Under Ether (one act play) by Harutyun Mackoushian

7/26/2019 Under Ether (one act play) by Harutyun Mackoushian

1/29

Under Ether

(One act play)By Harutyun Mackoushian.

Site; http://hcatalyst.jimdo.com
http://hcatalyst.jimdo.com/http://hcatalyst.jimdo.com/


2/29

Characters:

C. (female)

M. (male)

B. (male)


3/29


4/29

Setting: Neutral.

C. When you put a necklace on your chest, I feel that the sky

will snow. Your eyes shine!

M. The ink that you're writing with, is familiar. A familiar

smell.

C. ook at the ceiling.

M an" # stare at the ceiling, C hol"s her han"s up$

# takes a %ook, opens an" closes it.$

M. &ometimes.. I "on't know why I want to sleep, I ust sleep.


5/29

#. ook into her eyes.

M looks into her eyes$

#. Touch her %reast.

M touches her %reast$

# puts the %ook on the can"le that is %urning$

#. I'(e %urne" my %ook, I'(e %urne" myself. I'm )othing.

&ilence$

# %lows out the can"les$

C. I lo(e this smell.. #urnt out can"les.

# spits on the floor$

#. *o you lo(e her+


6/29

M. Who+ What "o you mean+

C laughs$

M. *i" you write your %ook on white papers+

#. (erything was white when I wrote.

C. They hate" you.

#. I wante" to %e hate".

C.smiling$ you hate" them also.

M. *o you remem%er+

#. &ometimes, as if I'm looking through a hi""en screen. I

remem%er the smells, the sha"ows, the taste. I feel the smell as

if it was now.

C. -ow they foun" you+


7/29

#. -ow "o they fin" me!

M. I feel the swiftness.

C. Woul" you like us to go out when it rains+ The three of us

walking in the rain, %etween the sha"ows, without stopping.

M laughs$

#. I, transforme".

C. -ow+

#. I" let myself merge with his images, I" let them, I" let

them to.. mirror me like a moon in water. )othing, his eyes were

not clear in the image, only his wrinkle" skin.

M. I was thinking this morning..

&ilence$

M. In the past I use" to feel intensely in the morning at the

sunrise. I use" to feel him getting closer to me, then gra"ually

that sensation fa"es away, lea(ing a strange ecstasy mi/e" with

fear, when I use" to feel him close an" real.

C. Who+


8/29

M. *eath.

#. I like the way you pronounce it.

M. It's something.

C. aughs$. I.. I forgot!

#. What+

C. I forgot to answer him, he aske" something an" I forgot to

answer him!

#. What woul" you like to answer him+

C. Tear me up.

M an" # are staring at her$

C. I lo(e the way that you're %oth looking at me.


9/29

M. What "o you lo(e also+

C. Towers an" heights. I ha(e fon"ness for heights.

#. When I stare at you, I feel sometimes that I "isappear.

C. Where "o you "isappear!

#. 0n a white mattress in a wi"e room full of smoke.. Cigarettes

smokes an" incense.. I "on't like to %e touche".

M. I'm patient.

#. 1or what+

C. -e "oesn't know, he "oesn't un"erstan".

M. I "on't care.

#. Your wor"s are "ull.

C. You are shaking.


10/29

M. ook at her feet, she's %arefoot.

C. I ha(e soft feet.

M an" # touch her feet$

C. I came here for %oth of you, I left the house for %oth of you,

%urnt e(erything for %oth of you, I ran away for %oth of you, I

came for %oth of you.

C closes her eyes$

M. *on't sleep.

C. I "ream. I see "reams, unknowa%le things, unfamiliar people,strange places.

#. An" the (oice+

C. The (oice shakes!

M. We locke" the "oors, no%o"y will get out of here.


11/29

C laughs$

M. We ha(e no place to go.

#. We will li(e on this (el(et carpet.

C. I lo(e to roll myself on this (el(et carpet.

C lies "own on the floor$

#. You can fly as well.

M fills a glass with water an" pours it on her$

C "oesn't react$

#. -er face is re""ening, she's small an" nice.

M. &he woul" "o anything for you.

#. When I look at her, I see you.


12/29

C. There is no time here.

M. You can look at the lamp.

C stares up at the lamp$

C. I feel that I will fall, I will fall from the tower. aughs$

M. The sky is watching us.

#. As a%o(e so %elow.

C. We are in the air.

C smokes$

#. 1or whom you're smoking+

C. I opene" the heart of the clock, the time is hollow now,

)othing. *o you hear now, "o you hear me now, "on't you+


13/29

M. Watching the passage of time!

#. &he's hi"ing the papers, %ut she "oesn't care, where is she

now+

M. &he's smelling the water, watching the %uil"ings, smelling the

water, an" the water is warm.

#. )othing change". There is nothing to %e change", %ut only a

(i%ration an" I am in the (i%ration.

C laughs$

M. You a%use" me. You are lying to me, you are not telling me the

truth.

C. #ut I remem%er your face, how it was un"er the water an" your

mouth was %lowing %u%%les, un"er the water, your eyes close",

your mouth open, an" slowly you were going "own, without

resistance. An" I was watching you, I "i"n't "o anything for you.

After you'(e "isappeare" into the water, I went to my %e"room an"

slept. I was "runk, I wante" to sleep, an" the morning after I

"i"n't fin" you, though I was remem%ering you, an" painte" your

face at the afternoon.

C shows him a picture$

M. ooking in the picture$ This is not me. This is not me in the

picture!

M grasps her han"s, looks at her han"s$

M. Your han"s painte" someone stranger, not me.


14/29

#. &he's hi"ing the picture, she "oesn't want us to see the

picture.

M. &how us the picture, show us oursel(es.

C. I was un"er the rain, in the street near the %uil"ings. I was

"rinking near the train station, "istresse".. &taring at the

win"ows of the %uil"ings, how they are staring at me from %ehin"

the win"ows, they were ten, twenty, thirty, staring at me from

%ehin" the win"ows of the %uil"ing, an" I was staring %ack at

them without to see their faces. An" then I looke" into the

mirror, my eyes were strange like someone else's eyes, I "i"n't

recogni2e them. My face was strange in the mirror, a face of

another girl, an" she was putting a re" lipstick. I stare" at

those lips, I stare" an" stare".

M. Was it re"+

C. 3e" like wine, an" the face was white like cocaine.

A roaring soun"! a roaring soun"! "o you hear it+ A roaring soun"

is coming from the un"ergroun", a green roaring soun". *on't

stutter!

C changes her clothes$

C. *o you hear something when you watch me changing my clothes+

#. I feel that the light is "im while you're changing your

clothes. Your clothes are "ark, an" your un"erwear "arker.

C throws to him her un"erwear$

#. Catches her un"erwear$ They ha(e "ark color, an" "arker un"er

the "im light. &he's scattere", confuse", shy an" "ull, she's

clean, coming from nothing.


15/29

C. &tare at my clothes, %len" your soul with it, "rool on it,

tear it an" then %urn it, %urn it. I "on't nee" to wear it again.

M. Your accent thrills me, your tongue opens my eyeli"s, you make

see 4o".

C. I'm smelling the air, I'm smelling the "ust. It's wet, I'm

surroun"e" with wetness, wetness, "o you feel it, %lue wetness

like the sky.

#. An" it's wi"e like an empty street.

C. We swallowe" stones, I was on the e"ge swallowing stones.

M. -e hates the wool, he ga(e all the wool to his frien".

C. Where is he now+

M. In the room, wearing my wool an" staring at that thing on the

ta%le.

#. My feet are hot, my feet are %urning.

C. My eyes are hot. Your nose are %lee"ing!

&he gi(es him a paper$


16/29

#. Wiping his %lee"ing nose$ the air makes my nose %lee". The

air is hostile.

C laughs$

M. I see autumn lea(es, yellow, I'm piling the lea(es on the

groun", my han"s in the grass, my han"s go "eeper un"er the

groun".. An" my face only what "o you see.

#. Warning to the chil"ren.

C. I feel like I'm gaining nothing e/cept this memory! Why you're

so fast so fast you're so fast so fast you're %oth so fast! When

I %e with %oth of you in the %e" I get the most pleasing

grotes5ue fantasies.

M. We can continue6 here! &ometimes I startle when I look at the

scene, at the people that are aroun" me. There are no scratches

%etween us, an" no fear. You an" I air, an" our moon is fire. I

knew you from the first moment, you were stan"ing ne/t to the

tower, your eyes ama2e", "ull, confuse", an/ious, flaming, lusty.

I stare" in your eyes %ut you "i"n't see me.

C. I'm fon" of heights.

The three of them touch each other an" kiss$

#. Your face is my fate, your face is nake", your face

shines..your face is in my han".

C. My face is col".


17/29

#. Your face is my %rea", an" your sali(a is my water.

C. Me an" the %e"6sheets an" the wall, we chew our lips un"er the

%e"sheets, an" felt how the water makes us wet..num%s us in the

%lack space. Then we went on went on, I got lost an" you "i"n't

fin" me, you "i"n't fin" me.

M. You left the "rawer open all the night an" staye" in the

%athroom washing your han"s for hours. I was waking from sleep

an" %efore %ecoming aware of the worl", there was that pure

thing, I hel" on to it without sleeping, I hel" it firmly an"

then nothing remaine", e(erything is gone, e(en you!

C. My hair%rush was on the ta%le, we "i"n't talk much..

#. We are getting fast, we are going to reach that thing which is

in the "ark, ine/perience" an" une/plore".

C. I'm alien to them an" they are alien to me. et's soar, let's

feel, let's hear, let's taste.

#. (erything is possi%le now.

C. I'm e/periencing it, as if we are un"er col" %lankets an" our

feet are reaching the en" of the %e". An" there was no light an"

no parents.

M. An" then we stare" at walls, walls we lo(e" to lick them after

long staring. We were wearing %lack shoes an" your (agina was

%lee"ing all the night an" I was staring at the wall, my min" was

taking refuge in the wall.

C. The fear is re(ealing my name now!

#. Take a refuge in the wall.


18/29

C. It sees us, hears us, remem%ers us.

#. -e's strangely shy in the room, he's scattere", that's why

he's here.. That's why he wants what we want.

C. That's why he's our frien". An" smells water with us. It's

%een one month since last time I met you!

M. I feel ecstasy when flashes of memory come to my min".. I

remem%er that moment when we were se(en, sitting together the

three of us on an oriental carpet, wearing thick clothes, an" I

wante" to touch you.

C. I hate" the school, I hate" the others, I was (ery (ain, (ery

confi"ent, I "i"n't eat lunch in or"er that many think of me an"

that they may e/ten" to me a sympathy. I was "oing only these

antics, %rushing my hair.

#. #ut you will ne(er hate us. Tomorrow you will ne(er see us,

e(en across a room full of gilt chairs.

C. I'm prepare", e(ery time the "oor opens I cry more, %ut my

imagination is the %o"ies. I can imagine nothing %eyon" the

circle cast %y my %o"y. My %o"y goes %efore me, like a lantern

"own a "ark lane. #ringing one thing after another out of

"arkness into a ring of light. It "a22les me, it makes me %elie(e

that this is all.

M. #ut when you stan" in the "oor, you inflict stillness,

"eman"ing a"miration, you stan" in the "oor making us notice you,

%ut none of you saw me approach. I came early, I came 5uickly,

here, to sit with you. My life has rapi"ity that yours lack.

)othing, not the pursuit of perfection or money has meaning to

me. The swiftness of my min" is too strong for my %o"y. I fail

%efore I reach the en" an" fall in a heap, "amp, perhaps

"isgusting. I e/cite pity in the crises of life, not lo(e.

#. #ut I saw you, an" I still see you like an image can't

penetrate it.


19/29

C. I can see you with complete clarity an" that is my sa(ing,

that what gi(es me an e/citement, that is what makes me "ictate

e(en when I'm (iolent.

M. All the images are useless, all separate. An" I ha(e no face,

an" I speak like you.

#. We like to twist her%s, an" spit into the fire.

C. We will %e walle" tonight, away from each other. )o one will

see my re" han"s, my %itten nails. *ifferent people "raw

"ifferent wor"s from me. #ut you're %oth my little toys that

entertain me.

M. ook how the light %ecomes richer, secon" %y secon" an" %loom

an" ripeness lie e(erywhere, an" our eyes as they range roun"

this room, seem to push through curtains of color, re", orange,

um%er an" 5ueer am%iguous tints, which yiel" like (eils an" close

%ehin" them, an" one thing melts into another.

#. 0ur senses are wi"ening..ha(e fille" an" sprea" themsel(es,

an" float roun" us like strings, making the air tangi%le an"

catching in them faraway soun"s unhear" %efore.

C. It's %lack, awful night outsi"e, now I will go to the %athroom

an" take off my shoes an" wash. #ut as I wash, as I %en" my hea"

"own o(er the %asin, I will let its (eil flow aroun" my

shoul"ers. I hear the roar of the hostile mo% as I step out on

the %alcony, now I "ry my han"s (igorously, so that woman whose

name I forgot cannot suspect that I'm wa(ing my fist at the

furious mo%, my attitu"e is one of "efiance. I'm fearless, I

con5uer.

M. #ut this is a thin "ream, this is papery tree. It's not soli",

it gi(es me no satisfaction.

#. )ow we ha(e recei(e", this is the last "ay of the last term.

The last "ay of the three of us. The intro"uction has %een ma"e.

The worl" presente", they stay, we "epart. *eath will "i(i"e us,

%ut we ha(e forme" certain ties. 0ur %oyish, our irresponsi%le

years are o(er, we purifie" oursel(es, we ha(e forge" certain

links.


20/29

C. We will inscri%e our names on these walls.

M. 1lowers toss their hea"s outsi"e the win"ow. I see wil" %ir"s,

an" impulses wil"er than the wil"est %ir"s strike from my wil"est

heart. My eyes are wil", my lips tight presse". The %ir" flies,

the flower "ances.

#. This is the final ceremony, this is the last of all our

ceremonies. We are o(ercome %y strange feelings. 0ur min" is

prime", our lips are purse". I'(e known one ma" %oy only, I'(e

hate" one mean %oy only. I enoye" in retrospect my terri%ly

awkwar" %reakfasts.

C. We rise, we "isperse, the pressure is remo(e". The worl"

%ecame insignificant. Tomorrow we go.

#. at me. This way.

M. 7ust like %efore!

C. Is it %lack+ #lack+

M. )e(er min".

#. I feel alrea"y my fake" emotions, that things we ha(e only"imly percei(e" "raw near. I shall %e free to enter the gar"en,

an" those who ha(e "espise" me, shall acknowle"ge my authority.

M. We are pushing through curtains to pri(acy, an" we wante" some

whispere" wor"s alone. Therefore we go, "u%ious, %ut elate,

apprehensi(e of intolera%le pain, yet I think %oun" in my

a"(enturing to con5uer after huge suffering, %oun" surely, to

"isco(er our "esire in the en".

C. I cannot %e "i(i"e" or kept apart. I was sent to school, I was

sent to finish my e"ucation. I hate %uil"ing material, I hate fir

trees an" mountains. The earth hangs hea(y %eneath me.

M. The %ir"s gather in the mi""le of the roa", they nee" not fly

yet!


21/29

#. &omething on the way!

C. #ut who am I+ I think sometime I'm not 89 yet, I'm not a

woman, %ut the light that falls on this gate, on this groun", I

cannot %e tosse" aroun", or float gently or mi/ with other

people. &omething has forme", some har" thing. The worl" is

%ree"ing.

M. I'm arraye", I'm prepare", our %o"ies will communicate. This

is the calling. This is my worl". All is "eci"e" an" rea"y.

#. Take my name, my flesh, my unknown names an" toss it %efore

me. I enter.

C. Come..now. We are swept now into this large figure, it hol"s

us together, we cannot step outsi"e its twisting, its hesitating,

its a%rupt, its perfectly encircling walls.

M. 0ur %o"ies are presse" together within its %o"y, it hol"s us

together an" then lengthening out in smooth, in twisting fol"s,

rolls us %etween it, on an" on. My %o"y stan"s still, the room

reels past my eyes.

#. The %o"y is stronger than I thought, I'm "i22ier than I

suppose". I "on't care for anything in the worl". Are we not

accepta%le, sun+ Aren't we lo(ely sitting together like this

here+

M. I see you now shone in phosphoric light! I'm one of you, this

is my worl".

C. The (eils are "ropping %etween us, we are together high up on

some mountain, picking a %lue flower an" fi/ing it, I'm stan"ing

on tiptoe to reach you, in your coat. There! That's my moment of

ecstasy.

M. )ow slackness an" in"ifference in(a"ing me. We'(e lost

consciousness of our %o"ies..uniting in this room.

#. The "oor opens..the "oor goes on opening. )ow I think, ne/t

time it opens the whole of my life will %e change". Who comes+


22/29

M. Come..come.

C. It's coming towar" us. It will sei2e us. I must take its han"

an" it must answer me.

#. :ale with "ark hair.

C. This is what I'(e "reamt, this is what I foretol", my hair is

swept in one cur(e. My lips are precisely re". I'm rea"y to oin.

M. &omething is mo(ing, I was thinking of you now!

C. What's the am%iance+ My life has %ecome so weir" so I almost

can't control it, such nice feelings.

M. I was thinking of you now! what coul" I gi(e you+

#. )e(er change".

M. With close" eyes I can see you!

C. ncourage a%an"on.

#. You were there, I ha(e seen you afrai".


23/29

C. I hate "arkness an" sleep an" night an" lie longing for the

"ay to come.

M. The room is growing clear, my heart is %eating 5uicker, I feel

my %o"y har"ening, %ecoming pink, yellow, %rown..

#. I feel the water is spraying my face.

C. -ere is another "ay, here is another "ay, it may %e %ruise"

"ay, an imperfect "ay!

M. &omething is mo(ing.

#. *on't %e %lin", feel, sink, see, smell, touch, "ie, %orn

again.

C. Memory loss.

M. You're getting soar.

C. Memory loss.

#. What are you "oing there+ You're still awake, where are you

now+

C. I wish..I coul"..I can.


24/29

#. et yourself stray.

M. It's getting col" like a %utterfly wings..

#. 4rey %utterfly messiah.

C. I'm lonely in lonely places.

M. There's no 4o" where I am.

C. I can't %e you, you must %e me.

#. &peak of the "e(il, an" he will appear.

C. I'm in the %e", the house is empty, I'm alone in the room,lying in the %e", nake", I'm not shy, alone with myself, feeling

safe, I'm touching my %o"y, I'm sensing my warm %o"y, I feel the

pleasure of the unknown "esire, the sorrow of the pleasure,

strange pleasure, I'm "oing something I can't "o it when I %e

with the others.

M. 3ecepti(e to am%iances.

#. 0ur thoughts %ecoming things.


25/29

M. I'm gla"ly letting go of things.

C. I'm plutonian, I feel like a foreigner who "oesn't %elong to

the worl", to its laws an" its concerns. The rules of life in

society are not mine, I'm into the unknown an" the laws of the

hi""en or"er.

#. I feel lot of things.

M. Where is 1ranklin+

C. I shall go into more rooms, more "ifferent rooms, an" I shall

%e forgotten when my (oice is silent you will not remem%er me.

#. )ow let us say %rutally an" "irectly what is in our min"s, our

isolation, our preparation is o(er, the sneaky "ays of secrecy

an" hi"ing, the re(elations on staircases, moments of terror an"

ecstasy.

M. We %ecame clothe" in this changing, this feeling garment of

flesh.

#. Time seems en"less, am%ition (ain. I'm looking for ra"ical

frien"s.

M. There are strange sour smells.

C. #ut now as we are sitting here, surroun"e", lit up, many

colore", all things; comfort steals o(er us, gol" runs in our

%loo", the heart %eats in serenity, in confi"ence. We see the

(ulture that fee"s on some %loate" %o"y as within our scope.

M. I'm not this, I'm not that.


26/29

#. It's hate, it's lo(e, it's false, it's true.

C. My han"s are re", an" I hi"e them, %ut our hatre" is almost

in"istinguisha%le from lo(e.

M. #ut you will ne(er hate me, you will not see me, e(en across a

room full of gilt chairs.

#. The reign of chaos is o(er, has impose" or"er.


27/29

C. We cannot sink "own, we cannot forget our faces. (en I who

ha(e no face.

M. We can change %o"ies an" faces, flutter unattache", without

anchorage anywhere, oose an" unstratifie", capa%le of composing

any %lankness or continuity or wall against which these %o"ies

mo(e.

#. Your sharp %reath scatters my %eing.

C. I "ont "are to raise my eyes. Yes, I cannot. Am I not

in"ulging in unwarrante" emotions+

M. That means something, %ut what+

C. Yes, I cannot.

#. 0ur totality will %e known, %ut it will not %e enough.

C. #ut I want to linger, to lean from the win"ow, to listen to

the a%yss; )o, my han"s are now perfectly still. Im one person6

myself.

M. I feel your force, I feel your "istress. I procee" to tell you

how you ha(e ust pulle" me out of %e", you "escri%e" my

slippers, my ta%le, my guttere" can"le, as you pull the %lankets

of my feet, you "escri%e" all this in such a way, you laugh an"

"elight in me.

C. -ow strange! The willow looks seen together. )ow that we look

at the tree together, it has a com%e" look, each %ranch "istinct,

a I will tell you what I feel, un"er the compulsion of your

clarity.

M. Its calling us.


28/29

C. I see it all, I feel it all, I see %ehin" the lea(es, the

gra(e, yet eternally oyous %uil"ings which seem spongy, not

hea(y %ut light.

#. &omething is happening.

C. 4rey %utterfly messiah.

M. *on't %e %lin". 1eel, sink, see, smell, touch, taste, "ie,

%orn.

C. again an" again an" again.

#. Memory loss.

C. you are getting soarer.

M. I wish.. I coul".. I can.

#. Its getting col" like %utterfly wings.

C. *ont talk to me in this way, I rape lo(e, i make lo(e, I wake

lo(e, I fake lo(e, I hate lo(e, snake lo(e, lo(e, lo(e, lo(e

snake.


29/29

M. onely in lonely places, there is no 4o" where I am.

C. I cant %e you, you must %e me.

M. )ow %egins to rise in me, the familiar rhythm.. something now

is lea(ing me, something is going from me to meet that figure who

is coming an" assures me that I know him %efore I see who it is.

Documents

Under Ether (one act play) by Harutyun Mackoushian