The Walk Across America for Mother Earth
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The Walk Across America For Mother Earth Written by Taylor Mac With music by Ellen Maddow Copyright 2010 Literary Agent: Leah Hamos Abrams Artists Agency 275 Seventh Avenue, 26th Floor New York, NY 10001 [email protected] SETTING A pantomime set. A giant map of the US in the foreground. The road. Two- dimensional. Colorful. Perhaps the white stripe on the side of the road extends into the audience as the play goes on. Perhaps it begins to zig-zag all over the theater. A cartoon world. Trap doors that come out of sky and earth. A set that rebels on its players and audience. CHARACTERS: All genders, ages, ethnicity and body types should be represented by the cast but the play should not be cast appropriately: women can play men, old can play young, fat can play skinny, and any ethnicity can play any role. All the characters in the play are either cross-eyed, tunnel visioned, or have heavy eyelids. All characters wear vibrantly colored foundation makeup (similar to a Kathakali look). Their faces have so much sequins and eye work it seems as if they are wearing color commedia dell’arte masks. They have extreme features: prosthetic noses, massive ears, protruding chins, and wild matted towering hair. They wear anarchist street clothes made to look like commedia dell‘arte attire (cut-off jeans meet farthingales and patch-work pantaloons, political slogan t- shirts made into corsets and bustiers, fanny-packs that look like bum-rolls and codpieces). All outfits have an element of a deranged beauty pageant. It should be colorful but the color has faded from too much use. King Arthur: 40 to 70's. Heavy eyelids. He wears white foundation. His commedia equivalent is Sandrone. Jimica/Key Key: One actor plays both roles. Jimica is in his 20's, is tunnel visioned, wears orange foundation, is a Flemish Belgian (Dutch speaking) and his commedia equivalent is a Zanni. Key Key is a scraggly mutt. Kelly: 20's. He is tunnel visioned, wears pale blue foundation and his commedia equivalent is the Innamorato (Lover). Angie: 20's. She is tunnel visioned, wears pink foundation and her commedia equivalent is the Innamorata (Lover). Flower: 40's to 50's. She is cross-eyed, wears pale green foundation and her commedia equivalent is Colombina. Marsha: 40's to 60's. She is tunnel visioned, wears purple foundation and her commedia equivalent is Pulcinella. Rainbow Carl: 20's to 30's. He is a Flemish region (Dutch speaking) Belgian. He is tunnel visioned, wears rainbow foundation, and his commedia equivalent is Harlequin. Greeter: 50's to 70's. He is cross-eyed, a lech, a radical fairy, wears gold foundation and his commedia equivalent is Pantalone. Nick: 40's. He is cross-eyed, wears silver foundation and his commedia equivalent is Il Dottore. The Zanni: Beeka: 20's to 40's. Also a Flemish Belgian (Dutch speaking). She is the musician of the play and walks while she plays. She has only one line of dialogue but the director and actor should find places for her to make musical exclamations. She has heavy eyelids and orange foundation The Grass/Wakenhut: Grass on the side of the road and one of the plays assistants (responsible for the moving set-pieces) and a musician. They may be in the prologue. Also plays a Wakenhut at the end of the play (a rent-a- cop). The Creek/Wakenhut: A creek by a road and one of the plays assistants (responsible for the moving set-pieces) and a musician. Also plays a Wakenhut at the end of the play (a rent-a-cop). ACCENTS The accents should be specifically broad. ACTIVIST PROP All the characters have their own activist prop, which are attached to their person somehow. The props help them make their points, raise their status in the community, and take control of the narrative. They are as follows: Jimica: a tattoo on his chest of a Native American Beka: a guitar and small portable amp Kelly: a small dry-board and marker Angie: a soapbox Flower: a daisy. Marsha: a bullhorn Rainbow Carl: his camera. King Arthur: a drum Greeter: a fan Nick: a conch shell PROLOGUE Morning. Slowly our cast comes out. They are in silhouette and stand in a semi-circle upstage. They sing slowly and quietly. WALKERS Cut up the bedrock Undo the lovelock Fasten your beat to your feet and go. Jump on the wagon Fill up the flagon Dedicate all to the to-and-fro. The to-and-fro Oh-oh-oh-oh And Westward ho. The Walkers slowly come into focus. They walk as if in a beauty pageant. WALKERS (cont'd) I got a war on To kill me a moron And break up the core of the status quo Come on arrest me You never can best me I’ll throw y’all down like a domino A domino Oh-oh-oh-oh And off we’ll go They do synchronized walk routines in pageant lines and each have their moment to be the focus. Fire ant, fire ant You’ll be disowned When you leave your kin and the queen alone The Walk Across America For Mother Earth version 01-24-11 pg#5 Antelope, Antelope She’s ain’t from here She came from the east with a pack of queers Bessie oh Bessie Come take my hand We’ll stir up our stirrups and brand the bland. La la la la la la La la la la La la la la la la la la la la. KING ARTHUR (To the audience) Welcome my fellow activists of The Walk Across America for Mother Earth. Here, together, we are all members of this trek. And as fellow participants when I ask you a question, if your answer is yes, I’d like you to raise your hands like this: (Raises and lowers hand quickly) Up and down quickly and with intuitive committed purpose. Let’s try it together on the count of three. 1. 2. 3. (If it wasn’t fantastic it should influence the way fantastic is said) Fantastic. Here goes. (A rapid, but understood, onslaught) How many of you wanted to stay home tonight? How many are tired of thinking? Of caring about the effort of others? Of seemingly pointless interaction? Of the old repeating themselves? Of the youth thinking they are new? Of having to care about foreign disasters? And local mismanagement? Of the internet? Of reading the newspaper? Of sex? Of choosing a restaurant? Of risking little? Of having to go to the shows of your friends? Of audience participation? How many of you just wanted to stay home? (Having a great time) Wooooooooo! And now the history. Greeter does a fashion show walk and poses during his exposition. He’s also having a great time. The Walk Across America For Mother Earth version 01-24-11 pg#6 From here to the end of the play the characters talk to each other and the audience as if they are fellow walkers. There should be no attempt to look over the audiences heads, as if speaking to them, but actually talk to the people. GREETER In 1862 the United States Government signed the Ruby Valley land treaty with the Western Shoshone Nation. MARSHA (On her bullhorn) Something tells me this isn’t going to have a happy ending. GREETER When nuclear tests came about the US needed somewhere to experiment, so they took the land away from the Shoshone people... again. MARSHA (On her bullhorn) Government givers! GREETER Creating The Nevada Nuclear Test Site. KING ARTHUR Every year huge gatherings of activists come to the Test Site to demand the government give back the land to the Western Shoshone people. ANGIE/KELLY Does it ever work? MARSHA (On her bullhorn) What do you mean? ANGIE/KELLY Do the Shoshone people ever get back their land? KING ARTHUR No. The Walk Across America For Mother Earth version 01-24-11 pg#7 ANGIE/KELLY Oh. KING ARTHUR (Breaking the defeatist mood) But this year is different. FLOWER It is? KING ARTHUR It’s 1992. WALKERS Oh. Everyone puts on a fanny pack. GREETER 1492 to 1992, MARSHA Five hundred years of genocide on Native American’s. ANGIE/KELLY What can we do? KING ARTHUR A Walk Across America for Mother Earth. WALKERS Of course. The following is done with a growing deranged desperation. They want to get it right. It starts quick and goes faster. GREETER It will symbolize the white man’s journey from east to west. MARSHA (On her bullhorn) Only this one will be good. The Walk Across America For Mother Earth version 01-24-11 pg#8 GREETER With all walks of life joining. GREETER AND ARTHUR (Pointing at Marsha, Greeter, and Arthur) The old. ANGIE/KELLY And the young. WALKERS BUT NICK The sane. NICK And the insane. ANGIE, KELLY, MARSHA, NICK, FLOWER, GREETER (Waving mini anarchist flags) Americans. JIMICA/BEEKA (Waving mini anarchist flags and holding hands) And Belgians. ANGIE Why Belgians? JIMICA Belgians have unnatural fixation for all things Native American. Slight pause. GREETER And we’ll go to the people. JIMICA We’ll walk walk NICK And blister our way over 3000 miles. GREETER The goal!?! The Walk Across America For Mother Earth version 01-24-11 pg#9 KING ARTHUR To rally a movement across this country. WALKERS And shut down the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. JIMICA And give back land to Native Americans. ANGIE And stop Global Warming.