Fable (working title) By Prerna Bishnoi
the experience of the air in Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 2013
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prernabishnoi@gmail.com
Cast of Characters storyteller: director: actor#1: actor#2:
Scene: 1 DIRECTOR: The scene takes place in a forest. A forest exactly like the one we’re in. If it isn’t too inconvenient I will choose where in ’this forest’ the play will start. Please can we take this moment to orient ourselves. Actors, if you could please position yourselves in a state of "frozen anticipation" furthest away from the audience. Thank you! Oh hello Storyteller! If you don’t mind could I give you a hug? And just a peck on your cheek? I’m glad you could make it! Could you stand here. Closer, perhaps? Shoulder to shoulder. Yes. This is perfect. Do you mind holding my hand? Now let’s face the audience and... BOW! Actors, start clapping! DIRECTOR & STORYTELLER: Welcome everyone! DIRECTOR: Everyone, welcome! I think the clapping should now stop, slowly and sporadically. Actors, "frozen anticipation", please. STORYTELLER: Fiction, deception, fable, fabrication, falsehood, figment. If a young child tells you there is a dinosaur under his bed, you might assume that his story is a fiction, but it is probably a figment. A fiction is a story that is invented either to entertain or to deceive - "her excuse was ingenious, but it was pure fiction", while figment suggests the operation of fancy or imagination - "a figment of his imagination". If a child hides his sandwich under the sofa cushions and tells you that a dinosaur ate it, this would be a (MORE) (CONTINUED)
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STORYTELLER: (cont’d) fabrication, which is a story that is intended to deceive. However, unlike a figment, which is mostly imagined, a fabrication is a false but thoughtfully constructed story in which some truth is often interwoven - "the museum’s safety record was a fabrication designed to lure visitors". A falsehood is basically a lie--a statement or story that one knows to be false but tells with intent to deceive -- "a deliberate falsehood about the paths and trails in the forest". A deception, on the other hand, is an act that deceives but not always intentionally -- "a foolish deception designed to prevent them from worrying about their safety". A fable -- A fable is a fictitious story that deals with events or situations that are clearly fantastic, impossible, or incredible. It often gives animals or inanimate objects the power to speak and conveys a lesson of practical wisdom, as in Aesop’s Fables. ====================================================== And now, in all politeness, if you wouldn’t mind wriggling your little finger in your ear. It sometimes dislodges the mountain of wax and then you will be able to hear with maximum clarity. Please listen carefully We’ve left the city very far behind. So, where are we? We’re here. I am pleased to welcome you to this forest. To this evergreen forest- where time stands still. So while you soak in the serenity let me tell you about the adventures of "O" and "X". Not so long ago the duo "X" and "O" who lived in the city... Yes, the city, amidst the bustle and as very much a part of the hubbub.... DIRECTOR: Actors, I think it’s time. Could you please unfreeze, please. Thank you. Can I please ask you to re-present yourselves to each other?
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3.
X: Hey-eeeeee! I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name. O: "O" X: "O" Yeah. You told me. Sorry. I forget easily. By the way I work at the 101-floor building on the main street? O: Really? Which one? X: The one with the 2x3 foot, blue glass panel facade, crisscrossed with steel... O: Oh that one!!!!!! For a minute I thought we worked in the same building. X: Yeah? O: But, no I work at the one opposite yours, I think. The one with the unusually large blue-tinted glass facade... STORYTELLER: "O" and "X" were companions immediately! One day, a couple of years into their companionship, they received a call on the latter’s phone from the largest and highest profit making super-hyper market in the world, where they had left their visiting cards. The call brought-in good news. They were the proud winners of 2 return tickets to ’this forest’. Their excitement knew no bounds. DIRECTOR: Shall we set up then? STORYTELLER: Carrying sufficient repellent they took off to embrace ’these woods’. DIRECTOR: X and O, would you step forward and gather in an embrace. Now, let’s move slowwwwly in a circle, alright? Everybody ok? NOW...BREAK! (CONTINUED)
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Hi-5 aaaannnddd back! STORYTELLER: X and O drove up to ’this forest’ in a rented silver car. It looked exactly like the one they drove in the city, hoping that the familiarity would help them ease into ’this forest’. After parking in a comfortable and shaded picnic zone they carried their heavy gear, which consisted largely of heavy-duty recording equipment, food of all kind-breakfast, lunch and dinner and toiletries, down the yellow cement road till it dissipated into ’this timberland’. And as they walked down, slowly and uncomfortably, the duo remembered a fable. X, O AND STORYTELLER: A young monkey sitting outside a mesh protected kitchen grill, on the 13th floor of an apartment, in the heart of the city, was doomed to die a painful, cold death, as the dark clouds gathered over the smoky city and a hurricane approached. The wise humans were now safely cooped up in their homes. The monkey in a panic started nibbling and scratching at the guaranteed impenetrable wire mesh, pining for shelter. To his surprise 2 little birds circled above him, observing him. They finally swooped down and said "Oh brother! What a fool you are! This will never bear fruit." "Fool, yourself!" said the young angry monkey. "What is it to do with you? You do not know what the future holds". But disregarding what the monkey had said, the bird persisted "Why don’t you come with us to the forest. You will be warm there amongst your kin and the protection of mother nature". The monkey got frustrated by his vain effort and caught hold of one of the birds by the wings and smashed him against a brick in the wall, killing him. The other bird fled speedily towards the forest, nestling in the safety of nature’s lap. Soon after, the monkey was washed away by the raging hurricane. He paid with his life for insulting nature’s calling. The other bird lived to tell the tale of forewarning. Long live the forest! Long live the forest!
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O: Did you bring the toilet paper? X: Most importantly, did you bring a European plug converter? My battery is low. STORYTELLER: The forest was everything that they had imaginedstill, uncontaminated, still-uncontaminated. DIRECTOR: Let us all say these lines in unison. EVERYONE: Not a feather out of place. Not a flower drooping in disgrace Even with the mix and match of leaf sizes the trees looked wonderful, wonderful the trees looked wonderful! O: Seems like it’s all sculpted to perfection! STORYTELLER: As X and O stepped foot in the forest... DIRECTOR: Shall we take a walk around the forest then? STORYTELLER: They heard the... DIRECTOR: It would be nice to familiarize yourself with the unfamiliar, the wild... STORYTELLER: They heard a... DIRECTOR: Perhaps you could walk slowly? STORYTELLER: They heard a crunch. DIRECTOR: and halt for a second, gaze into the depths of the green. I suggest you iron out the creases on your fore head. Open your eyes wide, blink slowly. It might be nice to allow the incandescence to enter your pupil. (CONTINUED)
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STORYTELLER: AS X AND O STEPPED FOOT IN THE FOREST. THEY HEARD A CRUNCH. They were unperturbed. X sneezed - there was no response DIRECTOR: Bless you! STORYTELLER: O clapped - there was no response DIRECTOR: Softly! STORYTELLER: X ran up and down thumpingly - there was no response DIRECTOR: Do not disturb the premises. STORYTELLER: O cupped his mouth and yelled. "is anybody home?" It reverberated so fast that it seemed like no response. O knocked on wood and felt certain that they were in "the forest". Now, all they wanted was to be Ensorcelled. ====================================================================== Ensorcell is an Elizabethan term that might be of use to modern cultural commentators. Meaning "enchant, bewitch, fascinate," it is an elegant addition to the clutch of terms we usually use to describe the effect our televisions have on us. ENSORCELL DIRECTOR: O and X, do you feel the sudden peace around you, no trace of violence, no traffic, no instructions! Try and rotate slowwwwwwwly on the spot. Keep gazing. The deeper you go, the greener it will be. O: X, do you feel a calling?
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DIRECTOR: Breathe in slowly... X: Why? Do you? O: I...uhhh...Do you? DIRECTOR: Replace the green leaves with an object you desire and look longingly at it. X: Me too. O: Thank God, I’m not the only one feeling nothing. DIRECTOR: Slowly stop rotating. Snap out of that object. Snap. Snap out of that object of desire, PLEASE. Let the longing remain in you. You see, by default, its the forest you are longing for. X: So. What does this all mean? DIRECTOR: You will hear the answer to your questions. O: We have limited time here. We must not waste it. Harness this precious energy. X: Right! DIRECTOR: In that case, let us all stand still, sit preferably. On this good earth. The energy flows better. However, I am no one to tell you what to do. Feel comfortable, is all I request of you. STORYTELLER: X and O were determined to "enter into situations of liminality and transformation". They deserved it, they thought. They sat on the floor. In deeper contact with it, per square foot, amidst the spectatorship of the animals and trees.
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DIRECTOR: May we please sit in silence. Bringing our thoughts inwards. Forget about the trees, forget about the leaves. Forget about the tall tall grass, the pretty pretty birds.... and...forget... O: Let us internalise these instructions so that we may never have to come here again! X: Most efficient, O! Have you got the recorder on? DIRECTOR: I request you, sincerely to concentrate. Concentrate hard, but stay calm. Don’t twitch, don’t itch, don’t switch off your brain...just concentrate... ...on your little toe. Feel its shape. Feel its texture. Is it nobby? Is it soft? Is it wearing out? Feel the nail. Is it soft or hard? Is it buried? Feel its aura. Now. Breathe in slowwwwly. And exhale. Again, slowly please. And exhale. Let your mind move over to the biggest toe. Feel its shape. Feel its texture. Feel its aura. Feel its size in comparison to the little one. Feel its weight..... Weight..... Weight..... And. Breathe in. Very very very slowly. Hold it. I request you to hold it. And hold it some more, please. Keep holding it. STORYTELLER: In the middle of the day, in the shade of this forest, X and O sat concentrating hard on connecting with the forest in the hope of coming out of it, anew, revitalised and refreshed! They held their breath in anticipation of magic! Their heads spun round and round slowly but gathering speed. They heard a constant buzz in their ear. (CONTINUED)
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The birds, the animals, the trees, all started spinning around them and suddenly they imagined themselves to be in a temperature controlled room on the 75th floor of a building, with the distant sweet sound of horns and police sirens, sitting on pink yoga mats, surrounded by glass. Glass panes, glass cubes. Wallpapers with impressionist trees and landscapes.... Concentrating. Concentrating very hard... ...on their little toe. DIRECTOR: Clap 1 Clap 2 Clap 3 Zap 1 Zap 2 Zap 3 STORYTELLER: The duo had been asleep for hours. They got up startled. A faded memory of where they were. X: What? O: Where have we been? X: Where’s all the smoke? O: Did you hear the police siren? X: Wait. O. Wait. Look over there. O: Where? X: Look straight. DIRECTOR: 173 degrees up. X: Look how tall the tree is.
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O: Look at your humility shining through! X: How green the grass is on this side! O: This is acceptance, X. X: I can see birds perched on that tree. O: Mothers making nests for their babies. X: How vibrant all the shades of brown are! O: More than one? X: Yeah! O: That faint safron in the distance... X: The deepness of the purple hue in what used to appear black to my old eyes... STORYTELLER: O and X felt a tingling numbness in their little toe. I guess from all the sitting. They felt an unexplained special juice, a creative one, flood their brain. They were singing in these woods. DIRECTOR: X and O, why don’t we join hands and sing this together. It would sound so melodious all together. X AND O: Round and round the woodlands Like a teddy bear One step, two step DIRECTOR: How well you have fared! Round and round the forest Like a little deer One step, two step (CONTINUED)
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X: I’m tired, I want a beer! O: I think this is it. DIRECTOR: Suddenly something seems to have happened. Ok? X: O, wait. Can you hear the whispering? DIRECTOR: O, please answer X’s question. O: What? X: Can you hear a voice in the forest? O: Do you think the animals are trying to tell us something? X: We have reached a conclusive end. O: Oh, practical wisdom! X: Let’s jump at this opportunity. DIRECTOR: THEN JUMP! STORYTELLER: The Talkative Turtle (a fable in 3 parts, abridged for your convenience) DIRECTOR: X and O, maybe we could gather around the Storyteller? Would you mind? STORYTELLER: In a timeless forest, in a certain lake, there lived a turtle by the name of Kambu. Two passenger pigeons were her dear friends. Every day the three of them would go to the bank of the lake and tell each other stories about saints and hermits, and then go home at sunset. (CONTINUED)
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DIRECTOR: Perhaps, you should shut your eyes and listen to the rest of the story. STORYTELLER: After a few years the lake water was directed to the near by city. There was a beautiful Venetian Hotel to be built as a gift from the nominal princess to her prince on the occasion of their engagement- a promise of marriage. The two turtle, worried without
pigeons were worried about it and said to the "This lake is becoming nothing but mud. We are as to how we will be able to survive here water."
"My friends,"answered the wise turtle,"it is indeed difficult to stay on here. So first, let’s look for a lake full of water. Then, find a strong stick from somewhere. I shall hold on tight with my mouth to the middle of the stick while you can hold the ends and carry me like this to some other lake." "Friends", replied the pigeons "we’ll do what you suggest, but while we’re flying, you mustn’t utter any wise words, for they will not fall upon our ears" They carried out this plan at the crack of dawn the next day. They were as cautious and patient as they could be. When they had flown some distance, the turtle looked down and saw below, a city! The city-zens were looking up, gaping at this fantastic phenomena. They said to each other, full of admiration, "Look at that! Those birds are carrying a wise turtle." When the turtle heard the praise, she opened her mouth to thank them and at that moment, she was prey to gravity. But as she fell down through the thick air she contemplated life and knew that she belonged amongst change and amongst these city-zens. After a 100years she was hacked and commemorated as a delicacy. Long live the city-zens! X and O, walked back to their car. Cutting their weeklong trip short. By six days. Whistling all the (MORE) (CONTINUED)
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STORYTELLER: (cont’d) way. They felt like they were satiated. More importantly, they had heard their true calling! THE END