This text was found in the theatre archives of Krakow, among documents of various provenance. The manuscript might have belonged either to the famous Polish writer Stanislaw Wyspianski or the equally famous Polish director Leon Schiller, at an educated guess. Both were in touch with Edward Gordon Craig, so it would not be surprising if Craig sent them one of his projects - in this case a motion from the series Dramas for Fools. There is little to say about the reaction of Wyspianski or Schiller since we were unable to find any evidence on this subject in the correspondence of Craig to his Polish friends. We assume however that Craig envisaged the involvement of some of these friends in accomplishing his idea of the mystery play for Fools which was to contain 365 short motions. The text we found was written on poor quality paper, and unfortunately the ink was very faded. However, we have decided to reconstruct it as we imagine Edward Gordon Craig would have wished, that is as an inclusion in his projected new history of the world written as a series of brief motions for marionettes. Our initiative may be considered as an invitation to others for similar action.

Henryk Jurkowski

Personae:

Deukalion, the Greek Noah

Pyrra, his wife

Zeus, the supreme God in Greek mythology

Pythia, the oracle from Delphi

Terpsichore, a muse

Calliope, a muse

Melpomene, a muse

Richard III

Hamlet

Lady Macbeth

Isadora Duncan

Looney, the Magic Idiot (present in all Tom Fool's farces)

Basilisk, an incarnation of the Evil of the whole universe

When the Curtain rises, if you still have one, Looney, the Magic Idiot appears onstage, ready to describe the setting of the motion and all its surroundings:

LOONEY:

Look - if you dare - at this endless space remaining from our global cataclysm. The broken trees, the towering rocks steaming in a bath of vapours. A world turned gray and colourless. Emptiness. Is there any glimmer of hope? Who knows? But look, now and then we can see, somewhere in the remote distance, the outline of the holy mountain Ararat. This maybe is our hope. But, by Zeus, what more do we see? Look at this trail of violet light. It crawls towards us, taking on various shapes, its carcass growing and its blazing sight destroying everything in its vision with the force of a cyclone.

Looney disappears.

BASILISK:

(in dark glasses; he speaks with a harsh voice)

Nothingness, nothingness. Nobody is here. No frightened human eyes! What is the value of a world without live human eyes? It is a great nonsense. What is the point of this global destruction? Hear me, is there somebody responsible for this?

ZEUS:

(his face appearing on the horizon)

One more worm which has escaped destruction. It must be an impregnated worm. Vanish, get lost, if you are not to provoke an eruption of my mighty anger.

BASILISK:

You are the provocation, not I. So do not you provoke MY anger. At least you can look at me. It is a good joke to look deeply into the eye of the basilisk. I can assure you a thunderous result. Thunder is not only your speciality, Zeus...

ZEUS:

Quiet, you illegitimate offspring of Medus.

BASILISK:

Surely illegitimate, but very well adapted to survival.

ZEUS:

We shall presently discover how well... spectacles.

His eyes act as mirrors which reflect back the lightning. A duel of thunder and lightning continues for a while. The burning matter hisses. Suddenly both adversaries disappear.

LOONEY:

(appearing)

Such is the order of things. First we create the world, we build, we make beautiful things and later we start their annihilation, as though they were so many mud pies: squish, bang, plop... And when we are bored with pies we destroy the dams - to let the water clean away all our rubbish. And if this is not sufficient, we still have fire.

ZEUS:

(appearing once more)

Whence has come this second idiot, this determinist?

LOONEY:

Do not say "this idiot", say Looney, the Magic Idiot.

BASILISK:

(jumping up from under the screen)

It does not matter where he is from. He is here. A third player for our whist party.

(To Zeus)

He has loitered within history since the beginning of the world.

ZEUS:

Throw him to Hades at once !

BASILISK:

Do they suffer a shortage of idiots in Hades, Zeus?

ZEUS: There are plenty of them everywhere. That is why I send down all this thunder, lightning and water, to engulf the world. Let it vanish with all its inhabitants.

The storm is getting stronger. More thunder and lightning. The stage shakes to its foundations. The horizon is lit up in purple and the waves rise to the heights of the holy mountain Ararat.

BASILISK:

You are wrong, Zeus, to believe that a world without humans will be more friendly for the gods.

ZEUS:

A world without people? Absolute nonsense! We need people. However, we also need a new and more perfect race. We have given it much consideration. Everything has been prepared for this.

Renewed thunderbolts. The storm continues. It is getting dark. Suddenly there is a gleam of light. We see a small patch of land emerging from the waters and a big boat. Out of this Deukalion and Pyrra crawl and shake off the water.

DEUKALION:

Forty days on this barge surrounded by nothing but water and under constant rain - in fact I feel like a seal.

PYRRA:

Do not grumble, Deukalion, during these forty days you looked happy, like a fish in water.

DEUKALION:

Not like a fish, I was like a dolphin that never ceases to think. And I’m still thinking. I think our gods have lost their canary brains .

There is a terrible peal of thunder and the barge goes back into the water.

PYRRA:

Do not curse the gods! They have taken care of us, allowing us to reach dry land and go ashore.

DEUKALION:

Dry land? For forty days I have eaten nothing but dry bread. Does this mean nothing to you?

PYRRA:

All contact with the gods take positively, Deukalion. You cannot do them any harm, but they might... who knows...

LOONEY:

(becoming visible)

That’s no exaggeration, my dear. Gods, like people, are very sensitive to all signs of attachment and approval. Fawn upon them and if they’re in a good mood, they will repay you with benevolence

(disappears).

PYRRA:

You see, Deukalion. Even the fool...

LOONEY: (appearing again)

The Magic Fool...

(disappears again)

PYRRA: Even the fool knows, that you need to know how to handle the gods.

BASILISK:

(appearing in dark glasses)

Pay no attention to the gods. If you must find a way forward it is for other reasons. You are the only humans remaining. Only you can re-people the earth. Go to work.

PYRRA: Who in Hades is this?

BASILISK: Nobody important... I am trying to put right everything bungled by the gods. Go to work.

DEUKALION: Well, well. For this we know only one way.

BASILISK: Go to, go to.

He conjures up a big bed with a canopy.

PYRRA:

(with some apprehension)

Nobody can give birth to thousands of people. And besides, the Earth needs adult specimens.

DEUKALION:

Impossible without the gods.

BASILISK:

Brrrrrrrrrrrr! (Disappears)

PYRRA:

The best thing is to do it with their sponsorship.

DEUKALION:

Pythia! That's it! - Pythia is the only one who may give us a hand! Let's go Pyrra! Off we go!

Deukalion and Pyrra mime a journey to find Pythia, circling the stage twice.

DEUKALION: No, this is not Olympus, these are the remains of the Acropolis.... and now we are in Delphi.

An altar with the figure of Pythia appears. Deukalion and Pyrra stop and Pyrra recites:

PYRRA:

Our Priestess, beloved by the gods,

We place in you all our hopes.

Give us good counsel,

We urgently need a mass of people.

DEUKALION: What should be done in this respect

How can we people the earth?

Resolve these problems, calm our sorrow,

Give us children for tomorrow.

The figure of Pythia tries to move its hand, it tries to open its mouth, but is able to produce only a few syllables .

PYTHIA

Yyyy! Oooooo! Aaaaa! Uuuuu!

DEUKALION:

The oracle is flooded.

PYRRA:

Do not lose hope. Once more. Our oracle, concentrate! We need your help. Tell us for goodness' sake, how we can a thousand children make.

The situation is suddenly changed, as Basilisk appears, embracing Pythia and becoming the figure’s manipulator.

BASILISK:

I must take this matter into my own hands.

PYTHIA:

Youay! Oauya! I urgently need some fresh air... seriously... air!... I know the answer to this question... but my congestion ... I will answer.... Uoay! Uoay!

DEUKALION:

The oracle is returning to its normal state of mind.

PYRRA:

Ho, ho! Go on... go on, oracle...

PYTHIA:

Go, go to the wilderness...

Collect the bones of your old mother, including chest

and breast,

Keep them as your treasure or something else, And throw them behind yourself.

Deukalion and Pyrra dance joyfully.

DEUKALION:

The oracle spoke! She spoke..

PYRRA:

She gave us advice. She gave it...

BASILISK:

You will be jolly clever if you find any sense in her words.

(disappears)

DEUKALION:

This hell-hound is quite right.

PYRRA: True, true. It will be difficult to guess the oracle's meaning.

DEUKALION:

It is always like that with her:

Go, go to the wilderness...

Collect the bones of your old mother including chest and

breast,

Keep them as your treasure or something else, And throw them behind yourselves.

PYRRA:

Entanglement upon entanglement.

DEUKALION:

This is simply an idiotic enigma like that of the Sphinx.

LOONEY:

Not at all, if you look at it like you would a cross-word puzzle from The Times.

DEUKALION:

From what?

LOONEY: Never mind, just a name. Not important in Antiquity. But, coming back to the cross-word idea, what kind of words do we have here? What nouns, what verbs? And so on...

PYRRA:

Wilderness... bones... old mother... throw behind yourself...

LOONEY: Don’t you grasp anything?

DEUKALION: Nothing at all!

LOONEY: It is a metaphor, a figure of speech. In all cases of metaphor the Muses are your best help. (disappears)

DEUKALION: So, Pyrra, don't hesitate, let us hurry to find our Muses.

Deukalion and Pyrra, again circling the stage, go to the country of the Muses.

DEUKALION:

No, no... This is Olympus, here are the ruins of the Acropolis, here once again is Delphi... and now before us is Parnassus, the country of all nine Muses.

An ornamented gate appears with figures of four Muses: Calliope, Melpomene, Polihymnia and Terpsichore. Deukalion and Pyrra stop.

PYRRA:

(counting the figures)

Five are missing.

DEUKALION: They will certainly be found on the other side. Let's go.

They pass the gate and immediately they hear the sound of harps. A group of floating, dancing figures surrounds Pyrra and Deukalion. The Muse Terpsichore is following the group.

TERPSICHORE: One, two, three. One, two, three. Keep in time. Keep in time...

Deukalion and Pyrra bar her way.

TERPSICHORE:

What do you here, mortals?

PYRRA:

Lady! You, who have penetrated all the secrets of harmonious motion, please, explain to us the meaning of the Pythian oracle. Listen to the wording:

Go, go to the wilderness...

Collect the bones of your old mother including chest and

breast,

Keep them as your treasure or something else, And throw them behind yourself.

DEUKALION:

Explain it, madam.

TERPSICHORE:

My dear, it is as simple as a classic pas.

(To her pupils)

Go on and keep in time: one, two, three, one two, three.

Terpsichore flies away and her ethereal court with her.

BASILISK:

(appears, dancing comically)

One, two, plié. One, two, plié. The world is beautiful, and everything is fine.

(He hides but his head emerges)

Terpsy - dance. Madness - advance.

PYRRA:

I am afraid we are no more enlightened than before.

DEUKALION:

Wait, wait... that was only the first of them...

Calliope, the Muse of poetry now appears. She is riding Pegasus swiftly around the stage. She stops in front of Deukalion and Pyrra.

CALLIOPE:

Speed and score, speed and score!

This is the kingdom of metaphor

My country is beautiful.

Here synecdoche rules

Everyone is a poet.

Everyone loves Calliope.

What do you here, mortals?

PYRRA:

Lady! You, who penetrated all secrets of the classic rhetoric to improve the poetry of love, please explain to us the words of the Pythian oracle. It goes quite strangely; listen:

Go, go to the wilderness...

Collect the bones of your old mother including chest and

breast,

Keep them as your treasure or something else, And throw them behind yourself.

DEUKALION:

Explain, Madam.

CALLIOPE:

This is the kingdom of metaphor; where synecdoche rules...

DEUKALION:

Exactly... the question is how to read it...

CALLIOPE:

Very simple: read it through archetypes and, most importantly,

through ancient myth.

PYRRA: Again this idiotic enigma of the Sphinx.

LOONEY:

(appears)

The answer is in mythology. Who was the mother of all humans?

PYRRA:

Eve! The first mother was Eve.

LOONEY:

No, not in our mythology.

(disappears)

DEUKALION:

It is Gaia - our mother Earth.

CALLIOPE:

The metaphor is explained. Pars pro toto is cleared up. Oh! My country is so beautiful. (She climbs back onto Pegasus)

Here synecdoche rules!

(She rides off.)

DEUKALION and PYRRA:

Gaia, Gaia, Gaia! Our Mother Earth!

(They dance)

BASILISK: (Appearing)

They rejoice at success like two children. But this is only the first step of the Pythian riddle. Stop dancing. Get on with your work.

(Disappears)

DEUKALION: O.K., let us get on..

PYRRA: Where do we go? How does the oracle sound now? Go, go to the wilderness...

Collect the bones of old mother Earth,

Keep them as your treasure or something else,

And throw them behind yourself.

BASILISK: (Appearing)

Bones, bones, bones, you idiots! This is the key word. Enumerate every possible meaning of "bones". You really are Fools!

(Disappears)

LOONEY: (Appearing for a moment)

He is right. Through semantics to complete knowledge.

PYRRA: Another Sphinx enigma.

DEUKALION: Bones, bones, bones...We must discover its meaning.

Deukalion and Pyrra enumerate idioms with the word "bones". They do it one after another.

DEUKALION and PYRRA:

: ...bones are thrown, a bone of contention, fish bones, pains in the bones, I feel it in my bones, bone-weary, a bone in my leg, drenched to the bone, a bone to pick, rags and bones, bone of our bones, bone head, bone-shaker, a bag of bones, close to the bone, make old bones, the nearer the bone..., bone up on...

DEUKALION: Our imagination has failed - we can think of no more.

PYRRA: We can only hope for better guidance from another Muse, if one of them shows up...

In fact some music is heard, a parade of masks enters and the Muse of the theatre, Melpomene, appears among them.

MELPOMENE:

To be or not to be?

This moves the writers deeply

As they hunt for laurels of gold...

Poor writing souls.

You never know what to choose

On the road to recognition,

Some draw on wordplay and muse,

For others motion is the mission...

What do they here, these mortals?

PYRRA:

Lady! You who have penetrated all secrets of the art of theatre. In the sphere of tragedy, comedy and farce, please explain to us the words of the Pythian oracle. Listen to it carefully because it is very confusing:

Go, go to the wilderness...

Collect the bones of old mother Earth,

Keep them as your treasure or something else, And throw them behind yourself.

MELPOMENE:

Thus you have a lot to do in this theatrum vitae. What are you waiting for, mortals?

DEUKALION:

We do not know what she meant by the bones of our mother Earth.

MELPOMENE:

Alia iacta est. Bones are thrown. Start the action, mortals! Start the action.

(disappears)

PYRRA:

So, let us start the action.

DEUKALION:

So, let us find the wilderness.

Deukalion and Pyrra set off to find the wilderness; they circle the stage three times and finally stop in front of the first décor.

DEUKALION:

No, no... Here is Olympus, here the ruins of the Acropolis, here once again is Delphi... Here Parnassus, the country of all nine Muses, and here at last - our wilderness.

PYRRA:

Look at those piles of stones. Are they the bones of mother Earth?

DEUKALION: Perhaps, perhaps. Let us throw them behind ourselves.

Deukalion and Pyrra throw stones over their shoulders. Each one cast by Deukalion brings to life a male figure, as in the ancient myth; each cast by Pyrra brings to life a female.

BASILISK:

(appears and urges Deukalion to take a piece of a broken sword)

A bone from a set of emperor's bones. Here you are, get the dog to fetch the bone.

Deukalion throws the sword. The figure of Richard the Third appears. It is in armour and holds a sword.

RICHARD III:

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! My kingdom for a horse!

LOONEY:

(appears and offers to Pyrra an old, worn book)

You must also take care of man’s spiritual life.

The figure of Hamlet appears, costumed like David Garrick in Drury Lane.

HAMLET:

Ophelia, get thee to a nunnery... get thee to a nunnery.

BASILISK:

(urges Pyrra to take a crown)

And remember woman’s role in political life.

The figure of Lady Macbeth appears, with a dagger in her hand.

LADY MACBETH:

I would like to know which one of us is the real man.

LOONEY:

(offers Deukalion a trailing shawl)

And remember woman's role in artistic life.

The figure of Isadora Duncan appears. It dances some improvised steps.

LOONEY:

(preparing a cocked hat to hand to Pyrra)

And remember...

BASILISK: (his figure growing to an immense size that towers over the others)

Enough of this stupid theatre. You need colour. I need more gray....

LOONEY:

And my magical vocation?

BASILISK:

We are leaving the magic to Mr. Edward Gordon Craig.

Deukalion and Pyrra continue to throw stones. The stage is filling up with the gray figures of people. Among them can be seen here and there some colourful silhouettes of characters in various positions from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The melody of Mendelssohn's Wedding March sounds, sometimes distorted.

The end of the marionnette farce.

For permission to perform DEUKALION please write to Henryk Jurkowski and Penny Francis through the Dramaturgy Forum's

e-mail.

dramforum@cssd.ac.uk

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