The setting:

An airport lounge.

The vaults below the airport

ACT I

Scene I

(An airport waiting room at night.
GRETE cleaning it sometimes stops to look out of large windows. They reveal the sight of a huge metropolitan area a few miles away. The city lights mingle with the stars in the sky. From time to time an airplane passes by.)

GRETE: Oh, yonder dancing stars on the horizon
Are shining like my roaming dreams
Few miles away and yet so far
When I reach out I hold them in my palms
And squeeze between my fingers priceless jewels
To humbly feel their warmth and texture .
Each lightening rooms lightyears away.
Of people I will never meet.
Or maybe some of them I've come across.
When to their journeys they set off
And come to check in at this haven
That to them is just a stop,
To me it's my home and haven.
The place where I was born and live.
I only know by hearsay mysteries
Of this huge city, that enfolds itself
On the horizon like a white veil of snow
Until it mingles with the stars
When giant houses poke far heavens .
My home and shelter's always here,
Just like my people's who never left this port,
This distance makes no difference to me,
My little mind can't sense these countless miles
They say those destinations are apart.
At night, no other cities do exist
But this and these stars that I can see.
Those and all these magic destinations
Blessed voyager makes blessed voyage to,
Are all whole world's apart.
And I will never leave this port.
But live and die like my and her mother.
Right here I have played as little girl,
When mummy polished linoleum floors,
One day my little girl will play right here
When mummy empties dustbins.
This is the place that I belong and love
The only one I know, but this I'm sure:
There can be no better nor one I'd rather be.
Although my heart may roam from time to time
To places that strangers wander
When they pursue their unknown businesses.
That I can only picture in my dreams.
I gaily keep this home here clean.
I wash and clean and polish,
I dust and wipe and shine
I keep my home here tidy
To please those unknown guests
That stop by on their journeys,
And when they tell of those adventures
They met around the world. I lap them up
Like shiny desert's waters at night,
And they brighten up my light.
(Enter CONTROLLER)

CONTR: Grete, have you finished Area 6B?

GRETE: Not yet, Sire, I will start
When I have done that cleansing here.

CONTR: Hurry up, t'is a lot of work to do
And we are under inspection today.
A good girl is she, but dreams and fancy
Are wildly eating at her innocent frame.
I clearly see them rageing in her eyes.
These hopeless aspirations may be source of
Unbearable grief and violent ado.
We'll have to watch her steps with care.
Alas, I've more important matters to attend.
(Enter CAPULET)

CAPUL: A word with you: I had a conference
With our administration. They are discontent
And claim our labor's too expensive here.
This cleaning we have dedicated our lives to,
They threat not to renew our contracts.
Curs'd Nubians work for thirty less percent.
Lords told me they were gen'rous and offered
A cut of twenty less percent of payment.
If we don't take it, there's a plane load
Of Nubians from Kenya flown in.

CONTR: What? Twenty? T'is not possible.
We hardly can provide the food or living
For all of us as t'is right now.
Our work's been perfect ever since we started.
And now they pull the rope around our necks
So tight that we may only choose,
To die from strangulation or starvation.
Alas, what fickle choice is this?
(Exeunt)

GRETE: And so I hear these many foreign tongues,
And so I see these many different people,
From places I have never heard or seen.
The foreign papers that they read while waiting
I clear them from their seats. The alien soil
On. pass'ngers' shoes - I wipe it off the floor.
One day I'll be there myself.
And speak those tongues, and walk those soils, and wear Those clothes, and see those sights, and hear those sounds.
(Enter MEPHISTO and BENVOLIO with luggage. GRETE continues cleaning)

BENV: Where are you heading to, my friend?

MEPHI: Bejing, dumping kitch'n appliances on them.
They can't sell here due to malfunctions.

BENV: Beijng, you fuckin lucky bastard!
I bet you're seeing this innkeeper's bitch
You kindly recommended to me last time.
Her tonsils tingle shaking speares, so that
E xploding jizz just bounces off her throat
Like rim shots from the three point zone.

MEPHI: I don't think I'm up for this today.

BENV: Are you sick, my friend? You must be mad
To pass on such perfect opportunity.

MEPHI: I'm simply tired of this soulless screwing,
That is but void releasing of testosterone.
I have fucked each female I encountered
When chance presented kindred options.
But how long can a man find solace
In beastly pleasures, before he yearns for more
For something deeper and profounder,
That at this point is inexplicable to me.
Anon, there must be more to life than this,
Than erring from one flitt'ring affair to 'nother
I have done for better parts of life
But now, methinks, it might have been for worse.

BENV: The connoisseur of female ass and tits,
Who's seen the wonders of the world,
Between fine thighs of finest girls
Is whining like a wrinkled hag.
My friend, an evil crisis's shaking you.
Fear not, t'is but a temporary folly.
A disease that will find total cure
Take some time out and lay your dick to rest
With bursting balls from milky juices
Your cravings for dark angels will return.

MEPHI: I hear your words, alas, I'm lacking faith,
That this state is but limited to time.
(Enter SWATISLAW. He goes to GRETE. When he passes BENVOLIO and MEPHISTO, he secretly nods to MEPHISTO.)

BENV: To be continued, my dear friend,
I've got to deal some private business.
So to arrange tonight's sweet company,
And bargain for some magic herbs and potions.
(Pointing at SWATISLAW)
This cheeky servant does desire your attention.
What are you selling him this time?

MEPHI: I got some endangered cactusses from Oz,

BENV: These morons throw their hard-earned money out
For silly bric-a-brac. Now say, what price
You'll ask for them? How much did they cost you?

MEPHI: Two shillings I paid at some small fair.

BENV: You sell it to this prick for twenty quid?

MEPHI: If he is willing to pay such price to me.

BENV: No better salesman ever was than you.
Your style and worldly manner tricks these scums
Into believing you're an honourable man,
When in effect both of us are marginally higher
Puppets dancing on the strings of corporations.
They'd sell their souls for frozen pinguin-shit.
If you praise it as remedy for diarhroea.
I've got to go. Now rip this sucker off.
(Exit BENVOLIO)

SWATIS: Ay, Grete, are you fin'lly finished here?
I was sent to make you hurry up.
Word is, the Lords are checking us today.

GRETE: I'm almost through, don't worry about me.

SWATIS: I'll give a hand and in a jiffy we are done.
(They both wipe the large windows dry.)
See, t'is done. Four hands joined together
Do half hard burdens, that we're subject to.
Now go to Area 6B. I'll follow in a second.
Just one more word, my lovely dearest mistress!
I found your favourite fashion magazine.
It's full of wedding dresses. Have a look.
And tell me what you think. Your beautiful
Complexion does pale each single one of them.
One day I wish that I will watch you walk
Towards me down the aisle. And from there on
Through love and life and laugh together.
And in our arms we'll give each other shelter.
So that we can endure our devlish manacles,
And holy bonds of bride and groom enjoy.

GRETE: Oh, don't be silly, Swatislaw! I'm much too young
To think of foolish matters like a marriage.
(Aside) A decent squire - no shining knight is he.
I grant, he's lovely, yet not loveable to me.
I know, one day my wishful dreams come true
My saviour rides a noble horse with wings
And he will lift me up and ride me out
Into his huge big kingdom full of mysteries
And wonder, fairies, nymphs and even angels.
I have to safe myself for this one day,
And I'll be recompensed eternally.
(Exit GRETE)

SWATIS: Good morrow, noble Sire, may I kindly ask,
If you have brought what humbly I requested.

MEPHIS: I wasted time and nerves to bring you this,
Outwitted customs, nosy guards and Lords.
Generously to give this valuable gift to you.
This cactus here might look just tiny,
But its price is immensely high.

SWATIS: My gratitude can't be expressed in words,
And greater is its value than you think.
So let me compensate yor pains with shillings.,
Although I know that shillings are unworthy.
But take them as a token of my gratefulness
And kindly tell what reward you deem fair.
(Enter GRETE upset)

GRETE: Quickly, quickly Swatislaw, come hither.
There's ado in the greenroom among two guests.
I tried to calm them but to no avail.
Firmer hands to solve this quarrel are required,

MEPHI: (Aside) What see I there? What pretty piece of flesh?
Who is this bitch? What does this girl to me
Can't tell what moves my body so in her.
Her arse is wiggling when she walks
However firm and fuller cheeks I kissed
Her well-shaped tits are well-fed
However in my hands I weighed bigger ones.
Indeed, her legs are long and thin and straight
But longer, thinner, staighter I have fondled
I can't make sense apply'ng criteria
That served me well in former times
And were good company in countless nights.
No lust, nor hormones and nor blind desire
It's something else, and she is something else.
Than anything seen and felt and craved before.
Well, surely I can't trust my senses now,
This sentiment could be another proof
Of mental rage Benvolio diagnosed me with.

SWATIS: Grete, dear, be quiet. I'm talking to a guest!
Now go away, I'll see to it right now.
(Exit GRETE)
Forgive her, Sire, she's the sweetest girl,
That you can find in this small city or any,
I'd claim if I were qualified to judge.

MEPHI: Whatever, I'm not in the mood for bargains
(Takes out a plastic bag with the cactus and hands it to SWATISLAW. Enter a LORD. He silently watches as SWATISLAW puts away the horn and makes notes.)
Take this, please, no need for compensation,
I've got some other matters to attend to.

SWATIS: (Aside) What did sting him that he is so transformed?
I just hope, Grete wasn't reason for this swing.
It could have steered her into major troubles.
I better go and check on my sweet lady.
(Looks around and sees the LORD standing in the background)
Oh Fuck! How long's this arsehole watched us?
This constant scrut'ny by pestered Lords
Is straining even my good nature heavily.
(Exit SWATIS)

MEPHI: No profit'ble women, nor georgeous business
Can bring me lustful satisfaction lately.
I could have taken for a sucker him.
Alas, he's merely some small bugger.
Pursueing his own ventures like I am.
I really must be sick, Benvolio is right.
Or maybe I have lost my manly mights.
(Exit)

Scene II

SWATIS and GRETE

SWATIS: Oh, Grete, dear I need a word with you.

GRETE: Don't call me Dear, I can't reply your woes.
Your scope is good, but mine is different
Someone else I love, and he loves me.
You are a friend, a good one, yes indeed,
But there is something you can't give me.
It's something I am longing for more
Than anything else.
And something that my heart has yearned for.

SWATIS: Ahead of making rash decisions,
Please listen to my woes before you make
Mistakes that you might soon regret.
I see you smile and thus my heart leaps up.
I see you cry and then it sinks down
To endless pits with slimy vermin.
My love, see what I brought you here.
(He gives her the little cactus)
Take this as testimony of my good intentions.
It is not much, it's all I can afford.
But even so t'is unworthy of your wealth,
It is sensere and comes from heart.
I know how much you like the foreign lands,
Since I can't take you there, I'll bring them here.
Be careful though, the little thing can prick.

GRETE: You're sweet and know how to impress a girl.
Howev'r, don't focus on my meagre soul.
Pick someone more appreciative than me.
For I cannot reply your courtings.
Much worthier women should you chase,
For I am spoilt and won't bring joy to you.

SWATIS: No choice and neither lust is it
That drives me to your character.
My love's not fluttering like a butterfly
And alters when it alteration finds.
It's deeply rooted and unchangeable.
So either you or noone, that is certain.
And I won't stop until convinced you are.

GRETE: Oh, squire, don't do that to me.
I prithee, push me not when I'm trapped
In realms of someone else's heart.

SWATIS: Someone else's heart? Who is this man?
Then tell me 'bout my rival - I beseech you.
So that I can adapt what makes him win,
Apply it to my courtings, and thus win.

GRETE: T'is no one you would know, and I confess:
T'is no one I know at this point.
I'm sure he'll come along: the man I love.
A woman knows these things and thus
I have to wait for this one day,
That answers my humble prayers.

SWATIS: This puzzles me, but I'll comply for now.
Alright, I'll then back off and leave you.
Expect me back, however pretty soon.
I loose a battle but the war's not over.
(Exit SWATISLAW)

Scene III

The Lounge a week later. Enter MEPHISTO with luggage and SWATISLAW

SWATIS: My mistress is not answering my prayers.
The noble Sire in all benignity has helped
Us countless times, with magic remedies.
Oh, here he comes, let's see if he's something
In his stacks for me.
Sire, may I have a word with you?

MEPHIS: I feel another venture coming up.
Speak up, I'll see what I can do for you.

SWATIS: From numerous plights you rescued me,
By bringing us the wonders of this globe,
That lighted up my folks dark spirits.
And freed them from their darkened cells
Where we have got to dwell in poverty
With incarcerated hearts below this port.
But now I'm in a plight myself.
For my own good, or rather for a lady
Am I in desperate need of help

MEPHIS: So carry on, this sounds intrigueing here.

SWATIS: Well, I'm in love with someone, but I fear
She is not with me. At least she knows not
That she is in love, not yet, you know?

MEPHI: Your wit is stuck between your loins.
More skillful in your words you're known to be.

SWATIS: T'is not my loins but higher in my heart.
And I am out of verbs or good advice.
My heart is filled with love and longing
And yet I cannot make her reply my woos.

MEPHIS: You want to learn some fine techniques
From me to pull her to your chamber?

SWATIS: Nay, Sire, my intention's love not lust.

MEPHIS: Does love not rest in bedroom chambers?

SWATIS: True love rests in the heart, and that's
Where I desire her company to be.
You saw the world and all its wonders.
You must know of potions or mysterious powers
That make her see her love for me.
I know it's in her, she just needs awareness,
A mirr'r which makes her see inside
Discover, what is plain in my perception.

MEPHIS: You wisely encountered the right man
For this endeavour. Mandrake is the cure.
Or Spanish Fly might be another option.
On instant will she fall for you
And you for her. Experience makes me say.

SWATIS: So, can you get me such divine a potion?
I'm desperate and pay any price demanded.

MEPHIS: Not smart t'is to strike a desperate bargain.
Though, I will see what I can do for you.
Expect most pleasurable nights you ever had.

SWATIS: My goal is life and not just single nights.

MEPHIS: Well then, I'll bring the family pack for you.

SWATIS: The family! How sweet a word that is.

MEPHIS: Don't drool on me, you'll need your juices.

SWATIS: God bless your steps and your good nature.
You're truly noble. But now farewell till then.
(Exit SWATIS)

MEPHIS: I have to seek that maiden from last week.
And also find what powers she possesses.
Since I last saw her she's been on my mind.
(He takes an ashtray and throws it on the floor)
Hey, cleaner! cleaner! Some mishap happened here!
(Enter GRETE. She kneels down and cleans up the mess.)
I'm really sorry, I can be so clumsy.
(He waits for her to reply, but she doesn't say anything)
I'll give a hand and clean it up with you.
(Enter a LORD. He remains in the background and makes notes MEPHISTO kneels beside her and picks up the trash).
This happens to me all the time, I swear.
(Exit Lord. Apparently by accident MEPHISTO touches GRETE's hand and holds it.)
What lovely hand, what gentle touch is this?
What silken skin, what fragile arm see I?
What brownish eyes that take me to the ground?
Deeply rooted in my heart they are already.

GRETE: You cause me troubles here by this discourse,

MEPHIS: The troubles that you raise in me, are greater
Than all the pains I could impose on you.

GRETE: Oh, please, I'm not allowed to talk to you.

MEPHIS: Then let's not talk. Let me just watch your grace.
I'd be content, if you would let me here
To stand eternally and find delight,
In your complexion and good company.

GRETE: Oh Sir, please go, I praithee. Leave me here
To do my business that I have to do.

MEPHIS: I think you have not found your business.
Your business should be by my side. And not
To live and dwell in this unholy place.

GRETE: If you continue interfereing here.
Than I will suffer dearly for these games.

MEPHIS: No games these are, I'm serious as never.
But I'll respect your wish for now and leave.
However, I'll be back on that you count.
Farewell, sweet maiden, I will go away
But something will I leave behind with you.
(Aside) What purest thoughts does she invoke in me?
What mildest hearts and heaviest cravings here,
Although it's not my well-known lustiness.
(Points at his heart)
How come this madness? And what does she here?
I know now that I don't know nothing.
I thought I saw the women inside out.
I kissed hot lips, I fondled well-shaped arses,
I groped big breasts, I licked sweet cunts.
I know not of those darkest myst'ries,
I'm clueless 'bout their truest powers.
I'm ignorant to these female wonders
That transfer simple men to guided knights.
I see true beauty in her. Her eyes,
In them I found what I had missed.
In other body-parts I craved before.
The feeling that I cannot breathe,
Or walk, or talk, or sleep, or eat,
Without her being on your mind.
I knew more of the finest pick-up lines
Than would fit on trucks of heavy-load.
I don't know nothing 'bout expressing
What's stirred up in my rageing heart
Swept up from regions I deemed inexistent.
My loins are swifter than my words.
I'd write her love songs and sweet poetry,
If only I knew how and in what fashion.
I dwell in common places and lost wit.
(Exit MEPHIS)

GRETE: What can I say? Who was this man? What happened?
Is he my shining prince? An evil demon?
Is this a viable dream or vicious nightmare?
Oh, can I trust this man or can I not?
But then again why wonder - even worry?
This man is what I waited for. He's what I craved
And who I dreamt about in endless nights.
I feel it rise and pulsing here already.
There is no doubt and no ado.
I am in love and that is all I need to know.
(Exit GRETE. Enter LORD, CAPULET)

LORD: I have to give unpleasant news, my friend
A scrutiny is currently done
To throughly assess the nature
Of services provided by your guild.

CAPULET: I've heard of it, now let me know
Conclusions and results of this investigation

LORD: As said, the news's not favourable for you
I have a list of things that need improvement.
(Hands the list to CAPULET)
Apart from poorly cleaned rooms,
There has been interaction with some guests
By various members of your guild.
Misconduct and malpractice in some cases.
There's rumour that all kinds of opiates
Are frequently misused by you.

CAPULET: I grant your accusations aren't unfounded.
At least a grain of truth is to be found.
But still, some issues need to be addressed.
If you'd improve our situation
Then we could better service give
And you'd have less to moan about.
Bad work or ours results in bad conditions
We've got to dwell in. Mend them and you'll mend
The service we give. So listen carefully:
The food we get is rotten. Maggots have a feast
Before we get our share of scraps we're granted.
This food is harming health. With better quality
We could reduce the loss of working hours.
The sewage pipes that run through our quarters
Exhale impure and poisoned gasses.
There's constant coughing, nausea, sickness
Among our people and in our lungs.
We could accept reduce of payment,
If you improved our circumstances.
T'is happy workers that make happy work.

LORD: It's not that easy you should know.
What you are asking is quite costly.
I'd like to help you - honestly.
I used to live in those same vaults that you do now.
And know your situation very well.
But you have got to understand
This is a global world and global problems are.
If this port here is too expensive
Than guests will use a cheaper one,
And then not only you but all of us
Will live in wretched misery.
It's not about mere exploitation.
Or trying to press the marrow from your bones.
Concerned are all our lives, and everyone
Is making sacrifices. I'll try to help,
But don't expect too much from me.

CAPULET: Your words sound good, but they don't fill our stomachs
They do not mend our situation,
Nor do they cure our pestilence.

LORD: What can I say? I sure agree with you.
What I can do for you is this:
I will not pass this list here on,
It's filled with the malpractice of your guild.
I'll give you time to straighten out the flaws
I'm patient with your group and its endeavours.

CAPULET: This is not much, although you make it sound
As if presenting such a gen'rous gift
That I should be most grateful to your offer.

LORD: I know you're discontent but let me tell
That you'd be even more unhappy
If Nubians or Chinese would do your work.
Farewell for now. I'd rather be
Of better help than I am presently.
(Exit LORD)

CAPULET: It sounds as if I should be thankful
Although methinks I nev'r obtained anything.
Well, nothing sometimes is a gift,
And we are full of thanks for nothing.

ACTII

Scene I

The Lounge next day. SWATISLAW and MEPHISTO

SWATIS: Dear Sire! Good morrow, may I speak to you?
And may I ask if you have brought our deal?

MEPHIS: What you desire, this I have with me.
Add two small ounzes of this Spanish Fly.
To lusty drinks in lustful nightly hours.
And both your love juices wildly flows.
T'is actually from my very pers'nal stack.
It served me well in countless pleasant cruisings.
But now I seek to enter fairer havens,
And nevermore will need these helping hands.
(He gives SWATISLAW a small bottle)

SWATIS: Love! What passion makes it stream through me!

MEPHIS: Emotion'l river rafts you'll roughly ride.

SWATIS: My heart is drowned already in emotions.
I'm grateful so much more than you perceive.
(Exit SWATIS)

MEPHIS: His lusty pleasures I can only understand,
Rememb'ring ramblings through triangled groves.
I need to see my lovely mistress now.
(Enter BENVOLIO)

BENV: Hey ho! My friend! Why do you haste like this?
You look transformed. Was it that Bejing-bitch?
That put this sparkling glimmer in your face?

MEPHIS: Your wrong on this account
Indeed transformed I am. But not like that
Which you have in your mind.
Far wider alterations I've been subject to.
I never valued women for their nature.
But now I do and thanks to Grete
At last am I beginning to see the light.

BENV: Who's Grete? Never heard of her.
A hooker? She must be something new
I haven't heard of her before.
Where does she work, please tell,
So that I can participate
In orgiastic joy you seem to feel

MEPHIS: No hooker is that girl. She's plain,
And not profess'nal in her ways.

BENV: She's not a pro? An ordinary woman?
What got to you that you find pleasure
In something ordinary and unskilled?
Are you into the latest kink?

MEPHIS: It's no simple kink that I have found.

BENV: So what's her job and what her nature?

MEPHIS: She's working here as cleaning woman.

BENV: A cleaner? You are really mad
Believe me this I tell you now:
The inns' sweet harlots better service
Than any maid in other port.
They're ev'n less likely to pass on VDs

MEPHIS: But neither do they pass on romance.
My friend now hear: Beauty's only skin deep.

BENV: But ugliness goes right down to the bone.
Milord! You're more perverted, than my cravings
For leathered harlots cuffing me to bed posts
For some more shillings, pros give better love
Than real life or your maidens can present

MEPHIS: And there's the point. I want it real
Neither for realer nor for better
Than those would ever be, is my desire.
My goal is love your destination screwing.

BENV: An honest man risks coodies over cuddling
And falls in love at every place he goes
A noble man of style you truly are
Wide worlds and merry maidens shaped and made you.

MEPHIS: I confess having sought multiple pleasures
In numerous ports and maidens
However, now I found multiple pleasures
In a singular port and mistress
This merry refuge I have chosen as my haven
To sail into and rest in its soft tides

BENV: Who is this mysterious pussy,
That has your vision dimmed?

MEPHIS: Your diction does reveal your ignorance.
She's none of what you think.
As clean a maiden as ever was
With most beautifully shaped brow,
The finest curves, the loveliest smile
And the most georgeous breasts,
Yet a pleasant, honest character,
Sweet and fine, anything but those others
I met around this greed 'n filth ridden globe.

BENV: My friend is mad, cause he's in love.
He roams the world and can dig his lips
Into the finest pussies wherever he wanders
Yet he chooses single troubles
And being kept on a short leash.
A mad dog you are, and soon you're one
Tied to a kennel. From predator to puppy.

MEPHIS: A decent man may loose his clear perspective
When his head is stuck between a woman's thighs.
And your head has serviced that many,
That you have lost your entire wit.
These times of craze and battles
In which hard fights are crucial to prevail
Where battles make and break our lives,
Those times demand soft hands and tender voices
To soothe the plights and agonies of daily strive.
Your whores might see to your prick,
Alas, they won't see to your soul.

BENV: I'm not as witless as you claim,
And understand your uttered wishes,
But hark at this good friend:
The serving staff might do good jobs
In wiping dust and dandruff
From suits and hard day's hassles.
But to clean from dirt and filth
And heal those wounds and bruises
That fierce and forceful business strikes
For these you need profounder tools
Than those cloths and dust feathers
You may find in this place here.
If really you do desire to settle down
Seek someone with your own background
Who will understand your problems and despairs,
Who answers them with good advice and help
Not helpless smiles and wiping of your tears.

MEPHIS: It's not wit and neither intellect
That provide this soothing remedies
Neither stuck up business women
Whose own careers rule over marrital duties
Nor grumpy middle class bitches
That grow fat watching soaps.
It's plain and simple women, modest and polite
Who make men's lifes shine bright
Such precious diamond I have found.
In Grete who makes brightest my complexion
And polishes my armour and heraldic shield
With as honest and sensere a mind
As any man could ever fall for.

VOICE OF SPEAKER: Dear Lady's and dear gentlemen,
Last call for journeys heading for Hong Kong.
Please go and board your plane at once.

BENV: T'is not the wisest choice my friend, but, hark,
Last call for our flight, we have to leave.
(Exeunt)

Scene III

Downstairs in the vaults and caverns beneath the airport. Leaking pipes lead through the stage. The stage is dim. Until the end of the play there is a faint industrial noise. GRETE and SWATISLAW.

SWATIS: Grete, the light of my life!

Scene IV

In the vaults.
GRETE

GRETE: I'll travel in the belly of the crow..
When she spits her fire into skies.
Creamy clouds I'll pierce
And dance in silk white dresses
With nymphs and fairies I shall circle
And look upon this giant globe.
I'll climb the highest mountains,
And breathe the glowing sun, that
Will join in my multi-pleasured song
I'll eat the most exotic fruits
I'll go where harpyes and unicorns
Roam through unspeakable woods
With brave an courteous a man.
Who will not bend nor squirm
Under the commands of loathed lords,
But takes me under his protective wings,
When into the sun we fly away.
(Enter MARTHE)

GRETE: Come hither, Marthe! I must seek advice.
Last night I think I fell in love.
A kind and caring man it was,
Methinks he vowed me love and marriage.
Oh, I'm so happy! It has fin'lly happened!

MARTHE: T'was Swatislaw? Did he finally take his heart?
What good choice, he's a decent man.
You must be happy and I must be for you.

GRETE: It's not Swatislaw I am in love with.
I met a guest the other day.
He swiftly took my simple heart with him.
And soon he'll take the rest of me.

MARTHE: A guest? Oh no, please, Grete don't do this!
Refrain from this wild folly, t'is not wise.
You know these guests are only after one,
And with that they will rob your soul.
And when they're done, then you are done as well.
Refrain from this wild folly, please refrain.

GRETE: This is not true. He's not like that.
I might be simple and not very clever.
I hardly read and harder t'is to write.
But I can read a face, and his is true.

MARTHE: Please don't do silly things like that.
You said you met him only yesterday.
How can you know about this stranger?
What do you know about this wanderer?
We are encaged in this vile rotten hole.
And with our bodies are our souls and spirits.
Tell me, who is he? What does he do?

GRETE: A guest is he, a man of worlds and travels.
A valiant man whose steps and walks are aimed
At far and distant places is my man.
A courteous man, an honest, gentle man.
The man of purest dreams and my desire.

MARTHE: That's not alot and surely not enough you know.
About this man. He's but some fancy.
A dream and not much more than that.

GRETE: What is so bad in my escapes to dreams?
There's nothing that I own apart from them.
They give me remedy on hard days' work.
They give me sweeter hope and greatest powers .

MARTA: They give you fickle trickery and are
No truer cure than any of those opiates,
That in our hapless crowds are circling widely.

GRETE: My dreams are friends that comfort 'n dry tears.
And not vile sleight of hands by evil traitors.

MARTA: They're not your friends, they're worse than opiates.
As spiders' webs, dew shimmers diamondlike
So bright, in perfect shape and silken.
Such smooth caress whose touch you're longing for.
But once you're caught in blissful tender thralls
Entangled and in fetters you are and lost
Forever stuck and, caught and bound to doom.
You need to keep in touch with honest life,
How fickle 'n misguiding it might be at times.
The more retreats to tender fairy worlds
To dodge the whips and scorns of time you take,
The harder it will be to face the inescap'ble truth,
The more unbear'ble actual life will be.
Nay, please, don't let the dreams of yours,
So spoil you that you loose your grip and grasp.

GRETE: Well, how can I avoid - please explain?
When ev'ry day I'm faced with gorgeous beauty,
Fulfilled in magic lifes and utter wealth.
When ev'ry man and woman passing by
Has ten times more than I would dare to ask?
How devlish can this fortune's wheel then be
To give them all and leaving nothing me.
You call that fair? I try to get my share
I eagerly feed from crumps carelessly dropped.
Both mentally through stories they tell passing
And physically through snacks they throw away.
For unspoiled food we searched the garbage below
When we were younger - just like youth today.
Tomorrow's, even forever's children of our guild
Will have to bear as grim a destiny.

MARTHE: Anon, thy dreams are dangerous
Not only to yourself but to us all.
You sin when letting imagination run wild.
T'is for our guests but not for us
To push those boundaries the mind is subject to.
If you do fly up to the glitt'ring stars
If you do leave this sullen, grumpy world,
If you do shoot up to the fluffy clouds
If you do dream extraordinary tales
Then coming down will be a nightmare
Then ordinary days will be a hell
Then you won't stand this dim reality.
Stay calm and sober and you will prevail
And prosper modest and in mildest plainness.
Those violent dreams oft times cause violent actions.
When in those longer hours of dark and weakness
You so desire bright lights in these bad days.

MEPHIS: So soon, I'll come to take you away
And our worlds that are so far apart,
Will be one

GRETE: And we will fly into the sun.

MEPHIS: I'll build a firm and stately house

GRETE: From which we sail off to the skies.

MEPHIS: On honest, fertile grounds it'll base

GRETE: We'll see it, setting off for unknown winds

MEPHIS: I raise the roof and you furnish the inside

GRETE: In shades of blue I'll paint the walls

MEPHIS: That'll go nicely with earthly wooden planks,

GRETE: So that we feel like being outside,

MEPHIS: When, yet, we have the shelter of our home.

CONTR: Grete, come hither and hark carefully,
Word is, you are in love my dear,
And word is it's a guest of ours.
You are a good girl and impressed I am,
By your good nature and complexion.

You know the sayings of the higher law:
Thou shallst not have contact with a guest

MARTA: I prithee, Sire. Don't be too harsh on her.
She's but a child and knows not what she does.
Fancy has got her vision dimmed.
But she'll regain her moral senses,
Have patience and good faith in her.

CONTR: Our commune is small and little rights
Do we call ours. We need protection for
Our world. Tresspasses of the higher law
By one are threatening all our lives.
You know not which strict laws we've to abide.
The budget we are granted by the lords
Does hardly buy the needed food.

ACT III

Scene I

The vaults. GRETE with her child in her arms. An empty cradle.

GRETE: My child, you are as fragile as me:
So soft and small and just and fair and simple.
The object more than subject to your destiny.
The roads we walk are not the ones we chose.
We're sent by those whose inexplicable ways
Beyond our understanding lie.
And thus we're shoved and pushed around
Until those bruises cover up our self
So that no longer we can recognize
Our face or goals in soul's mirror.
T'is easy to be object to another's will.
And to comply to orders and commands.
But actual acting is so very hard,
And I'm so very poorly skilled
To make decisions and to contemplate
My will is god and so are my intentions.
I love you more than it may seem.
Alas, I must consider larger scopes
And lift my leaden wings into the air,
To view and do the best for both of us.
I'll send you home beyond the clouds
To let you play with pleasant friends.
Above the skies you'll play in simple joy.
With jolly fairies singing lustfully
And twinkling with the glancing stars at night
You'll sleep. So sleep now. Hush, my child.
(She puts the child in the cradle)
I'll come to wake you up in better seasons.
When days are bright and heartening.
No terminal farewell, a temporary parting.
Now rest in peace and God be with you.
(She takes a pillow out of the cradle and pushes it on the baby's face. There is some movement in the cradle. It dies down slowly. All through this she sings:)
Someday he'll come along,
The man I love.
And he'll be big and strong.
The man I love.
And when he comes my way,
I'll do my best to make him stay.
(Curtain)

Scene II

The stage is dark. GRETE sings the song the last scene ends with. We only hear her disruptive voice. People come onstage and gather in the middle. Then we hear MARTHE scream. Lights go up. We see GRETE, MARTHE, CONTROLLER, CAPULET. GRETE sits beside the cradle. She continues singing. MARTHE holds the dead child in her arms.

MARTHE: What loathsome fate! What hateful fortune!
What wretched cave we are bound to!

CONTR: Another case of cradle death has struck?
The toxic waste that flows through leaking pipes
Above our heads is even killing rats.
No wonder that this child here suffocated,
Like countless others did before.
Foul winds that lurk here choke the weakest,
Most vulnerable in sickly greenish dye,
And even we methinks are sometimes fouled
Corrupted by this dirt we are exposed to.
(To GRETE) My child, please tell me what has happened here.

GRETE: My boy has gone to sleep. He paced away
To were I sent him. No need to fear, though.
I'll get him back. When turbulence has calmed.
He's just asleep and put on hold.
But soon we'll dance in joy together.
(She resumes singing her song)

CONTR: The hapless maiden is in deepest shock.
Such unspoiled beauty was not made for this.
For bearing being's wicked venom.
A mother's loss of his first-born must be
The most laborious pain to suffer from.
For once retreats of her to fairy-worlds
Are justified and help her cure the grief.
Although incur'ble it may seem right now.
No use for ramblings without hope for remedy.
Arrange the funeral and comfort the injured!
And let us leave this woeful place anon!
(Exeunt)

Scene III

A dark and empty stage. GRETE lies sleeping on the floor. She is dreaming. MARTHE sitting next to her.

GRETE: One day he'll come along.
The man I love.
And he will mend the wrong.
The man I love.
And he will sing my song.
The man I love.
And he'll be big and strong.
The man I love.
We'll go where we belong.
The man I love.
And he'll speak his tongue.
The man I love.
When we awake my little boy.
His resurrection will be celebrated
By singing harpyes and by jolly sirens.
My guardian Medea in her wedding dress
Will ride the snake-pulled marriage hearse
And nightly heaven shines alight
From dragons' spitting fireworks.

MARTHE: Such evil visions haunt that girl.
Oh please, awake and stint these scaring nightmares.

GRETE: To lusty groves where jolly dwarves rejoice.
And bands play ancient ballads.
They pipe on human bones.
They bang on Hymen-drums,
They fiddle golden strings of virgins' hair.
A celebration just for me.
A jubilation for my deed
An exhaltation for my murder
The pillow'll be my cepter
For giving them my blue-faced child.
And it will come to me to thank me,
For making that sweet sacrifice.
And showing him much sweeter places
That I can meet through his retreat.

MARTHE: (holds GRETE by the shoulders and shakes her to wake her up.)
My God, what has she just confessed?
Just fancy? Are her revelations accurate?
Wake up, my child, wake up and tell
T'is but a nightmare and no genuine horror.

GRETE: Who's this and why the wrinkle on your brow?
Come here, I make you happy just the same.
No need to feel no pain, come hither
And I will take your sufferings away.
(She takes a pillow and gently tries to push into MARTHE's head)

MARTHE: Away, you wicked witch! Lay off your hands!
My God, what have you done? You brutal bitch!
(He pushes her away. GRETE falls on the ground and awakes from her dream. She is confused. Enter CAPULET and CONTROLLER rubbing sleep from their eyes.)

GRETE: What's wrong? What happened here? What have I done?

MARTHE: What have you done? You ask what you have done?
You just confessed a heinous crime.
You just admitted to a viscious act.
You just avowed a baneful felony.

CAPUL: So tell, what has she said that makes you rage

MARTHE: Tell yourself, you evil witch!
Confess to all what you confessed to me!

GRETE: What have I done? I'm free of guilt.
I only dreamt - I'm innocent while dreaming.

MARTHE: Your inn'cent dream revealed your guiltful soul.
You murdered your child. Admit and thus release
Disgraceful burdens from your heart.

GRETE:

CAPUL: What irony, that she who made retreat
To reverie so often - Now's convicted
By those same thirsts that stole her nature
From real and real morality.
Deceiving escapism struck again
And strikes down yet another human heart.
She was a decent girl before this fancy
Did seize her mind and captured her good sense.
Until corrupted and eroded to extends
Where she was able to commit
Most dreadful misdeamenour to herself
And her most cherished property.
Defenceless spirits are incapable
To fight the trickery of wishful thinking
When dwelling in inhuman darkened days.
Now, take away this perpretrator.

Scene IV

The vaults.

(CAPULET and CONTROLLER)

LORD: Good morrow, Sires. I heard of some vile crime
That happened in this here community.
And wanted to inquire how you are thinking
Of solving this barbarian act.

CAPULET: So far we've been quite occupied
With funeral and mourning services.

LORD: Indeed this has priority, no doubt.
But you have got to deal with such situation.

CAPUL: And what would you suggest we do?

LORD: The company is searching nothing more
Than reason not renewing your contract
If you make public this affair,
Than they will have you out by end of year.
Solve this yourself in fashion you deem just
And they'll be silent and no trouble
Will rise from mean and vile unfortune.

CAPULET: The company! Fine company they are.
I would not be companion of these folks
If it would mean a loathsome death.

CONTR: Without their company we'd be dead.

LORD: No use in rambling 'bout these plights.
For your own sake I tell you this:
Be noiseless in the handling of this case.
Hold court about her fate in your own ranks
And sentence her in your own realm.
And punish her by your own hands.

CONTR: Impossible this is.
We are no judges and no hangmen.
My God! How wealthy he who can afford
To base their judgements on good princ'ples
And is not forced consid'ring consequences,
That should at all not rel'vant be and matter.
If we report this fiendish crime of Grete's
To the police - indeed t'would cause a scandal .

CAPUL: These higher Lords will cancel future contracts.
Condemn us all for one poor soul's misdoings.
By throwing all of us unto the streets.

CONTR: Nor can we leave this crime here unatoned,
Persueing normal strides, when tiny steps,
So terribly were forced and stopped.

CAPUL: And neither sentence Grete our-selves.
For moral might's required for such deed.
A might that is not in these wretched souls.

CONTR: This highest God will cancel leniency,
If we take matters in our hands, then he'll
Condemn us all for this vile cover up.
The rest of sorry earthly life in hell
Or all eternity in purgatory
This is the only choice between to pick.

CAPUL: Unless we do not punish her at all,
But put her fate in His own justful hands
By banning her from our community.
Let's send her into yonder nearby city.
Let God himself, in all his endless wisdom,
And such a fashion guide her, he deems just.

CONTR: A crueler fate you can't provide her with,
Than to withdraw the only tiny shelter
That she has left. She is unfit to master
Her life alone in brutish city-streets.
Where rage and hatred are her mere companions,
Where fights and strives are even more inhuman
Than what we're hapless subject to right here.
The life your plan's in mind for this poor soul
Is worse than any sentence we could pass.
It means she will be fighting with the hounds,
In dirty streets for food in garbage cans.
With madmen and with lunatics at night
She'll have to make her bed in carton-boxes.
You know her just as I that she won't last
A single month in city's screaming torture.

CAPUL: I know the implications of my sayings,
Alas, what other choice is ours, tell me?
A horrible crime has she commited here,
We failed in looking after her good ways.
Let God himself then guide her from here on
Let him devise which road she'll have to roam.

CONTR: So be it then, my friend, she'll have to leave.
Although agreeing here does break my heart.

LORD: It's best for common good. Let me assure you this.

CAPUL: She's common as we all. This random judgement
Isn't best for her. A fairer judge's deserved.

LORD: Forget not that she is a murderer.
Your sentence might be awkward but it's fair.
There's more compassion for this girl in you
Than was in her for her own offspring.

CAPUL: We can't take eyes for eyes - or tooth for tooth
But this, I fear, is what we did.
No praise can come from aimless verdicts.
And this is aimed at keeping under cover.
(Exeunt)

Scene V

A dark and empty stage. A spotlight from above shines on GRETE standing in the middle of the stage. She is obviously insane. During her monologue the spotlights dims more and more until at the end the stage is completely dark

GRETE: And now I'm here within the city's valleys.
Not much I owned, and now it's nothing.
I could have been content with little good.
And now I'm discontent with much distress.
Desired lights are closer than I ever dreamt.
And yet they're even further than I thought
Or ever fantazised in wild hallucination.
The stars are shining still as bright and lovely,
And one of them is my sweet child.
Who's waiting till I come to get him.
And we will wander through soft groves
Together in a close embrace.
With merry strides through choked blue skies.
Then stop at streams of vital fluids,
To still our thirst and wipe our wet red lips.
The birds are chirping in the weeping willows.
We watch benvolent vultures circling heavens.
They share their lunch in hospitality
And we collect slain feathers and make wings
Of wax with which we fly into the sun.
Although the lights are shining bright
And glitt'ring in the finest colours.