exchanges - a short play

 

 

 

 

EXCHANGES

By Scott Ferrara

An ornamental poetry and stage combat piece in 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The piece itself is meant to be dismembered and broken up between several smaller pieces. This was designed to show off stage combatants. Also the period between the scenes will give your actors some needed rest.  It is  a stylized struggle between men and women.  Scenes 4 and 5 can be removed for time.

 

 

 

CHARACTERS

 

MELODY

 

LANCE

 

JACK

 

JILL

 

APHRA

 

WILL

 

 SCENE 1  - MELODY and LANCE are in the throes of budding romance. But there is some conflict here. Both are good blades and they are very competitive. Both fight with rapiers. WILL and APHRA, and JACK and JILL are watching.

 

 

MELODY

The rules of the game were simple. The loser is the one to lose their wit or nerve.

 

LANCE

When to many blades fall prey

 

MELODY
And heart sword and skill win not

 

LANCE
Faith cowers not this day

 

MELODY
Send your foes in graves to rot

LANCE
Worry never what will befall

( LANCE and MELODY kiss )

 

MELODY
Those fears that lurk in the mind

 

( MELODY pushes LANCE away )

 

LANCE
Stand firm, proud and tall

 

MELODY
And at them with steel remind

LANCE
The warrior’s life is fierce and bright

 

MELODY
Under the gaze of tyrant time

 

LANCE
Show the foe who is in the right

 

MELODY
Bury them in pits of lyme

LANCE
The warriors way, glorious and brief

 

MELODY
Will carry you through the throng

 

LANCE
A noble death holds stark relief

 

MELODY
From a coward’s life lived too long

LANCE
Here my words in blood debt repay

 

MELODY
For a life not destined to last

 

LANCE
And remember the warriors way

 

MELODY
Blades will earn and with God’s repast.

 

( MELODY slaps LANCE )

 

SCENE 2 – JACK and JILL have been together for awhile and are really staring to resent each other.  Jack fights with a broadsword, Jill with rapier and dagger.

 

JACK

A gauntlet thrown her will is shown

 

JILL
To the warrior she turns and faces

 

JACK
her skill unrivaled her name unknown

 

JILL
she'll put this lout through his paces

 

( JILL lightly wounds JACK )

JACK
sword gleaming anger teeming

 

JILL
she steel herself for the fight

 

JACK
his face drops her calm un-seeming

 

JILL
as her twin blades take flight

 

( JILL shows off )

JACK
in a dance a speed and grace

 

JILL
and true power artfully hid

 

JACK

she calls out

 

JILL

 " I own this place "

 

JACK
his courage falters utterly undid

 

( JACK lightly wounds JILL )

JILL
and in a rush he runs twice the time

 

JACK
to a place he cares not where he flies

 

JILL
for her swords unsheathed she seems relieved

 

JACK
as she cut him deeply with her eyes.

 

( Stalemate )

 

 

SCENE 3  WILL and APHRA were once deeply and passionately in love. He still loves her.  This fight is vindictive on both parties. Will fights with rapier and buckler, Aphra a pair of main gauche.  This is the most brutal of the matches. Neither is giving or receiving quarter.

 

 

WILL

The Muse. I hear her siren voice in the winds

 

APHRA
These words he gives me in whispers

 

WILL
The poets need to write begins

 

APHRA
and the warrior never slumbers

WILL
Of her beauty I can say so much

 

APHRA
In paths like strikes, so many ways

 

WILL
But her angelic voice her voice is such

 

APHRA
And there is where my heart stays

WILL
Please milady say my name

 

APHRA
And give those words YOU need

 

WILL
To keep you alive all the same

 

APHRA
In all these words for you bleed

WILL
To see you my celestial vision

 

 (APHRA disarms WILL, WILL is now fighting hand and buckler. Which he throws away and it degenerates into hand to hand brawling  )

 

APHRA
And please know I write always for you

 

WILL
It points out the grand collision

 

APHRA
Between spirit and flesh true

WILL
Someday you'll return to me

 

APHRA
As loves like rhyme oft repeat

 

WILL
That day my soul will be set free

 

APHRA
Until then I scribble on this paper sheet

WILL
My muse of swords and quills

 

APHRA
I am my reason for being

 

WILL
And time without you slowly kills

 

APHRA
My love is light worth seeing

WILL
So my candle dims, my fingers ink stained

 

APHRA
Night has turned to radiant song

 

WILL
Please remember warrior poets need be trained

 

APHRA
Not to go on too long

WILL
But one last stanza before I go

 

APHRA
And face this luminous day

 

WILL
For you My muse,

 

APHRA

 your love,

 

WILL

my fights,

 

APHRA

your words,

 

WILL

 will show

 

WILL AND APHRA

They are worth the whispers, for which I pray

 

SCENE 4 – The men, are all gathered doing light sparring. This is more playful, but progresses to serious. They trade weapons through exchanges throughout the fight.

JACK
Maps to Terra Incognita

 

 LANCE
Lands and Worlds unknown

 

WILL
Undiscovered yet within her

 

JACK
The geography of yearning shown

 LANCE
To know love and yet lost

 

WILL
Is this poet’s mead

 

JACK
To withstand the dreadful cost

 

LANCE
Heart follow ere it lead

WILL
To find her once again

 

JACK
And keep her for our sake

 

LANCE
To bring the now from then

 

WILL
Leaving destruction in it’s wake

 

JACK
I will fight and die for those eyes

 

LANCE
And this love that I hold dear

 

WILL
On that kiss forever lies

 

JACK
And of softest lips appear

 

LANCE
Many foes and tales of woes

 

WILL
Will flood into this breach

 

LANCE
But in heart danger wisdom grows

 

JACK
When the gods of love beseech

LANCE
Learn from this my student

 

WILL
And learn this lesson well

 

JACK
Love is never imprudent

 

JACK / LANCE AND WILL
When you have it’s tale to tell

WILL
When you doubt loves fables

 

JACK
And you’re searching for it’s theme

 

LANCE
It’s life without that turns the tables

 

WILL, JACK, LANCE
It’s a rhyme sans a scheme

 

JACK
Love has it’s own wisdom

 

LANCE
Though not always clear

 

WILL
And when a guest in it’s kingdom

 

JACK
Embrace it without fear

LANCE
Cause it’s times are few and far

 

WILL
Grab it when it arrives

 

JACK
It’s loss is worth the scar

 

WILL, JACK, LANCE
But life without none survives.

 

 

 

 

SCENE 5  - The women are all gathered for sparring, this too progresses into something more violent. They trade weapons through exchanges throughout the fight.

 

MELODY

Of oldest themes and warrior sages

 

JILL
Tell of tales of daring do

 

APHRA
The poems last beyond the ages

 

MELODY
And keep heroes hearts true

 

                  JILL

                                   It’s the damsel that keeps them going

 

MELDOY
Through the battles melee

 

JILL
The need see her once again is growing

 

APHRA
Her eyes drive him through the fray

MELODY
Of all the monsters I have seen

 

JILL
With scars I have paid this toll

 

APHRA
The hardest foes have always been

 

MELODY
Are the ones that take your soul

 

JILL
But a soul that’s freely given

 

APHRA
Like a man’s word or deed

 

MELODY
Will by the gods be forgiven

 

JILL
For the gods obey this creed

 

APHRA
A love that true and selfless

 

MELODY
A love greater than oneself

 

JILL
Will give bounties endless

 

APHRA
Then some dusty tome upon a shelf

MELODY

So many hide in stony tower

 

JILL
Never taking this chance

 

APHRA
To lose yourself to a higher power

 

JILL, APHRA, MELODY
And ask that damsel to dance

 

 

 

SCENE 6 – The grand melee. Men versus women.  LANCE and MELODY stand together. JACK and JILL fight for their gender. WILL defends APHRA and later APHRA defends WILL.

 

LANCE

Take your time the master shouted

 

JACK
And choose your moment wisely

 

WILL

Speed has power undoubted

 

MELODY
But it

 

JILL

 means nothing

 

APHRA

if you miss me

 

LANCE
Seduction in blade and deed

 

JACK
Is like guarding your center line

 

WILL
keep it closed until you succeed

 

JACK, LANCE WILL
and hit a hit finer than sweet w

 

MELODY

Parry,

 

JILL

 retreat

 

APHRA

and disengage

 

JACK
Dodge from side to side

 

LANCE AND WILL
Build in the opponent a quiet rage

 

JACK, LANCE , WILL
Let not your blows swing wide

 

MELODY, JILL, APHRA
Then when that heart is open

 

JACK LANCE WILL
strike

 

JILL

 strong,

 

MELODY

fast, and clean

 

APHRA
And above all see and listen

 

JACK, LANCE, WILL
Their body tells the scene

 

LANCE
Combat is that sacred art

 

MELODY
Of hitting and not getting hit

 

JACK
All players play their part

 

JILL
Of blades of steel and wit

 

WILL
Above all take those moments

 

APHRA
Feel them in your chest

 

MELODY, JILL, APHRA
Give your foe gentle torments

 

JACK AND JILL
And give them no time for rest

LANCE AND MELODY
So remember this my novices

 

WILL AND APHRA
There are many ways to miss

 

ALL
But of all of wit's and steel's promises

 

MELODY, JILL, APHRA
Seal it with a kiss

 

( All the lovers embrace )

 

Form and from natures fear

Days she is much kinder

A small kiss proves she’s near

Her power a reminder

Storm awaiting, anticipation

Wind, lightning, thunder rain

Non debating, expectation

the defintion of pain

To the ocean reach

And to the sky caress

To the gods of love beseech

the heart’s wounds redress

winds howl in torment

sky cracks as glass

now is that moment

at it shall not pass

and to her tears I embrace

her lullaby a whispered song

the devinity of that face

where all of love’s love belong

For this passion on this page

Will see once again my sky

For its misses pales in rage

When is kisses true loves eye

man up

When the hell did men stop acting like men? I am not sayng act like knuckle dragging troglodytes. But be men. Real men value intelligence, courage, sensitivity, bravery, and skill. Courage is going on to spite fear.   Time to Man up guys. Yeah times are hard. Times have always been hard. Take some damn responsibiity. When the only battles you’ve fought were video games? When the only loves you’ve ever felt discarded for momentary inconveniences? When you could debate without anger?When you can fight with a guy and buy him a drink afterwards?When did softness become weakness and agression strength? When did tears become poison? Some of the strongest men I know were raised by single mothers. Some of the bravest men I knew never fired a gun but held to their principles and never chest thumped. Honor is the magnetic north of our moral compass. It’s time to navigate back. Time to be men again. Not abusive and arrogant. But gentle and strong. Time to be gentle-men.

raptures

Rhapsody, my heart leaps like a falcon seeking to soar. There is no measure. No distance. I am faster than light. See these and believe these my notes, and feel them as a kiss when you say them in whispers. In silhouette etched in the shadow you in my furious passion phrases are my life's sentence. I serve it willingly. You are my music and even my the darkness I see the sound, from every cell. It is your very eloquence that maks me write music in the unsteady tempo of this heart.

Being a man of action

Of this love tis but a fraction

For your satisfation

I tell you this my creed

 

In those eyes I find joy

Sarcastic and very coy

With these words shall I deploy

In these petals you will read

 

Being one with the flow

This love is all I know

With this poem hope to show

This flower from the seed

 

I call to you Phoebe’s daughter

Blood feeds earth though slaughter

I boil and freeze like water

For in that heart I am freed

 

My moon it has begun

To the eclipse I shall run

I am a shadow to your sun

Your love my meat and mead

 

May this passion never cool

This fire over rule

I rather be this fool

No obstacle impede

 

So I ask for this chance

In the delerium of romance

I ask you for this dance

If you let me lead

 

Now late is the hour

I must storm this tower

Yield to a greater power

And to your mercy I concede

this feeling long forgotten

she has eyes of starlight, and a smile that makes the sun envious, and the man I am once again remembers why I chose the emotional content I have. I've faced armed men and with her I am afraid. I am strong but in those constellations I am weak. . Gods I love this feeling. Courage is going on in spite of fear. For her I hold the sun in my chest, and forget the memory of past scars. this moment is the purest on incarnations , tis a summoning and exaltation and I would not trade it for the worlds. borrow my eyes and see what I see. Perfect grace in a laugh of silver

I believe in fairy tales and slaying dragons, knightly virtues and trials by ordeal, I know my place and it's between her and anything that would harm her. Gods Let me take that pain from her. and I would do anything to be worthy of her, to be her hero. Cause she is the cause worth fighting for.

Love is an inconveinient thing

When the mind in battle dwell

Ringing stell when a heart may sing

Lost and found in her spell

 

So with a whinsome thought

The bastard poem writes itself

In my heart and soul are wrought

An obvious pineing in rhymed stealth

 

The passion as with me oft flows

If fire, rain, quake and lightning

These few words in truest love shows

With the passion senses heigtenning

 

Speak to me my stars and sky

For you know how I do feel

With cunning visage I oft rely

When stripped bare in eyes reveal

 

Tell me you see, and it is the same

That my love comes from confusion

The battered lion heart reclaim

And disbelieve that illusion

Scotisms by Ghostwing

SCOMENT- A Scot moment

SCOMENTARY- A brief moment of Scot/Random Scot narration.

SCOMENTUM- A very fast Scot Moment

SCOMENTAL- An insane Scot moment (which is alot of them)

SCOMENTION- If you mention a Scot moment

SCOSICAL-Scots attempted muscial theatre.

SCOSIASM- Moments of Scots enthusiasm.

SCOCASM- Scot Sarcasm.

SCOTIALISM- Sharing Scot equally with everybody

SCOWY- Scot being flowy