The Kookaburra and the Snake

i wrote this for yr 11 drama. my teacher didn't get it. it doesn't have much 'light' but thats the point, its about deppression i guess. i encorporated some of my poems in to it as well...

 

Scene 1

(Basic stage lights on)(5 people in masks walk onto stage and stand in a line across the stage, numbered 1-5 from right to left, facing the audience, except for number 5 who faces to the side turned away from the others.)(Aiming for a flow effect)

Mask 1: emotion

Mask 2: emotion

Mask 3: emotion

Mask 4: emotion

Mask 5: (turns to audience as Mask 1 turns away from everyone else) no

Mask 4: change

Mask 3: change

Mask 2: change

Mask 1: (turns to audience as Mask 5 turns away) nuh

Mask 2: home

Mask 3: home

Mask 4: home

Mask 5: (turns to audience as Mask 1 turns away) never

Mask 4: snake

Mask 3: snake

Mask 2: snake

Mask 1: (turns to audience) WHERE?

(All escape off stage)

(Stage goes black)

Scene 2

(Spot on) (3 people walk on stage) (After a short pause stage goes black)

Person 1 (as soon as it goes dark): And BAM (clap), it’s just like that. From light to dark, from happy to sad, from alive to the walking dead, just like this really, black.

Person 2 (still dark): It’s like stepping on your favourite piece of jewellery that u knew you shouldn’t have left on the floor, or breaking a mirror, or watching a dark cloud cover up the sun. But it’s like the cloud never ever leaves, just like this really, black.

Person 3 (still dark): it’s like falling up the stairs, and while your falling knowing exactly what’s going to happen, or a bird hitting the windscreen, or a snake encircling its prey, only, never letting go. Just like this really, black.

(The 3 people silently exit stage)

Scene 3

Girl (Singing off stage)(Stage black): “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he, laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be.”

Girl: (walks on stage, goes and sits on stool/or ground, maybe plays with a toy snake for a while in the dark, then a sudden spotlight on her)(pause) Kookaburras eat snakes… wish I could. (Pause) Not the one you’re thinking of, of course… mine’s much worse… (Suddenly vicious)(Slowly working herself up, whilst talking, to a standing position) my snake slides around me, around and around and around… and it never leaves me alone… I wish I could tear its head off and chew it and chew it and spit out the bloody, salivated mess and stare at it, just stare… (Weakening, and breaking down into racking sobs) Knowing… knowing that I …

(Girl ends up in a ball)(Ending up on stage left) (Figures in black drag girl off stage)(Spot follows her)

Girl sings quietly (whilst being dragged away): “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he, laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be.” (Stage black)

(Silence)

Scene 4

(Lights turns to person representing the kookaburra) kookaburra sits preening herself then suddenly spots snake slowly emerging. Snake slithers on the corner of the stage, spots kookaburra and slides off again. (Stage fades to black) Kookaburra laughing? (Somewhere in that scene, to symbolise that it’s a kookaburra, but I don’t want it to be laughed at really)

Scene 5

(Dark stage, but spot on) (Voice from behind curtain, no one on stage)

 

Hands are twisting around my heart

I don’t know how much more I can take

What will happen to me when it bursts?

Maybe they’ll finally leave me alone.

(Dark stage)

Scene 6

(Normal lights) (Black figures push girl onto stage into the centre. Girl looks around.) (Figures with masks walk on stage stand in particular places facing audience.) Masked figures (in unison): are you new here?

(Step in one-step and repeat ‘are you new here?’ Keep moving closer and closer in till end up in a compact circle around girl. Silence. Bell rings. They depart)

 (Meanwhile girl has been moving like she doesn’t know where to go. When they leave she just wanders around lost for a moment.)

(Two black figures come and sit her down, gives her a blanket then leaves. She sits in a ball with blanket around her. )

Girl: Kookaburra’s eat snakes, wish I could… God, please make me a kookaburra… (Sings) “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he, laugh kookaburra laugh, kookaburra gay your life must be.”

(Girl freezes)

Person(s) representing snake, slither in encircling her. Kookaburra then comes in and starts encircling snake. Snake slithers off. Kookaburra takes one last look then goes.

Scene 7

Two figures pick girl up puppet like, gives her a mask to put on then leaves her standing.

(Girl puts on mask)(Girl ends up in-between New and Old)

New (walks on stage right): yes I am happy

Old (walks on stage left): no I am not

New: yes, but I should be

Old: why?

New: because, because…

Old: its not like this could ever be home…

(New, after a few last looks, and Old exit stage)

Scene 8

(Girl takes mask off and holds it in her hands)

3 of the masked figures walk in, 2 on one side, 1 on the other

Mask 1: are you new here?

Girl: um… yes

Mask 2: yeah… (Smiling and nodding)

Mask 3: where’d you come from?

Girl: well, it’s kinda near, well, it’s more in-between…

Mask 2: I’ve never moved hey, must suck…

Mask 3: you know what else sucks? It’s Thursday tomorrow. I hate Thursdays!

(Slowly exclude girl from circle)

Mask 1: yeah I know what you mean…

(Masks quietly chatter as girl moves to other side of stage)

Girl stares at mask (action freezes)

Snake comes on, slithers around a bit then leaves.

3 masks leave.

Girl holds back tears. Finally throwing mask away.

(Stage goes black)

Scene 9

(Girl, start sitting down, wearing black, holding colourful scarf in one hand and the mask in another, looking at them)(Spot on her)(Girl moves throughout the speech as she sees fit)

 

Girl (soliloquy style): Where have all my bright colours gone?

I look everywhere I go

But I can’t seem to find,

I put them around my shoulders

But they don’t glow for me

The way they used to

What’s the use of colour if it’s not real?

That must be as bad as wearing black

Ahh the sea of black walking down a city street.

I used to stand out

In my glow,

My glow of colours

But now, even when I try

I can’t seem to find that glow

 That used to keep me different,

Apart from all the rest,

But the same,

A part of it all.

What happened to my colours?

I can’t seem to find them anymore.

I find glimpses every now and then,

When I look back on my past

But then I turn to look for more…

And even the ones I found

Seem to have gone.

I need something to remind me

Of my colours

I know they’re still there,

But it’s so easy to forget

That smile will remind me, for now

But I’m afraid I’ll forget

Forget all that colour,

That gorgeous colour

That was mine

But now I forget

How it feels

How it looks

How it glows

I look back and see

But it’s only a picture

A picture that doesn’t scream

 The life that was there

I’ve forgotten

What it’s like

To be that alive

With colour streaming out of my veins

This place and time is killing me

It’s blocking all the colour out

How can I grow here when all my colours gone?

It’s gone

Where can I find it?

I’m sick of it silently falling down my face

Who is catching it while it falls?

Who will catch me,

When I fall?

I’m drowning in my colour

The stuff I left behind

I can’t make it glow

Why won’t it glow for me?

Now, when I need it most

It’s disappearing from my grasp

And I can’t find it

Nor buy it

I need help,

Help from you

Where are you?

Where are you my colour?

(Ends up dropping cloth off the stage, walks back to the centre and puts on mask)

Scene 10

(Girl stays in centre, so that new and old are either side)

New (stage right): yes I am happy

 

Old (stage left): no I am not

Happy: every time we do this, you get so hung up about the truth! What isn’t there to be happy about? We’ve got air to breathe and food to eat, somewhere to sleep and clothes to wear…

Old: yeah, look at the sky… (Both look up) how many stars do you see? (Slight pause)(Whispers in Happy’s ear) Remember how many there used to be? (Walks back) There should be more to life than just surviving you know…

New: I know that… I have memories and imagination. Surely that’s enough!

Old: dreams don’t give very good hugs…

New: dreams are just as good, even better than reality…

Old: there’s this quote from T…

New (interrupting): oh not T.S. Eliot again…

Old: ‘We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us and we drown.’

(Lights go down)

Scene 11

Girl: (sings off stage) ‘ kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he, laugh kookaburra laugh, kookaburra gay your life must be’

(Girl walks into her imaginary room, shuts door, chucks bag on bed in breathing heavily and trying not to cry)

Mum (off stage): how was your day honey?

Girl: mmmm…

Mum (still off stage): ok darling

Girl: mum…

Mum: (still off stage) just a minute possum

(Girl sighs)

Mum: (mum pokes her head on stage) what was it baby?

Girl: nah, don’t worry

Mum: your not having any more of those silly dreams are you?

Girl: don’t worry mum

Mum: ok darling, if you’re sure

Girl: yes mum…

(Mum leaves)

Girl: (sits on the ground hugging herself) yes mum, no mum, whatever mum… grrr… (Breathes out heavily)(Stands up and goes and looks out the window) I’m sick of all these houses, (Looks around) (Sarcastically) hey look! I can actually see a star! (Comes back from the window and sits down again) (Breathes heavily, hugging herself, she stars rocking) (Sings, in between sobs) ‘Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he, laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra gay your life must be’ (Pulls a blanket over herself and cries herself to sleep)(Lights go down)

Scene 11

Act 2

Music - Eerie, dream like

(Lights come up, but still dark around the edges, creating a dream- like effect)

(Girl awakes to find masked people in a circle around her, when she tries to get up and get past she is blocked.

Girl: why am I here? (In a desperate voice) why am I here?

Masked figures (In unison, in a monotone/robotic way sing): ‘rock the boat, rock (start swaying in time) rock, rock the boat, hey you! (All point at her) Can u rock the boat?

Girl: no way, no way

Masked figures: we said, can u rock the boat?

Girl: (screaming) no way no way!

(Figures gradually tighten the circle, girl continues to scream ‘no way’ and ‘ why am I here?’) (Bell rings and they leave)(Music stops)

(Stage goes dark for a few seconds, and then girl wakes up then sits up screaming)(Spot on girl while she is screaming then stage goes dark)

Old (off stage): ‘ I should have been a pair of ragged claws

Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

 .             .             .             .                .

 We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us and we drown.’

Scene 12

Mask 3: (walks on stage) (Spot on him)

What if you were walking down the street, and something very odd caught your eye…

There’s a man over there, who’s walking on his head. You keep walking past and you see a twinkle in his eye, ‘what’s he twinkling about?’ you ask yourself, and as you walk past, he replies with a smile, ‘have you ever stopped and listened to the wind, to what it’s saying? Or have you ever gone down the street wearing just purple? Because if you have, you’d know that looking at the world from a slightly different angle, will do you the world of good.’

And with another sparkling little smile, he was gone, and all the people walking by, looked very strange indeed.

The world looked so much brighter, with my feet up in the sky.

(Mask 3 exits)(Lights go down)

Scene 13

(Normal stage lights on as New and Old enter, one on the right, one on the left)

New: yes I am happy

Old: no I am not

New: not that blasted snake stuff again!

Old: you call crying yourself to sleep happy?

New: well, there are a lot of others in the world far less well off than us.

Old: There should be more to life than just surviving you know…

New: and there you go again, all doom and gloom and retched snakes and kookaburras. I just don’t understand you sometimes. (Turns away)

Old: yes you do, you just won’t admit it, you can’t ignore the past.

New: no, (turning back) but you can get on with the future, no matter how hard you try, life can’t go backwards, even if you do, locked into your own little world of self pity, the rest of the world goes on.

Old: I never used to be like this…

New: so why be like it now?

Old: because, because

New: because why?

Old: because acting, pretending, doesn’t cut it anymore, you can’t live life as a fake, you can’t keep giving and not receiving, you can’t grow without faith. Waking up every morning in the wrong place, seeing grey and feeling cold doesn’t promote good self-esteem or a positive outlook on life. Feeling the cold, wet life slowly slither down your face and screaming it silently into your pillow, that doesn’t fester love or hope. Praying to a God you don’t understand, to turn you into a kookaburra so you can swallow this thing and then fly as far away as possible and never turn back… Freedom. Freedom. Freedom.

(Lights go down)(They leave)

Scene 14

(Lights come on to the kookaburra sitting and preening herself, laughs, sees the snake out of the corner of her eye, freezes. Snake very slowly makes its way around the kookaburra in a big circle, when it reaches the start again the kookaburra stands up, they both freeze. The masked figures make a semi-circle (so the audience can still see the action) around the snake and the kookaburra)

Masks (spoken one after the other, one word each, is repeated throughout the action gradually getting faster and louder): kookaburra’s eat snakes, wish I could.

(When masks start speaking kookaburra and snake circle each other, gradually getting faster, with the dialogue. When tension has built sufficiently, maybe three circles, everything goes silent as the kookaburra and the snake rear themselves up. Lights flash on and off as the kookaburra and the snake make moves towards each other in slow motion, in other words the kookaburra and snake make a tableau for every time the light flashes on. They continue towards each other, and just as they are about to attack each other Girl screams from off stage and the stage goes black.)

Scene 15

(Dark stage, but spot on) (Voice from behind curtain, no one on stage)

 

Hands are twisting around my heart

I don’t know how much more I can take

What will happen to me when it bursts?

Maybe they’ll finally leave me alone.

(Dark stage)

Scene 16

(Basic stage lights on)(5 people in masks walk onto stage and stand in a line across the stage, numbered 1-5 from right to left, facing the audience, except for number 5 who faces to the side turned away from the others.)(Aiming for a flow effect)

Mask 1: emotion

Mask 2: emotion

Mask 3: emotion

Mask 4: emotion

Mask 5: (turns to audience as Mask 1 turns away from everyone else) no

Mask 4: change

Mask 3: change

Mask 2: change

Mask 1: (turns to audience as Mask 5 turns away) nuh

Mask 2: home

Mask 3: home

Mask 4: home

Mask 5: (turns to audience as Mask 1 turns away) never

Mask 4: snake

Mask 3: snake

Mask 2: snake

Mask 1: (turns to audience) WHERE?

(All escape off stage)

(Stage goes black)

Scene 17

Girl (Singing off stage)(Stage black): “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he, laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be.”

Girl: (walks on stage, goes and sits on stool/or ground, maybe plays with a toy snake for a while in the dark, then a sudden spotlight on her)(pause) Kookaburras eat snakes… wish I could. (Pause) Not the one you’re thinking of, of course… mine’s much, much worse… (Suddenly vicious)(Slowly working herself up, whilst talking, to a standing position) my snake slides around me, around and around and around… it has a poison that it keeps whispering in my ear and forcing me and, and it never, never leaves me alone… I wish, wish I could tear its head off and chew it and chew it and spit out the bloody, salivated mess and stare at it, just stare… (Weakening, and breaking down into racking sobs) Knowing… knowing that I … Freedom. Freedom. Freedom.

(Girl ends up in a ball)(Ending up centre stage) (Figures in black drag girl off stage)(Spot follows her)

Girl sings quietly (whilst being dragged away): “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he, laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be.” (Stage black)

The End