Untitled

Are you re-named by this adventure?

I didn't think it was adventures that named one

What else?

Something other than adventures

What else?

I thought one was named by a configeration of forces

Ah, the planets? The dust of sub-molecular particles?

What does 'ah' mean

Which 'ah'

The 'ah' that preceeds a more ordinary sentence

What makes a sentence ordinary

Ah, a sentence that isn't part of an adventure

Did you cross your fingers?

When

When you said 'ah'

You found me out

No-- I consider myself observent

I've figured out that the 'ah' means at the beginning of a sentence

Tell me

It means that in the course of things--

Ah--

The meaning, the trust of meaning, is about to reverse itself, or begin again in a new direction, or on some differently articulated plateau.

What pleateau do we find ourselves--

--You should have begun your sentence "on what plateau do we find ourselves'

Ah. We are on a plateau

That's why I can feel the wind blowing through my hair

Me too

Me too.

__________________ What is ther world, if not a container in which light bounces-- a jewel. The world is a jewel, therefore light --imprisoned

If light were released, it would turn invisible

Light also bounces inside me. It's called thinking, but it isn't. Unless you admit thought is a prison

The escape is-- that thought negates itself

How about the act that negates itself

Imagine a thought or act that hovers, only, and does not effect-- that's not quite it because that is at best, ritual.

But a thought or act that makes itself its own impossibility. I'm not talking about paradox. Paradox is something wound tight like a spring-- hence an object

I'm talking about something that passes over into the total deflection that eliminates the starting point. That's it. A step that eliminates its starting point

****

Why

***

Because thats being outside the prison. Invisible, and therefore-- everything

*******

Last night, at this bar, something was drunk that caused forgetfulness

It must have been ordinary alcohol.

Is that possible?

Of course it's possible

Just ordinary alcohol?

Why not.

As long as there's no need to postulate anything more-- why bother? When I waited for you last night, you didn't appear

I was delayed

I thought about that. Then I realized it was impossible for you to be delayed.

Really? Have you guessed my secret?I have reason to believe--

What

I have reason to believe, my residence in this hotel

What? What?What is it that I need. You to look at me?

To have left looking to those who do it better than I.I WAS late

Not at all

That's why you were angry with me

No. I was angry with you for another reason

Let's see if I can guess

What do you mean by guess

Use my deductive ability

Is that guessing?

What I do with it is guessing, if I commit myself

That's it

What

That ability to take mental pratfalls-- or I should say, the willingness to take mental pratfalls. That's what angers me about you

Now I know

--If you think I'm being forthcoming

I didn't have to guess

I don't like it when you guess

Why not

Why not. Humm. Why not

You probably think you've explained it.The name of this room. Does it have one

(Pause)

A room has no name

--It get's, sometimes, named

A room

--Why not. Anything can have a name

Name it. You name it

I don't believe in itCertainly-- when my mind works, the truth is hidden

That's not how it should be

That's how it is

Why is it like that

Don't ask--

(Pause)

Consciousness hides the real

Why should I believe that

Consciousness hides the real

What's real?

(Pause)

Death?

That's not a good definition

(Pause)

Atoms? Sub atomic particles?

Of course not

Why not

They aren't real

Is thinking about them real?

Thinking about them makes them apparent, but they're just apparent

What is real?

The real

What is 'the' real?

(Pause)

I see. Have me run up against a stone wall

Must be

I think this is real, right now

Of course it is

(Pause)

Then what's the problem

Did I say there was a problem?

(Laughs)

Yes

Oh yes. Oh yes.

(Pause)Horizons. The horizon of things.

Let me say something different. Let me say 'things'

What a superficial view

Things

That's superficial

Things.

(Pause)

If I took away the horizion-- your 'thing'-- whatever it is-- this ashtray?

Maybe

This 'thing' would have no context, and you wouldn't be able to identify it, you'd fall into it and get lost. You'd drown

Would I

Yes

I'd drown

Yes

Thing

Horizon

Thing

Horizon

(Pause, picks up ashtray)

Theis seems very real to ME

Don't kid yourself

Now-- you're going to do me a favor. You're going to move-not as I hurl this thing straight toward your forehead.

Ah-- I'd say you depend on my forehead for that effect you hoped to have which was proving something about that thing

I don't depend on your forehead

Of course you do

It's convenient, that's all.

(Pause)

It's available

That's no accident

This is no accident

Don't bother throwing it

Why not

I'd get hurt

That wasn't the idea

It's the result

It's one result

(Pause)

Is it real?

I think that's a trick question

Then it must be real

_______________________Did my legs collapse under me?

Often I can't tell what's happening to you or me either

(Pause)

Since I'm sitting, I wouldn't know if my legs collapsed

Why would that happen

I can think of one reason, which would be the result of strong emotions

(Pause)

Why would anybody want strong emotions

I didn't say I WANTED any such thing. I said it COULD happen. Like an earthquake, like some other natural catastrophy

(Pause)

I could fly over that natural catastrophy, however

How

I could fly

How

(Pause)

Right now, I'm mentally flying

I better hold onto the furniture

Why?

(Pause)

I better have stability

Does that mean-- earthwise

I think I'm acclimated to that

What happens if the earth shakes under your feet

I hold onto something

(Pause)

How high over the surface of the earth are you capable of travelling

--Is this still a communication about strong emotions?

What else

(Pause, smiles)

I wonder if I can make your mouth operate by making my own mouth operate

Thoughts can be picked up telepathically

That's hard to prove

It could be a coincidence of circumstance, much like when the earth starts to tremble under your feet

FLYING ?!?

That's your word for telepathy I suppose

I was using one of your words

(Rises, other also)

Look how we both rise

I saw you get up first

Sure. I wanted to try a few steps to see if my legs would collapse under me.

(Pause. Both fall)

When they fell, there was of course, tucked intio a particular portion of that behavior, a sensation, briefly, of flying

Gravity did it's work

I thought it was strong emotion

It was flying

I agree

It was so brief, after all

This is very interesting to me

What

Flying seems more co-present in a position like this-- prone on the floor, then it did when higher, lifted from the ground by a chair. Why is that

We don't know

(Both)

We don't know!

___________________If I start trembling--

Hold hands

(Pause)

I''m holding my own hands?

What happens to you happens to me

How can I improve on things

Tremble

I do

Let the earth, under somebody's feet.

(Pause)

What? Let it what?

Let it proceed in its appropriate manner

I'd like it to be solid

I'd like it to be agitated

That's what I mean. Agitated

Don't thank me

Some day I will. Right now I don't have sufficient confidence

I could make a suggestion

What

(Pause)

What

Shhhhh

(Other covers eyes)

_______________________Let me insist. You alone can help me. How? If you want to know the truth, I can only try to be deliberate and slow.

Why is it speed that turns into a crucial element

Oh, we all have our own sense of direction. I, for instance, tend toward that wall-- though I'm talking about a direction and not an object

I don't flex the appropriate muscles.

Right. I half challenge, and then retire into a more mundane kind of world of considerations like-- do I want my eggs over or straight up.

From the eggs point of view

What?

I said-- from the eggs point of view

(Pause)

I can't carry on unless I suitably only half understand

You read me completely

Yes, and that's how I loose all my energy

On the other hand, if I bluster through a non-appropriate language totally--

I can always hang onto a cliff that suddenly says-- Here I am, falling

Falling

We are all falling!

_______________________

Something comfortable is impossible, since I too distruct distraction, and can only calm down on myself when the colision is as inevitable as hope without proof whatsoever

I, on the other hand, lost use of my hand. Please help me.

Help. I'm afraid

Afraid of what

(Pause)

You should have guessed by now

Since I'm afraid of absolutely everything under the sun, it's hard for me to know what you're indicating

Why does everything frighten you

For the same reason something in particular frightens you

What oh

I didn't know it was for the same reason

One thing is sure-- this is not something that lends itself to clarification.

_______________What is this room called

The room of radios

What is this room called before it is called the room of radios

(Pause)

The room of non-anticipation

Strange. I'm in this very room and I'm full of anticipation

I shouldn't have said 'radios'. I should have said-- holes in air

What are holes in air

I don't know. I've never seen any

Air is invisible

I can't loose my balance

What

I've tried. I can't loose my balance

(Pause)

We'd better re-ascertain what I've told you because it IS true; this room of radios is, by self definition.

. . .The room of radios

Yes

(Pause)

No radios

Yes

What I feel in my whole body is a desire to express, what is absent, because the muscles of my limbs ache, which I imagine can be relieved by movement

Try

I don't know what kind of movement to make.

Looking up at the night sky

Stars are holes.

The distance between them

should be measured

from someplace beyond, inside those holes

The distance between them turns out to be no distance

Here,under the light of the stars between which there is no distance, trying to hold onto a self that is a not-self.

But if one doesn't hold onto to that-- what invadles one. The not-not-self?

What is this not-not-not-not-not self?

The not-not-not-not-not-not-not-not-not-not-not-self?

I have no energy for this

Yet. What I have is energy

How do you reconcile those two opinions?

They are not to be reconciled

Then I don't understand

What do you understand by energy?

(Pause)_

What I understand is not a solution, but a something not yet caught by a careful definition

Correct

Energy

Energy C)

I am re-constituted. I lie here--

You're seated

(Pause)

I feel like I'm lying down.

It may have something to do with what happens in my cells

Name it

If I could name it, it would be public knowledge

Why not

(Pause)

It seems more pregnant. . .if it isn't public knolwedge

(Pause)

There is a re-constitution of the self. D)

To be

(in big picture of jewel)

. .x'd out

Backing into the mainstream

Dollars into donuts

The eventual: gap

Please, and a recovery

In style: Big E)

Now, I receive. Before-- I broadcast

I was in the position of doing or being-- broadcast; information, authority and assumed mastery.

Now, I have been reconstituted. I receive. I taste only. I sit, empty, and receive I know not what, and so I am pleased in the position of do not know

And anything presented to me-- anything from another broadcast to me in the form of mastery or authority-- that is never genuine pleasure and I see and hear that-- and what I receive, what I taste, is the emptiness and unknowableness in that pretend mastery or authority, and the taste of that unknowable at the center, that is what is sweet and ravishing to me-- that only.

That which connects me to my own unknowingness and defenseless weakness.

My weakness and ignorance realizes that taste of sweetness that radiates like the true broadcast radiation.I no longer think the room has the number of doors I think it has.

A way in or a way out.

Are you making the best possible use of my being here?

(Pause)

This intricate passage way to the outside of the room

Don't be silly. I simply open the door and walk through.

(Done, and return)

Lost

Who's lost.

Let's say-- I was sitting at this moment in a cafe, having a coffee, or a glass of wine. And let's say I excused myself to visit the bathroom. I opened the door, and passed through, and found myself on the other side of the planet.

(Pause)

What kind of analogy are you making

You see? Some of your words that I think I understood, no longer connect up to anything.

We're still here

How could we dare to be anyplace else

(Pause)

This is easy to understand

What is

(Pause)

Try doing it again

What

Try the door

There's no reason it should be harder a second time

Then try it

Why not

I decided not to try it

(Pause, up-- goes, returns)

Satisfied?

You see? It wasn't as easy the second time

All right-- but that's only because I didn't want to

But you did

To end the discussion

Oh, whatever explination you come up with, don't be convinced that puts matters to rest

(Laughs)

Right. I can see something proliferating

What

You tell me

(Pause. Then goes-- returns)

Now. Let's re-entertain these ideas about you being in a cafe

The important part.

--Yes. I know. Going through a door that takes you to the other side of the planet

What do you think is significant about that in particular

Well-- what did you feel like when it happened

You answer

(Pause)

You felt the urge to visit the men's room

What do you think I'd been drinking

Coffee?

A glass of wine?

There's wine on the shelf

(Pause. Excited, tries to control self)

Shall we have a drink?

Why not

(Pours. Both drink up. Pause)

Did you ever notice-- what time really does is to make folds in experience. Each unit of time, folds back over previous units, all folded up. One on top of the other

If you agree to it-- yes, that happens

Is there anything I say, or do, with which you won't say "I'm in agreement"?

Well, it depends on my mood

(Goes to door, stops)

What's wrong

I'm frightened

Why

Even if I go through and come back-- I'll come back to something very different

Ah, that's a good reason to be frightened

Now I remember when I said 'Lost"

I thought I said lost

No, I said it

Well, there is one argument we'll never settle

Therefore. . .

(Thinks, goes)

Hello? Hello?

(Pause. Alone)

Ah. Lost. But of course, I'm speaking for someone absent. As usual.

________________

If I can project a certain intensity, I lie.

(Pause)

There is no real intensity inside me. There is accident. That accident can sometimes be intensity, but it is accident first, intensity second.Can I offer you a drink?

You just did

But your acceptance wasn't predicticable

Suppose we became friends

I though we were

(Pause)

There was an actual heaviness, a measurable weight, to what could be called 'this room', if the weight of this room were to be measured

If it was measured, would we be included?

No. But our thoughts and emotions and consciousness

(Pause)

Would they be measured?

They just flew by at a hundred miles an hour

Are they still here?

It depends on how big the room is

How big is that

Measure it

Its weight or its heaviness

Which is easier to measure

(Pause)

Since I don't have any of the required instruments--

--Stop

(Pause)

I can offer you a drink

Now I get it

What

If I drink-- then I'm heavier by the weight of the drink.

But the bottle is lighter by the same weight, but the room is the same

How can you say that about something that's passing by at a hundred miles an hour?

(Music)I have nothing to say

Hard to believe

Haven't I proved it in retrospect

I have nothing to say--

Wait a minute-- that was my idea

Could I ask a question

See? You have something to say

No. I was trying to evoke a response

My response, already, is you're saying it

What?

See? That hints at itI have nothing to say

How brave of you

The means you don't believe me

I see the words pouring out

(Pause)

That doesn't mean to say I correct myself. I have nothing to say

Ah, the attempt to shift my position

If I say something, I'm leading you down the wrong path

Please

what

Please

What

The one thing I can't discuss by myself-- is the wrong path

It's not a discovery

Well, it certainly isn't an accident

(Pause)

You try to explain too much

Since I have nothing to say, I can't stop trying

(Pause)

It's music to my ears

I heard you the first time

When

Shh

Ah. . . . . . . . . . .

I really have nothing to say

Go on

(Pause)

I'm glad you understand, a contradictory response is something from which I benifit

I was thinking of myself

That's what I mean by a contradictory response

I think in pictures

Oh?

Yes--

What you said was 'go on', but that doesn't seem to me very picture oriented

When you say 'I have nothing to say' and I say 'Go on'-- the picture that comes to mind has to do with volentary suffering

On who's part

Both of us

That doesn't seem like a picture

It's a picture waiting to be elaborated

(Pause)

Well-- let's say a field of light that doesn't yet have characteristics

My favorite picture

Here's a mental picture. A cart

A what?

A cart

With wooden wheels?

--Do you have something to say?

(Pause)

I think in pictures

A discursive stratagy

No--

Why

(Pause)

I have nothing to say about it

A cart

A cart, an organ, a table, a wall, a tree--

Am I causing you private suffering?

Since I have nothing to say, I get carried away by whatever happens to incline itself in my direction

I bet I could turn elsewhere, but who knows what you'd do behind my back

(Pause)

What I mean is, who knows what important words might start pouring forth

I have nothing to say

I think in pictures

So I see

(Pause)

Which of us, do you think, does the biggest degree of suffering.I have nothing to say

Why did my life stop being interesting

Ah, what was interesting about it before it stopped being interesting

I was deluded

About what

(Pause)

About how interesting it was when it was or was not interesting.Of course. . .my singing ability was amazing to people. You may say-- I didn't know you did sining. But I did

Of course I knew

You knew?

Even though I never followed such things-- you were notorious. Such things could be read about in the newspapers

Yes. I realize you read the newspapers

It was there-- in the newspapers-- that your singing ability became known to me

That was in the past

Yes

Now, I no longer have that ability

Even in private?

Never?

No Sing

Sing

Sing.

(Pause)

I'm obcessed , I admit it, with the possibility of turning speech into singing

Would it rhyme

It would rhyme-- relevent to my emotions

Sing for me

No. I chose never to sing.Perhaps, if everything fell away from my life, if I could no longer access ideas that were important to me-- perhaps then . . .

What

I'm reaching out for an idea, but it escapes

What idea

Idiot

(Pause)

What idea are you reaching towards

If I could tell you that, I'd have it in my grasp

What idea are you trying to come up with

Can't you tell

Yes you can

No I can't

(Pause)

Why don't you try to relax every muscle in your body, and then you'll be able to make some kind of connection with the idea I'm trying to come up with that I can't come up with

Should I include the mental muscles

There are no mental muscles

Oh, it certainly feels like there are

Mental muscles

Yes

Let's say I'm right, and there are no mental muscles-- then what do you think it really is that you're talking about

I think it's your obliation to find out for me

How could I have such an obligation

Ah, effortless

(Thinks)

It follows that if I'm capable of willing myh own bodily movements--

Yes?

Then, in the same way, am I capable of willing moves inside my mind

Why would that follow?

But I'm not sure I have any perminent control over my body. Do you think I can rise?

How much?

Try this arm. The right arm

Should I lift it for you?

I should be able to do it myself

Try

(Pause)

All right. Now!

(Pause)

Well, you've obviously decided not to move it

(Lifted)

Then you had an impulse

Maybe you moved it for me

I don't think so

We could postulate you don't have total control over what happens inside-- or outside, if we redefine it just a little and make it inside

What's outside that could be thought of as being inside. I understand. So you can rest your arm if you like

Well, it's the arm that would like it

--I'd like it too

Why

I can imagine how tired it's getting and it somehow-- well, it agitates me

Would you like to put a pillow under it

Why not

(Done)

I was worried about that

What

As it turns out, the pillow isn't firm enough to keep the arm at the same elevation

Remember when somebody said 'rise'

Yes

If I'd decided to make it my whole body rather than just the arm, then a pillow wouldn't have worked

It didn't work

For the arm

Yes

It wouldn't have worked for my whole body

Get up

You need proof?

Rise

(Pause)

One question is-- are things confused more, or less, by talking about it

(Pause: rises)

You see? There's no place to put the pillow

(Pause)

I was about to say, --when your arm was lifted, after a while I felt a certain agitation as I imagined your arm getting tired, and now I don't: but I do.

--What do you suppose made me stand up?

I could imagine it was an order to yourself

That must have made you nervous

I have no way of knowing

Ah-- me neither

(Pause)

It's invisible

What

It's invisible

What

Accept it

You mean-- relax all my muscles?

(Laughs)

Don't fall

Does that include mental muscles?

(Quietly)

I'm falling

Me too, but I don't

Then you don't

It's invisible

Maybe if I wasn't glued to this table--

(Leaves it)

Don't be silly. I think you've given up

Given up what.Out of this hand-- flows-- something that I thought was supposed to flow out of my mouth

What do you mean

(Other puts hand over mouth)

When I said what do you mean, I was waiting to see whether the hand did it, or the mouth did it

(Hand off. Pause)

We settled the matter

"We"? Were we in a real collaboration?

Where should you receive the carress

How about this chair

OK. Get up

(done)

Well. Aren't you going to move closer?

Did I forget something

Let me look at your hand

(Held out. Kneels, looks without touching)

Put it on my forehead. Gently.

(Looks at it, then to own forehead, as other does same)Please-- don't let me wake up

Why

I lose it

What

Oh-- I. . .

I rush into the important absense

Something's missing

(Pause)

Something's wrong

--Stop saying that

Please. Do I have permission to lie about myself?

I answered the phone already

(Rings)

Somebody should hand up on me

When night fell, he held his hat out to somebody semi-in-charge.Isn't it about time for somebody to show up. Wasn't somebody supposed to show up at approximately this time-- what time is it

(Looks at watch)

I don't find anything satisfactory in this selection of gloves you offer me

Nevertheless-- since you are interested in purchasing a saussage, you mst first, select a pair of glovesTables don't move by themselves

Tables

Is it possible that your life is wasted, that your reliance on mind is in fact, misplaced?

Reliance on mind? I place none so.

Is it possible?

(His individual skull

The skull the universe had emptied)

I'm out of cash. I'm out of cash

Please-- don't you have a few coins in your pocket?

Well--

Try

Try what

Explore the pocket

(Hands lifted)

Even if you watch, when my hands vanish, it's frightening to me

You have no hands

Have they already vanished?

Can you say that you are looking at them?

(Hides them)

No-- I'm frightened of looking at them for fear of vanishing.

But day in, day out, you re-vanish continually when something catches hold of your attention for an occasional minute

Howe rude

See? I got your attentionI have nothing to say

(another in door)

Maybe a visitor could turn things around

(Twists)

Come out here whene I can see you

Oh? I thought I should keep my hands behind my backThe duck that moves me to important emotions; by definition.

Emotions versus duch.

The duck ikon

The duck material

The duck depth

If a duck enters a delicatessen. Is it eaten

I'd like a roast beef sandwhich

Before you eat roast beef, perhaps you'd better self-eat

What's the connection

Obviously, you as duck. Edible

But all creatures are edible, though no creature eats its own kind

Is that true? I seem to remember--

Well certainly no creature eats itself

Is that true

Except in an emergency

How do I know whether or not this is an emergency for a duck

I don't feel any sense of emergency. I live my normal life

What does your normal life consis of, oh duch

Sitting in my easy chair. Reading my newspaper, smoking my pipe

Forgive me for saying so--

Uh-oh, here it comes--

A pipe-- for a duck-- seems a redundent appendage, since your beak already gives one a very pipe-like effect

(Pause)

This is an insult to a duck

I don't see it that way

(Duck goes to mirror)

Where you see the grotesque--

--I didn't say that

--I see the beautiful

Well Duck, if you think of your image as beautiful, try hitting a golf ball

Why do you say that

I believe that your large beak, located below the eye level, will interfear with your ability to play golf

Very well. I am willing to participate in this scientific experiment

(Dones. Misses)

Missed. This is just one more thing that makes being a duck less satisfying than being a human being

Great duck, I have come to you as a last resort

Ah, you should have come to me earlier

I was shy, great duck

Shy? Why shy with ME?Do tables move or do chairs move

On different occasions

I'll pick this

This?

This chair

I think I know which one you're thinking about

Ah, it moved into your field of consciousness

It was a blow from which I could hardly recover

I didn't see anything move

It was only furniture

What

That moves

No, I was thinking of you when you received such a powerful blow

I didn't cry

You let your furniture perform emotional gyrations

Sure, if you can still think of it as furnitire

Why not

It takes on human characteristics

What does

Well-- anything

Anything except moving under its own power

It doesn't have to move under its own power as long as it has the ability to move ME

(Pause)

A life lived without furniture, and the usual feelings get under-utilized

It's pretty hard imagining a life lived without furniture

This had better be written down for posterity

Posterity doesn't know how to read

Wait a minute-- don't confuse posterity-- and furniture

No, just certain selected pieces

Tables instead of chairs?

I'm following your lead

My mental or emotional preponderance--

Well-- this thing

(slaps table top)

is certainly convenient

Put away all writing apparatus

In that case, I'll have to walk over to the bureau

See-- you don't move either

This is all in the future

I'm comparing you to your future

I don't mind the comparison

(Enter woman-- goes-- stops)

Well-- what are you looking at. I came in here to support myself over the table while I'm penetrated

(Pause)

Who was going to penetrate

I thought you were

You were told?

I don't know how I know these things, because I purposely try to exist in a relative fog

(Pause)

How was this going to happen

I'll just demonstrate

(Flop on table)

Why do you think I chose a table

Because normally I sit at the table either to write, or read, or eat something or have conversations

(Rolls off)

Well, the table wasn't important so much as it was available and peeked my curiousity. But in fact it hurt

(Pause)

Yes

You could see that?

I guessed

(Sits)

Now I'm more comfortable.

Ah, you must be experiencing a wave of comfort

I guess so

Yes. I guess so

I guess so

__________________________________________Here's a piece of my life you may find valuable

Let me levitate

What I started saying--

This is no way to spend an evening

Don't be silly

Why not? Or do I have a choice?

Being bored is no way to spend an evening

(Music)

I'd better head for the magic box

What can you get from it

That's the beautiful thing

(gets it)

If it works-- it's always a surprise

(Opens)

Is it a surprise

It's empty

Is it always empty?

Come on now, if it was always empty-- would it be a magic box?

Ah, I misunderstood a word

That's a powerful argument

Magic-- that was the word

--Can you deal with this?

It's empty

Very accurate, from your point of view

From yours?

You misinterpreted a word

I like your box

It isn't so much what's in it-- it's where it's placed

Why don't you put it away

Ah, that's an interesting idea

(Done)

Now I don't know if it's empty, or still empty, or something completely different

What

Don't you think I need a shoe shine?

I hadn't noticed

That's why I raise the issue

I'm not interested

Why did you show me the box

--I realized you hadn't noticed

--But it didn't make any difference since it was empty

Let me see your hand.

It has interesting lines

I misunderstood one word

You were probably paying too much attention to my hand

I didn't have time

What?

Time

I misunderstood a word

Now this is interesting. What word was misunderstood

However much one drifts from the mark-- one if on the mark; that's if you take a wide enough point of view

I try

I try to listen

Ah, trying to listen means opening the door to mistakes

So it does

You know that much?

It had something to do with my line of concentration

What line

In my palm

I didn't know the palm had a line of concentration

Oh it's there, but don't ask me to point it out because I can't

Why

I can't identify it

Try

I already did, privately. But I missed

(Pause)

If you put your hand in front of your face-- you missed. No-- I mean you can't miss

--That was a mistake

That was one more mistake added to many

--Each new one wipes out each old one

Not true

--ah, another mistake

(Pause)

I'm afraid to say

--They add up

--You said they negate each other

That's right, they add up

(move lurch, pull back, etc)

___________________________Did you miss a lesson

What?--No

You missed a lesson

I'm not attending any classes

Think about it again

You won't trick me that way. If I did think about it a second time, it would turn it into a lesson. At least to myself

Be stupid

Easy

Be a little more stupid

How about being totally stupid

No-- be just a little stupid

(Pause)

How about being stupid so that nobody else can possibly tell

Good

See? You can't tell

On the other hand, it's so easy you don't even deserve a compliment

(Moves)

This is an interesting problem-- how to be so stupid its smart

That's a rather universal problem

Ah, then I demand a degree of delicay that is positively heroic

___________________This is just preperation

For what

Until it happens, it's just preperation, but as soon as I name it, which I just did--

Preperation

(Pause)

I tried to get an original word out of my mouth

Try following a story

I could say which-- but I made a pack with myself-- no more stories

But if somebody else tells them--

I'll listen, but I won't put two and two together.

--Once upon a time

That sounds familiar

It's just preperation

I'm supposed to say funny things based on my own life. That's part of the deal, but I come to a realization, right now here in front of you-- I have in me no funniness. That is-- I have the form of funniness, but no funninness--

(stop)

I know-- I'll be somebody who isn't funny. Let me turn on some of the lights in this room

(Done)

Now you can see me better. Does this make me funnier? No. I can see it doesn'tIs God here?

(Pause)

What a ridiculous question

Is God here

I don't want to answer questions about God

What ridiculous question

Who asked

(Pause)

Is God here?

Where is he

Who?

(Pause)

God God God

Saying God is like saying-- nothing. Not like saying nothing-- like bathing in nothing. Cleansed

God

Cleansed

God God God

(open cabinet)What made the vase tumble

I don't know

I repeat. What made the vase tumble

(Pause)

Isn't it beautiful here

Yes. If you think so

I do

Do you think I'm beautiful also

Yes

(Pause)

What made the vase tumble

Probably nothing. It just did

Something must have made it happen

(Pause)

Are you free to give me a kiss

Yes

(pauses, done)What causes this room to vibrate

I didn't know it was vibrating

If it isn't--

It isn't--

Then is what's causing it to vibrate something that doesn't exist?

(Pause)

What's causing my eye to see.

What's causing my tingue to move

(Pause)

It doesn't exist

Do you mean, when the tongue isn't moving it doesn't exist

It doesn't exist. That proves it

What does?

(Pause)

See?

Of course you see

If you mean I see, yes-- my eyes work. I see

What's cauing that

It's part of my biological mechanism

I know. But what's causing that

(Pause)

The same thing that's causing everything else

Name it

Well-- God's dead

How do you know

There's a name for something, but it's not applicable

Really

I mean the name hasn't been decided on

God

No, that's not the name I was thinking of

(Open cabinet, a God)

That's not what I was thinking of.What causes the next idea in my head

(Pause)

Suppose there is no idea

Then nothing causes it

What

The next idea in your head is no idea-- you said so

Did I

Indeed

That was going to be my next word. I said -- did I, and it was going to be 'did I indeed' until you interrupted

In that case, it wasn't an interruption, it was continuing your own thought

But I had none

What

(Pause)

Thought

Then I had no word for it

I'm sure I heard something

Wrong

What caused me to hear something

Nothing

(Pause)

You're right

What

NothingWhat caused this idea in my head?

Your history. Things that happened to you

Why don't you release me

You'd disturb the guests in this hotel

Is that your idea.

No. I'm just a bellboy.Little Bellboy, you know nothing real.

Nose in a book.

Nose, in book.

Fingers, knees, elbows, penis, throat, wrists

(he turns)

When you look at me, I have to say to myself, am I here?

What's your troom number

I bet what you're really telling me is your age

Not quite

Then what are you telling me

My room number

Are those your suitcases?

Yes

I can't carry them to your room quite yet.

Why not

(Pause)

Is my room occupied?

I'm busy

Little bellboy. Busy busy busy

(He back to book)

Do I have to lug my own suitcase? Probably

(2nd in with suitcase)

Are these my bags?

Now. let me go to my room

No, you'd excite the guests.

Even if I stayed in my room.

They'd know

How would they know?

(Pause)

They'd know

How?

(Pause)

Just because there's no answer down't mean they wouldn't knowYou carry too much baggage

I'm a bellboy

(Pause)_

Drop all excess baggage

Lose my job?

Why not

(Pause)

It's what I hold onto

All that must keep your hands occupied

I have my hands full

(Pause)

How can you use your head if your hands are full?

I think what you mean is--

Yes?

You know already

(Pause)_

How can you use your head if your head is occupied

(Pause)

Right?

Too much reading. Whenever I'm not on call

Ah, is that a bellboy avocation

Don't push me into one of your pre-ordained catagories

(Pause) Certainly. Not all bellboys are equal

Those are catagories

Yours?

(Pause)

Philosophical

Little bellboy. Nose in a book during off hours

If there are off hours, which I doubt

(Pause)

There must be off hours

For a philosophical bellboy, I don't think so

Drop my bags

(Done, others in)

Are those my bags?

Nobody knows

Drop them

(Done)

Now your hands are less occupied

Yes. But where does the han d begin and another part of the body that is already connected, can be spoke of as something else

Excess baggage at rest-- can we still say 'bellboy'-- or is it just in the uniform

Sometimes we don't wear our uniform

I doubt it.

Sometimes we don't carry baggage

I doubt it

What's missing from this picture

Ah--we uncover at last

What

The subject of mutual interest

What

What's missing from this picture

What's the hole in the world

Hell, Mr Hole in the world

Glad to meet you, madam hole. in the world

Are you absolutley certain

What

(Pause)

Are you still carrying suitcases

(Get them, exit) (Picture scene)

Interesting. What's missing from this picture

A hole.

A mountain isn't a hole, but the opposit.

That's what missing

What

A mountain

A hole.

That's what's missing, and that's what's interesting.

Being a bellboy is missing, that's what's interesting

Being something else, not a bellboy, is missing. That's what's interesting

That means, many things are missing--

No, if it's missing, it's just one.

That's what's interesting.

Show yoursefl!

No. That's what's interesting,

Nothing to express; and not the ability to express it. The inability. Something I do possess.

The inexplicable is what I want to rub up against continually.

Ah.

I want to rub up against that with my mind.

Then I feel better

Why

You've helped me define my own hunger.

That's not what I meant to do. In fact, if that's the case, I've led you down a blind alley. A certain poet, threw his arms in the air and opened his mouth wide in an expression-- a facial expression. This was inexplicable

Did you quiz the poet?

Yes

What did he--

(rest. Waiter relaxes)

Pardon me, but are you hungry for life, sir?

Less than I'm hungry for dinner

Ah. And which of those two is the easier to come by?

Life or dinner?

Yes. Life or dinner. Which , more expedient-- no, that seems to be an interfering word

What do you mean by interfering?

Isn't it clear?

If it was--

Yes, yes, you wouldn't have had to ask.

Hungry for life sir?

What

Hungry for life

Hungry for dinner.How does one get into this room?

(Pause)

One exits. Turns back toward the door, opens it and enters

Suppose one is already in the room

(P) Then one re-enters

No, suppose one is already in this room

Then one doesn't have to enter

But how does one get into this room

I don't know

Am I here

Yes

No-- you don't follow me

No, I don't follow you

Partially, it's true. I'm here

How does one get into this room.

How does one get into this room

(enter) How does one get into this room

You answered your own question

I didn't phrase it as a question

Well, that's true. Your arrival was non verbal

Would you have noticed me if I didn't speak?

Well, I think so

Notice the hesitation

(Pause)

How does one get into this room

Put that way, I don't know

Put what way

Standing here, just having entered, saying "How does one get into this room"

Ah, that's it-- how DOES one get into this room

(Other)

ask me

How does one get into this room

My response is-- how does one get into this room

(Choral "How does one get into this room)What's wrong?

If one of my feet goes in the wrong direction, I tumbleCould I imagine being in paradise? No, my imagination couldn't live up to the reality-- unless I mean, the lack of realityTick tock. Am I really an important clock?

What makes one clock more important than another, since the time told is the same time

Somehow, this small watch of mine seems important

Am I a table? People can eat off me

If you bend over

Yes. You put your hands on the floor, arch your back, then people can even draw up a chair and eat. The food can be placed on your back

(Pause)

I could just hold out my hands and food could be there

(Pause)

Or on my knees, when I sit down

True. If it was an adhesive food

Not even

But it makes it easier

(Pause)

This makes me think I'm a table

I'm a table

(Pause) Are we both tables?

Am I a chair?>

Nobody sits

Somebody could leaf through my pages

That sounds less like a chair than like a book

(Pause(

All these experiences of mine mean something. They pile up for later reference. Leafing through them like leafing through the pages of a book

Ah, to facilitate that, isn't it desirable that one seats oneself?

I do suppose

I don't think this --agitation: is really agitation

My thinking is something that runs away with itself. --If you grasp my meaning

Ah, your meaning is your thought

Not at all

You can't think, then, what you mean?

Here's the point. I am lost, I think, inside my own meaning

How is this possible

I presented myself with these flowers. How is this possible

Simple. Earlier in the day--

It was yesterday

You went to the flower store to purchase flowers

Do they have the aspect of flowers that were purchased the day before

That's what you claim

No-- I claim I'm lost

(Pause)

Concentrating-- the vibrancy of these flowers is too much for me; perfume and color both

Let me intensify everything in your private belief system

You already have

How

By the vibrancy of your being

(Opens arms)

It's just me

What's the best way to defend myself

Think about it

That's an attempt to reduce my efforts to trivia

I'm sorry

No, I approve: the more trivial my efforts, the more room for my thinking to circulate

Ah, you bit off more than you can chew

Speaking of being hungry--

Who said such a thing?

I can read it on your lipsIs it possible that thinking goes roaming through these active yet recalcitrant people? Why named recalcitrant, because simply, activity persists, carrying out directions quite independent of that thought, which separates, continues, invisibilizes into the atmospheric vanishing of a whole history of non-realizable ideas?

Thought roams, and the tiny shapes it drops between people, look-- this one thrusts a hand, slightly, that one gestures toward the head, and nothing is spoken from the real source, just a kind of. . .say it again, say it again. Invoke the idea one can never possess-- rub up against that idea with a voice already wounded.

My own hands did the wounds

Hand wound

Luck: dial of clocks:

Three people as part of a thought process that doesn't end, because a bounce can always evoke

that thing

Most to be re-invested

_________

Here and there, a flutter towards re-investment.I have no control over myself, doctor

Quite the contrary

What? Look-- I come to you stating I'm in trouble. I expect help

Of course you expect help. That's exactly why I'm of a contrary disposition

Careful Doctor. I have no control over myself

I doubt it

Watch this

(Thinks, falls and wrythes)

That's pitiful, sir

Oh? You think that's pitiful?

Watch this

(Falls and rolls)

I see

you see what?

There are no present answers. --No, let me adjust that a little bit. There are no present solutions

You're speaking neither from the heart nor from the head

What am I speaking from

Let me give you a bit of advice

What

Don't ask

Ah yes-- that famous 'don't ask' advice

At least I can take your blood pressure

That's it

What

I get it-- I was speaking from my blood pressure

(Both collapse into chairs)I be this is not your way of seeing yourself

What way

Looking into a mirror

Where's the mirror

I'm the mirror. Can't you do improvisations on all the physical characteristics we share together?

Oh, wait a minute

That's what I said--

Just the normal things. Teeth, eyes, ears, arms, legs--

Why did you start with teeth?

I bit off more than I care to chew

Mirror? You really MIND having a mirror?

I don't MIND at all

That's why I said teeth

Teeth

Mind!

TEETH!

MIND!I broke something

Could I? Please?

-----------

After a night spent dreaming. I broke the back of my depression

Was it your dreams?

It was something inside the dream

A detail?

No. It was something missing, inside the dream

What could be powerful enough-- though missing--

Oh, that's the point

What

It was missing

(Pause)

It sounds to me like you haven't broken the bsack of your depression

(Opens cabinet)

Look what's missing

I have no idea

Well, what was supposed to be here

I have no way of knowing

And how does that make you feel

Oh--

What

--There's a gap in my expectation

Do you mean expectation or anticipation

I just resisted an impulse to go to one of those drawers, select some object, and place it on the shelf

You resisted the impulse

Yes

Was it a powerful one

It wasn't a powerful impulse

What's missing from this picture

(Pause)

What did you dream of last night

I have no recollection

I bet it has a considerable and profound effect

Ah, you noticed

What did YOU notice

Nothing

Don't you have cavity eyes?

Ah, yes--

Which of the available walls do they glue onto?

My eyes?

Yes

Ah, my eyes

I always wanted to invite you to dance

Please do

I mean-- ask.

Invite me

Ah-- you don't care which word I use

But I always use the appropriate word

What did you leave out of your last sentence

That's what I left out

What

My last sentence

I don't believe you

You don't believe my "ah"

You were trying to remind me of my last sentence

(enter with box)

Let's see what's in this box

(Hat on)

Something's missing

What

What's missing from this picture

What

(Replaces hat. Mirror)

Ah, that's better

Why is it better

I like it better

What was missing before when you didn't like it better

I didn't know about this one

Right. Now I know what was missing. --No. Wait a minute. Something's missing

(Back hat 1)

I don't know which I like better

What's missing

I don't think it has anything to do with hats

Maybe it has something to do with heads

Well, if it did

--Yes?

--It would have something to do with hats. Don't you agree?

I reserve judgement

I don't think so--

Oh? You picked up a revelatory quiver?

Yes. But maybe I glanced toward the mirror

At the exact moment of the quiver

Maybe

Look again

There's no mirror

Look again

(Pause)

It's missing

Well, that's no great loss since everything that was here is still here and all a mirror could possibly do is repeat what's already here and even that's just a trick.

Optics--

Yes

Except the one thing I can't see is myself

Are you sure?

Ah, you mean I can't see anything slse in a sense

What sense

It's missing

Oh I think this is perfeclt sensible

(Out big bunny)

I didn't mean that

Does this do anything for you?

I don't think so

Look again

At what

That's not a relevent option

Ah, I just looked again

Saw?

Nothing special

So?

I was able to erase my thoughts for a fraction of a second

What's missing

Nothing

Look again

No thank you

Why not

I don't want to put that kind of a hole in the center of my life

Ah, I just saw it

What

That rabbit you've been carrying

But I've already been holding it

I just saw it

(Pause)

Ah. Me too

(Pause)

I just saw itAh, when I say a rabbit-- that takes considerable intelligence on my part

Well-- if you cal;l those things we hold in common intelligence

I do. Exclusively

Ah--

Did you ever try-- using a focused beam of light, to cast a shadow, using your hands only but manipulating them in such a way that the shadow cast is the shadow of a rabbit?

This isn't working. There's nothing but light

You haven't put your hands into it

(Face in)

Ah, you see? This is no recognizable rabbit

(Pause)

What's wrong

What's missing fromn this picture?

Well-- it could be thought of as a picture

Ah, when that's said, a multiplicity of other possiblities close down for the night.Ah, I'm disappearing

Here is, really, a going to sleepDon't drop the belief system

Why

Why not

I have to admit, I fell, totally disoriented

Why is that

I don't knowWhat do I find attractive about you. What pleases me most, when I regard your, oh, so very --considerable

Please--

Suppose I wanted to re-orient my life completely

You shouldn''t say completely

It's impossible?

You should say, just a little bit. I mean-- suppose I wanted to re-orient my life

Scratch that out

No probelm. I already haveIsn't this the bowl I thought it was

It's this one that's empty

No, I mean, it has characteristics I never imagined

Ah well, you could say that about anything

Let's not get personal

That's the flip side of the coin

Thanks for helping

I thought you said let's not get personal

(Pause)

I'll just, put this back where it was

But you'll think of it differently from now on

This bowl

. . .Yes.

(Put back, as other opens-- 2nd with fruit, taken and exits by other)

Humm. What I can remember saying is-- let's not get personal

Oh, here's what you left out. Here's what you didn't consider

Stop looking at me

I hardly can

Ah, I have a simple solution. Turn your head to the left and let your eyes follow the trajectory most perpendicular to the skull. No, I mean, to the frontal plane of the face.

You'retalking nonsense

Am?

I plead guilty..