Other Rose (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} akycha) wrote,@ 2004-06-04 15:27:00 |
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Shadows on the Wall: Gaudy, Gaudy Night
[Scene: The backdrop is a shadowy complex suggesting mullioned windows, archways, iron-studded doors, ivy-covered walls, and all the other little Gothic details of an old Oxfordian college. In the distance are the churchlike towers of what are probably auditoriums and libraries; in the foreground, a little table has been set up, stage left, with a tastefully lettered sign reading "Welcome, alumnae." The table's occupant is offstage.]
[ENTER A-ko, dressed in low heels, soft cap, hood, and velvet-trimmed Doctor's gown. She approaches the table.]
A-ko: Good morning.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Good morning. May I have your subject and year, please, so that I can direct you to your room?
A-ko: Classical Languages and Philology, 1935, Doctorate of Letters in History, 1938.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Oh, yes, quite. You took a first, as I remember. And then went to work on the history of Europe. We're pleased to have you back for the reunion; your work has been making us proud. You'll be rooming in Pembroke Hall, I believe you stayed there your second year.
A-ko: Thank you.
[ENTER B-ko, dressed in slacks, an embroidered Indian shirt, bracelets, Birkenstocks, and long earrings. She is carrying a sort of briefcase or bag which appears to be made out of patchwork, and approaches the table in her turn.]
B-ko: Hey, there.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Hello, it's good to see you. Subject and year?
B-ko: Philosophy and World Literature, 1969. Masters of Social Work, 1972. Hey, A-ko, long time no see!
A-ko: It is good to see you, B-ko.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Of course, of course. You'll be staying in Bouvard. You didn't live there during your time with us, but I'm sure you remember it-- right next to Wesleyan Hall, which you occupied during that demonstration?
B-ko: Oh, I'm sure I can find it, thanks! A-ko, what have you been doing with yourself?
A-ko: Working, of course. We've just opened the third birthing center, and it's really quite exciting. You?
B-ko: At work on my third sf novel. Did you hear I'd got published? It's selling rather well.
[ENTER C-ko, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and carrying a backpack. She approaches the table.]
C-ko: Um, hi.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Hi, can I help you find your room? Subject and year?
C-ko: Anthropology and Biology, 1998. Master's in Women's Studies, 2002.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Oh, one of our recent graduates! You'll be staying over in Erdwim, I'm sure you remember it.
C-ko: Um, it's hard to forget. Thank you.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: [A bit too cheerful] You're welcome!
A-ko: C-ko! We were wondering when you would get here!
B-ko: Did you get a schedule? [Rummages in her bag]
A-ko: [Pulls one from the sleeve of her gown] There's an address by the President of the College in half an hour.
C-ko: It's good to see you.
B-ko: It's just great to see you!
[ENTER Gir, wearing only a graduation cap too large for him which keeps tilting over his eyes. He approaches the table.]
Gir: [Floating up to the edge of the table on little glowing things on the ends of his legs] Hellloooooooooooo.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Hello. Year and Subject?
Gir: Interdisciplinary Philosophical and Relational Studies, 7003.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: I'm afraid I don't seem to have you on my list.
Gir: That's all right!
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Ummmmmm...
Gir: [Scampers over to A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko] Hi! I'm so glad to see yoooouuuuuuuuuuuuu!
A-ko: Hello, Gir.
B-ko: I didn't know you were a graduate!
C-ko: It's nice to see a friendly face.
Gir: This is nice, can we go home now?
A-ko: But we just got here.
Gir: But we came to go home.
B-ko: What?
Gir: I want to go home.
A-ko: [Muttering under her breath] Oh...
C-ko: Well, in a way he's right, but one can't really go back to the past.
Gir: Yes you can, with a time machine! I like time machines! Whee!
B-ko: We don't have a--
A-ko: Um, B-ko? Are you forgetting the year we roomed together?
B-ko: Oh, yeah, right. I did forget that.
C-ko: But we have things to do now, and--
Gir: Can we go home now?
A-ko: [Confused] With a time machine?
Gir: Not with a time machine, silly! With the UFO!
B-ko: But we don't have the UFO.
Gir: [Looks around the three of them] You don't?
C-ko: No, we don't seem to have brought it.
Gir: No? [Gir's eyes start to fill with tears]
B-ko: Look, Gir, we really just came to meet friends and reminisce and stuff, and--
Gir: But I came because I wanted to find people with a UFO to take me hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome! [He starts to wail and sob]
A-ko: Actually, I sort of miss home, too. Why did we come here again?
C-ko: We were looking for something.
B-ko: I forget what it was. Did we find it?
A-ko: I don't think it matters.
[In the background, Gir wails steadily, lying on the lawn and beating it with his little robot fists and feet.]
B-ko: It's been such a long time since we saw our old friends. [As she speaks, the college background fades behind her.]
A-ko: It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. [A tip-tilted, Metropolis-like cityscape emerges into being behind her, reminiscent of the backdrop in the Laundry scene.]
C-ko: And you just can't get work here.
Gir: I want to go hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome! [Little fountains of tears spurt from his eyes.]
A-ko: Um, Gir...
B-ko: Well, we'll look for a way...
C-ko: [kneels and puts her arms around Gir] Gir, Gir, shhhhh, shhhh, we'll go home, we will, we'll manage.
Gir: But I need to go home right now or I will explode!
C-ko: Gir, don't explode.
Gir: I have to do... I... AIIIIIIEEEEE! [Gir falls to pieces, his limbs dropping off the torso, the torso dropping a few bits, the head dangling loosely from the neck. His eyes go dark, but continue to leak.]
C-ko: [Carefully gathers up the Gir-bits, silently, head bent]
B-ko: What do we do now?
A-ko: [Dolefully] I imagine we sing about it.
C-ko: We have to do something. We can't stay here.
B-ko: The dorms close at noon tomorrow.
[Scene: The backdrop is a shadowy complex suggesting mullioned windows, archways, iron-studded doors, ivy-covered walls, and all the other little Gothic details of an old Oxfordian college. In the distance are the churchlike towers of what are probably auditoriums and libraries; in the foreground, a little table has been set up, stage left, with a tastefully lettered sign reading "Welcome, alumnae." The table's occupant is offstage.]
[ENTER A-ko, dressed in low heels, soft cap, hood, and velvet-trimmed Doctor's gown. She approaches the table.]
A-ko: Good morning.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Good morning. May I have your subject and year, please, so that I can direct you to your room?
A-ko: Classical Languages and Philology, 1935, Doctorate of Letters in History, 1938.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Oh, yes, quite. You took a first, as I remember. And then went to work on the history of Europe. We're pleased to have you back for the reunion; your work has been making us proud. You'll be rooming in Pembroke Hall, I believe you stayed there your second year.
A-ko: Thank you.
[ENTER B-ko, dressed in slacks, an embroidered Indian shirt, bracelets, Birkenstocks, and long earrings. She is carrying a sort of briefcase or bag which appears to be made out of patchwork, and approaches the table in her turn.]
B-ko: Hey, there.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Hello, it's good to see you. Subject and year?
B-ko: Philosophy and World Literature, 1969. Masters of Social Work, 1972. Hey, A-ko, long time no see!
A-ko: It is good to see you, B-ko.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Of course, of course. You'll be staying in Bouvard. You didn't live there during your time with us, but I'm sure you remember it-- right next to Wesleyan Hall, which you occupied during that demonstration?
B-ko: Oh, I'm sure I can find it, thanks! A-ko, what have you been doing with yourself?
A-ko: Working, of course. We've just opened the third birthing center, and it's really quite exciting. You?
B-ko: At work on my third sf novel. Did you hear I'd got published? It's selling rather well.
[ENTER C-ko, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and carrying a backpack. She approaches the table.]
C-ko: Um, hi.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Hi, can I help you find your room? Subject and year?
C-ko: Anthropology and Biology, 1998. Master's in Women's Studies, 2002.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Oh, one of our recent graduates! You'll be staying over in Erdwim, I'm sure you remember it.
C-ko: Um, it's hard to forget. Thank you.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: [A bit too cheerful] You're welcome!
A-ko: C-ko! We were wondering when you would get here!
B-ko: Did you get a schedule? [Rummages in her bag]
A-ko: [Pulls one from the sleeve of her gown] There's an address by the President of the College in half an hour.
C-ko: It's good to see you.
B-ko: It's just great to see you!
[ENTER Gir, wearing only a graduation cap too large for him which keeps tilting over his eyes. He approaches the table.]
Gir: [Floating up to the edge of the table on little glowing things on the ends of his legs] Hellloooooooooooo.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Hello. Year and Subject?
Gir: Interdisciplinary Philosophical and Relational Studies, 7003.
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: I'm afraid I don't seem to have you on my list.
Gir: That's all right!
Mysteriously Familiar Voice: Ummmmmm...
Gir: [Scampers over to A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko] Hi! I'm so glad to see yoooouuuuuuuuuuuuu!
A-ko: Hello, Gir.
B-ko: I didn't know you were a graduate!
C-ko: It's nice to see a friendly face.
Gir: This is nice, can we go home now?
A-ko: But we just got here.
Gir: But we came to go home.
B-ko: What?
Gir: I want to go home.
A-ko: [Muttering under her breath] Oh...
C-ko: Well, in a way he's right, but one can't really go back to the past.
Gir: Yes you can, with a time machine! I like time machines! Whee!
B-ko: We don't have a--
A-ko: Um, B-ko? Are you forgetting the year we roomed together?
B-ko: Oh, yeah, right. I did forget that.
C-ko: But we have things to do now, and--
Gir: Can we go home now?
A-ko: [Confused] With a time machine?
Gir: Not with a time machine, silly! With the UFO!
B-ko: But we don't have the UFO.
Gir: [Looks around the three of them] You don't?
C-ko: No, we don't seem to have brought it.
Gir: No? [Gir's eyes start to fill with tears]
B-ko: Look, Gir, we really just came to meet friends and reminisce and stuff, and--
Gir: But I came because I wanted to find people with a UFO to take me hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome! [He starts to wail and sob]
A-ko: Actually, I sort of miss home, too. Why did we come here again?
C-ko: We were looking for something.
B-ko: I forget what it was. Did we find it?
A-ko: I don't think it matters.
[In the background, Gir wails steadily, lying on the lawn and beating it with his little robot fists and feet.]
B-ko: It's been such a long time since we saw our old friends. [As she speaks, the college background fades behind her.]
A-ko: It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. [A tip-tilted, Metropolis-like cityscape emerges into being behind her, reminiscent of the backdrop in the Laundry scene.]
C-ko: And you just can't get work here.
Gir: I want to go hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome! [Little fountains of tears spurt from his eyes.]
A-ko: Um, Gir...
B-ko: Well, we'll look for a way...
C-ko: [kneels and puts her arms around Gir] Gir, Gir, shhhhh, shhhh, we'll go home, we will, we'll manage.
Gir: But I need to go home right now or I will explode!
C-ko: Gir, don't explode.
Gir: I have to do... I... AIIIIIIEEEEE! [Gir falls to pieces, his limbs dropping off the torso, the torso dropping a few bits, the head dangling loosely from the neck. His eyes go dark, but continue to leak.]
C-ko: [Carefully gathers up the Gir-bits, silently, head bent]
B-ko: What do we do now?
A-ko: [Dolefully] I imagine we sing about it.
C-ko: We have to do something. We can't stay here.
B-ko: The dorms close at noon tomorrow.
