grandfather laughing should be heard, slowly disappearing into the darkness, then concluded with the cries of the raven. Darkness.
Scene Two: Raven and Mink Catch a Bear MAN: A lot of times, my grandpa would tell us stories about different animals. A long time ago, animals were a lot like people, they looked like us, they spoke our language, and they even acted a lot like us. Then, after a great flood, the animals changed into their current forms. No one exactly knows how things began, OTHER GUY: so we each tell what we know. Raven used to live with his nephew Mink. MAN: Hey mink. WOMAN: Hey Raven. OTHER GUY: And Mink would catch lots of fish every day and Raven would eat the fish. MAN: Hey mink? WOMAN: Yah, Raven? MAN: Do you think you could catch something other than fish every once and a while? WOMAN: Like what? MAN: You know, like a bear or something.. WOMAN: A bear? Are you serious? MAN: Sure, it’d be easy. Here, grab a fish and split it open. WOMAN: Okay. MAN: Now, jump into it and hide there until the bear comes. Woman pretends to hide in a fish and Other Guy pretends to be a bear and wanders over to it. Woman jumps out and attacks Other Guy. WOMAN: And when the bear came, I jumped out and killed it! Agghhh! MAN: Oh, Mink, that was awesome. Catch another one! WOMAN: Nah. -beat- Hey, you could catch one! MAN: Me?! WOMAN: Sure, climb in! OTHER GUY: So Raven climbed into the fish and hid. WOMAN: And when the bear started sniffing around MAN: Ah! Kaw! Ah! WOMAN: Raven jumped out of the fish and ran away screaming! OTHER GUY: And I’ve never seen a raven catch its own food. Ever.
Scene Three: Yoyakkoyh MAN: When I was growing up, we still didn’t have electric lights in the houses in our village. So at night, we’d only have the fire and some candles to see. Grandpa told stories to help the time pass by, but sometimes, these stories told us why things were the way they were. One time, grandpa said OTHER GUY: Let’s go outside tonight and I’ll tell you a story MAN: Okay, grandpa OTHER GUY: Look up at the skies. MAN is amazed at what he sees. The northern lights slowly begin to fade into the sky. MAN: What’s that? OTHER GUY: It’s the yoyakkoyh MAN: (aside, as narrator) That’s the Northern Lights OTHER GUY: No one exactly knows how things began, so we each tell what we know. In the distant time, there was a man hunting caribou one day. WOMAN: Oh no, my bow broke! OTHER GUY: And suddenly, the hunter caught fire! And the flames carried him up into the sky where he kept shooting his arrows. The scene continues in silence, the northern lights dancing above them, finally dissolving into darkness.
Scene Four: Disappearances May Be Deceiving MAN: Another story my grandpa liked to tell went something like this... Other Guy: Let’s go into those woods to gather some firewood MAN: Lead the way. WOMAN: But they disappeared and soon, so the other women and children went looking for them. (beat, the stage grows sullen) WOMAN: But they disappeared too, and I was left all alone. MAN: And she walked all along the houses calling out their names Woman is frantically searching for the other villagers and finding no one, becomes more and more upset and frustrated. She begins to cry lightly and she has a runny nose. MAN: And her nose began to run. Woman wipes her nose and flings the snot a few feet away. Other Guy: (standing where the “snot” would have landed, waving his arm vigorously) Hey! Hey, you! Hey, look at me! WOMAN: Ewww! There’s a tiny man in my snot! MAN: So, she scooped up the tiny man and swallowed him. WOMAN: And nine months later... MAN: she gave birth to a little boy. WOMAN: And he was really good at shooting arrows, so I made him a bow and arrows. MAN: Mommy, why are all the other houses empty? WOMAN: Well, one day, the men all went into the woods and disappeared and the next day, the women and children went searching for them and they disappeared too. MAN: Mommy, can I go in the woods and look for them? WOMAN: (laughing nervously) Maybe when you’re older, sweetheart. MAN: But instead I snuck out into the woods and I met this strange man. He was really tall and he said: OTHER GUY: My son, walk into that river until the water’s up to your neck. Then, stay in the water no matter how cold you get. WOMAN: After a long time, the mysterious man noticed the boy was shivering. OTHER GUY: Okay, now, get out of the water and try to pull up that small tree, then smash that rock over there. MAN: So I ripped that tree out of the ground and then I smashed the big rock. OTHER GUY: Good job! Now, I want you to come back tomorrow. MAN: So the next day, I came back and stood in the water ‘till I was shivering. Then, the mysterious man had me pull up a bigger tree. Then when I tried to smash another rock, the rock didn’t even make a sound, but the tree exploded into a thousand pieces! WOMAN: And so this continued for several more days, and the trees and rocks kept getting bigger, but the boy kept smashing them. Then, finally, the man said:
OTHER GUY: (giving his shoes and jacket to MAN) I am strength. Whenever you think of me, you will grow strong as you are now. Wear these and go over to that hill across the valley. You’ll find a village where the wolf people hid your village. When you get there, run up the hill. If you meet any wolf people, use a club to kill them. MAN: So I went across the valley and ran up the hill. And when I got to the village, I killed all the wolf people, just as Strength instructed. OTHER GUY: Good work. Now, go to another village on another hill. When you get there, ask everyone you see for a box of lives. If they don’t give you the box, kill them. If they do give you the box, spare them. MAN: So I ran to the other hill and stopped by every house and asked for the box. Finally, I got to the chief’s house. OTHER GUY: (as chief) Okay, okay, you can have the box. But, you have to leave the box open in each house for four days to let the lives out. MAN: So I brought back the box. WOMAN: And we left it open in every house just as the chief said. Only Man is lit. MAN: And the whole village was returned. darkness
Scene Five: The Future OTHER GUY: No one exactly knows how things began... WOMAN: So we each tell what we know. MAN: Grandpa would always start out each story like that. OTHER GUY: One time, Raven came to visit a man and his wife. WOMAN: Only when Raven came to visit, my husband was dead. MAN: So I wrapped the man in a blanket. OTHER GUY: And he came back to life. WOMAN: But the wife was still in shock. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Woman is hysterical and continues to scream, panic, etc until Raven calms her down. OTHER GUY: So Raven calmed the woman down and put her to bed. Raven carefully tucks the woman into bed. Woman is lying on the ground sleeping. After a beat or two, she begins to toss and turn. Then, she shoots out of bed, screaming loudly. MAN: Shh! What’s the matter? Shh. There, there. It’s okay. Calm down and tell Raven what’s the matter. WOMAN: I had this dream. I was walking on a wide trail and I saw all these people and all these different animals. Then I got to a river and there was a boat. MAN: All aboard! Last call to cross the river! All aboard! WOMAN: So I got onboard and when we got to the other side these people came out MAN AND OTHER GUY: Go Back! As other guy speaks his line, man keeps repeating “go back” in a low voice. As OTHER GUY continues to speak, MAN gets louder and louder. The scene should build up quite a bit in energy and it should be extremely haunting. OTHER GUY: We are not in a good place. We are
MAN: Go Back! Go Back! Go Back!...
starving. We are cold. We are thirsty. There’s no food. There’s no water. There’s no fire. We are alone. We are starving, we are cold. We are thirsty. There’s no food. There’s no water. There’s no fire. We are alone... at this point, MAN should be shouting quite loudly and then the two of them chant in unison MAN AND OTHER GUY: Go Back! Go back! Go Back!... the two men start to disintegrate and lose momentum as they continue to chant “go back!” OTHER GUY: (as grandpa) That’s why we burn the dead. To keep them warm. And we leave them food and water so they don’t get hungry or thirsty.
MAN: (as narrator) and that’s why when my grandfather died, we burnt his body with a lot of food. And I remember when we burnt it, the smoke wafted up into the sky and my little girl asked... WOMAN: Daddy, why did we burn Grandpa with all that food? MAN: Well, sweetie, let’s start from the beginning. ALL: No one exactly knows how it began... WOMAN: So we each tell what we know. MAN: Every culture leaves something behind them, something that lets others know about a distant time. WOMAN: Stonehenge, Pyramids, Colloseum, Acropolis, Great Wall, skyscrapers MAN: (as narrator) But what about those of us who were always here? What will they find? OTHER GUY: ( as grandfather) Nothing. WOMAN: (as daughter) Nothing except the land ALL: And our stories. After the last line, a slow, quiet native song should start to fade in. It should be soft and low, but it should sound like something the birds might sing. Maybe WOMAN sings? The scene slowly fades into a sunset as the OTHER GUY and WOMAN gather around MAN as he tells them fantastic stories about Raven and the Distant Time. The scene fades from sunset to darkness and finally after a beat in the darkness ,the chanting has crescendoed and goes silent. The cries of a raven are heard in the distance. The raven should almost sound like its laughing.