The Odyssey: A Stage Version
Page 6
ODYSSEUS
Not quite.
CYCLOPS (Opening his eye)
I like laughing. Make me laugh, little man.
ODYSSEUS
Make you laugh. All right. Know why I can cross my eyes?
(He crosses his eyes.)
CYCLOPS (Giggling)
No, why?
ODYSSEUS
God gave us two eyes because we’re human.
CYCLOPS
I’m not.
ODYSSEUS
One is for laughter, the other one cries.
CYCLOPS
Do it. Show me. Ram, come here. Take a look at this.
(ODYSSEUS makes a funny face. RAM comes forward.)
RAM
Very good, sir. Nobody I know can do it.
(He resumes his position.)
CYCLOPS
I love Nobody.
ODYSSEUS
Same here. Nobody loves you.
CYCLOPS
Look! Why do you need two eyes? One does just as well.
ODYSSEUS
For balance. Proportion. Contrast. Mortals need two.
CYCLOPS
I’m a demi-god.
ODYSSEUS
Left, right. Good, bad. Heaven, hell.
CYCLOPS
I have deified myself. Son of Poseidon.
ODYSSEUS
I know your father, the sea. He doesn’t like me.
CYCLOPS
Why? I’ll talk to him.
ODYSSEUS
Gods! Who knows what side they’re on?
CYCLOPS
He’s rough-tempered most times, but he can act calmly.
ODYSSEUS
Put in a good word, then. I’m trying to get home.
CYCLOPS
Home. You’re home now.
ODYSSEUS
Well, this wasn’t quite my idea.
(Silence.)
CYCLOPS
Not your idea? There’re no ideas in this kingdom.
ODYSSEUS
I’ve a wife, you see. Like my eyes. We make one pair.
CYCLOPS
Where’s that, my little friend? Tell me where you come from.
ODYSSEUS
A rock, too stony for horses. With swirling shores…
CYCLOPS
What flocks do you have? Goats, sheep? Is it a kingdom?
ODYSSEUS
Yes.
CYCLOPS
And are you its king?
ODYSSEUS
Yes. But it’s not like yours.
CYCLOPS
In what way?
ODYSSEUS
Its subjects don’t end up on skewers.
CYCLOPS (Laughs)
Like your men, you mean?
ODYSSEUS
Right.
CYCLOPS
How many’ve I eaten?
ODYSSEUS
Of my crew? Just two. I suppose, before them, scores.
CYCLOPS
They’re tenderized by tortures, the flesh is beaten.
ODYSSEUS
While your sheep bleat in fear of their devourer.
CYCLOPS
But I’m saving you for last.
ODYSSEUS
Well, that’s very kind.
CYCLOPS
Thank you.
ODYSSEUS
Two of my crew, and one philosopher.
(The CYCLOPS picks his teeth.)
CYCLOPS (Spits)
Is this him?
No more ideas. The last of his kind.
(ODYSSEUS holds the skewer over the flame.)
ODYSSEUS
Look how this little iron lance glows at the tip!
CYCLOPS
Stick it in the meat.
(ODYSSEUS drops the skewer.)
ODYSSEUS
Too hot.
CYCLOPS
Ram, get a clean one.
(ODYSSEUS searches on his knees for the skewer, hiding it.)
ODYSSEUS
No, no, no, it’s all right, really. I’ll pick it up.
CYCLOPS
Ram, a clean skewer!
ODYSSEUS (From under the table)
No, really.
CYCLOPS
LEAVE IT ALONE!
(RAM exits. ODYSSEUS, on his knees looking, gets near the door.)
ODYSSEUS
That’s the way I am, sorry. I hate losing things.
CYCLOPS
GET OFF YOUR KNEES!
ODYSSEUS
My men, my money. My way home.
CYCLOPS
Your life next.
ODYSSEUS
That I don’t mind. Just hate losing things.
CYCLOPS (Searching, on his knees)
I’ll help you look.
ODYSSEUS
That’s three eyes, fine. Where did it go?
CYCLOPS
It couldn’t have gone far. And Ram will be back soon.
ODYSSEUS
I give up. But I hate to. One thing you should know.
CYCLOPS
What’s that?
ODYSSEUS
The sky goes pitch black when there is no moon.
(He crawls near the CYCLOPS, takes out the skewer, blinds him.
Blackout. Sirens moaning.)
CYCLOPS
NOBODY HAS ESCAPED, NOBODY BLINDED ME!
LOUDSPEAKER
REPEAT, NO ONE HAS ESCAPED. KEEP LOOKING FOR HIM.
NOBODY’S ESCAPED, NOBODY’S BLINDED THE EYE.
CYCLOPS
NOBODY, YOU HEAR ME? NOBODY IS HIS NAME!
ODYSSEUS (Shouts back)
SON OF POSEIDON! YOU OBSCENE OCTOPUS!
YOU TON OF SQUID-SHIT, WITH YOUR EYE POURING BLACK INK!
MY NAME IS NOT NOBODY! IT’S ODYSSEUS!
AND LEARN, YOU BLOODY TYRANTS, THAT MEN CAN STILL THINK!
(Sirens moan. The CYCLOPS picks up an oil drum and hurls it at the retreating ODYSSEUS, screaming.)
SCENE X
Circe’s island. A beach. Rich wild plantains. Some of the crew lolling. A WOMAN playing a drum. ODYSSEUS and EURYLOCHUS enter.
FIRST SAILOR
Circle the graves of our bodies, traveller. Pass.
(ODYSSEUS crouches near a SAILOR.)
ODYSSEUS
Sailor, this sudden indifference, where’s it from?
FIRST SAILOR
That red flower nodding agreement with the grass.
ODYSSEUS
A sleeping sickness. They were felled by its perfume.
EURYLOCHUS
You went ashore for fresh water! Back to the ship!
ODYSSEUS
The island has drugged them. They’ve no will to go on.
EURYLOCHUS
Their heads hang like sunflowers.
(He shakes a SAILOR.)
FIRST SAILOR
Tell the sea to sleep.
SECOND SAILOR
Here the lion takes a whole afternoon to yawn.
THIRD SAILOR
Join us, Captain. Watching you stand makes us tired.
EURYLOCHUS
What have you eaten? What changed you? What is this place?
THIRD SAILOR
This place? An island that has all you desired.
ODYSSEUS
It’s the falls.
EURYLOCHUS
What?
ODYSSEUS
That waterfall, thundering peace.
EURYLOCHUS
Could its veils bind their limbs like this?
ODYSSEUS
And mine.
(EURYLOCHUS shoves ODYSSEUS.)
EURYLOCHUS
Move! Move!
ODYSSEUS
Although my longing for home is as strong as theirs.
EURYLOCHUS
Captain, keep moving.
(ODYSSEUS slides down.)
ODYSSEUS
So great … this burden called love.
(EURYLOCHUS lifts ODYSSEUS.)
EURYLOCHUS
Up! Up!
FIRST S
AILOR
Yield like a lily to the weight of years.
SECOND SAILOR
All forms of love are meaningless except self-love.
EURYLOCHUS
Who did this?
THE WOMAN
Circe.
FIRST SAILOR
Don’t breathe, Captain. What’s the rush?
SECOND SAILOR
The grave is coming towards us. No need to move.
THIRD SAILOR
The grave we all come from was hidden by a bush.
FIRST SAILOR
Then Doubt went into labour and produced Reason.
EURYLOCHUS
What is in this weed that makes fools philosophers?
ODYSSEUS
My head’s clearing now. Like a mist burnt by the sun.
EURYLOCHUS
All right, men. Back to the ship. It’s waiting for us.
FIRST SAILOR
Flowers, like fire.
EURYLOCHUS
Try, sailor. How do you feel?
FIRST SAILOR
In a different archipelago. But the same.
SECOND SAILOR
They worship the elements. They kneel like you kneel.
THIRD SAILOR
Each god has his earthen root.
SECOND SAILOR
Just a different name.
FIRST SAILOR
Their gods quarrel like ours and hurl meteors.
SECOND SAILOR
They sacrifice oxen. Drink their blood from clay bowls.
FIRST SAILOR
They spin, possessed, around delirious altars.
THIRD SAILOR
Then wound the earth and descend to the place of souls.
(Music. REVELLERS enter, with animal masks, singing.)
CHORUS (Sings)
Aeaea
Aeaea
Aeaea
Ai-ya-yi
My emerald island
Between blue sea, and blue sky
The island of Calypso
Aeaea
Ai-ee-o
Bacchanal
And carnival
Is the place to go
O Lord have mercy
Before I dead
Let me lie down with Miss Circe
Stroking me head
Stroking me bald head
That have only one eye
When she stops
See me Cyclops
Falling down dead
O Lord have mercy
On all me sins, is true
But when Circe spell fell on me
I turn beast too.
(CIRCE appears on a palanquin, carried by pig-headed BEARERS.)
Circe have mercy
Make me turn beast too.
SCENE XI
Red decor. CIRCE in her brothel, with SAILORS in the form of pig-men, and GIRLS. BILLY BLUE, ODYSSEUS and EURYLOCHUS enter.
EURYLOCHUS
Madame, we’d like our crew back.
ODYSSEUS
With your permission.
CIRCE
Ever seen this before?
ODYSSEUS
Not quite.
CIRCE
You like watching?
ODYSSEUS
Not my men.
CIRCE
You see men? Sorry. Semen. I see swine.
(She laughs.)
EURYLOCHUS
This powerful weed metamorphosizes men.
CIRCE
The inner animal erupts through their features.
ODYSSEUS
Her black locks pouring like a golden lion’s mane.
EURYLOCHUS
Spines bristle their backs, they have little obscene eyes.
CIRCE
But what they become is for what their natures yearned.
(She strolls among the creatures, poking them with her wand. ODYSSEUS and EURYLOCHUS walk through the crowd. Grunts, screeches, off.)
EURYLOCHUS
Her music’s pounding with the odours of rutting.
ODYSSEUS
Perfumes won’t dispel it.
EURYLOCHUS
Her rooms are grunting pens.
ODYSSEUS
Still, give it to our enchantress, she knows one thing.
EURYLOCHUS
What?
ODYSSEUS
That brothels aren’t just sailors’ dreams, but all men’s.
EURYLOCHUS
Not mine.
ODYSSEUS
All.
EURYLOCHUS
Don’t yield, sir, you have a wife and son.
ODYSSEUS
At the back of all men’s minds is a rented room.
EURYLOCHUS
Her hatred can be dispelled. She thinks men are swine.
ODYSSEUS
We create our own features. Not her. We change form.
(ATHENA appears, offers a flower, blocks ODYSSEUS.)
ATHENA
Wait. Chew this milky flower. They call it moly.
ODYSSEUS
What is its power?
ATHENA
Chew it, you’re out of her range.
ODYSSEUS
Where did you find it? It’s streaked. The sap looks milky.
ATHENA
In a speckled grove. Gods know it. Chew it, or change.
ODYSSEUS (To EURYLOCHUS)
Have you eaten it?
EURYLOCHUS
Not yet.
ODYSSEUS
Will it work?
EURYLOCHUS
Yes, yes.
ODYSSEUS
Look, it may be great to be a pig for a change.
EURYLOCHUS
With grunts for a language, a screw prick, bristling ears?
ODYSSEUS (Chews)
Cheers.
EURYLOCHUS
Here comes our hostess with her fatal hors d’oeuvres.
(CIRCE approaches.)
CIRCE
Have you had one of these yet? They’re lovely with wine.
ODYSSEUS
No, they look lovely. Your own little endeavours?
CIRCE
My own little hands.
(Claps her hands.)
NOW, BACK TO YOUR STIES, YOU SWINE!
(She herds the pig-men off, then takes ODYSSEUS’ hand.)
ODYSSEUS
Where’re we going, madame, and what about my friend?
CIRCE
Let him find his own diversions. Rent his own room.
ODYSSEUS (To EURYLOCHUS)
This is for the crew’s sake.
CIRCE
We won’t be hard to find.
EURYLOCHUS
But where?
CIRCE
Where, except down a woman’s path? Perfume.
(ODYSSEUS and CIRCE exit, two GIRLS accost EURYLOCHUS.)
FIRST GIRL
What’s up, Mr Gentleman? Look a little lost.
SECOND GIRL
How you feelin’, sailor? What’s this in your pocket?
EURYLOCHUS
I don’t care to be accosted, thank you.
FIRST GIRL
No cost.
(EURYLOCHUS searches his clothes.)
SECOND GIRL
What are you feeling for in your pocket?
EURYLOCHUS
It’s gone.
SECOND GIRL
You lost it?
EURYLOCHUS
A flower.
SECOND GIRL
Let me pick it.
(She fondles EURYLOCHUS, while the FIRST GIRL forces a drink down his throat. They step back. EURYLOCHUS changes into a pig. They laugh, chase, catch him, one rides him, the other puts a garland around his neck and drags him off squealing.)
SCENE XII
Interior. CIRCE prepares Odysseus’ drink, slipping in a powder. He chews the moly-flower. BILLY BLUE enters.
BILLY BLUE (Sings)
She give him shining bush to drink, she give him man-you-must
She fix him a liqueur of gooseberry wine
<
br /> But his flag still at half mast
She pour in some sweet-oil and crush it with thyme
Coriander, basil and cerasee
But the flower of the moly slowly defy she
Power of matrimony
No, no, doux-doux
I have a message for you
As sweet as you are
And you sweeter than guava jam
I have a wife at home
And she begging me come
And I saving it all for she.
(ODYSSEUS sips the potion. CIRCE is undressing slowly.)
I have a wife at home
And she begging me come
And I saving it all for she.
She slip off she shoulder strap, she raise up she hem
She untangle she jewellery
All the time she keeping her big black eyes on him
Circe circling him for some revelry
With lavender, rosewater and cerasee
But the moly slowly, slowly strengthening him
He thinking as he drinking
No, no, doux-doux
I have a message for you
As fresh as you are
And you sweeter than sugar-plum
I have a wife at home
And she begging me come
So I saving it all for she.
CIRCE
Become this man to whom everything has happened.
ODYSSEUS
What I want is so simple. To reach my own bed.
CIRCE
You’ll learn more than the others. The swine I keep penned.
ODYSSEUS
What would I learn from this?
CIRCE
From a goddess? Godhead.
ODYSSEUS
But taking what form if not a man’s any more?
CIRCE
My nostrils flared the minute I saw you enter.
ODYSSEUS
Why?
CIRCE
Your head lifted. A stallion circling his mare.
ODYSSEUS
With your season on the wind?
CIRCE
Circling. Thudding her.
ODYSSEUS
This stallion’s married.
(CIRCE strokes his thigh.)
CIRCE
What did this?
ODYSSEUS
Boar. Hunting scar.
CIRCE
Hunt mine. We’re kindred spirits.
ODYSSEUS
Yes?
CIRCE
You know we are.
ODYSSEUS
Not kindred bodies. This pig-scarred adventurer.
CIRCE
Reason has never restrained you, Odysseus.
(ATHENA enters, disguised as a maid.)
ODYSSEUS
We have company.
CIRCE
She’s young. You’d like to try her?
ODYSSEUS
As well? Too exhausting.
CIRCE
Go about your business!
(ATHENA exits.)
ODYSSEUS
Madame, I’m sure this could be a night well spent.
CIRCE
You’re in your house. A house men’s desires built.
ODYSSEUS
Paradoxes in brothels. Why’s this different?
CIRCE
Deceit without sadness.
ODYSSEUS
Only swine feel no guilt.
CIRCE
When heaven flares from the charge of our joined bodies.