Arcana

31 Pages·2014·0.65 MB·English

ARCANA
S
hort playS and

monologueS by
J l
ohn ongenbaugh
© The Dramatic Publishing Company
ARCANA
Comedy/Drama. Short plays and monologues by John
Longenbaugh. Cast: 2 to 7m., 4 to 14w. Six short plays and two
monologues explore a variety of themes and genres, inspired by
the Major Arcana figures in the Tarot. In Byzantium, a woman
trying speed dating is frustrated by the fact that most men are
intimidated by a strong female—particularly the Empress of the
Holy Roman Empire. In Petting Sounds, sounds of sex from a
man’s apartment turn out to have an unexpected source, and an
even stranger explanation. The Picnic features a tableau from a
Manet painting that comes to life, revealing a sensual paradise
with some disturbing qualities. In Balance, a vegetarian tries to
explain to her carnivore date why she agreed to go out with him in
the first place. A Cry in the Forest concerns an intrusive aunt who
finds out it’s best not to poke too far into her niece’s imagination,
while Affairs With the Moon reveals the thoughts of four women
in different places as they talk to a debonair Moon. In A Wild
River, a reporter from Rolling Stone gets an interview with the
new pope, who’s got some pretty radical ideas, and Stardust
slowly reveals the connection of two universal rites of passage
between two different couples. Bare stage. Approximate running
time: 90 minutes (8 to 10 minutes per piece). These plays may
be performed individually or in any combination, in which case
royalties may be adjusted upon application. Code: AK4.
Cover design: John Sergel.
ISBN: 978-1-58342-921-1
Dramatic Publishing
311 Washington St.
Woodstock, IL 60098
ph: [phone]
www.dramaticpublishing.com Printed on recycled paper
© The Dramatic Publishing Company
Arcana
Comedy/Drama
by
JOHN LONGENBAUGH
Dramatic Publishing Company
Woodstock, Illinois ● Australia ● New Zealand ● South Africa
© The Dramatic Publishing Company
*** NOTICE ***
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THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC., without whose permis-
sion in writing no performance of it may be given. Royalty must be paid every
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For performance of any songs, music and recordings mentioned in this play which are in copy-
right, the permission of the copyright owners must be obtained or other songs and recordings
in the public domain substituted.
©MMXIII by
JOHN LONGENBAUGH
Printed in the United States of America
All Rights Reserved
(ARCANA)
ISBN: 978-1-58342-921-1
© The Dramatic Publishing Company
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thor, if included in the playbook, may be used in all programs. In all programs
this notice must appear:
“Produced by special arrangement with
THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC., of Woodstock, Illinois.”
© The Dramatic Publishing Company
The plays in Arcana were written from 1999 to 2010, primarily
for a series of 24-hour theatre festivals in and around the
Pacific Northwest. The Picnic was originally produced as
part of Erotic Shorts at the Little Red Studio, Seattle, in 2008.
Petting Sounds was produced as a live radio play in Seattle in
2000. Affairs With the Moon was also produced as a live radio
play on KCAW Raven Radio in Sitka, Alaska, in 2011. A Wild
River was included in a tour of the Northwest, East Coast and
England by Northwest Playwrights Alliance in 2013.
Arcana as a full production premiered at the Open Circle
Theater in Seattle on September 10, 2010. It was co-directed
by Mary Cutler, Evan Tucker, Rob West, Nikki Visel and the
author, John Longenbaugh.
Cast
(Actors played multiple roles.)
April Davidson
Anthony Duckett
Katherine Grant-Suttie
Erin Ison
Sarah Rose Nottingham
Brandon Ryan
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© The Dramatic Publishing Company
Arcana
Byzantium ............................................................................9
(1w.)
Petting Sounds ...................................................................14
(1m., 1w.)
A Cry in the Forest .............................................................19
(2w.)
Affairs With the Moon .......................................................25
(1m., 4w.)
The Picnic ..........................................................................31
(2m., 2w.)
Balance ...............................................................................38
(1w.)
A Wild River ......................................................................41
(2m., 1w.)
Stardust ..............................................................................48
(1m, 3w.)
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© The Dramatic Publishing Company
AUTHOR’S NOTES
I don’t remember when I first turned to the tarot for inspiration
in writing a play, but I remember why: I was desperate. In the
past 15 years I’ve participated in several different 24-hour
theatre festivals in which a playwright is expected to produce a
brand new short script overnight. When you’re staring at a blank
computer screen at 1:00 a.m. and the play is due at 8:00 a.m.,
you’ll look for inspiration anywhere, including the deck of tarot
cards you have sitting on your bookshelf. Fortunately, that was a
great place to go looking.
For those of you who don’t know about tarot: most of tarot
resembles a regular deck of playing cards, though with different
suits (cups, swords, staves and pentacles). But the 22 cards known
as the Major Arcana are entirely different. Mythic figures (The
Hermit, Death and The Fool) alternate with abstract concepts,
like The Sun and Temperance, and others like The Hanged Man
or The Chariot that don’t precisely reflect any known mythology.
This a large part of what has fascinated mystics, magicians and
philosophers about the cards.
This collection is first in a mini-play cycle I call Arcana, inspired
by eight of the tarot cards. The subject of these plays isn’t a literal
translation. You won’t find some guy dressed as a jester capering
about whacking people with a stick, or a mystical journey to the
heart of Jung’s archetypes. Instead, I’ve tried to create a series
of characters and situations that reflect what happens when these
esoteric symbols interact with the contemporary world.
The plays of Arcana translate to a card as follows:
Byzantium: The Empress
Petting Sounds: The Lovers
A Cry in the Forest: Strength
Affairs With the Moon: The Moon
The Picnic: The Sun
Balance: Temperance
A Wild River: The High Priestess
Stardust: The Star
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© The Dramatic Publishing Company
Each of the plays in Arcana stands on its own but they can
be produced altogether or in smaller collections. For the
2010 production at Seattle’s Open Circle Theater, they were
performed in the order above, by a cast of six (2m., 4w.) and
different directors in a sort of mini-play festival.
We developed a short “ritual” between acts in which the actors
would gather, choose a tarot card and then perform a short tableau
based on the card before beginning the play. If you’re feeling
more adventurous, the order of plays could even be determined
by audience members drawing one of the cards in advance.
The key to each of the plays is simplicity. Even when the tone is
overtly comical, as in Petting Sounds and Byzantium, the more the
actors can underplay and take their time, the more effective the end
result. Music is important in a couple of the pieces: Affairs With
the Moon works best with a jazz underscore as indicated, and the
opening tableau of The Picnic is greatly assisted by a bit of austere
classical music—I recommend Mozart’s “Sonata in A Major.”
And speaking of The Picnic, the best production note I can give
is: take your time. It’s a summer afternoon where any action,
even thinking of any action, is an effort.
A final note: I’m often asked if there are more plays in the Arcana
cycle, and the answer is yes—with more every year. At this point,
I have another six completed and eventually plan to have all 22
cards of the Major Arcana represented. When I’ve reached my
goal of another eight, I’ll hope to have them published by the
good folks at Dramatic Publishing. But if you are curious in the
meantime, feel free to contact me at [email protected] to get an
overview of what other scripts are either written or in the works.
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© The Dramatic Publishing Company