Prelude

The Ecstasy

“Anyone who hasn’t experienced the ecstasy of betrayal knows nothing about ecstasy at all”                                          Jean Genet

Cast

John Leonard (55) – A novelist & poet; distinguished & striking

Isabella Parker (45) – A Poet; a fading beauty

Marsden Parker (22) – A scriptwriter; vividly lovely

Voice One – Male

Voice Two – Female

Prelude

Music – Bartok – Solo Violin Sonata (Melodia) 3^rd movement – plays for 2 minutes & 8 seconds...then fades to a background sound.

(An old flickering slide; such as begins a silent black and white movie) –

“Fathoms”

The length of a man’s arms around the object of his affection

Voice Two:     You saw my desire.  Did it frighten you?

Voice One:      I didn’t notice.  There was luggage to arrange.  .

Voice Two:     I gasped; died a moment in the sultry air.  My face pale under the wide brimmed yellow straw.  You felt my terrible distress. (long pause)

I wrote of it in my journal.

Voice One:      The straps had fallen from one suitcase.  The bus steps were steep.

Voice Two:     Your wife; so brown and strong in her plain cotton shift.  She hated me.  I sensed her malevolence. 

Voice One:      She was unwell.  She dislikes travel.

Voice Two:     No.  Her gaze, that basilisks stare, I was stoned, pilloried, eviscerated, her razor eye sliced through the fragile armor of my chiffon frock.  I felt myself unraveling beneath her suspicion.

Voice One:      It had been a long journey and we were tired.  Do you remember how near a thing it was, our escape.  A matter of days.  We were grateful.

Voice Two:     Grateful.  You heartless bastard.

Music fades....