Act 1
Scene One
[Two men sit on opposite sides of a dimly lit hallway. They appear to be in their early twenties. The black haired man appears thoughtful, and the other merely bored. He is twirling a stick in and out of his fingers. A Mouse begins to scamper down the hall, and RON stops twirling his stick and aims at the rat. ]
RON: Impedimenta! [The mouse stops moving]
HARRY: What?
RON: Hmm?
HARRY: Did you say something?
RON: No.
HARRY: Oh.
[Both men go back to sitting in silence. Ron begins to levitate the rat.]
For Gods' sake! Must you?
RON: Must I what?
HARRY: Play with that thing.
RON: What thing?
HARRY: [agitated] That thing! [Nods at mouse]
RON: Oh, that? [Shrugs] I was bored.
HARRY: Well can you stop? I'm thinking.
[Ron lets down the rat and watched it scamper away. There is silence for a moment.]
RON: What about?
HARRY: [slightly angry] What?
RON: What about?
HARRY: [angrier] What about what?
RON: What about are you thinking?
HARRY: What?!
RON: [thinks first] What are you thinking about?
[HARRY opens his mouth to speak then closes it and covers it with his hand. A few seconds later he opens it again, but closes it once more. He repeats the process a third time.]
…Well?
HARRY: It's no good.
RON: What's no good?
HARRY: Trying to remember.
RON: Trying to remember what?
HARRY: What it is that I have forgotten.
RON: What was that?
HARRY: I don't know.
RON: Why not?
HARRY: Because I can't remember.
RON: Remember what?
HARRY: What I have forgotten.
RON: Oh. What was that?
HARRY: [annoyed] I don't know! I can't remember!
RON: Remember what?
[HARRY shoots Ron a threatening look and both men are silent again. After a few minutes, RON speaks.]
So what were you thinking about?
HARRY: [Rest his chin on his hand in contemplation, trying to remember what it was he had been thinking about before he had tried to remember what he had forgotten. He sighs.]
What are we doing here?
RON: [looks around confused.] Sitting.
HARRY: [sighs again] But how did we come to be sitting here?
RON: Well…first you were thinking and then I was playing with the rat. But you didn't like me playing with the rat, so you started to yell at me… [He continues but HARRY speaks over him.]
HARRY: [Sighs louder and makes a final attempt.] But why are we sitting here?
RON: [stops talking and thinks for a moment.] I can't recall.
[HARRY sighs and leans his head back against the wall.]
Where exactly is here?
HARRY: [looks around.] I don't know.
RON: [also looks around.] But we've been here before?
HARRY: Yes, I think so.
RON: But when?
HARRY: When we were children.
RON: But when was that?
HARRY: Before the war.
RON: Oh. [He is quite for a moment then speaks again.]
What are we now?
HARRY: Pardon?
RON: If we were children before the war, what are we now?
HARRY: [stares blankly at the wall.] I don't know
RON: Are we still children?
HARRY: No.
RON: How do you know?
HARRY: We've seen too much to be children.
RON: [digest what HARRY has said.]
Are we adults then?
HARRY: hmm?
RON: If we aren't children, are we adults.
HARRY: [muses for a second] No, I don't think so.
RON: [annoyed] And why not?
HARRY: Because we don't do any of the things that adults do.
RON: Well, what do adults do?
HARRY: I don't know.
RON: [agitated.] If you don't know what it is that adults do, how do you know that we are not doing it?
HARRY: Because we aren't doing anything.
RON: So?
HARRY: Well, adults have to do something or else there would be no point in having adults.
RON: No, I suppose you are right.
[pause]
But what is the something that they do?
HARRY: I don't know, I've never done it.
RON: Well who has?
HARRY: Your parents?
RON: [thinks about this] Yes, what did they do?
HARRY: They were you're parents.
RON: Let's see, my mum. She was pale and thin wasn't she?
HARRY: No I don't think so.
RON: Well, was that your mum then?
HARRY: No I don't think that she was my mum either.
RON: Did I have a mum?
HARRY: Of course you had a mum. Every one has a mum.
RON: Right. So what was she like.
HARRY: I don't remember.
RON: Well, what was your mum like?
HARRY: I don't remember ever having a mother.
RON: But you said..
HARRY: What did I say?
RON: You said that…
HARRY: Yes?
RON: Well you said something I'm sure of it!
[HARRY leans against the wall again and closes his eyes. RON crosses his arms across his chest pouting but this last only a moment.]
Are we dead then?
HARRY: Are we what?
RON: Dead.
HARRY: I don't know, do you feel dead?
RON: [is thoughtful for a moment] Yes.
HARRY: Well there you go, you can't be dead.
RON: But I feel dead.
HARRY: Exactly, if you were dead you wouldn't feel dead because you'd be just that dead. Understand?
RON: [nods.] no.
HARRY: [sighs.] If you were dead, you wouldn't be able to feel because you'd be dead. You'd feel nothing.
RON: But I do feel nothing!
HARRY: No, no, you wouldn't feel anything.
RON: But I don't feel any thing!
HARRY: Surely you feel something?
RON: Nope, nothing.
HARRY: Happy?
RON: no.
HARRY: sad?
RON: No.
HARRY: excited?
RON: No!
HARRY: Embarrassed?
RON: NO!
HARRY: STUPIFY!
RON: [is flung back wards into the wall] OUCH!
HARRY: Then you felt that?
RON: [Rubs his back side.] yea,
HARRY: Good, then you're not dead.
RON: No I don't suppose that I am.
[another silence follows.]
I've got it! [He jumps up excitedly]
HARRY: What now?
RON: Lost!
HARRY: What's lost?
RON: No, not what, who.
HARRY: Okay then, who is lost?
RON: [beaming proudly] We are!
HARRY: And this is a good thing?
RON: Yes!
HARRY: Come now! How so?
RON: Because now we know what we are!
HARRY: And what exactly is that?
RON: LOST!
HARRY: Okay, [Standing] Now that you know what we are, would you kindly help me figure out where we are?
RON: [smile fades] oh.
[suddenly a bell rings and children appear from no where and proceed to walk about for a moment before disappearing again.]
A bit odd don't you think?
HARRY: [After a moment.] I do believe we are in a school, dear friend!
[RON sighs loudly and collapses against the wall]
What?
RON: Now were back to not knowing who we are!
Scene!
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SO how was that? My first try at existentialism. What do you think? If you said it makes you feel like you don't know what is happening, I will take that as a compliment. Don't worry things will clear up as we go along! I promise! But alas, I had a moment of inspiration and I flew with it! Well, it won't be too long, one at the most maybe two acts, but its not meant to be long. Bye for now! Thank you for reading! And Review!
~Atiannala