ROUGH

MAGIC
BY
ROBERTO AGUIRRE-SACASA

*
DRAMATISTS
PLAY SERVICE
INC.

Photo by Rey Pamatmat

Jeff Barry as Caliban in the Yale School of Drama
production of Rough Magic.
 ROUGH MAGIC R O U G H M A G I C received its world premiere at the Yale School o f
Copyright© 2009, Roberco Aguirre-Sacasa Dram a Games B u n dy , Dean; M a r k B ly , Chair o f Playwriting), i n N e w
All Rights Reserved Haven, Connecticut, opening on April 2 4 , 2 0 0 3 . It w a s directed b y
David Muse; the set desig n was b y Blythe R . D . Quinlan; the costume
CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that performance of
ROUGH 1\1A.GIC is subject to payment of a royalty. It is fully protected under the desig n was b y Jessica Ford; the lighting design w a s b y Scott Bolman;
copyright laws of the United States of America, and of all coumries covered by the the sound desig n was b y Daniel Baker; the video desig n was b y Daniel
Imernatlonal Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the
British Commonweaith}, and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Baker, Taylor Krauss, a n d Blythe R . D . Quinlan; the choreographywas
Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention, the Berne Convention, and o f all b y W a d e Laboissonniere; the fight choreography w a s b y Rick Sordelet;
countries with which the United Scares has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, the dramaturgy was b y Emily V Shooltz; and the production stage
including without limitation professional/amateur stage rights, motion picrure,
I manager was Molly McCarter. T h e cast w a s as follows:

I
recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound
recording, all other forms of mechanical, electronic and digital reproduction,
transmission and disuiburlon, such as CD, DVD, the Internet, private and file-sharing
L I N D A S U M M E R S / A L E C T O ............................ Heather M a z u r

I
ne-rworks, information storage and retrieval systems, photocopying, and the rights of
translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved.. Parricular emphasis is placed P R O S P E R O ............................................... J a m e s L l o y d Reynolds
upon the matter of readings, permission for which must be secured from the Author's M I R A N D A ........................................................ Mikelle Johnson
agent in writing.
,: M E L A N I E P O R T E R .......................................... Tijuana T . Ricks
The English language stock and amateur stage performance rights in the United States, C H E T B A X T E R ....................................................... Greg Felden
its territories, possessions and Canada for ROUGH 1\1.A.GIC are controlled exclusivdy
by DRAMATISTS P!AY SERVICE, INC., 440 Park Avenue South, New York, NY A R I E L ....................................................................... Jacob Knoll
10016. No professional or nonprofessional performance of the Play may be given S A S I A ............................................................ Christianna Nelson
without obtaining in advance the written permission of DRAMATISTS PLAY C A L I B A N ..................................................................... J e f f Barry
SERVICE, INC., and paying the requisite fee.
S H Y L O C K ........................................................ A n t h o n y M a n n a
Inquiries concerning all other rights should be addressed to William Morris Endeavor C A I U S M A R C I U S .............................................. A d a m Saunders
Entertainment, LLC, 11 Madison Avenue, 18th Boor, New York, NY 10010. Arm:
John Buzzetti. T I S I P H O N E ........................................................ D a v i d Bardeen
M E G A E R N D R . R O S E M A R Y R l D G E O N ........... Anita Gandhi
SPECIAL NOTE
Anyone receiving permission to produce ROUGH 1\1.A.GIC is required to give credit to
the Author as sole and exclusive Author of the Play on the tide page of all programs
distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all instances in which
the title of the Play appears, including printed or digital materials for advertising,
publicizing or otherwise exploiting the Play and/ or a production thereof The name of
the Author must appear on a separate line, in which no other name appears, immediatdy
beneath the title and in size of type equal to 50% of the size of the la r gest, most
prominent letter used for the title of the Play. No person, firm or entity may receive
credit larger or more prominent than that accorded the Author. The following
acknowledgments must appear on the title page in all programs distributed in conneetion
with performances of the Play:
ROUGH MAGIC was produced at the Yale School of Drama.
ROUGH :MAGIC received its world premiere at the Hangar Theatre
in Ithaca, New York, in July 2005.
SPECIAL NOTE ON SONGS AND RECORDINGS
For performances of copyrighted son g s , arrangements or recordin g s mentioned in
these Pl a y s , the permission of the copyright owner(s) must be obtained. Other songs,
arrangements or recordings may be substituted provided permission from the copyright
owner(s) of such songs, arrangements or recordings is obtained; or songs, arrangements
or recordings in the public domain may be substituted.

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!I! ROUGH MAGIC received its regional premiere at the Hangar CHARACTERS
"I
i Theatre (Kevin Moriarty, Artistic Director; Lisa Bushlow, Executive (in speaking order)
Director), in Ithaca, New York, opening on July 29, 2005. Ir was
1
I directed by Kevin Moriarty; the set desig n was by Wilson Chin; the LINDA SUMMERS, a graduate student at Columbia University
iii cosrume desig n was by Greg Robbins; the lighting design was by
Deborah Constantine; the sound desig n and original music were by PROSPERO, a sorcerer
Sarah Pickett; the fight choreography was by Norm Johnson; the MIRANDA, his daughter
casting was by Stephanie Kla p per; and the stage manager was Melissa
Daroff. The cast was as follows: MELANIE PORTER, a pretty dramaturg, raven-haired, wears
glasses, thirty
LINDA SUMMERS ....................................... Sarah K Chalmers
PROSPERO ........................................................... William Parry CHESTER "CHET" BAXTER, a cute lifeg u ard, seventeen-ish
MIRANDA .............................................................. Amanda Sox ARIEL, Prospero's son, an enslaved spirit, blue-eyed
MELANIE PORTER ........................................... Heather Mazur
CHET BAXTER ....................................................... Greg Felden SASIA, his twin sister, also enslaved, also blue-eyed
ARIEL ...................................................................... Russ Salmon TRACY, Melanie's sister, heard only on speakerphone
SASIA ..................................................................... Jillian Fratkin
CALIBAN ................................................. Matthew Montelongo CALIBAN, Prospero's first-born, escaped from Prospero's island
SHYLOCK ............................................................. David Romm
CAIUS MARCIUS ................................................ Jade Rothman SHYLOCK, owner of the Alabaster bookstore on Twelfrh Street
TISIPHONE ....................................................... John Misselwirz CAIUS MARCIUS, a Roman General
MEGAERA ......................................................... Joshua Williams
ALECTO .................................................. Christopher Hollowell TISIPHONE, a fabulous drag performer, the first Fu r y
DR. ROSEMARYRIDGEON ............................. Camilla Schade
MEGAERA, one ofTisiphone's back-up singers, also a Fu r y
ALECTO, Tisiphone's second back-up singer, the last Fury
DR. ROSEMARY RIDGEON, a doctor at Bellevue Ps ychiatric
Hospital, British

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PLACE
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Prospero's island, the island of Manhattan. Various locations.
Ii

11 TIME ROUGH MAGIC

The present, one long night during a terrible heatwave.
ACT ONE
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11
Before the play begim, audience members see a projection o f
Henry Fuselis famous painting The Tempest, showing
Miranda, Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban. Prospero holds an
enormous book in his arms.

Ii
,II The lights shift, the Fuseli painting disappears, and we are in
a classroom at Columbia University. Graduate student Linda
I Summers is in mid-lecture. Her hair is pulled back in a bun,
,1 her lipstick is red, and her glasses are foxy.

LINDA The subject is magic: What is it? Does it exist? And, if so,
where does it exist?
I, In a handful of sand?
In the petals of a flower?
NOTE: The pla y should take place on a Shakespearean stage, mostly In a shard of ancient stone?
bare. The characters always tell us where the y are, so each location can (Beat. Smiles.) I apologize for our - accommodations. Columbia
be suggested with the absolute minimum amount of stuff. Maybe a University values the Study of M a g ic enough to offer a course in it
book motif dominates. Or a map. - during summer session, granted, taught by a graduate student
- but not enough to give us a room with windows or a working
This pla y should fly like the wind. air conditioner. Not even during this, the worst heat wave in New
York City's history. (Beat.) But let's not dwell, let's dive in. (Checks
Doubling is okay. One actor can play Tracy, Me g aera, and Dr. her notes.) We're starting today with the most powerful magician
Rosemary Ridgeon. Another actor can pla y both Linda Summers who ever lived, an Italian sorcerer who amassed all the secrets o f
andA!ecto. magic from creation to destruction to re-creation into one volume
- and can anyone name him? (No amwer.) I'll give you a hint,
people: Shakespeare wrote a pla y about him. (Still no answer.)
Prospero, people, from The Tempest, although Shakespeare's
Prospero is very, very different from the real Prospero, the real, !iv-

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ing, breathing Prospero, who was Genoa's Duke (not Milan's) from PROSPERO. LET - T H E M - PERISH! (The loudest thunder-
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- when, people? (It was in your reading last night.) (Nothing.) clap o f them all The terrifjing sound o f a ship breaking apart as the
From 1498-1566, when three merchant ships he'd sent to Cathay, lights crossfade to another part o fthe stage: a sidewalk cttje in New York
.I11 to China, returned carrying a disease-ridden crew infected with - City. Snappy, fan music - like the theme from Sex and the Ci t y -
:I starts to play. Chet, a cute lifeguard, sits at a table. He's wearing flip-
i'' can anyone guess? (Silence.) The Black Death, people, which killed
1,1 over half of Genoa's population. jlops, baggy swim trunks, and his fonky Hawaiian shirt is open, reveal-
!
The surviving half blamed Prospero for the pla g u e and exiled ing his tanned, cut chest. Next to him is an orange life-saving device.
him. Put him on a captainless ship, him and a thousand stinking, Melanie, very pretty, enters and approaches Chet. She wears glasses.)
diseased corpses, bound for doom, and - what happened, people, MELANIE. Chester?
does anyone know? CHET. Melanie?
Is Prospero dead? Did he drown when that rotten carcass of a ship MELANIE. Hi. Chester Baxter?
I
broke apace? Hmm? (Possibly , though magicians are notoriously hard CHET. Yeah. Well, Chet. Hi.
MELANIE. Hi, it's nice to meet you finally, I've heard so much
I
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11 to kill.) Or is he out there somewhere? Working on his book, burn-
ing with hatred for Genoa, the city that betrayed him, plotting his about you from my sister.

I' revenge, perfecting his magic? (Short pause.) I like to think so. That CHET. Yeah, me, coo. (Beat.) Uhm, is this okay? Sitting ourside?
he's alive still, perhaps - as Shakespeare's pl a y suggests - on an I know the heat and all -
enchanted island, somewhere in the Mediterranean ... (Thunderclap. MELANIE. No, no, this is fine. (Melanie sits at the caft table.
;I
Lightning, sounds o fa hurricane. Linda is gone. Prospero, black-robed, Smiles uncomfortably. Chet holds out a drink to her.)
white-bearded, carrying a staff in one hand and manacles in the other; CHET. I ordered us frozen margaritas. Because of the heat? And
rages in with the storm, bellowing:) Tracy said you liked margariras?
PROSPERO. WIND - WAVES - THUNDER - LIGHT- MELANIE. I do, thanks. Sorry I'm late, by the way.
NING! (A young girl Miranda, rum onstage after him. She's terrified CHET. It's no problem. Were you working?
She yells to be heard over the storms roaring.) MELANIE. At Morgan Stanle y , yes. I've been temping there for ...
MIRANDA. Father - can't you see? There's a ship - please - ten years, on and off. Since I was twenty. (Beat.) It's like committing
they'll all drown! suicide very, very slowly.
PROSPERO. Let chem! Let the ocean be their grave! (A terrific CHET. Well, sure, especially compared to - I mean, you work in
thunderclap.) the theatte, right? Tracy said you're, like, a director?
MIRANDA. PLEASE - the people! (Another one.) Why are you MELANIE. I'm a dramaturg. (Melanie sneezes.)
doing this? CHET. Gesundheit. What's a dramaturg do?
PROSPERO. Your brother has escaped! With my b o o k - my Art! MELANIE. Well ... it depends. I work closely with the director and
(He throws the chaim and manacles at her.) the playwright, I do research, I help with revisions - script revisions
MIRANDA. What? (Prospero lunges at her; grabs her by the shoul- - I suggest cuts. I tell the director what I see in rehearsal, blocking
ders, and pulls her in close.) and, you know: "Does this serve the text?" (Embarrassed) It's hard to
PROSPERO. Your monstrous, misshapen, malig n ant brother - explain in the - the abstract. Much more so than what you do,
has stolen my Art and even now kicks his way towards freedom! which is ... (Melanie is eyeing Chet's life-preserver with some ske p ticism.)
(Turm back to the raging sea.) So let the waves crush him! Let the Tracy mentioned that you're a - um - a lifeguard ...
tides pull him under! And once he's drowned, once his lungs are CHET. Yeah, at Coney Island. You know, in Brooklyn? (Short,
choked with salt water, then will I calm the storm and beg the weird pause.)
ocean deliver his body to me, cradled in a hand of foam! MELANIE. And lifeguarding, that's a - that's a full-time thing?
MIRANDA. Bue the ship - you'll dash it co pieces - the people! CHET. During summer - full-time. During the school year -

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i just weekends at the Y. The YMCA? I'm off today because the
pool's closed because of the water shortage. (Beat.) But, I mean, if
MELANIE. You're eighteen?
CHET. In two weeks.
someone's drowning, even if I'm off-duty, I'm gonna save them. MELANIE. (Mortified) (Oh my God ... )
Ii
I MELANIE. Oh, well, sure. (Beat.) And, ahh, how does that work CHET. Give me a chance -
when you're - uhm - not near a body of water? MELANIE. Look, Chet, you're cute, and you're - (Mini-beat.)
CHET. We don't just save people from drowning. roguish, and you save lives, but there are limirs. Not at your age, for
MELANIE. Well, of course not. (Melanie meezes.) the rest of us, I mean. (Chet stands.) Please, don't let's have a scene.
CHET. Gesundheit. (Holds out a napkin for her.) Here. I think you're very nice, I do, and I like this cafe, so I'm not gonna
MELANIE. Thanks. (She takes it.) I'm just getting over a summer tell the waiter he's been serving alcohol to a minor, but - (Game
cold. It's been dreadful. over.) Goodbye, Chet Baxter. Call me. Once you've - pushed
CHET. Yeah. Although, with all the vitamin D I absorb from the through puberty.
sun, I never get sick. (Melanie is unsure how to respond.) Oh, don't CHET. Wait, before you go -
worry, I know all the risks - skin cancer, chlorine poisoning, shark MELANIE. I've already lefr. You don't see me. (She starts striding
attacks- but I'm genetically pre-disposed to being a lifeguard. It's in away, b u t - )
my herit a ge. My dad was a life g uard - (Showing her.) Here, check it CHET. I know about your magic. (Melanie stops, turns back.)
out, this was his whistle - my granddad was a lifeguard, going way MELANIE. My what?
back. For, like, generations. Which is weird because we're originally CHET. Tracy and I were talking and she was telling me about how
from Scotland, my fu.mi.ly is, although not really that weird 'cause my you have these, like, magical powers. (Short pause. Then:)
ancestors were highlanders. You know, like Rob Roy? In battle, the MELANIE. My sister has no idea what she's talking about. (She
highlanders didn't fear death. In fact, the y welcomed it, because the y starts to go again.)
knew that when the y died, all their friends, all their fu.mi.ly that had CHET. She said that's how come you have a lot of problems -
died in battle before them, would be there, waiting for them with you know, like, "issues" - connecting with people and letting your
their swords raised. (Beat.) And, like, being a life g u a rd continues that. defenses down. (Beat.) We can talk about it if you want. I mean, I
MELANIE. I - I never thought of life-guarding as the kind of ... like to think of myself as being a pretty open person.
profession that gers passed down from generation to generation. MELANIE. I don't do it anymore, Chet, I don't even talk about
CHET. (Proudly.) I can hold my breath for three minutes, twenty- it. (Beat.) Tracy shouldn't have told you.
nine seconds. (Melanie is looking at her watch.) CHET. She didn't say much. I mean, except that you could, uhm
MELANIE. Fascinating ... - (Chet quickly looks into the palm o f his hand, where he's clearly
CHET. Hey, can I be, uhm, forward with you? made notes for his date.) "unlock characters from dramatic texts,
MELANIE. Uh ... from any dramatic play."
CHET. I know we just met and all, but I was wondering? I f you're MELANIE. Not any, no. (Surprising even herself, Melanie continues.)
not doing anything this Saturda y night? If you would maybe con- Shakespeare worked best, and the Greeks, and musicals, and some-
sider being my date for the prom? times Tennessee Williams (I don't know why). Sometimes I could
MELANIE. Oh, I don't know, Chet, I'm not much of a - (Beat.) set characters free, sometimes I couldn't. Sometimes, if the y were
Wait. When you say "prom," what do you mean exactly? Do you clever enough - or desperate enough - the y escaped on their
mean-? own. Th e y always caused trouble. I gave it up years ago.
CHET. The senior prom. (Short pause.) CHET. How come, did something bad happen? (Pause.)
MELANIE. How old are you, Chet? MELANIE. Uhm. Once, when I was in high school - like you are
CHET. Me? I'm eighteen. (All in a huff, Melanie stands, takes now - I cried to set Romeo free. I wanted him to be my date for
money out o fher purse.) What's wrong? Homecoming, but Tybalt got out instead. He ... started a fight -

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 1111
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sliced the Homecoming King's ear o f f - almost got me expelled ... able to harm you.
I CHET. And, wait, that's why you gave it up? (Beat.) Because that
' ARIEL and SASIA. Thank you, Father.
i kind of thing happens at my school, like, every day. PROSPERO. Sasia.
,1 MELANIE. Ma y be to you, Chet.
'!, SASIA. Father? (Prospero takes a sheet o fparchment from the sleeve
CHET. I think magic's totally cool. o fhis robe.)
MELANIE. It's totally not. (Mini-pause.) End of story. A n d - end PROSPERO. To help you, I give you the gift of fire. (Sasia takes
of date. Goodbye, Chet. Really this time. (Melanie leaves, sneezing. the sheet.)
Chet remaim behind, perylexed- but glowing a bit. The lights shift. SASIA. Thank you, Father. (Prospero produces another sheet o f
Chet exits and a spot slowly comes up on Prospero. It is like the sun parchmentfrom the sleeve o fhis robe.)
burning through clouds. He is on a beach, littered with drowned corpses, PROSPERO. Ariel. (Ariel takes the sheet.} I give you - invisibility.
picking through the bodies with his daughter Miranda. She is carrying a ARIEL. Thank you, Father.
small, limp body in her arms. She holds it up for Prospero to see.) PROSPERO. To both of you - (He raises his arms.) Transport
MIRANDA. Look at this one, Father. He's just a little boy, and across the ocean! {A flash o f light. Prospero, Miranda, Ariel, and
you've killed him! (She looks around at all the carnage.) You've killed Sasia are gone. The sound o f a telephone ringing. The lights rise on
them all! {Prospero tosses aside another corpse like it's a rag doll.) Melanie's book-lined apartment, just as she's coming home, closing the
PROSPERO. And none of them Caliban! Your brutish brother has door behind her. She s n e e z e s - )
slipped through my fingers like an eel. MELANIE. God bless me. {Amwers the telephone. It's a cordless, so
MIRANDA. I'm glad! At least one of us has escaped you! {Miranda Melanie can walk around her apartment doing apartment stuff) Hello?
gasps at her own audacity. She looks panicked. Prospero strides to her, ... Tracy, hi, yeah, I just got home . . . . Yes, I met him at - Probably
stops, smiles, and strikes her across theface.) not ... Order of importance or alphabetically? ... Number One, he's
PROSPERO. Insolent! (He turm from her, calls out:} Sasia! Ariel! a lifeguard ... Right - y e s - at Coney Island . . . . Which makes him
(Two beautifal creatures enter, a brother and sister. The y are blue-eyed - Which means he's - No, a carny, I was gonna say ... And
- and deadly.) Number Two, how dare you - how dare you - tell him about my
SASIA and ARIEL. {In unison.) Yes, Father. magic? You're my sister, Tracy! You of all people should know that we
PROSPERO. Caliban has fled our island with my book of spells, can't run around telling everyone about - (Melanie drops the mail she
my Art. He has somehow loosed his chains - (He looks at Miranda was going through.) Hang on, Tracy, I'm gonna put you on hands-free,
suspiciously.) and vanished. Find him. Return him - and my book I have to - (A1elanie puts the phone on speaker.)
- to me - and you shall be as free as mountain winds. TRACY'S VOICE. - Don't you put me on speaker, Mel, I can't
SASIA and ARIEL. {In unison.) Yes, Father. hear a flippin g thing when I'm on - (Beat.) You put me on speaker,
PROSPERO. Fail me - or try to escape yourselves - and I will find didn't you? This is me on speaker, isn't it?
!·111I the strongest oak tree growing and bind you into its knotty entrails MELANIE. Hang up if you want.
for twelve winters. TRACY'S VOICE. I told Chet about your magic because it's time
SASIA and ARIEL. (In unison.) Yes, Father. you started dealing! Whatever happened - that was years ago!
PROSPERO. Pressed in the pages of my Art there is a flower that MELANIE. Okay, we're not having this conversation again.
' blooms Wy-white, bur turns dark violet when plucked. {Prospero
produces a flower from the sleeves o fhis robe.) Here is its twin. Take
TRACY'S VOICE. Give yourself a break. Chet's a nice guy. He's
111 ! sweet, he's adorable, he tans evenly. (During the above, Melanie has
this bloom. Use it. It will lead you to its mate like a beacon. {Ariel been looking at her floor concernedly. She bends down, touches it,
takes the flower.) brings her hand back up to her face.)
ARIEL. Thank you, Father. MELANIE. Uh, Tracy? There are all these footprints, wet foot-
PROSPERO. You will be under my protection. Nothing will be prints, leading from the fire escape to my bedroom. I think - I

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chink someone's in the apartment with me ... (Short pause. Then:) you, do you think?
i ,\ TRACY'S VOICE. OHMYGODMELANIEGETOUTNOW!l!
MELANIE. SHHHHH! Lower your voice ...
CALIBAN. I am Caliban. I come from an island at the edge of the
1 1' world. (Short pause. Melanie takes a deep breath.)
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I TRACY'S VOICE. LOWER MY VOICE?! Excuse me, isn't chis
New York City? Aren't you a single woman living alone in New
MELANIE. Okay , here's the short version: Youre a character from
a play, Calib a n . (I mean, you must be.) You think you're alive, bur
'.:
I'' York City? GET - OUT - NOW!
,)I you're not. You want to have fun advenrures in the real world, but
MELANIE. Number One: Thanks fur reminding me I'm single. crust me: Youd be much happier back in your play, back on your
Number Two: Shhh, I'm gonna try to surprise him - island, which I'm sure is lovely.
TRACY'S VOICE. I'm calling the police! CALIBAN. Once, a young woman arrived on our island's shores.
MELANIE. Can you wait one second, please? Her ship had wrecked, she was the lone survivor of a cold and ter-
TRACY'S VOICE. I'm calling Chet! rible voyage. Her name was Viola ... and like a crab, he picked the
MELANIE. What? Why?
,1
flesh from her bones and drank her blood.
TRACY'S VOICE. He's a lifeguard! MELANIE. Who did?
MELANIE. He's jailbait! CALIBAN. Pr o spero, my father, who enslaves us, his children,
I TRACY'S VOICE. Let me go so I can call the police. (Caliban
with his bitter Art.

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steps into Melanie's livi n g room, carryi n g an enormous ancient book.)
MELANIE. (To he rsel f) In The Tempest, Prospero's not Caliban's
MELANIE. . .. All right, look, I'm hangi ng up now, Tracy, I'll talk
father ...
, to you later, okay? By e , love you!
CALIBAN. After he was saved from drowning by a sea-witch named
TRACY'S VOICE. Don't you hang up on me! Don't you dare
Sy c orax, she bore him four children and taught him her magic. He
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hang up on - ! (Melanie disconnects and she and Caliban look at each mastered it, amassing it into this v o l u m e - every day becoming more
other. Caliban is tall and most definitely not misshapen. On the contrary,
'II he's a total hunk, with lo n g hair, broad shoulders, and veined arms.
Powerful and muscular. He wears a loin-cloth-type-thing and little else.
and more versed in the Dark Arts, planning to rerurn ro - and
destroy - Genoa.
MELANIE. (Processing.) Genoa? Not Milan? (Okay ... )
At the momen he is dripping wetfrom his swim across the ocean.)
CALIBAN. (Shakes his head.) When my mother learned of his plans,
CALIBAN. Your hair - black, like a raven's wing.
she cursed Prospero. "May your feet never leave this island's yellow
MELANIE. (Huh?) My - what? sands, its bri n y waters." So that if they ever d i d - immediate death.
CALIBAN. Your eyes - like an owl's.
I He killed her then, and has since spent every waking moment uying
MELANIE. Excuse me? (Caliban falls to his knees before Melanie.) to unravel the curse. This very morning, he was writing in his book,
CALIBAN. Humbled, exhausted, without means, without protec-
perfecting the spell that would have set him free. Before he could
tion, with nothing but hope, I kneel before you.
complete it, though, I fled. I stole his book of Art, trapping him
MELANIE. Hope for what?
there, and I - (A hitch in his voice.) I've lefr her with him, my most
CALIBAN. Salvation. Yours is the only magic that can crush my
precious sister Miranda.
fu.cheis Dark Art. You are drafted in this war, raven-haired maiden
MELANIE. Mirandis your sister?
with owl eyes, you must rerurn with me to my island- you cannot CALIBAN. Miranda read in the Book of Destiny chat Prospero's
shirk your duty. The Book of Destiny foretells it. (Short pause.)
firstborn would arrive in the New World and ally himself with a
MELANIE. Okay, youre saying t h i n g s - and I'm hearing them
raven-haired magician and a child-warrior. Together, they would
- but I have no idea what youre talking about. Who are you?
stand against Prospero. (Short pause.) I am his firstborn. My sister
CALIBAN. Caliban.
helped me escape my chains - she unlocked their magic - and I
MELANIE. From The Tempest? But youre no - monster. And
came here. To find you.
you're definitely nor - deformed. Maybe you're Ferdinand; are
MELANIE. What about Trincolo?

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CALIBAN. Are you a warrior?

IiI
I

1 CALIBAN. Who? CHET. Nah, I'm a lifeguard. But I come from a long line o f war-
1
MELANIE. Stephano? riors. Highlanders, you know? Like in the movie with Sean
CALIBAN. Lady ... Connery? And actually, I've always sorta felt like a warrior, you
MELANIE. Somerhing's very, very wrong here; these are all char- know? Like it's my, uhm, destiny? To fulfill?
acters from Shakespeare's Tempest, you should know them. (Tries CALIBAN. {Realizing it.) You are the child-warrior.
again:) Ariel? (.4.n intake of breath, then:)
CHET. I mean, sure.
CALIBAN. The primal annihilator, the great destroyer, yes. MELANIE. This is riveting, truly, and I wish you both could stay,
MELANIE. Ariel the - the fairy?
'111

I do, but a new episode of Project Ru.nway starts in - (Checks her

CALIBAN. A hunter like no other. Savage. Ruthless. He'll cut a watch.) And I know Caliban, at least, has to be going.
path of destruction as wide as the sea to find me. CHET. {To Caliban.) You don't wanna hang out?
MELANIE. Okay , this is New York, Caliban, I think we can han- MELANIE. He can't. Apparently there's a very nasty fairy coming
dle a fai r y . 0 knock on Melanie's apartment's front door. Uh-oh. ro hurt him.
Quoting Macbeth.) "Here's a knocking indeed! If a man were porter CALIBAN. At least one, there may be others.
of hell-gate, he should have plenty of practice turning the k e y . " MELANIE. (To Chet.) So: Fairies, plural. And he needs to find a
{Beat.) That's from the Scottish play. (Paraphrased, but . . . ) raven-haired magician to help him and - HEY! (She starts snap-
,1 0nother knock. Melanie and Caliban turn to look at the door.)
CALIBAN. Whenever Ariel's close to me, I can feel him rugging
p i n g her fingers to remember.) There's that magic shop on Bleecker,

i
what's it called?
on my veins - like the moon pulling on the rides. I feel some- CHET. Melanie knows magic -
thin g , growing stronger, but faint still. 0 third knock.) MELANIE. Oh my G o d -
MELANIE. You know what, I'm gonna answer that. {Melanie goes CHET. (To Caliban, confidentially.) She doesn't like talking about
I! to the door, but before she opens it, she stops. Through the door, she
it 'cause she has issues.
Ii asks:) Who's there? {From the other side ofthe door, we hear:) MELANIE. Chet! (To Caliban.) He doesn't know what he's talking
CHET. Yeah, hi, ir's me, ir's Chet? (Oh, brother.) about, I'm not a part of this, please go. (Caliban sets Prospero's book

I I
1 •· MELANIE. Go - home!
1.

on a table and opens it.)

CHET. Your sister called me? She said there was, like, an intruder? CALIBAN. He taught Miranda to read - but not this book.
1' I Maybe I can help?
,I I MELANIE. Oh, for God's ... (Melanie, Chet, and Caliban gather
I
MELANIE. How? You're a life g u ard, Chet. {Beat) No, not even a around the book.)
\ lifeguard, a - a li'l lifeg u a rd. CHET. Oh, cool, look at all t h e - W h a t are all those, like, symbol-
CHET. I promised Tracy I wouldn't go until I made sure you were rhin g s ? At the top of each page?
all right. MELANIE. I don't know, I don't even know what language this is
MELANIE. I am, I'm fine!
written in - if it is-a language. (She turns a page, shakes her head.)
CHET. I'm not going until - {Melanie throws open the door. Chet I'm sorry, Caliban, I sympathize, I do, but ... I can't help you.
is there, lookin g only a little sheepish.) CALIBAN. I've risked everything to come here. I lefr Miranda
MELANIE. Satisfied? (Melanie opens the door wider, allowin g Chet alone with him. Very likely, she is already dead. This New World,
to come into her apartment. As he does so, she says:) Chet, this is
your world, is in the gravest danger. If Prospero were ever to undo
Caliban. Caliban, Chet. {Under her breath.) I hate my life. Sycorax's curse, he would bring the heavens down upon you. You
CHET. Caliban from - from The Tempest? must return to the island with me, you and the child-warrior.
'I MELANIE. No, Chet, from The M e r r y Wives of Windsor. O f CHET. So long as we're back for prom, I'm torally cool with
course from The Tempest. {Beat.) I think.
1li1 , i CHET. {To Caliban.) Hi, I'm Chester Baxter. Chet Baxter.
whatever.

17
16

-······--- - -
[II I
I
MELANIE. This has nothing to do with me! started this game, let him go. (Sasia is still confased) And when we
'I CALIBAN. The Book of Destiny foretold that you would be catch him, what then? We return home, back to Father? No, let
i reluctant, but heed me, lady : You will help me. Brother run. I want to play awhile.
MELANIE. Are you threatening me? (Beat.) You're wrong. That SASIA. The sooner we return, the sooner we'll have our freedom.
Book of Whatever - is wrong. ARIEL. Do you think so? Father's made that promise before. (Ariel
CALIBAN. When the sky turns to fire and the oceans turn to releases Sasia; as she takes in Melanie's apartment:)
blood- SASIA. What is this cell? All these books, like Father's ...
MELANIE. Yadda, yadda, yadda. If Prospero's as powerful as you ARIEL. Is it possible he's found himself a magician? The raven-
say he is, what could I do? My magic - (Beat.) You don't know my haired maiden? (Short pause.) Hmph. Burn it.
magic, it's - (Caliban holds up the book.) SASIA. What?
CALIBAN. Turn his Art against him, then. Make his magic yours. ARIEL. Imagine a circle as wide as our island's widest lake - w i t h
MELANIE. I can't even read his magic. (Caliban holds out his arm; this cell at its center. (She closes her eyes.)
his hand trembles violently.) What? What is it? Is something - ? SASIA. All right, yes ...
CALIBAN. He's not alone. ARIEL. Now imagine everything within that circle - on fire.
MELANIE. Who isn't? What's going - ? (A knock on the apart- SASIA. Yes ...
ment door. Uh-oh. Melanie opem her mouth to call out, but Caliban ARIEL. This is a brave new world, Sasia. Let us fill it with terror.
clam p s his hand over it.) (Indeed, the stage is filling with intense light as Sasia wills Melanie's
CALIBAN. (Whispering emphatically.) You listen to me now. I f you apartment- and the surrounding city block - towards combustion.
want to live, we have to leave right now, we have to go the same Before that happens, though, the lights change, and we are in a small
way I entered your cell - through the window to the roof, do you used bookstore on Twelfth Street: Alabaster Books. Melanie, Chet, and
understand? I will not let your pigheadedness o' errule the Book of Caliban are enterin g the bookstore. A little bell signals their arrival
Destiny. (Another knock. From the hallway, we hear:) Caliban now w e a r s - rather absurdly- an "J heart New York" t-shirt
ARIEI.:S VOICE. Brother? (Melanie nods. Caliban releases her and as and ill-fitting sneakers.)
quietly as is humanly possibly- and really, the y shouldn't make a sound MELANIE. Thank God they're still open! (She rings the bell on the
- he, Melanie, and Chet tip-toe towards the window.) Why do you bookstore's counter.) Mr. Shylock? Mr. Shylock, are you back there?
hide from me? (Dead silence.) Brother? (Chetfirst, then Caliban, and CALIBAN. We cannot rest here, lady. Ariel and Sasia will hound
finally Melanie - in that o r d e r - are slipping out the window.) I can us - th e y will rip us apart - to retrieve my father's book.
;i feel you, Caliban. (Melanie is almost out when she remembers:) MELANIE. I know, I just - I'm trying to buy us some time.
MELANIE. Shit - the book! (She starts to cross her apartment CHET. Yeah, but why come here? I mean, shouldn't we be looking
when all o fa s u d d e n - the loudest sneeze o fthem all.) AH-CHOO! for a place to hide out? To, urn, strategize?
(Andfrom the other side o fthe door, this roaring:) MELANIE. Okay, Cher? This actually isn't a Playstation game.
ARIEL. CALIBAN! (All stealth abandoned, Melanie rushes, grabs Right now, I need a bookstore. (Gestures.) This, Chet, is a bookstore.
the book, and runs for the window as Ariel breaks through the door.) Amazing, right?
CHET. Hurry up! Hurry up! CHET. All right, but we passed The Strand. What's wrong with
MELANIE. (All the while moving.) Gogogogogo - ! (And the y're The-?
out - Melanie, Chet, and Caliban - climbing down the fire escape, MELANIE. Number One, you try finding something at The Strand
just as Ariel steps into the empty apartment. Sasia follows behind him, when you're in a hurry. Number Two - (Shylock entersfrom the back,
holdin g up the purple flower. As she strides towards the window:) wiping his hands dr y.) - Number Two, Alabaster Books is a special
SASIA. Quickly! We can still - ! (Ariel grabs her arm, stops her.) bookstore. (Turns back to:) Mr. Shylock, hi, I need a couple of plays.
ARIEL. Let him run, Sasia. (She looks at her brother.) We've just SHYLOCK. How are you, my dear?

18 19
 11 I I 11 1

MELANIE. Good, good - uhh - a little under the gun here.

'I ,
II
I

11
I': I i I!
'1I: i 1 I
, ,
SHYLOCK. What can I get you, my darling?
MELANIE. I need a copy o f The Tempest, if you've got it, and a copy
of - uhm - actually, give me whatever Shakespeare you've
try to throw up some roadblocks. (Under her breath.) I f I can
remember how . . . (Shylock returns, bearing the Arden editions o f
The Tempest, King Lear, and Coriolanus.)
'',I'r
got,
1:· whatever plays. SHYLOCK. I don't have much, I'm afraid: The Tempest-we got

'
SHYLOCK. Particular imprint? that, at least - and King Lear ...
,1 MELANIE. Hel-lo, the Arden.
SHYLOCK. All right, I know we don't have anything
out on the
CHET. H e y , that's my favorite- I played Gloucester in eighth grade.
SHYLOCK. ... and Coriolanus.

I 11111
floor, we're about to restock, but let me check the MELANIE. (Takin g the books.) Oh, Mr. Shylock, thank you,
back (To
Caliban.) And for you, sir? you're a dream. Coriolanus - it's perfect!
i CALIBAN. Uhhh ... SHYLOCK. So I'm a dream tonight? All right, I can live with that.
MELANIE. He's just browsing. Can the dream do anything else for you or can he close up now?
SHYLOCK. (To Chet.) And you, sir? Our Young Adult MELANIE. Actually - (She passes Prospero's book to Shylock.)
section is
over by the water fountain. could you maybe, uhm, appraise this book for us? For me? (Shylock
'I CHET. Uhhh - I'm okay , thanks. holds the book up, feels its weight in his hands.)

1r
SHYLOCK. I'll just check on Mr. Shakespeare, then. SHYLOCK. My glasses are in the back ...
(Shylock
exits. Melanie turns to Chet.) MELANIE. Take your time. (Once Shylock has exited.) Okay , let's see
' MELANIE. You shouldn't have come with us, Chet. You're
seven- here. (Melanie startsflipping through the Arden Tempest, stops when she
I teen. This is dangerous. finds apicture.) Okay , all right. (She tears the page with thepicture out.)
1
''' CALIBAN. He is the child-warrior. He is as much a part o f this CHET. Whoa.
as
you or I. MELANIE. I know. We don't normally do that to books but in
CHET. Yeah - a n y w a y - so ... how come this is a special book- this case - (Turns to Caliban, holds up the picture.) Is this your
store? Is it, like, a magic bookstore? Like from Harry brother? Is this Ariel?
Potter or
something?
I CALIBAN. One of his guises, yes. Where did y o u - ? (But Melanie

: 11i'lI111,
MELANIE. (Big sigh.) It's special because Mr. Shylock
- the is already onto the next. She takes the copy o f Coriolanus, kneels down
owner - Mr. Shylock gives me books for free. on the floor. As she does:)
I
1 1I
CHET. What, it's like a - sex thing? MELANIE. Caius Marcius Coriolanus, the greatest of Shake s peare's
MELANIE. (Bigger sigh.) When I met him, Jacob Shylock warriors, who single-handedly defeated the entire Volscian army.

1I
was
flF
I lending money in The Merchant o f Venice, and getting
a bad rap, (Beat.) Dumb as a stick and a total mamas boy. If anyone can run
needless to say. But what he really wanted to do was open interference for us, he can. (Melanie spreads theplayflat, holding it open
a book-

I
,1
store, so ... I set him free. That's all. with her palms. She closes her eyes and starts concentrating, but almost
CHET. Okay, so it's not that you're into old e r men? immediately-)
MELANIE. For Pete's sake, no. (Chet moves away from her, CHET. Wait, are you doing it? Like, right now? Are you - ?
I ing the stacks in the store.)
brows-
MELANIE. My heart's racing and my palms are sweating and my
CHET. Oh, hey, wow - look at all the s e old books ... stomach's in a knot. The last time I did this - (She closes her eyes
CALIBAN. (To Melanie.) Every second we delay puts your again, resumes concentrating.) It's like ... openin g ... a ... door ...
I world
more at risk, lady . Like ... (But Melanie slams Coriolanus shut.) It's no use! I can't -
I'
1/
MELANIE. Yeah, but Ariel's afrer us, right? The, uh, the primal I can't do this! (To Caliban.) The Book of Destiny is wrong. I'm not
...
CALIBAN. Annihilator, yes, the great de st r oyer. the raven-haired maiden, I'm just some over-educated, under-
I! MELANIE. Yeah, well, whatever he and your sister are,
I'm gonna employed drama - (Caliban lays a hand on Melanie's shoulder.)
/I iJ CALIBAN. The Book of Destiny was written at the dawn of time,
fl j1

I1 I1
20
21
 1,, .1 II I 'I 11i it is never wrong. Steady yoursel£ Be the
;1

l, !r j••
I I ' II
I,, , eye of the storm. All your MARCIUS. YES - GODS - YES - ANYTHING. (Melanie
I life has been leading to this moment. (Melanie
I I' I looks
MELANIE. Do you know what the consequences at Caliban.)
I
holds u p the picture o fAriel.)
CALIBAN. There is none alive who knows - ? MELANIE. This man has insulted your mother's honor - (Caius
I 1/ magi c ill-used more than me. (Beat.) the consequences
And nothing you could set
free, lady, would be worse than what pursues
of reacts.) Yes, that's r i g h t - and is at this very moment roaming the city
streets. Can you stop him, do you think? Using extreme prejudice?
'1,:1 1
1! I
1/
I
head,but closes her eyes a n d returns to the
us. (Melanie shake s her
book. Again, she lays her
(Marcius takes the picture o fArieL slow!J smiles, a n d bows his head)
MARCIUS. Ma' am ... he is a tiger I am proud ro hunt.
palms on its pages a n d starts w h i
ering .)

I I/
MELANIE. Like ••• opening ...s pa ... door. MELANIE. Don't let his looks fool you. He's very strong, very
••• and ••• watching •.. it ... swing ... Pic t u r ing it in my head dangerous.
II open? (ll moment passes, a n d CALIBAN. Both Ariel a n d my sister Sasia.
another. Melanie opens her eyes. Silence
' I I CHET. Did it work? Did it happen? (More
i n the bookshop. Then:)
silence. The n - although
MARCIUS. However many stand with him, I'll make a quarry of

I I 11
the shop's door doesn't o p e n - we hear them, as high as I can pick my lance.
the sound o fthat little bell ringing.)
MELANIE. (Terrified.) Oh my God. MELANIE. I'm counting on it. (He starts out again.) Caius
Oh ... my ... God. Marcius, one last thing!
CHET. What?
MELANIE. Don't say anything-for MARCIUS. Ma'am?
the nextthree minutes, okay? MELANIE. He called you ... a bo y o f tears. (With that, Marcius'
(She turns to Caliban, as she pulls
her hair back severely to look mean
a n d school-marmish.) You wanted face darkens, he crumples the picture o fAriel i n his hand, a n d strides
a warrior? (ll shado w , as someone
I I emerges from behind the stacks.
W7loever he is, he's powerful a n d
mous, almost seven feet tall He wears enor-
out the door.)
CALIBAN. I fear you've sent him to his grave, lady. (Melanie is
I I'! is square, his face scarred. H e is
a breastplate a n d helmet. Hisj a w
the greatest Roman gladiator i n the
stone-faced.)
MELANIE. Let's not go there, okay? (She tosses him The Tempest.}
canon. Melanie calls him by his
f a l l name.) Caiu s Ma r ciu s !

I'1/111'I MARCIUS. Here! Here, see if any of the other pictures in there mean anything to
MELANIE. Who's a naugh t y boy, then? you. (The enormity o f what she'sjust done hits her.) Oh, God ...
Ii i
''tIr !
MARCIUS. Ma'am? CHET. Are you okay?
MELANIE. Show me your hands, Caius Marci u s . MELANIE. I promised myself I'd never do that again. (Turns to
i _li, i ,
was
has been keeping his hands folded (Indeed, Marciu s Chet.) No, Cher, I am most definitely not okay.
1 behind his back. H e brings the m out
slowly. They are, no surprise, dripping CHET., Yeah, bur that guy, he was like - that guy like -
blood.)
MARCIUS. I didn't mean to. (Caliban, who has been flipping through The Tempest, stops at another
picture: the Fuseli painting.)
1II /I I 11/
MELANIE. (Sighing.) Who was it this
rime? CALIBAN. These people - (He points them out.} - my father.
MARCIUS. The ... the ...

11/ I
MELANIE. DON'T LIE TO ME! And my sister ... (Melanie goes to him.)
I 1i MARCWS. Ma'am, the Roman tribunes,
names! ma' a m , the y called me
MELANIE. Is that them? Is that what they look like?
CALIBAN. Yes, b u t - (He points to anotherfigure i n the painting.)
,!I i MELANIE. And you attacked them. - what is this monster? This twisted, humped horror ... (Melanie

!I 1/1
Thar was very bad, Cai u s looks. Silence for a bit.)
Marcius, very, very childish.
MARCWS. Please don't tell my mother! MELANIE. Caliban, that's - that's you. (Confased, Caliban looks
I MELANIE. Oh, Caius, I'm afraid I at Melanie.)
have to -
!I 1I MARCIUS. (Dropping to his knees.)
OHPLEASENO.
CALIBAN. How can this be?
MELANIE. (Realizing it.) Oh, God. You're ... not from a play, are
I • 1w!1 /1 MELANIE. Unless, perhaps ...
you? You're ... real.
1 /1 1 1
1 !1 1 iir1l//,1 22
23
 1:1

!!.I
i l! i
!
CHET. Wait, what?
MELANIE. (To Caliban.) Somehow ... you're real. Not just Prospero
... all of you. Shakespeare must've based all of you on real people ...
Shylock goes into the back room o f his shop, comes out with plates and
silverware for dinner. He arranges the dinner stuffon his counter; picks
up the flower; smells it - frowm - and hears: A knock on his shops
1!
(Shylock returns, rubbin g his chin, sets Prospero, book on the counter.) door. Wesee the shadow ofsomeone waiting outside.) Wilhelmina? Is that
, you? {Another knock.) All right, hold your horses, I'm coming, I'm
I

SHYLOCK. Melanie, dear, this book is a conundrum. I couldn't

i1'
even begin to guess how much it's worth, but it's not nothing. coming . . . (He approaches the door, but before he gets to it, Ariel and
,I
MELANIE. Do you know what it's written in? What language? Sasia burst through it, stridin g into the shop.) I'm sorry, we're clo -
:i!
SHYLOCK. No, but I got a friend at Columbia, she studies ARIEL. Where is the book?
''
I

ancient languages, ancient texts, magic, you name it. Give he r a call, SHYLOCK. Wh-which book is that?
maybe she can help. Here - (He hands Melanie apiece o fpaper with ARIEL. (Turning to:) Sasia?
this gals name andphone number on it.) her name's Linda Su m m ers. SASIA. Th e y were here, brother.
A real crackerjack. Call her tonight, she's a graduate student, she ARIEL. (Returning to Shylock.) Where did they go?
never sleeps. SHYLOCK. Wh-who?
MELANIE. Thank you, Mr. Shylock, I'll do that. ARIEL. Every time you make me repeat myself, old man, I will
SHYLOCK. Oh, there's also this flower. (He takes the pressedflower carve a pound of flesh from your body until there is nothing lefr bur
from the pages o fthe book.) Had you seen this? bone and sinew and nerve. Where did the y go? My brother Caliban
MELANIE. No. (She looks to Caliban, who shakes his head.) No, and the raven-haired maiden?
we hadn't. SHYLOCK. I - I don't know what you're talking about.
SHYLOCK. If you want, I got a lady friend coming over later SASIA. Then let us explain it to him, brother - (She smiles
i /1 tonight- wickedly.) very - very - slowly. (Ariel and Sasia crowd around
! I
CHET. Score. Shylock, but before we see what the y do to him, the shop darkem to
SHYLOCK. (To Chet.) Yeah, I wish. She's just a friend, an only a pinpoint o f light . . . which widem to reveal Prospero, island
!
I acquaintance. But she knows about flowers - more than I do, again. Miranda rum on, being pursued by Prospero. She stumbles and
falls; he looms over her like a threatening giant.)
I even. (Holding the flower.) Can I keep this? Just for tonight?
MELANIE. Oh, Mr. Shylock, you're an angel - thank you. (She PROSPERO. I'll ask you once more, Daughter: Did you help your
takes the book from the counter; turns to go.) Thanks. I'll call you brother escape? (Silence.) Caliban's chains were held together with
tomorrow about the flower. an incantation, locked by runes. Only a spell, read aloud, could
SHYLOCK. That's fine. (,4s Chet, Caliban, and Melanie head out.) have freed your brother.
Oh, Melanie, one more thing. MIRANDA. Stop this, Father - please - I beg you. Before your
MELANIE. Sure. soul becomes so twisted - your heart so hardened - that there is
SHYLOCK. That book, its cover? I don't think it's leather. noway-
MELANIE. Oh? (Almost imtinctively, Melanie turns to Caliban.) PROSPERO. WE ARE DISCUSSING CALIBAN!
CALIBAN. (To Melanie.) The skin of the girl who shipwrecked ... MIRANDA. (Yelling back.) WHY DOES HE TERRIFY YOU?
MELANIE. Mr. Shylock, we - we gotta go. Thanks, thank you, (Beat.) O f all your children? What power does he have over you?
I'll call you tomorrow. PROSPERO. (Chuckling to himself) You ask me of power, Daughter?
SHYLOCK. All right, yes, have fun tonight. And keep cool. People (Beat.) When my power, my Art, is all that keeps your brother
are dying over this heat. (The three adventurers leave. Shylock locks his human? (Mirandas confased.) Have you never wondered why I call
Caliban misshapen? A monster? (Beat.) It is because I call him what
'1I shops front door, hears fire engines as the y pass, their red lights flashing.

!Ii
Shaking his head sadly, Shylock moves back into his shop, adjusts the he is beneath his skin. More than any of you, Caliban is his mother's
lights for his big date, turns on the radio. A lilting melody starts to play . son. A half-breed, a mutt, a mongrel. Who looks human because I

I 1:
24 25
111'.1,L !I
11, 1'11
I 1
I
will it so. (Beat as Prospero decides something.) But no longer ...
MIRANDA. Father ...
CHET. Cool, thanks.
MELANIE. Wait. Leave th e book
with me.
life-saving device.) It's in here.

11 ,.
'•I
PROSPERO. You try to protect your brother .from me, but you can- CHET. Sure - (Holds up the orange it's waterproof (Chet go e s.)
and
\1,
not protect someone .from what is within. {Prospero holds his right (Gives it to her.) High-density plastic
Chet, smiling.) He's an orph a n .
1

regardi
1, ,

II
(To Melanie,
1

, hand out before him. He starts to flex it slowly, openin g and closin g it.) TISIPHONE. n g
than turn him over to child
From this moment on, Caliban is released. Let a sea-change occur, let He tried to pick your pocket. Rather
(Turns to Caliban.) He comes with his
services, you decided to adopt.
l(i
him return to what he once was - half-man, half-beasr - a true
thing of darkness - and let us see who has power over whom. ?4 own personal trainer. We need a place to hide,
crash oflightning accompanies the completion ofthe spell Prospero is cast- MELANIE. We're on the run, Tisiphone. me ever since I set
owed
Ih
me. You've
ing. The thunder from the lightnin g segues into the disco favorite "It's ro - regroup. And you owe
.free from The Oresteia. (Tisiphone
you and your ... back-up Furies
II'\·,
Raining Men" and ... we're on a stage in an after-hours nightclub. Three
fabulous, appropriately outfitted drag q u e e n s - Tzsiphone, Megaera, and turns to Megaera and Alecto)
Attend to •••
Alecto - enter with plastic, see-through umbrellas. The y are rehearsing TISIPHONE. Ladies - five minutes.
a double-take, but turns back
their act; lip-synching and dancing to the song. A f t w moments into their MELANIE. Caliban. (Tisiphone does
act, Melanie bursts in. She tries to get Tisiphone's attention.) to the hunk.)
hungry. Let's see what my sisters
MELANIE. Tisiphone! Tisiphone! Over here! (Finally, Melanie TISIPHONE. You look tired and
singers.) Complete make-over.
meezes - and Tisiphone stops dancing, signalsfor Megaera and Alecto can do to fresh e n you up a bit. (To her
thanks, l a dy. (Tisiphone
to stop. Tisiphone snaps her fingers and the music cuts off) CALIBAN. For your hospitality, many
and Megaera approach Caliban.)
i,i
'
TISIPHONE. (Without turnin g to look at her.) This is a closed looks at Melanie, who sh r ugs. Alecto
rehearsal. Club Dionysus wont open for - ALECTO. Handsome man ..•
•••
'1

MELANIE. Tisiphone, it's me, it's Melanie! MEGAERA. More than man and less

II 1ili1·
I TISIPHONE. Melanie? (Remembering, turning to her.) Melanie! In ALECTO. The difference between •••
•••
that case, let me slip into something a little more me. (Tzsiphone and MEG.A.ERA. . .. the difference berween
.. between man and man. (As they start to lead him
the other two drag queens rip off their costumes in a flourish, revealin g ALECTO. .
11, I warrior garb from Ancient Greece and hair f i J l o fwrithin g snakes.) offitage.)

IiiI
MELANIE. Exactly! I need your help, Tisiphone! The kind of help MEG.A.ERA. We'll soothe yo u .••

/1I only a Fury can provide!

TISIPHONE. Tel1 me, I'll all ears. (Caliban bursts into the room.
ALECTO. And bathe yo u ...
MEG.A.ERA. And dress you ..•
Tisiphone eyes him up and down. She's impressed.) Well, not all ears. ALECTO. And feed you ...
I MEG.A.ERA. And soothe you •.•
I
MELANIE. We need sanctuary - protection - while I ... fig u r e
said "soothe'' already. (They
some things out. (Chet bursts in, still carryin g his orange life-preserver. ALECTO. (Annoyed, to Megaera.) You
Melanie, who shrugs agai n .)
Tisiphone looks Chet up and down.) are gone. Tzsiphone raise s an eyebrow to
putting the "drama" in
I TISIPHONE. (To Melanie.) And who's this? Your intern? MELANIE. That's me, Me l anie Porter,
CHET. Hey, is there a ba throom here? You know, a men's room? "dr amanirg" one scri p t at a time ••.
TISIPHONE. (To Chet.) All we have here are men's rooms. Allow TISIPHONE. Caliban?
pla y.
me- MELANIE. Yeah, but not from Shakespeare's Chelsea?
-
MELANIE. (Steppin g between them.) He's seventeen, Tisiphone. TISIPHONE. (Bitchy.) From where, then
listen, I've been thinking about this. Prosp e r o ,
TISIPHONE. He y . I f he's old enough to p e e - .MELANIE. No,
based The Temp e st on -
MELANIE. (To Chet, pointin g ojfitage.) Down the hall, around the Ariel, Calib a n - the people Shakespeare
been alive all this time.
r'' partition, all the way in the back. (Beat.) Hurry. they're real, Tisiphone, they're alive. They've

26 27
 us
.i-,u-nVNb. Which would make them - what, almost f ive accidentally or o therwise, to keep
1 1, hundred years old? her, everyone she's set free,

I
I 1! the here and now.
MELANIE. So? You're immortal. alive, ro keep us in to her. I protect her. The child-
TISIPHONE. Y e a h, bur that's me. CALIBAN. Nothing will happen
D e stiny -
I MELANIE. Can you be serious, please? (Tisiphone zips her lips.) warrio r protects her. The Book of asking her to do .
You have n o idea what you're
TISIPHONE. e r to
Caliban says his father, brother, and sister are trying to kill him. He should she put her life in dang

ifi
1! 1 says my magic is the only thing that can help him. He says he That, or you don't care. Why
?
help you? W y should she -
h
wants me to go back with him - back to their island. To, uhm, St p it, Tisiphone- (Includes Caliban.)
face Prospero. MELANIE. (Interrupting.) o

1 (Th e y do stop. Then:)

Both of you, please! And
TISIPHONE. (Unzipping.) Which you're not going to do. him, Melanie. (Emphatically.)
MELANIE. (Emphatically.) No, absolutely nor, no w ay. (Mini- TISIPHONE. You better rell and Ty a l t . (.At that,
story about Romeo
b
not that cock--and-bull
pause.) I don't know, maybe. (Short pause.) T h is sounds crazy, I Caliban, lays it down for him.)
Melanie slowly turns to yo u.
know, bur I've d r e a mt about him, Tisiphone. Many, many times. Caliban, I - I can't go with
MELANIE- (To Caliban.)
(Caliban r e turns, f oll owed by Alecto and Megaera.J I'm no t. Whatever y o u think
Whatever you think I'm capable o f ...
TISIPHONE. So what, I've dreamt about Russell Crowe many; her head.) I freed Coriolanus because
my magic can do ... (She shake s mo re
many times, but that doesn't mean I owe him a nything. ('.4 hand on - direct him, but anyo ne
Melanie's shoulder.) I know you, Melanie, I know what you are he's on e-dimensional and I could
and •••
willful, more unpredictable,
capable.of- and what you are n ot. You're not going to any island. terrifies y o u so
?
CALIBAN. What, lady? What

l'I
Which, for all we know, doesn't exist. little girl once. Her name was lph i ge n e i a .
MELANIE. I tried to save a free from
C A L I B AN. It doe s, believe me. ('.4/l e yes tum to Caliban.) It was an to win a war, so I ••• set he r
I She was going to be sacrificed man who was try-
I I, I earthly paradise, a place like no other, full o f sounds and sights and gor our, too. The
her play and . . . someone terrible to keep
I', 1111 I sweet airs that gave delight. Now it is frozen, out o f time, and only
ing ro kill her, Agamemnon, her lather
. . . And when I tried
after children
',,
I Prospero's defe at will restore it.
MELANIE. (To Tzsiphone.) You hear that? Froze n - our of time. her from him, he starte d ... terrorizing
the city. Going
going ro kill them in
'I,I'I I
1

TISIPHONE. (To Caliban.) Y ou listen to me, J u ngle Boy; she's not - little girls. Hurting them. H e was
have, roo, i f •••
Iphigeneia's place - he would
I:
going a,rywherewith you. She will never deliver the kind of magic you hadn't set us free ro inte rvene: The Furies.
iii\ TISIPHONE. I f you hated
i,iI', ,i need to fight Prospero. Not because she can't, you understand, bur e and justice. (Beat.) Oooo , y o u
I 1\1' i because she won't let herself Because she doesn't have the stuff for it. The Greek spirits of ven geanc forg that look in
to him- I'll never e r

(.Beat.) And even if she did, you think I'd let her risk her·life for you? me wh e n I handed her over You were crying to save a g i rl
II' your face. (Beat.} You were fourteen.
CALIBAN. (To Melanie.) We stand together against him, lady. - couldn't.

\Ir IIi
from he r de s tiny, bur - yo u
Y our magic against his. head at the memory.) And I'll never
MELANIE. No ... (Shaking he r
the city the nigh t Agame
I mnon
TISIPHONE. Shut up. You don't know anything about her magic.
, forget the wind that ble w through her death, and I gav e
C A L I B AN. I know that b all adeers will write songs about her feats back to
1 rook Iphigeneia away, back to Aulis,
one day. I know that stars will be named after her. The greatest
ii 1
magician o f them all -
TISIPHONE. Oh, please. Y ou think I'm gonna let her run off and
up my magic.
CALIBAN- Your fear is what
will make you gr e at .
told you from the start- I shouldn't
1111: \Ii ! MELANIE- No. I should have few
get herself killed on some fucking island? Because what happens to sorry. (The moment holds for a

111 1:
\ have given you hop e . I - I'm in a trance.)
me, then? I get sucked back into The Oresteia, that's what, and I dazed and confused-
beats. Until Chet returns, seriously
don't think so. Sugar hasn't worked her f ingers ro the bone to build don't have to worry ••• anymo r e •••
a life here just so you can put it at risk. (Beat.) We're depending on CHET. It's okay . . . we
MELANIE. Chet?
1

l \1 1
' ,1 , i1J:il I
,1
28 29
li ' I
'1l i 11I ,
11 1I
/

11\1,
l,l1,: ".-- -- -- - - - - - - - · ·· ---- """-"' " ' •¾•
'••A
 ·1 1
I.,1, 1, .!/'/ I 1 I1i I .1
I': J

//II
1

1
II

I
I
CHET. No, I mean it ••• I talked to
(Caliban holds up his arm - it's
them back the book •: • which
her, it's totally arranged ...
shaking.) All we have to do is give
doesn't even really belong to us
time. He starts swinging madly .)
CALIBAN. Show yoursel£ coward! Show yourself!
MELANIE. Talked to whom, ... S.ASIA. (A.dvancing on Melanie.) I burned your cell -
· Chet?
1:
111//11 I CHET. This woman ... this beautiful MELANIE. M y what?
Ii
CALIBAN. Sasia is part siren. She woman ...
l;/11 I
can muddy men's miods. S.ASIA. - now, I'll burn you, as well. (Ariel materializes behind

i /(//
I
MELANIE. Who? (From Caliban. He grabs him in a stranglehold.)
the club's shadows, Sa sia steps
! light. She is carrying an enormous into the ARIEL. The book, Caliban, or we'll kill them all, beginning with

1 1!1 1
's
SASIA. What a tricksy chase Bloomingda!e bag.) - (White light is building up around Melanie.)
,:i1
you've led us on, Br o ther. (Melanie,
me a ntime, goes to Chet.) MELANIE. Why is it so - hot?
MELANIE. Cher, are you - ? CALIBAN. Release her, Sasia -
Look at me, Chet, focus on m y -
SASIA. I told Ariel: Flower ARIEL. The book, Brother -
or no flower, once I've picked
!1111111
1 pers o n's scent, there's n o ne can up a MELANIE. TISiphone, a little help here ...
hide fro m me.
CHET. (Drowsif:y.) M-Melanie TISIPHON E. You know the rules, love, the Furies can only inter-
1rl1
...
SASIA. Father's book o f Art, Calib vene in matters o f blood, in feuds between relations.
an -

if/1I /
MELANIE. Wake up, Cher. now.
Wake - up - MELANIE. They are - (oh, God) - they are related!
CHET. I'm awake, I'm awake TISIPHON E. (Intrig u ed.) Are th e y ? In that case - (Turns to:)

:1 !
...
SASIA. Who are these creatures Alecto. Megaera. (A/ecto and Megaera move in behind Tzsiphone. A
you've surrounded yourself with?

II I
Whose lives you play with? club remix o fa song like Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" starts to play . *)

II
1: l.r,/11111 1 MELANIE. (To Sasia.) I sent
someone after you - Caius Marcius ALECTO. Older than the Earth .. .
1,11 -awarrior- MEGAERA . Older than the gods .. .
' ' !'.I' · SASIA. Did you? Then let me ALECTO. Before rime ...
' 11 return - (She reaches into
I .I'' 1/1/ I 11
Bloomingdale's bag, pulls out Caius the

,1 1 1I i
Marciu s' bloody severed head.) e MEGAERA . When there was nothiog ...
might've defeated the Volscian H TISIPHON E. We were there.
army, bur he wouldn't have lasted
I week io father's salt mioes. (She a ALECTO. Alecto.
tosses the head to Melanie and
who catches it.) Chet,

il1:Ii
ri TISIPHON E. "Unceasing io Pursuit." (Alecto unsheathes a sword
1,I/ I CHET. Mel ... hidden in her umbrella's handle.)
MELANIE. Start backing away,
1

MEGAERA . Megaera.

i'"I 1//11 ,///I

Chet - very, very slowly ...
CALIBAN. You're nor alone, ALECTO. "The Envious Rager." (Megaera unsheathes a sword hid-
Sasia, where is Ariel? (From thin
a disembodied voice.) air; den in her umbrella's handle.)

1
ii:,, ARIEI:S VOICE. Behind TISIPHON E. Tisiphone.
you, Brother. (The sound o f someone
being struck, and Caliban reels, as MEGAERA and ALECTO. "The Blood Avenger." (Tzsiphone
though he ha s been punched across
the jaw - which he has, by the unsheathes a sword hidden in her umbrella's handle.)
invisible Ariel.)
MELANIE. Caliban, what's TISIPHON E. The immottal daughters o f Mother Earth, sprung
- ? (A.nother smack. Caliban
His mouth is bleeding.) Stop staggers.
, 1 SASIA. You - raven-haired
it! What are you doing to him?
maiden or whoever you are -
from the blood o f Kronus, existing out o f time ...
MEGAERA . Across rime ...

Ii I / ,
enough from you. that's ALECTO. Those Who Walk in Darkness ...
MELANIE. Chet, g e t our MEGAERA . The Dirae ...
1' o f here! Take yourpreserver and
o f here - right - now. get
' /i i .'·1.1.I1, / (Chet takes a be a t, looks at Melanie, our ALECTO. The Eumenides ...
I' i I' dr, if/ ' I1 his orange life-preserver; then bolts grabs TISIPHON E. The Kindly Ones ...
il
.from the club. Caliban is hit a
third

I 1· '/l1/
1:1 111!/11/1 • See Special Note on Songs and Recordings on copyright page.
1
1 1' 30
,ri 1 I 31
'
11,1 ·'
 1 11! 1 1.1.11/ I :1 I
1, ' /1i"II
ALL. The Furies. CALIBAN. And tell Father to prepare. The wheel o f fortune rurns,
1'.1. I I lirl TISIPHONE. Let them go or we'll rip you apart. (A the prophecy will be fulfilled, his day o f reckoning approaches.

ii I/
showdown. The
1' 1 ' white ligh t around Melanie begins tofade. Sasia is _ARIEL. You'll see him soon yoursel£ O n your knees, begging for
beginning to doubt.)

il /, I
SASIA. Brother. •• ? {Ariel and Tisiphone's eyes
I

I mercy. (He looks around the room.) You'll alI die.

i /1111//I
are locked. Neither
will back down.) TISIPHONE. Not me, baby, I live forever.
ARIEL. Burn her. _ARIEL. All o f you ... (Ariel and Sasia start backing away, ret.reat-

I Ii
MELANIE. What? ing into the club's shadows. Caliban holds out his arm. It is shaking,
ARIEL. I'll wager our father's magic, his protection, but steadying, steadying, steadying, until it is still.)
women. Bum the bookish one from her innards against th es e
out, starting with TISIPHONE. And the bad guys have left the building. (Looking
her heart. (The white light starts building up around.) Who wants a cocktail? (The two back-up faries raise their
around Melanie again.)
MELANIE. Tisiphone •. . {Ariel releases hands; Chet, meantime, is still holding the burningflare.)
Caliban, pushing him to

I
the ground. Caliban starts back up, but CHET. Great, so can anyone ... ?
.I, Ariel strikes him across the
face, keeping him down. Ariel turns to face ALECTO. Over here, Tiny. (Alecto takes the flare, exits with it -
Tisiphone.)
ARIEL. You call yourselves Furies? (Chet as do Tisiphone and Megaera.)
runs back on, carrying

'
Prospero's book in one arm, a litflare in the MELANIE. Chet ... (Melanie pulls herself up.)
!11I other, which he br andishes
like a torch.) CHET. Are you okay? (She takes a step towards Chet.)
I CHET. EVERYONE STOP O R I'LL
BOOK! (Silence. Chet continues) This is a
BURN PROSPERO'S MELANIE. The book, Chet ...
standard, Coast Guard- CHET. Oh, that? That wasn't Prospero's book. This is Prospero's
issued signal flare. It burns hot, over a thousand book. (He opens his orange life-saving device, pulls out Prospero's book.)
degr ees. O n a clear
night, you can see it almost a mile away. I don't What I burned, it's an Olde English Dictionary. (You know, the
care i f the book's magic

i'
or not, it's still paper, it'll still bum. (Beat.) O.E.D.?) When we were at Mr. Shylock's bookstore, I saw it, and
I

Stop what you're doing.

SASIA. Ariel? (Chet brings the book and the flare thought we might - That maybe it would - I thought: Maybe I
closer together.)
CHET. I mean it, I'll do it. should take it in case -
i ARIEL. Hold, sister. (The white light around
falls to her knees, panting, drenched in sweat.)
Melanie goes out. She MELANIE. Chet . . . (She is right in front o f Chet)
CHET. What, was that bad?
I CHET. Your father sent you after Caliban, MELANIE. Don't say anything, okay? For the next thirty seconds,
but
he cares about, am I right? (Continues quickly.) really it's the book don't talk.
It's okay, you don't
have to answer, I know I am. (Beat.) So CHET. How come? (Melanie kisses Chet on the mouth. Event.ually,
- y e a h - anyway-you'd
better go now before m y arms get tired and both o fthem embarrassed, th e y break apart, and:)
I have to set these two
things down on top o f one another. (Ariel MELANIE. I'm - uh - gonna call Mr. Shyloclcs graduate student
takes a step towards Chet.)
Back - off - now. (Ariel stops.)

il [ i 1 , / 1 I
friend.
SASIA. Like us, the book is enchanted CHET. Yeah, cool, and I should probably calI m y - (Sheepishly.)
- protected. You cannot
harm it. mom. (Melanie exits and Chet takes out a cellphone, dials. Caliban,
CHET. Yeah? (Chet drops to his knees, slams meanwhile, sits off to the side, hugging himself)
the
1 I1/// out o fi t - reaction ftom everyone in the room book open, rips a page
1
- Che t touche s the page CHET. Hi, Mom, yeah, it's me . . . At a club, in the backroom o f
.1·i·l•, I1.I
11.
1
I to the flare. It burns,flames licking up the some dance club ... I know it's late, Ma, but I didn't want you to
side ofit.) Who knows what
1ii I

!
that spell was for. (The page is blackened
ARIEL. Little man, you have no idea
ash, drifting up around them.) worry . . . Yes, I'm keeping cool. Yes, even in this heat . . . Oh, it was

1j
i1' i ,r I
.

what you've done, what your fine. Prerty much like every other date ... Maybe, hopefully, I'd
torments will be - like to ... Yeah, I will, I promise. (Beat.) Yeah, I love you, too. (Chet
l)i I
1 / 11/1 /
11/111! CHET. Yeahyeahyeah. Don't make me hangs up.)
do another page. Go.
1 ! Ij/1
11 1.,111 !
:/ill. I 32 33
Il ! I !! /!/ !Ii / CALIBAN. You are fortunate, to have a family
CHET. Ir's ••• just my mom and me now. that cares for you. CALIBAN- I cl-don't - (Caliban holds up his hand, clenched into
!:' iI: 11Ii11, 1/[ 1II 1I
! guard, too - he died. (Nods his head.) My
Yeah,
d a
a
d - he was a life-
kid was trapped
a fist. He starts flexing it open. His hand is webbed now, amphibian.)

1I, down in an underwater cave beneath MELANIE- Oh, my God. (Caliban takes off his shirt. He twists
1

1/ 1 I dad was trying to pull him free

saved him, though, the kid.
a boulder-type-thing, and my
and ... he drowned. (Beat.) He around to see - and so the audience can see - his back. There are
shark-like fins running down his spine.)
I, Iiil CALIBAN. He died a hero, then.
CHET. Uhm, we never thought
about him like that, and he defi-
CHET. Oh, wow.
MELANIE. Okay - nobody panic.
Ii;/ 1/
II• I /1/I
nitely didn't, but y e ah ... I guess CALIBAN. My father's magic ...
1: he was. (Beat.) That's partly how
come my mom worries so much. c B E T . I think you look - you know - totally cool. (Tisiphone
CALIBAN. I never had that. enters, a grim expression on herface.)

111
I
CHET. Nor even - wait - nor CALIBAN. My mother ... part sea-devil ...

i 11 i
even from your own mother?
CALIBAN. From Miranda. We'd MELANIE. Oh, God, on top of everything else!

,I
hold each other, cowering, while
Father rage d like a storm. She
would say to me: "One da brother, TISIPHONE. Ir gets worse. I just consulted the Oracle.

1 ' • I,rl/.1 1
he will be go ne from our lives, y, CHET. The what?
and we will sir by the calm ocean,
under a sky that never clouds, a n d w TISIPHONE. O f Delphi. To see i f ! could learn anything, to see
e will read, and pla
swim, and be - free." y chess, and how this all turns out, and ...
1

'I:;i1/1/'I'/II /I
CHET. It'll happen. You'll
see. (Melanie returns, shutting a MELANIE. What?
phone as she comes in.) cell TISIPHONE. The Oracle couldn't see how it ends precisely. But
MELANIE. Okay, I just talked to it did show me ...
Mr. Shylock's friend at Colu m bia.
Linda Summers, the ancient languages MELANIE. What, Tisiphone ?
i/1 1
I. expert or whatever? She's
gr a ding papers, working late, bur TISIPHONE. The city - this city - in flames. Blood in the
she can see me tonight i f I go
/1 1
1
1
right now. streets. People dying.

!/Ii
MELANIE. Oh, God. Because o f - because o f Sasia and Ariel?

11111
CHET. Gre ar. (Beat.) And - uhm
- remind me why that's a
good thing. TISIPHONE. And Prospero. (Beat.) The Oracle told me: He
/ MELANIE. Mayb e she'll know comes to New York.
how to destroy the book? Or MELANIE. What? That's impossible, Sycorax's curse -
maybe she knows where we can
find a real magicia n ? (Turns to:)
Caliban, I'm in this now, okay? You're (Confased, turning to Caliban.) What does that mean? Caliban,
not alone. I don't know what

if
I can do, bur whatever I can, what does that - ?
' I l,i 1 1
I will. I'll see this through, as much
as possible . (She pulls an old-fashioned TISIPHONE. It means you will face him, Melanie. All three of
and terrifj,ing pistolfrom her
1 1 /, i
bag, checks to see i fit's loaded.) you will. (,4. flourish.) Four, you count me.
CHET. Uhm. What is that? MELANIE. I f... ? (She nods.) Thanks, thank you.

, '1 I 1 / i
l·1'·."/1
'111 MELANIE. The only pistol I TISIPHONE. Don't thank me yet. I have a terrible presentiment
could get my ha n ds on.
CHET. From where? not all o f us are gonna make it through the night. (Calibans breath-
1,1 1 I
11111
MELANIE. Annie Get Your Gun. ing is heavy. He, Melanie, and Chet look at each other. Th e y don't
One o f the Fu r ies is auditioning know what to say. The lights start fading to black.)
for it. (Holds up the gun to show Caliban.)

1 : i/1/ i/ 1
I• , il,
Caliban, I know it's not magic, What do you think,
bur - (Melanie stops, notices End of Act One

I .,1r.r1r,/1·.//i. 1
Caliban is starting to convulse.) What?
CALIBAN. Something ... happeningWhat's wrong?
I

I,i ; 1 11:.//
I MELANIE. What, Caliban? M y to me ...
God, you're shaking.

'
i :/ 1 , / 1 . I
34
35
i\\
 1['1,1 .11
111111,111:1.1
'" i , 'l''/1,,' CALJBAN. W e will. (Reachingfor the spear.) Give it t o me, child-
:Ir. ! , 1 ' i:11'/ -warrior, and I will ddiver the killing blow. (As Chet steps out o f
11 'I I , //11 ACT1WO Calibans reach:)
I

,l:i:1:1/ri.I
Ii,!
[ j i' I !1 CHET. Actually, don't you think maybe I should? I mean, he'll be
j,·I
I '11ill / expecting it from you, won't he? You can, I don't k n o w . . . distract him.
.•i' / 1
"1I
.',Iii A spot o f light on a hand,
M E L A N I E . Which should b e easy, considering the fact that you're

111. '1il/ 1!
ancient-looking spear. The clutching an impressive, rocky,
I
'1 spot widens to reveal· Tisiphone, rurning into the Creaturefrom the Black Lagoon. (Beat.} N o offense.
holding the spear; with
Melanie, Che t , and Caliban
- look- T I S I P H O N E . (To Melanie.) Perhaps Caliban should lie down,
ing a little more lizard-ish
- standing nearby, still in don't you t h i n k - rest up? I have a cot i n the next room. (Beat, she

I II
Dionysus. Club
winks at Caliban.) Big enough for two.
M E L A N I E . (Shaking her head.) N o , w e - w e should keep moving,
II 1111111 T I S I P H O N E . {Wzth awe.) T h e w e have t o b e ready, w e have to plan. T h e spear's good thinkin g,
!j /1 1/1 powerful weapons i n the known spear o f destin y. O n e o f the most Tisiphone. A n d I'm going uptown t o see what I can learn about
I 1•1 universe. Prospero's b o o k -

I!
I !111,11 C H E T Actually, isn't that
technically a spearhead?
i Ii· Shouldn't it b e CHET. I still don't get why. T h e B o o k o f Destiny said your magic
I I
.I'I,.' called the spearhead o f
I destiny? I mean, a spear's a would defeat Prospero. It didn't say anything about using Prospero's
weapon, a n d that's just - long,
I
i1'1!1 ' ' 111/
1. 1 1
I

(Tisiphone and Melanie look skinny magic against him. (Silence for a beat, then:)
anyway ... at Chet.)
1

I11 ,1',111'il1//1''',/:1' I1
!i I ! •'/li!! 1
M E L A N I E . (Bitchy , bitchy.) I ' m sorry, Tisiphone, did y o u hear
I I i_11.·II'/ T I S I P H O N E . Ir is one o f four
spears carved from the meteorite anything?
that starred the first Ice
Age. Three o f the spears were T I S I P H O N E . Nope.
I

! 1 sea, where (for all I know) cast into the

ii ' 1' •111/L1
1 they M E L A N I E . Yeah, m e , neither.
! !11
b y the tides, carving grooves still are, being pulled back and forth
//Iii' 1 1 1 in the ocean's floor. Bur this C H E T . Jeez, sorry for trying to contribute.
11 / '/ ,. Cain used it to murder his last
brother Abel. A Roman Centurionone . . . M E L A N I E . Unfortunately, Chet, unless y o u k n o w h o w t o change
I 1;11/ :/1 1 it to pierce the side o f a condemned used
1111/i/ the Grear carried it into man named Jesus. Constantine Caliban b a c k -
Ill/ battle, as did C h ar le m ag ne. CALIBAN. (Ominous, ominous.) I like w h a t I'm becoming ...
1
1/ '1
1,1. / I
'. 111 it, then lost it.
C H E T Where?
Napoleon h a d
(Tisiphone, Melanie, and Chet exchange a nervous look.)
I 1// 1

jll I M E L A N I E . Waterloo.
T I S I P H O N E . Nevertheless, I think I k n o w where I c a n get some-
thing that will help slow down - maybe even reverse - your
1 T I S I P H O N E . Apparently,
it's not just a n A B B A song. changing. (Checking in with Melanie.) I f w e have time.
/ ///1//1 I CALIBAN. I have heard

I
stories o f a magic spear. M E L A N I E . We'll m a k e it. (To Caliban.) We'll need y o u a t a hun-
• 1,!11.11 highlands, a dread general
- and his fiend-like wife
Once, in the
dred percent for whatever happens w h e n Prospero gets here.
a murder a king. Its influence - used i t to
'!i/!1// I
C H E T A n d - so - is destroyed t h em both. C H E T . W h i c h makes me, like - what, totally superfluous? (To
,
lir/111/,1i that a copy? Melanie.) I'm supposed t o be protecting you.
T I S I P H O N E . No, cupcake.
gives Chet the spear.) Can Here, touch it, f e d its power. M E L A N I E . Acrua1ly . . . H o w w d l d o y o u k n o w N e w York, Chet?
you? (Tzsiphone CHET Uhm ...
C H E T (Dubious.) U h m ,
I guess? M E L A N I E . L e t m e rephrase that: well enough t o hide a man-sized
l
i
I CALIBAN. Will it . . .
1
l
1
/1/.!1l/1I kill m y father? iguana from his father? (Chet assesses the situation.)
,I' 1 , l'.i/!I! T I S I P H O N E . Ir tears through

!Vii
' 1 'I ··'',-,,.,,,! (Beat.) O f course, it means magic - tears through C H E T . N o t a problem.
I ' ' I"''.11il1111' I I anything.
getting close enough to use MELANIE. Great - you're up, then. A n d Tisiphone's given us all
it.
I I these fashionable cell phones, right? - (The y check; the y have them.)
I 1,I I
r
li'i'l;/:11/1
111/// '
J
36
:)ii,
37
I
I'

'11 i -- -- " " - - --- .

{ ll - , - - - - - - - - · - -
 ,l,11,1,111 Il
!',I' /l!,111!!1 so we'll keep in touch rhat
way.
where you're going, call or texr (Tums to Che t.) A s soon as you know
; , :I -, I 11,I 'I
I
111 !l11:,"11 and we'll rend ezv ous fourteen-year-old girl anymore, you'll d o whatever you have to.
' I I11I·1' I'.'11 C H E T . Check. in . . . an hour?
': ! I! ,' ! 'I

T I S I P H O N E . (Fixing her
M E L A N I E . (Wiping away the last ofher tears.) I hate that we're all
.1'I,' ' I ! '/
/1,'1/: I
,
1 i1 right, Caliba n eyes on Caliban.) Are
y o u sure you're all splitting u p . . .
T I S I P H O N E . Please, you've seen the X-Men movies. Ir's what all
CALIBAN. Never . . . stronger
jl C H E T . (Aside.) U h m . ... the best superhero teams do. We'll b e fine. A n d maybe the Oracle's
i Melanie? wrong. O r maybe Prospero . . . (Ariel a n d Sasia rush on to another
M E L A N I E . Yes, Cher?

//'i/!
part o f the stage, shielding themselves from Prospero, who strides i n
I 1 : C H E T . Before I go,
can I - u h m - give after them, swinging his staff viciously. Behind them: Miranda.)
y o u something?

I
MELANIE. U h ... P R O S P E R O . SLAVES! W O R T H L E S S !
C H E T . Here - (Taking
I
11111/1111 it off.) It's m y dad's T I S I P H O N E . . . . Maybe he'll have a change o f heart. (Tisiphone
M E L A N I E . O h , Cher - whistle.
(He gives it to h er.) a n d Melanie exit, as Prospero a n d his children take over the stage.
C H E T . I f you're in Uh ...
trouble, y o u can blow are back on the island.)
where I am, I'll hear o n it, and n o matter
ir, and I'll come running, ARIEL. PITY, Father - pity!
l :1
I: ltlJ M E L A N I E . Oh, Cher, okay?
y o u really don't have to $ASIA. Mercy, Father - M E R C Y ! (Prospero stops i n mid-swing, his
C H E T . I wanr to. -

'I .' /:1 ,

1) (Hello! staffheld aloft.)
I: - a n d then puts the whistleMelanie looks at Chet - has a moment
II around he r neck.) P R O S P E R O . P i t y - m e r c y - Once, children, I h a d room in m y
·,1 ii/11/' r MELANIE. ... Thank
you, C h er . heart for these, bur that was - (Raises the staff even farther.)
,I : 11i/r1JI1 C H E T . You're welcome.
LONG AGO!
(Beat.) Yeah, okay, so
1 another kiss? - u h m - d o I ger
I 1 1·
ARIEL. Your precious Art -
I/.11/l1 ;1l/11 //f1I M E L A N I E . Excuse me?
:1 ,' ·,r1l11/i1irl i!:i/1'I jI 1i
I/1 .]'
P R O S P E R O . ls enchanted. Whatever you think y o u saw, they
I

C H E T . You know, like

1
before? fooled you.
MELANIE. What? (Remembering.)
1

, ' "1'/:111/'I'I Oh, Cher, that was - that $ASIA. Forgive us!
'•'rl I
a token, a gesrure. was
(Beat.) W h a t did you PROSPERO. FORGIVE YOU?
I' 1 1 Going steady? think, that w e were daring?
I 11/lii/1 / C H E T . U h m , well, I ARIEL. W e saw h i m rip its pages - !
1111//11 I1
. 1
guess -
M E L A N I E . Ir was nothing,
y o u dope. Honestl another
P R O S P E R O . Silence, Ariel - for as I sewed Mirandas mouth
shut, so I will yours. (The y look towards Miranda, who turns around
I 1 1/
1 II our o f here, you're such
a dope. y, kiss. Ger to face them - a n d the audience - folly. Indeed, Miranda's mouth
I I 1/1"11:11111 C H E T . I wasn't thinking,
I
11 1 'li!l,11
)i,!/1/i'I
/ Ii M E L A N I E . Ger going,
Stay safe, all right? H u g
I guess. I'm sorry.
you dope. A n d s t a y -
( He r mask slips a bit.)
has been sewn shut with needle a n d thread.)
ARIEL. Believe us, Father, the b o y started t o rip your b o o k apart!
PROSPERO. (Exploding.) O N L Y A S O R C E R E R C O U L D HAVE
CHET. Oh, don't worry the darkness, stick to the alleys and piers.
1!
1111 1 /
1
R I P P E D T H R O U G H T H E S P E L L T H A T P R O T E C T S IT!
I: 1i (Chet a n d Caliban go,
about me. I'm the child-warrior,

i1 1 1 ,
Melanie looking tifier remember? (Pause.) H o w ignorant you are o f the world b ey ond this island, Ariel.
the m . Slowly, she puts

II 1.l:11,l,;1
face i n her hands,
1 shakes her head. She won't her Magic is dead i n the N e w World. T h ey live in a darker age than t h ey
TISIPHONE. Ir's okay, cry. She won't let herself
r the bravado. cry.) imagine. (Beat.) Bur I will make it darker yet. Your brother believes
i f it makes things easier. Pretend you don't care
(Melanie wipes h e rface, for him, h e is beyond m y reach because a n ocean separates us - bur I will
M E L A N I E . This fear is shakes it off)
,1:,/1,/1 /' w h a t makes m e grear? show h i m h o w long m y arms are. I will find him mysel£ I will atom-
I

11 1l/11i1'11, T I S I P H O N E . Having i t

I'i il1li1:i',1j
'1. · l,1,l11111 make y o u grear. (Beat.) - and conquering it - that's w h a t will ize whoever has allied with him. A n d from there - finally! - I will
! :;,:1,;1 11 move across the globe, towards Genoa.
'.' •''11 :; 1,1, the sruffi (Melanie nods.)W h a t I said before, about y o u nor having
I 11.'i/ ll I

1' You d o - and then some. SASIA. Bur Sycorax's curse -

il
l
', !l .i,_1
You're nor a
I

P R O S P E R O . Demands that m y feet never leave this island, yes.

I,:, ,_i
,[I' l11li/l1l 11
1.1
38
39
111 I
 I
Ii
:·1
11
l /1 1 1·I. l.l./1· I.:
]111,111t11
!/•I'"1:1:1
iii'.
,,1 ! ·111•
I (Turns to:) Miranda, g o to
chop wood. (Miranda does m y cell. Bring m e the a x Caliban uses to
yet, Daughter. You might not move.) I haven't cur your tongue our
speak again one day. (Miranda
L I N D A O f course not, look at each page. (She opens the book to
show Melanie.) T h e symbols at the top are runes - runic symbols.
I 1,1·' / ,1;/i ARIEL. Father ... goes.) They "lock'' each p a g e - so that i t can't be read. Only magicians can
I' 1·.11111I PROSPERO. Ir is a terrible
/'./1•' /1/11 I unlock the runes. Unlock the runes, you can read the page. Read the

/ji/1,
!
for your sacrifice. price to pay, children,
1 . ,111 I and I thank you page aloud, you can cast a spell. T h e magic is in the words. That's
1 SASIA. O u r - ?
:i' w b y books o f magic are so valuable. Spells are notoriously difficult to

/1'/ltj
I !,II' i J I
!

1: .,/// PROSPERO. O n e foot 111emorize.

own pair, which I will - from each o f you - to replace mine MELANIE. I'm sorry - Columbia lets you major in this?
I' /1 cur o f f and l ea ve here.
SASIA. You would do LINDA. I'm - doing an independent study.
i/ that, Father? Mutilate
ARIEL. Are you finally us? MELANIE. D o you b y a n y chance happen to k n o w a n y magi-
realizing, sister, h o w little

i I i/j
tI
H o w h e would chop w e mean to him? cians? To unlock the runes? Any, u h m - W i c c a n s or, uh . . . ?
us
to Prospero.) Isn't that to pieces, like kindling, i f need be? (Turns LINDA. Even i f I did, I doubt they'd b e any help. Each magician
so, father? (Miranda
which she gives to Pro returns with the ax, has his own system, his own language.
s p o.)
e r
PROSPERO. You first, M E L A N I E . T h a t no one else knows . . .
1 Ariel. (He raise s the ax.)
1:I child. (Blackout. The 1HUNK-7HUNK- Close your eyes, L I N D A Well, i t would have to b e someone close t o him. A wife,
come up on a basement 7HUNK o fan ax. The
office in the bowels o f lights a father.
Linda Summers, from the Columbia University. M E L A N I E . O r a - (Realizes it as she says it.) would a daughter

.•IM1
play's first scene, enters,
She's carrying Prospero's book.) followed by Melanie. know?
LINDA. Destroy it? You're L I N D A . Possibly. (Her mind racing now, Melanie stands to go.)
book o f magic? actually asking me to destroy
Prospero's M E L A N I E . I f I can even get to her . . . (Melanie starts to take the
M E L A N I E . (Sheepishly.)
1 ,I1/1. ,l'/I/
,11111 LINDA. W h y don't you an you?
C book from Linda, who doem't want to let it go.)
LINDA. N o , y o u don't.
Turin? ask me, rather, to - shred
i ,II.,/ · l'I' the Shroud o f M E L A N I E . What? W h a t are y o u doing?
/Ir 1•,I M E L A N I E . (Backtracking.) LINDA. I wanna k n o w h o w you - a nothing, a nobod y, a fucking
,11j•.1',· .'1·
lfi.'1/11,
I ,I 1'if LINDA. O r maybe you'd Okay. dtarnatutg - h o w you got your hands o n Prospero's book o f magic.
scrap paper? like m e to use the Dead
Sea Scrolls for M E L A N I E . L e t - (The y strugglefor the book.) go.
/1r11/1IJ1: M E L A N I E . I'm sorry. L I N D A Is h e alive? Have you seen him? (A pause o fdisbelief This
LINDA. O r w h y don't

/I ;
II I wrap can't be happening!)
l/1 folio o f Shakespeare's plays? m y leftover Veggie Delite in the first M E L A N I E . You're crazy.
JI
II : /' i
'11/1.lj'/11 M E L A N I E . I get it. L I N D A T h e book's not yours!
L I N D A . O r even better,

I
: ask m e to go back in time M E L A N I E . It's not yours either! (Linda doem't release.) And I have
' I to the Library o f A l an d set a match Annie Oakley's pistol in m y purse, and I'm an excellent shot, and I
1.l1/1
l.'1[!1.//111 ex an dria.
M E L A N I E . (Annoyed have nothing to lose. (A tense moment: What's gonna happen?)
I I /1/l:/I/
I

now.) Okay, i t was a

11/j!/' an y thi ng . (Linda
sets the book down on a bad id ea , forget I said L I N D A All right, fine. (Linda releases the book.)
i,' li1' /r LINDA. This book table, sits in front o f it.)
1j ///1//:JI is over M E L A N I E . You don't want to b e a n y more involved than you
. human skin. No, not even four hundred years old. It's wrapped in already are. (Melanie starts out.)
couldn't hurt it. - it's wrapped in magic.
i! i 1,:1,i,:li11ilI A chainsaw LINDA. Says the rank amateur w h o doesn't even k n o w what runes
,/ 1 .' ,r,.11.,1I M E L A N I E . I know;
,i 1
. , i ,111;/,1'1,' that's are. W h o probably doesn't even know that the fires downtown are
maybe you could - Can w h y I was thinking that you - T h a t

11,,I
,1
,, ·.'1 "1'•.·1.•.1
'il1::I
you read it - decipher magical. (This stops Melanie, who turns back to Linda.)
11 ,' 1 ' 11 1'
1

it?
1

'I' 'i.11/,ilr'i11·1
1
M E L A N I E . W h a t fires? What are you talking about?

40
:[,1i -- --==·· 41
 111J/ I./!//!!/l i;I/
LULJJL
Even this far
orange glow thadooks uptown, you can see them burning.
••• unearthly , unnarura]_ An
1i·"11o1 1I ,i;'ui,/;li:/,:,.111:111:1' nor the first time this
son of thing ha s h Magical (Beat.) It's C:HET. Caliban? What are you talk - ? (Caliban steps from the
shadows. He is much, MUCH more reptilian now. Greenish skin,
!Ii/ II ir!:1r.I, 1i i,/:1/111.1,1•1/.i a p p ened in New York.
1.'
MELANIE. Where?
hunched over, more pronounced fins running down his back, even a
r

LINDA The East

,,. I I I '"I'1/ MELANIE. The East -
Side, the teens between
? (Refusing to belie v
A and B. tail-like growth. Webbedfeet now, too. Chet starts backing away from
on Thirteenth Street e it.) Oh, God. I live him.) Oh my God. An hour ago you were -
-
11i LINDA. Nor anymoreat Thineenth and A.
:'/ : I CALIBAN. You see mine own true self revealed ...
i,/,11/l,i 1 /J 1ii where you got the book. you don't. (She smiles. Evilly:)
Tell me
CHET. It's okay, we can fix this, we can -
'I' MELANIE_ She said CALIBAN. Do not be afeared ...
1, 1 apartment ••• (Feeling
she burnr my cell,
that's what she meant, CHET. Oh, I'm not, I'm j u s t - (Realizing it.) Oh, gross, Caliban,
Ii/ everything that's me the horror o f it:) My - life, my entire
••• CAnger, confasion.)
my
world,
you're drooling.
CALIBAN. I'm so hungry, Chester, for ...

1 1 1 1 1 1! 1
LINDA All right:
Donhell me. Bur earlier W,ry are they doing this?
Prospero a n d his book, today? I was talking CHET. A hot dog? There's a Nathan's just down the boardwalk,
the most powerful about notfar-
here it is. The most - (]efini-beat.) and now
potent - (]efini-beat.) CALIBAN. Warm blood ... Human flesh ... (Chet stops backing
There are no coincidences, and that's not coincidence.
I /./l/ /11 a balance to everything, there are no accidents. There's jusr away, bravely tries to reason with him.)
!1 i recently. I can feel which has been . . . magic, CHET. This isn't you, Caliban, it's your father's magic causing
f it. Something's ch a n tipped somehow. Very
MELANIE. (Realizing ged, something - radical. you t o -
'/,1,1!
I, 'I I/ I[i/:/,'1l'11"/fl:l1,fI'JJ/ j// . arrived. it.) Oh, my God ... CALIBAN. (Still advancing.) I am a devil, a born devil ... on
It's - hitn, he's -
LINDA. (Hyperventilating.) whose nature nurture can never stick ... (Chet holds up his orange
,P'1/"'!'li,'l,'fljr,l fI
I_ j:fil/ 11 all my life? He is alive, Prospero? Whom I've life--preserver thing as a weapon.)
been studying
!.'/.i/ I

I <i' /:·''1,:,1/;'II11I IJ come with you! I can then, he's here?! Tell me where! Or CHET. Don't make me hun you, Caliban.
1

help! let me
i .',11 ,1t,-ii' I MELANIE. I don't CALIBAN. You are the sweetest meat, Chester ...
f, 1:,:1// she's even alive still think so. Only one person can CHET. (Trying a different tactic.) Think of Miranda!

'/! 1!/ I
••• - maybe- if
1
/ rushes out. Linda looks (She clutches Prospero's book tightly - CALIBAN. I'll have her, too, and people this island with Calibans ...
lights shift to another after Melanie , the n .follows her out - and
I1/1 l./1J,1/l•lfli/,
CHET. Oh, God - (Caliban is almost upon Chet, who raises the
part o fthe stage, wh as the

/1/ if I
all he surveys.) e re Che t stands,
the master o f preserver to strike in selfdefense. Tisiphone enters, dressed like a secret
CHET. Gravesend. The agent, brandishing a small fashionable dart gun. She raises it, point-
11111 . J/11 more, past the lights parr of Coney Island ing it towards Chet and Caliban.)

I I 1 /Jil
no one comes to any-
I i 1 '!/11/1/'1/1I/1 II and
o f the island. No houses, the rides and the wooden planks.
The end
TISIPHONE. Go down, Chet!
the first place I thought just ... empty lots. Rocky water. CHET. What?
of This was
1

so that i f the hear gets to hide you, Calib a n . By the TISIPHONE. Duck, fool! (Chet does, and Tisiphone fires over him,
'// I I Caliban? (He looks too much for you, you c o u l d - ocean's edge,
(Shortpause.)
hittin g Caliban in the chest with a small dart. Caliban plucks it out and
around,
I me, we took the subway, but nobody's the re.) You were right almost immediately starts swaying drunkenly. Pleased with herself) Just
111i I - (Beat.) Oh, shit. I called Tisiphone to
Oh, shit, did I lose you? meet us here, and then
behind call me Pussy Galore.
shadows o f Coney Island, Are you lost? (From CALIBAN. Wh ... what?
a low, ominous voice
CALIBAN'S VOICE. ca!!s out to Chet.) the TISIPHONE. Beneath our neocortexes and our limbic systems,
·/ 1/.I'"'.'" Chester ...
,11 I.i/;'iIl'/!•;'' ' CHET. Caliban? Caliban, are our reptile brains, which control our aggressioi,s and
(Relief) I thought you
,,-·1!· ...,j,1,,,.ii/11·;1_( 1il CALIBAN'S VOICE. were
Succulent, succulent ditching me.
appetites. It's what your father, I'm betting, shifted into overdrive
1 1.· with his magic. (Caliban pitches forward, unconscious, and Chet
1! ':j"l'/:li1r',
Chester ...
catches him, barely able to support the weight.)

i,iiI/:(t LI ___ ___••. .

11
I; 11/ '
,lH 42
I
43
!,(,_ _
----
 :111/,;i1/,/1i1,1{f1,1,/i'1
i'1 I
· , CHET. Ir's okay, I got
II,.' .'
1 1 moops ... him, I got him - (He
drops Caliban.)
i, _'11 1 /.foi1:l',/'I TISIPHONE. Thing concentrates.) Come on, I can feel you inside there, rhe real Miranda,
r,, :., .1111:11
I
is: Appetites can be suppressed
1

with chemicals. Like on with science, buried beneath this play. I can feel the tips of my fingers brushing up
,,·'!:
I'' 'j,' l,i:1 1
ceuticals - that's where the tip o f that da r t. I have friends in pharma-
up a batch o f ••• let's
I was, seeing them -
and they
against your hair, your ... (She tries again.) Let my mind clear. Let
the words fall away. Let the pages float off the spine. And open ...
them "appetite suppressants."whipped me
1

call
!:1 I
steps in closer for a
gander.) And looky-looky. (Tisiphone the ... door. And ... Watch ... it ... swing ... open? (Melanie stops,

,!1 I listens attentively. Finally, after a long, disheartenin g silence, we hear it:
The scales on his hands It's already working.
-
CHET. - They're dissolving. the telltale bell. Melanie turns to see: Miranda, taking tentative steps
TISIPHONE. Magic,
science, it's all the same, from the dark, pulling the threadfrom her mouth as she moves into the
CHET So he's gonna light.) Oh my God. (Horrified.) What's he done ro you?
be okay , then? Caliban, sweetheart.
TISIPHONE. He's I mean? MIRANDA. Where on Earth - ? Why have y o u - (She pulls the
.111'j1,1111'I gonna
(Tzsiphone starts to shimmy be hu m a n - as human as he was. last o f the thread out.} Why have you brought me here?

I/
and shake. She pulls a
Il cleavage, turns to Chet.)
Had iron vibr ate. <Answ cellphone .from her
MELANIE. (Quoting The Tempest.} ''Admired Miranda, worth

I1
Pussycat, I was jusr what's dearest ro the world."
about to ask Encyclopediae r s.) All hail! Melanie,

11/! 1)/i;1l,'!i·!11I1j I
11:"Jil you. (Beat.) I'm fine. Brown i f he'd called MIRANDA. What are you - a witch? (Miranda gasps.) Yes! The
I
(Beat.) Cher's fine. (Winks raven-haired maiden, with owl eyes!
at Caliban.) Caliban's
- getting there. Slow at Chet. looks down MELANIE. (Concedingfinally.) - y e s .
Hold on, something's down,
wrong with my reception. you sound -
1
,'I

and our, and I'm hearing You're cutting in MIRANDA. You have Father's book ...
,I i_1/,1, r;:i!i'1 1 moves away.from Chet what sounds suspiciously l i k e - (Tisiphone
II.,
MELANIE. Caliban found me, yes, and he - (Melanie picks up

,I, r1'1 111,,u.ri:;,·"1,.r1,.d1

and
.from the other side o fthe Caliban. As she does tha Melanie walks on Prospero's book, clutches it.) Caliban told me you helped him escape
on Melanie. As she entersstage. The lights shift and crossfacle, narrowing the island, that you set him free even though his chains were magic,
./.11.·

IJ[ : • :/1:::/i,1 , phone in one hand and takes over the stage,
and Annie Oakley's revolver Melanie has her cell
is that right? (Miranda nods.) How did you unlock the spell that
iI: /,: ./· 1;1'.lIl / pointing, a n d - BANG! in
BANG! BANG! Shooting the other, raised,
held them together?

iI1'/.1'1hh/ 1t . or unseen. Once she is at something, seen MIRANDA. Carved into the metal w e re runic symbols of my
alone on stage, Melanie
/,11·/'1:/I, hear her halfo fthe conversation.) lowers the gun and
we
father's invention. M y father had a custom that he would sleep in the
,)i:111 MELANIE. - Gunshots? afternoons. During those quiet hours, I would study his books and
1

God! - I jusr shot the Thar was me, Tisiphone, scrolls. Slowly , over years, I taught myself the language o f his runes.
I just - oh,
I Ii ,11:1.i,il.'1 11 II
Mad Hatter! (Beat.) (Melanie kneels down in front o fMiranda. She opens up Prospero's book.)
Wonderland statues in No, from the Alice in
to life and it - ir cameCentral Park - that's where I am! It came
I, ,1 l 111 1 1
f MELANIE. Show me. (Miranda looks the runes over, nods.)

fl ,li f1/ /
at me! And not jusr his MIRANDA. But after I open the cage, who will tame what lives
ciry! The lions in front statue, all over the
o f the library, those
Tearing through Grand enormous stone lions! inside it? Only a magician o f immense power would be able to -

1 .,1 . l/1,!,1.1,1!.l,11!·.i,''!!·,/ I
I,u, , ,.
TJSiphone- coming ro Central! The enrire MELANIE. Me. (Beat.) I will. (Miranda nods her head, and the
1 city's changing,
! trying to teil you: Prosp l i f e - coming apart!
(Beat.) That's what I'm lights s h i f t - as the girls e x i t - to: The Statue o fLiberty's torch. Ariel
first I have to - (Beat.) ro's here a l r e a d y - he must be. (Beat.)
iJ,:
e
I
and Sasia stand looking out over the city. The wind whips around
No, I know where that No,

1[1·'' I',1:1r,'l/!/,l1i'/,,I":.//';iI!'/1'/:
for me, stay hidden. (Significantly.) is, by the water; wait them. Sasia peers intently into the night.}

1
Cher. (Melanie hangs And don't let anything ARJEL. Foul weather, Sister.
happen to
I
up. She reaches into h
Arden edition ofThe e r bag and pulls SASIA. Very foul, indeed.
.·,1' ,. tl,',S,I Tempest. Kneeling down.-) out the
be abour setting characters ARJEL. From this height, we can fairly touch the sky . . . (He looks
h'·1,' .:·;'.i',l.J,''1,,.1:',1','.'1,r' II
My magic can't just
summoning - that free from plays. It's the up, into the menacing, swirling clouds.) Look, Sasia, how it changes col-
principle - the

I :,11j''il1'1:,/1-1111
counts. (She presses the
'.,'1

halves o fthe book down, ors with Father's moods. Red, for his fury. Pu r p le, for his wounded
pride. Yellow, for his fear.

,Ii·'II',1' j_/,..'/ilm•
1
44

_ll' 45
 •! .·'!h r;;J;1',
':"T"''''i"f;"'! /
:)1/1l fili,: SASIA. His fear, Brother?
11'11' 1 ARIEL. Can't you see it on him? Amazon b y her looks, and a boy.
O r smell it? It sit s on his shoul-
• /ji/1
,1,1,
1111 '/,!'1:·.;111
1
ders like a coat.
SASIA. Caliban will be stopped.
PROSPERO. T h e child-warrior?
SASIA. Yes, Father. Carrying . . . a spearhead o f destiny? Can that be?
His alli e s will be crushed.
'li'l.1' I1
ARIEL. Assuredly. Without .ARIEL. Has the fourth been here all along? In the N e w World?
question. We'll see to it. (Pause.)
Unless . . . PROSPERO. A n d the raven-haired maiden, Sasia?
ii ,1,11 SASIA. (Searching the horizon.) SASIA. No, Father.
111111 Where are they?
ARIEL. Could we not take
the island for ourselves? (For PROSPERO. Has she abandoned them, I wonder? (To Sasia.) Well
111,II time in this scene, Sasia pauses the first done, m y tricksy spirit! Affix them with your eyes, dau g hter, and lead
in her search, straightens up.
I
r, I
tinues, brimming with hatred.) Ariel con- us to them. Let the night air carry us down. (Prospero raises his arms,
He
! and when we're damaged beyond uses us like mul e s, like shields - his cloak billows around them, and then he, Arie£ and Sasia are gone. The
repair, he'll cast us off. Would lights shift to Gravesend. The end o fthe boardwalk. Caliban, back to his
ever do to Caliban what he's done he
to us?
• "'II ' SASIA. Brother, do not - old self Tzsiphone, and Chet are there. Chet is looking up into the sky.)
ARIEL. Our feet, Sister. (Short CHET. Uhm, guys? What's happening t o the sky? All the colors?
1111 1. pause.) H e feels Calib a n 's betrayal
most acutely because h e loves him (Looks around some more.) And that sound? What's that noise?
oldest and his youngest, his most. Calib a n and Miranda, his CALIBAN. Which sound?
11l1 J:i
i: 1'111','[•• most precious. (Beat.) Father's
towards Caliban will pass - but fury CHET. A n d the air? Doesn't it feel all, like, weird?
1111l.,:r/ n o w it burns white-hot and blinds TISIPHONE. T h e eve o f Orestes' trial, held at Apollo's temple, the
1' 1 '/1',,' him to all other threats.
11/i11,I SASIA. W e would be as mice sky was like this one - the color o f blood, and vengeance, and
trying to fell an elephant.
i .I1. 1J il 1 ARIEL. Father will never free destruction. T h e air was choked with ponents o f violence and death.
1

us, Sasia, w e are slaves. (Beat.)

11, .'.,:.'l11l,_,.1:,1
• ·1,.,111) not do it alone. I can- CHET. (Cocking his head suddenly.) There it is again, I can't believe
I, ,':1,,il;J_,lj
,,•',/ SASIA. A h , then it cannot you guys don't hear that, it's like wings flapping ... (Caliban stops, takes
be done. (Before Ariel is able
; 1':1:11:1!,1' /'
, .. 11,;r1'
a g a in.) Hold your
tongue, Brother, I smell him. (Indeed, to protest a step awnyfrom Chet. His eyes widen in horror.) What? What is it?
11·1' ,•/
'I;1•ii.Ji,;I:"J°111
enters, his black cloak billowing
around him.)
Prospero CALIBAN. T h e wings you hear . . . T h e Angel o f Death circling
11 1 ARIEL. (Still looking at Sasia.) you like a vulture . . .
!1'1I 1'"IJ,'i1•,I PROSPERO. Devoid o f magic H o w were your travels, father? CHET. (Scared, maybe for the first time in the play.) What? (Shakes

ii['
though it be, this N e w World his head.) N o way, you're - you're crazy.
I II:1111/l:11/1 teems with marvels. W h a t country, fairly
1

ARIEL. It is called . . . N e w Ariel, is this? CALIBAN. (Quickly.) Chester - Tisiphone - take m y hands.
York,
PROSPERO. A n d this w e stand father. (The y do.) N o w and forever, you are m y brothers. Your bravery hon-
ARIEL. T h e Statue o f Liberty, on? ors you both. And I - (He kneels down.) - I honor you both. You
PROSPERO. Is that what Father.
had no cause to join me, yet you have willingly faced forces that
they build monuments to in the
World - liberty? New. would set lesser men to hide behind their mothers' skirts. T h e blast
ARIEL. From this vantage, w e o f war blows in your ears, and you imitate the action o f tigers. You
may gaze out across the entire
and, in a single moment, drink city- stiffen your sinews, you summon up your blood, you disguise your
in our labors. (Prospero turns to
PROSPERO. All rests on you Sasia.) fair nature with hard-favour'd rage, and you lend your eyes a terrible
now, m y h u n t re s s . I gave you a
eyes, a perch high above this starry hawk's aspect. (Caliban stands.) I f any o f us should fall tonight, whoever sur-
Daughter. Precious as your foot kingdom. D o not disappoint me, vives - whoever lives - will carry our d e p arted's spirit with them
SASIA. (Finalf:)I! Success!) I see was, I've no doubt your hands - forever. I pledge this.
th e m , Father!
PROSPERO. All o f them? T I S I P H O N E . S o do I.
SASIA. Brother Caliban
and - yes, others, too. A woman, CHET. Me, too. (The sound o f hollow applause. Prospero enters,
an clapping.)

46
47
---c,.·,-c7i'"A
 PROSPERO. What a fine General you've become, my son. CHET. Just try it.
CALIBAN. (Breaking away from the circle.) Father - TISIPHONE. You see? We have teeth, too.
of Destiny, ever
PROSPERO. I would follow you into battle. My sword raised, my CHET. ( C o c k y - too cocky .) It's called the Spear
shield shouldered. heard of it?
CALIBAN. Sycorax's curse - ? ARIEL More than heard, pup. (He pulls a spear from his belt. It
is one o f two. {Sasia
PROSPERO. Sacrifice s have been made. (He lifts up his robes, looks exactly like the Spear o fDestiny.) But yours
Chet's.)
revealing black thread where new feet have been sewn to the stumps. pulls a spear from her belt. Again, it's exactly like
He calls over his shoulder:) Sasia, Ariel! (Th e y enter, and we now see SASIA. O f three. {Ariel pulls out anothe r spear.)
clearly that each o fthem is missin g afoot.) ARIEL. Of four.
channel
CHET. Oh my gosh. PROSPERO. The spearheads aren't magic, whelp, the y
CALIBAN. {Almost to himself) Hell is empty and all the devils are magic - the magic and will of whoever wields it. You may be a war-
with him,
here ... rior, but you're not magical. {Turns to:) When you're done
Tisi.phone
TISIPHONE. Stay right next to me, Chet. No matter what happens. Ariel, I want his head impaled on a lance. (Caliban and
,I'I, PROSPERO. Come, children, and see how min e enemi e s are at
my mercy. (Turns back.) Caliban, for your betrayal, your torm e nts
move to intercept Ariel and Sasia. Before the y meet, however,
sudden, terrifying sound o f thunder. Eve r yone stops.)
we hear the

I should be unending. And yet ... Your resourcefulne s s and courage ARIEL. Father?
sound.
!' bear noting. End this madness now. Return me mine Art, stand by SASIA. Is that your thunder? (More thunder. Then another
my side, and you will ascend in my favor as a firstborn should. You Tisi.phone holds up a cupped hand. She looks up into the sky.)
will sit in a station above your brother and sister. Th e y will serve TISIPHONE. What - ? (Chet opens his arms wide. He is almost
you as they se rve me . {Grabs the hair on the back o fAriel's head.) laughing.)
, the
Isn't that so? CHET. Holy shit, it's raining! Cold - freezing - rain! (Indeed
ARIEL. Yes, Father. sound we are hearing is raindrops. Big, fat, wonderfal summer raindrops.)
PROSPERO. (To Caliban as he releases Ariel) Also: I will teach you TISIPHONE. Not just rain, cupcake -
to read and write. I will give you the secrets of my Art. I will radiate CALIBAN. Enchanted rain. Called down by magic. {Realizing it.)
mine every affection on you like a sun. {Shortpause.) I will even, i f you The raven-haire d maid e n!
like , appoint you Mirandis keeper, so you might satisfy whatever PROSPERO. {A touch ofpanic, perhaps?) What? {Melanie slowly walks
app e tites you would with her - {Caliban spits in Prospero's face.) Or in, holding Prospero's book open before her. Miranda fallows her on.)
I will hack you and your friends into messes. MELANIE. The thing about magic is: You mustn't try to control
CALIBAN. Your book isn't here, Father. And if you kill any of us, it. You must - surrender to it. Open yourself to it. (She fixes
you'll never find it. Prospero with a gaze.) I did, and once Miranda had unlocked your
PROSPERO. If need be, I will turn this city and its people to ash. runes for me -
I have already begun to do so. How much would you sacrifice, PROSPERO. You, daughter?
Caliban? MIRANDA. I begged you to stop, Father.
CALIBAN. Not hope , which I clutch onto so long as I have breath. MELANIE. - Once Miranda had done that, the letters in your
PROSPERO. I think I'll start with ... (His eyes fall on Chet.) You, book swirled around like alphabet soup and I could read your spells
whelp. - like the one that calls down rain - to put out, finally, the fires
CHET. Me? your children started.
PROSPERO. Sasia, Ariel - tear him limb from limb. (Sa sia and PROSPERO. Ariel, forget the pup. This woman first. {Ariel moves
Ariel stalk towards Chet, who pulls out the Spear o fDestiny. This stops towards Melanie, who very calmly turns to another page in Prospero's
them momentarily.) book. She reads:)

48 49
l
:i MELANIE. "Pour down, yellow sun, and thicken air to amber; to become the greatest sorcerer of all time, and yet ... Where is your
Snare foul foe in harden'd chamber." CAyellow light strikes Ariel in book of magic? Your Art?

Ji
mid-stride, as he slows to a halt as though his blood were solidifjing.) CHET. M e l - "darker purpose" - that's from King L e a r -
ARIEL. You - wench - what ... have ... you ... (But Ariel is MELANIE. Get out of here, Chet!
still completely motionless, like a statue.) PROSPERO. All these years - for centuries - I've lived in fear,
PROSPERO. Sasia! and here you are before me: defenseless.
SASIA. I half-burned you before, lady, this time - (Melanie turns CHET. You do have a magic book.
to another page o fProspero's book. She reads:) MELANIE. Chet - !
MELANIE. "A winter season visits this year twice, Transforming heat CHET. Your magic, Mel, not his. (But Melanie is making eye contact
of fi e r y hell to crysrall'd ice." CA blue light strikes Sasia, who starts to with Miranda.)
shake uncontrollably, as though the blood in her veim werefreezing solid.) MELANIE. Now, Miranda! (Prospero turns to face Miranda, who
SASIA. F-f-f-father? What has she ... (But Sasia is frozen solid, like throws a handfal o fsand into his face.)
a block o fice. Melanie, meantime, startsflipping the pages in Prospero's MIRANDA. Sand from my mother's island to blind you! (Prospero
book. She turns to him.) shrieks as the sand hits eyes and he is momentarily blinded.)
MELANIE, I found one in here that's perfect for you ... MELANIE. Good, Miranda, now go - both of you! I'll hold him
PROSPERO. That is quite enough. (Prospero claps his hands, and as long as I can!
the book Melanie is holdin g snaps shut.) CHET. Use Kin g Lear, Mel!
CHET. Melanie - ? MELANIE. How, Chet? Who in King Lear could stop Prospero?
MELANIE. CAs she struggles with the book.) I can't - It won't Who's powerful enough to - ? {Realizes something.) Oh, God. Not
open. (Turns to:) Tisiphone? who - w h a t . (Melanie clambers to her purse, starts going through it.)
TISIPHONE. Way ahead of you. (Tisiphone pulls out her sword TISIPHONE. Whatever you're thinking, Pussy Cat, do it faster -
and advances on Prospero, who turns to her.) faster! (Melanie pulls the Arden edition ofKing Lear from her purse
PROSPERO. You - F u r y - it is beyond even my power to hurt and holds it open with the palms o fher hands. She closes her eyes, con-
you- centrates - j u s t as Prospero rubs the last o fthe sandfrom his eyes.)
TISIPHONE. I know. PROSPERO. And still you hope. Remarkable ...
PROSPERO. - But a binding spell ensures you return the kind- MELANIE. Come on, come on ... like ... opening ... a ... door ...
ness CAcone o f white light from above strikes Tisiphone, trapping her PROSPERO. Sycorax destroyed the Book of Destiny's last page.
where she stands.) Did she know how this story would end? (He holds up both o f his
TISIPHONE. Melanie, I can't - hands and clenches them into fists.) With my Art slowing your heart's
PROSPERO. (Holding out a hand.) Deliver me my Art. (Caliban beating to nothing, drying the blood in your veins to powder, hard-
snatches the book from Melanie.) ening the air in your lungs to - (All this is happening to Melanie;
CALIBAN. Not until they've left this place. Let them go, father. her entire body arcs in pain. But Chet has circled around Prospero; he
I'll stay behind, bur let them go free. stabs him in the back with the spear! Prospero howls with pain - his
PROSPERO. This grows tiresome. My Art - to me - NOW spell on Melanie breaks!- and the magician wheels on Chet, pullin g
(Caliban, unable to help himself, like a puppet, goes to Prospero, delivers the spear from his back.) You - child-warrior! {Prospero snaps his
the book.) You are a fish, you cannot breathe. (Caliban's eyes widen. fingers and a pomegranate appears in his right hand.) This is your
He starts gasping and falls down. Miranda rushes to Caliban as best part, whelp: Your heart. (With the spear, Prospero punctures the
Melanie moves towards Prospero.) And so they all fall like pins, and pomegranate. Blood seeps from the fruit, and . . . Chet is in agony!
nothing s = d s between the wicked sorcerer and his darker purpose Grasping his chest as he slips to the ground, convulsing. Miranda goes
but - {He turns to Melanie.) You, raven-haired maiden. Destined to Chet, puts her hand on his chest.)

50 51
 MIRANDA. (To Mdanie.) His heart beating so fast it will burst! PROSPERO. No - no - no life? Why should a dog, a horse, a
MELANIE. Chet! Are you - ? rat, have life, and thou no breath at all?
CHET. . .. Keep going ... MIRANDA. Save him - make it right! (Prospero touches Calibans
I PROSPERO. (Looking down at Chet.) All this time you were chas- forehead.)
I
, ing after your destiny, unaware that it had been pursuing you. PROSPERO. Breathe easy, fool. (With that, Calibans breathing
What a pity your sacrifice gains you nothing. (Prospero turns to does become regular- evem out. Prospero stands again. Miranda goes
Melanie, who has returned to her task. King Lear is open before her. to Chets body , lifts it up towards her father.)
She is completin g the spell.) MIRANDA. This one! You save this boy, too!
MELANIE. Like . . . opening ... a . . . door? (Melanie looks up PROSPERO. (Shaking his head.)
expectantly. She straim to hear it. Andfinally we all do: the little bell Never, never, never, never, never ...
signalin g a door opening somewhere. Then:) Once, I might have saved him, now ...
PROSPERO. A summoning? What have you called forth, maiden? ·Never .. .
(Melanie stands, readi n g an excerpt from King Lear:) Never .. .
MELANIE. Never .. .
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Never .. .
Rage! Blow! {Prospero is wandering away now, lost in a cloud o f madness. Chet
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout coughs - there is still some life in him!)
Till you have drench'd our steeples! CHET. Mel-lanie ...
TISIPHONE. A storm? You set the storm on the heath free? TISIPHONE. (Meaning Prospero.) We have to follow him, we
MELANIE. (Still reading.) can't just let him - (Prospero is gone. Melanie kneels next to Chet.)
The body's delicate: the tempest in my mind MELANIE. He doesn't know who he is, who we are, what he
Doth from my senses take all feeling else wants - let him vanish. (Looks down at the child-warrior.) I'm here,
Save what beats there. Chet, I'm holding your hand. (Caliban sits up, grabbing his chest.)
PROSPERO. What is a storm without lightning? Without wind CALIBAN. La-lady ...
howl - (Somethin g catches in Prosperos throat.) Without it - (And CHET. (To Melanie.) Did we - did we - ?
again.) howl ... ing ... MELANIE. Yes, Chet, we did it, we stopped him. We're all safe -
MELANIE. Not on the heath, Tisiphone, the storm in Lear's we're all saved.
mind ... CHET. So you - you really are -
PROSPERO. Howl ... MELANIE. Don't talk, Chet. (Chet coughs, convulses. Hes barely
TISIPHONE. You set Lear's madness free? alive. Caliban approaches him.)
PROSPERO. Howl ... CALIBAN. Child-warrior ...
MELANIE. And transplanted it. (Prospero drops his book like a dead CHET. W-who?
weight. Slowly, his hands move to his head, which he gripsferociously.) MELANIE. It's Caliban, Chet, can't you see him?
PROSPERO. (Gone mad.) Howl ... Howl ... (Prospero looks closely CHET. I'm not - scared ...
at Melanie, at Tisiphone.) Who are you? (Waves his hand in front o f TISIPHONE. Of course you're not, baby.
Tisiphone, breaking the binding spell.) Mine eyes are not o' the best: CALIBAN. (To Chet.) Take this knowledge with you into Elysium.
I'll tell you straight. That my father is vanquished - my mother's island is restored -
TISIPHONE. Gods. Lear's madness in Prospero's head. and this New World is preserved - because of you.
MELANIE. Chet was right - my magic ... (Prospero approaches CHET. (Gasping.) Oh - God - Mel - ? (Chet is leaving this
Caliban, kneels next to him.) world. Melanie is crying.)
!, :

52 53
MELANIE. Close your eyes, Chet. (She does itfor him.) Do you see now. I'll bring you back from wherever you are, I promise. And then
them? All along the highlands, in the mist, your ancestors ... raising ... you can teach me your magic, yes? (Beat.) Do you understand
their shields for you - honoring you - welcoming you ... (Her any of what I'm saying? Wherever you are, Prospero, you are not
heart breaks.) Oh, God ... (The lights shwg, fade on our heroes until alone . . . (The lights fade on the scene until ong, Prospero's face
all thats left is blackness, the night sky, filled with rain and chuds and remains. Eventualg, that light goes out, as well and we crossfade to:
the stars o fa new constellation: a young man, a bo y really. The night sky Prospero's island. The beach. An idyllic scene. Caliban and Mirando
shrinks until it is ong, a window in apadded cell in Bellevue Ps ychiatric are playing chess. Tisiphone, looking fabulous in a bikini, sits on a
Hospital Prospero is there, cowed, restrained in a straitjacket. Linda lounger, sipping a frozen margarita. Melanie, dressedfor the beach in
Summers is standing nearby. She takes a step towards Prospero just as Dr. a sarong, is staring out across the ocean - across the audience. She
Rosemary Ridgeon enters brusque!:y.) holds Prospero's book close to her heart.)
RIDGEON. Sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Summers. Ever since MELANIE. (To the audience.) Even now, Prospero's face still surfaces
the fires, most ofBellevue's staff has been working round-the-clock sometimes - unbidden, darkening my dreams, afrer all these ...
at St. Vincent's. We're on a skeleton crew here, I'm afraid. Well, time moves differently here on this enchanted island, doesn't
LINDA. Must you restrain him that way? Like an animal? it? Seconds are minutes are hours are years are blinks of an eye ...
RIDGEON. I'm afraid so. He - went berserk right before his At dawn, kingdoms are born, and by sundown, entire civilizations
MRI. Broke one orderly's jaw, clawed another one's face open. He's are crumbled ... (That's what it feels like, anyway.)
on the fourteenth floor, in surgery. The orderly , I mean. They're It is a wondrous place, unchanged, frozen in time, since Sycorax's
trying to save his eyes. curse. Until now, when every day brings new delights, and more of
LINDA. Did the MRI show anything? its former glory returns.
RIDGEON. There are lesions covering almost ninety percent of Its beauty makes our sacrifices easier, somehow. (Beat.) No, it
his brain. The kind commonly associated with Alzheimer's or doesilt.
Lewey's Dementia, which is what I think we're dealing with here. There is a beach, on the other side of the island, a narrow strip
LINDA. Lewe y 's Dementia. But thar's ... incurable. of yellow sand, surrounded by the bluest water, as far as the eye can
RIDGEON. Right now it is, but perha p s in time ... (Beat.) For see, where I have buried our dead: Mr. Shylock, Caius Marcius, the
the present, though, we can burn the lesions off, keep him sedated. people who burned in the fires that terrible night, and ... Chet.
We can ease his suffering, at least. That's something. I visit their graves each morning. (Short pause.) I don't know
LINDA. (Looking at Prospero.) How tragic. So ... Shakespearean. how long I'll stay here, beautiful as it is, I'm a New York City girl,
RIDGEON. You very likely saved this man's life, Ms. Summers. but ... there are advantages.
Most New Yorkers happen across someone like him, the y look the There is a libr a r y like no other, with volumes and volumes o f -
other way. Very few would do what you did: Deliver him to us, pay I have time to read, to study. And every day, I unlock another
for his treatment. page, another two pages, another four pages, of a volume that
LINDA. I consider it an investment in my future, Doctor. seems endless because, perhaps, it is.
RIDGEON. Sorry? (She suddeng, reaches into her coat, pulls out There is one spell in particular I'm looking for. I don't know for
her pager.) Bloody hell, I should finish my rounds. Will you be all cerrain that it exists, but I think it does.
right here? I - pray it does.
LINDA. Look at him, Doctor - of course I will be. (Ridgeon nods, There's a quote from The Tempest that fills me with hope, and
exits. Linda takes a step towards Prospero.) I didn't "happen" across it is this: "By my so potent Art, with Jove's own bolt, graves at my
you. I followed that woman from my office, across the city. I ... saw command have opened and waked their sleepers."
what she and her friends did to you. How the y ... hwniliated you. I'm looking for that spell. Maybe Shakespeare made it up, but
It was over so quickly , I couldn't help you then, but ... I can help you I don't think so.

54 55
 A spell to bring them back to life, those who gave so much. PROPERTY LIST
(Melanie keeps looking out at the ocean as the lights o n the stage start to
go out, go out, go out ... are gone.) Projection of Henry Fuseli's painting The Tempest

J
Walking staff
End of Play Manacles and chains
Orange life preserver
Frozen margaritas (3)
Napkin
Whistle
Purse with money
Purple flower
2 sheets of parchment
Cordless phone
Mail
2 enormous ancient books
Bell on bookstore's counter
Copies of The Tempest, K i n g Lear, and Coriolanus (Arden editions,
if possible)
Picture of Ariel
Piece of paper
Plates and silverware
Plastic see-through umbrellas
Wigs with "writhing snakes"
Large Bloomingdale's bag
Bloody severed head
Umbrella with 2 swords hidden in the handle
A flare (torch)
Cell phones
Old-fashioned pistol
Several rocky ancient-looking spears
Ax
Several regular spear heads
Dart gun and darts
Handful of sand
Pomegranate with dripping blood
Pager
Beach lounger
Chess board

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 SOUND EFFECTS NEWPLAYS
* MOTIIBRSAND SONS by Terrence McNally. At turns funny and powerful,
Thunderclaps MOTHERS AND SONS porrrays a woman who pays an unexpected visit to rhe
Sounds o f a hurricane New York apanment o f her late son's partner, who is now married to another
' i Sound o f a ship breaking aparr man and has a young son. Challenged to face how society has changed around
her, generations collide as she revisits the past and begins to see the life her son
Snappy, fun music
might have led. "A resonant el e g y for a ravaged generation." - N Y Tunes. "A moving
Knock o n door reflection on a changed America." -Chi c a go Tribune. [2M, rw, I boy] ISBN:
Little bell ringing 978-0-8222-3183-7
Fire engines
Disco music
.Ax chopping
* T i i E HEIR APPARENT by Da>id Ives, adapted &om Le Ugataire Universe!
by Jean-Fr.mfois Regnard. Paris, 1708. Era.see, a wotthy though penniless young
Gunshots man, is in love with the falr Isabelle, but her forbidding mother, Madame Atgante,
A punch in the j a w Vlill only let the two marry ifEraste can show he will inherit the estate ofhis rich but
Rain miserly Uncle Gerome. Unfottunately , old Gerome has also fallen for the falr Isabelle,
and plans to marry her this very day and leave her evecything in his will-separating
the two young lovers forever. Eraste's wily servant Crispin jwnps in, getting a couple

I
o f meddling relatives disinherited by impersonating them (one, a brash American,
! the other a French female country cousin)--Only to have the old man kick off before
·
his will is made! In a brilliant stroke, Crispin then impersonates the old man, dictat-
ing a will favorable to his master (and Crispin himself, o f course)-only to find that
i -11
I' I
,__ rich Uncle Geronte isn't dead at all and is more than ever ready to marry Isabelle!
} j·
I
The multiple strands o f the plot are unravded to great comic effect in the streaming
rhyming couplets of French classical comedy ; and everyone lives happily, and richly ;

'1I·
ever after. [4M, 3W] ISBN: 978-0-8222-2808-0

* HANDLEWITH CARE byJason Odell Williams. Circumstances both hilarious

and a.gic bring together a young Israel] woman, who has little command of English,
and a young American man, who has little command o f romance. Is their inevitable
I love an accident... or is it destiny, generations in the making? "A hilarious and heart-
1__
1__ warming romantic comedy." - N Y Times. "Hilariously funny! Unerly charming,
i fearlessly adorable and a tiny bit magical." -Naples News. [2M, 2W] ISBN: 978-0-
I 8222-3138-7
.I
I
*
LI LAST GAS by John Cariani. Nat Paradis is a Red Sox-loving part-time dad who
manages Paradis' Last Convenient Store, the last convenient place to gee gas--or
anything-before the Canadian border to the north and the North Maine Woods
to the west. 'When an old flame returns to town, Nat gets a chance to rekindle a
romance he gave up on years ago. But sparks fly as he's forced to choose between new
i'
,'j
love and old. "Peppered with poignant characters [and] sharp writing." -Portland
Phoenix. ''Very funny and surprisingly thought-pcovoking." -Portland Press Herald.
[4M, 3W] ISBN: 978-0-8222-3232-2
I DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC.
440 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 212-683-8960 Fa:r: 212-213-1539
postmaster@dramatists.com www.dramatists..com

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