madagascar

MADAGASCAR

MADAGASCAR

by J.T. Ro gers 1M, 2W (doubling) MADAGAS CAR is rhe haunring story of a mysreri olls dis:'I ' I'(':II.II'" .I,,, , I. 1; '1 lives forever. At three differenr periods in timc, three f\ lll n il·:III.' lillol .I " '01 , I , ,I, the same hotel room ove rlooking the Spanish StCj)S in IZolIH': Ill'"'' .1 I' " , OI 'J " " 1,1 works as a to ur guid e of the city's ancienr ruins; l.ili :I " , 1,,'1' ",,·.oIrl l\· ,111,1 . 10 '1' " il I' I mothcr; al,,1 Nathan, a rUIllI)krl u"ivn.siry l'\"""",i.q :",,1 ,111'10,·''[ I" , 01.1 ,d I dloo , deceased hush;I)1r1 . They e:ll), reil rllt'ir illriiviri,,:oI.'IlIl,), 011,ee, the bedrock principle of micro theory is that WII"1 1 ), "11 ~ 1.1l1 with competitive exchange between individuals \\' ,11, w(,]1 dvlilll'li preference orderings, you can prove there exists 11 1'.II l'l li ,Jlk icilt . .. (The Female Passenger begins to snore. After a /lIdl , Mlllillil back to us.) Happens every time. I don't have the iI,Ji Il ), III ,1I'lint!are the - to find the words when I need them "" 1'. 1 I [ It ' (.' I ,1,; lip, I just - (As if to he]; with gravitas.) Whatever 1'1 " Idt· till, t/J(':Y have a very good reason to do so. What is done­ \\ L,II ~ \'l' l' :Ict ion is done - is for a reason. Woven together, these ", 1111 '1/· l l't': ilc :1 pattern. As a micro theorist, ie's my job to figure out ,., /... 1 tl ld l p;lllern means. 1;11\1/\1 E I'/\SSENGER. (Sexily.) Wow. (They stare longingly at ~" '; I, 1iI11I'" ... I(.JIlil he turns ftom his fantasy" and speaks to us.) ~iA I11 /\N . Why the hell couldn't I have just said that! I'm play­ 1I11~ 1111 " ,'VI,; ! in my head the rest of the flight, taxi to the hotel, I I,! , I i I'I', 111 People do things. Mathematical models, utility func­ 1" 'il ', "I ( '~C: :-I re jllst tools to get to the hidden answers underneath. .1 11,,1 ,II wide world. People do things here on God's green earth ,I, II , "" slII'f:lCe, make no sense. You pay four dollars for a cup " I I ' JlI, i . )' 011 vote for Democrats, you take a bottle of sleeping ".I I Wllv do yOlI do this? (Beat') I need to know why you do this. :\ 1\,1 ~ illillg on that plane, from the moment I opened my 11"""1 .\lld sJ;lrted failing, once again, to explain all this ... I could I" I 1,'"1. As if Arthur was still alive, sitting next to me. His voice 1,-( ''' 1' 1''''. saying what he always said: "You're not seeing the pat­ I ~ III. N,II h.llI. Don't let the details of reality blind you to the truth ."

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(As Nathan crosses to us, we fleetingly see the words: THE PRESENT) NATHAN. On the flight over here last night, and this you'll find interesting, I had one of those ... I'm not sure how you describe it,

I II I/\N. When my visit here is over, I fly straight back to my lake /111" ',1' i l l Switzerland. Town outside Geneva where I spend two " " 'II" I ~ every summer, like clockwork. Tiny lake, mountain air, ·,hlll!l,kd l:ortage: poetry. Ever since Arthur's death, I ... To know

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there is a cottage, nestled in the mountains, waiting for me. That I shall be able to swim alone in that lake, shedding my cares stroke by stroke. The security of that gives me such comfort. This is what I have always told my son: (As if to him.) "Without comfort, dear, what hope do you have for happiness? My darling, we must be safe to be happy. We are here to be happy." My son's plane arrives this morning ... (Checks her watch.) at any moment. In his letter, in that small, precise script of his, he was very clear about what time we should meet here. My son has always written me. Letters, postcards, clippings about things that dovetail with my interests. Always with notes from him in the margins. Elliptical riddles for me to unwind. This has been our little game - just we two - for years. Today I've reserved him his own room. After all, he's not a boy anymore. And we both have very clear ideas about how one arranges toiletries. One of the things I did not foresee about being so rigidly opinionated is what happens when you pass this trait on. My son is my favorite. I know we're not supposed to have favorites, but all parents do. Whatever we tell others, or ourselves, we all do. And when I see the passion he has for ... (She sweeps her arm out toward us.) all of this. To have worked so hard, and to see that spark catch. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. Every time. Gideon. (SLowly savoring the words.) Gideon Doyle. (Then, dis­ tastefuLly.) Gideon PauL Doyle. The Paul part still irritates me. "Paul," as in "small," as in, not any child of mine. But all the men in Arthur's family have that as their middle name. Some things, you discover in life, cannot be changed. Gideon was my choice. I want­ ed something Old Testament-like, almost musty. Ahab was in the running for a while, but the whaling motif sunk it in the end. Something permanent. That's what I was after. Implacable as stone. I can't remember how or where it came to me, but when I looked it up, "Gideon," it said. "Feller of trees." And I thought: "Yes, he will. Clear forests , empty fields. And I shall be so proud."

1IIII il illl" ,\ ;I ~k of Rome.

M 1\ I ,E '1'( ) t JR IST (Staring intently at them.) Where are their heads?

1\ ' N ,,~, II hu rned in honor of the goddess Vesta, and was tended

I, >, til t: Vl'\ I;J! Virgins,

MA l I' 'I'< )l miST (As if taLking to his companion.) Why the heck

,1. 11,1'1 IIII' Y II:Ive heads?

I' I, tvl i\ l. l ~ . I'( ) URIST. (Exasperated.) Would you let her talk!

IL JN I' 1'Iu'n: '!j always some older woman fascinated by this next

I hil l.

I' I' MA I I" TOlJ RIST. You never let people talk!

~ 1/\ I I I'()I J I( 1ST. Virgins should have heads: That's all I'm saying!

II Jl II :" 11 \ 1I11\:anny how much she always reminds me of my

1111 1" II I ,

Il / tvl l\ ll ~ T( HJRIST. (To June.) You were saying?

lilt II '" 1\ 111 vv.:r since I moved here three years ago, every woman

11\' " , j ! \ Il.l ill agt' reminds me of Lily.

11·f\ iA! I' ' IO U IUST. Go on, dear.

li lt II '" (/ 1\ i{she is speaking to her tour.) To be a vestal was the

V' ,I , ," l!CillOI' a woman could attain, They were selected when ill ' \ IVt II ' lill k girls, their lives dedicated to this one sacred task. II" \ \W I ~' glorii"led. Just their touch would spare a condemned III '" illlill ,fe:tt h. The key, of course, was keeping up the virgin 1' 11 1 If I'IIll didn't, you were killed in a very interesting way. I 1 1\ 1,\ I I, ,i lid M ALE TO URIST. (Together.) Really! , Ij r II ~ (1i/1 rA- to us.) Everyone's with me at this point. Virgins and oI i:~i! d, ;11 "' ,dw:I)'s a winning combination. The girl was lead through II" ,II " I.. , wlli cb were lined with people, silently staring. The only " ' ''', I W:I'. IItr wheels of the horse-drawn cart on the cobblestones. .1" \II I',. W()llIld through the city, out the gates, taken to a cave, I'~\c~ II d III ,d' "I' soda bread and a lit candle. Then she was sealed '" ;,1. \'(/ I'l' lI th e bread was eaten, she had a choice: keep the dark­ III II 1, ,), blll have the oxygen quickly burn away or sit longer in ill' 1.1 1 1 1 11I ~s ~ :lnJ contemplate her crime. 1 1\ 11\1 I' .llld MALE TOURIST. (Together. Quietly.) ... That poor

JUNE. I thought about Paul all through today's tour. Especially

when we ended at the Temple of Vesta.

MALE TOURIST. (A Little too eager.) So where are the virgins?

JUNE. Everyone wants to see it. They've all heard the stories.

MALE TOURIST. Are those them? The statues?

JUNE. The temple had a flame that burned through the centuries

I I r ~ I ' I( ,d:l)', after we shook hands and they all started to drift "' . I , II was like I became rooted in front of the statues. I , ~ I /\I I '~ TOURIST. How frightened she must have been , 1\ I N I'" What did they do? That's what Paul and I always asked each " I h il i I ~vl'l')' ti me we stood in front of them. Did they claw their 11,111,1 .. ,IWliIIS( the stones, until their fingers ... or did they, alone in

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the dark ... did they welcome it. Because if they were honest . .. pard" 11111',1, 1,1:, 11:1 ir. of them must have wanted to be punished. 1\111 i I appelrs that in my long absence from here, the MALE TOURIST. (Very gently.) Someone should have helped heI V"I I" Jill" I.I.IV(' descended. Now on the Steps, all the young people JUNE. To be absolved of their crime. III ":,,,,11,·.\ .111l1 IIllwashed and look like they desperately need a FEMALE T~U~ST. Someone should have tried. 1,,11,, 1 1111 ' ;'\ . I li/ld this mystifying. These are the .c~ildren of wealth JUNE. Punficauon. Then release. 111.1 l illVi k~L" Who else but the wealthy and privileged can afford III II) II\' '''~ Yt' l h(.'I\; they are, trying desperately to pretend they are NATHAN. In my line of work, it's the hidden connection·' lit.' I ,t1I ~' I . " l ' lli~, I his obsession now in the young to - where does between actions that fascinate. "We traffic in secrets," AnhUl! I 111 111 , II "III ~ fhat you must suffer. That denial and deprivation would say. "Untanglin.g ~ysteries. Step by s~ep." For example, om '0\ , wl,.'1 I'.I V\ lilt' /llCaning. . moment you can be SItung at your desk edlt1ng a speech, prepar II ,11.1 )' I W('le diseased! If only I were starvtng! If only I were ing for the most important conference of your career. The phon( I 11 1111 11\ VII 11111 wilh a hacked off limb! Then I'd really be some­ rings, and, suddenly, you rush to the airport, board a plane, and "I" I" I I,IW ,1 t'~ 1 ructive! Foolish! We are here for comfort! then you find yourself on the other side of the world in an empt) hotel room ... (He looks around the room.) Doing nothing. Peoplt 111) 11' " " ',~I W(' .. I 11>1 1'11 lIul Irlle, Mother." have spent entire careers trying to uncover the connections to something like that. I 01, I, \III w(llIkl say this, whenever I rose up on my high horse. I'd forgotten that this city is so convoluted. Walking over hen I ~ '" ", ,I hllY. this morning, I got totally lost. And my hotel's just a few blocks • W, ,I n.: here for other things ." (As if to him.) "Like what, from the Spanish Steps, for God's sake. How do people live here?d, II ' ( /;J /II.) I would test him. Try and get him to learn how to It makes you realize, a grid is a beautiful thing. 111 "1,1.111 Ii i" !,lIilll. ( [0 him.) "Then exactly what are we here for?" I ,ikl' ,.. I know, no matter how many times you come here, you're supposed to be moved. Strolling through the Forum) the "'h( " Coliseum: Oh, the antiquity! Oh, the humanity! Woo-hoo! Yes, !i l iltl .. ' " IICC' 1111 . " well, there was a time when I found this city ... (Searchingfor the right word.) magnificent. This room ... it looked so different back L,illl' , .. " then . .. it was the most important place in the world to me. (He /.11 /11(', " points out over our heads.) But being here again, today, after so ( /" 1/ 1 , ) ( )1' course he never could. I mean, at that age - but many years .. . standing out on that balcony: All I see is ruins. Then 111 , \ I,, ',I II y. Furrow-browed, chopping the air with hi~ hands. In again, I never came here for the architecture. (Again, he slowly looks ,I"" 1111011 11 ' 111.0, _ it was there, flashing in his eyes - hiS most fer­ around.) I never wanted to come here again. ~ " " IH.I, : ,,, "rove me wrong. Pull me down from my pedestal. I Vf' l \ I" III' i'l Ii is little body, wanting it so badly. - 11111 tl WlI, yOll see, I remember - so clearly - I would kiss LILIAN, I had been so looking forward to the quiet of these cobbled streets. Gideon and I used to go shopping, down there, in the 101 I II I. I, ,11111 WI: would go co the Trevi Fountain; eat gelato, throw boutiques around the Spanish Steps. For a mother to have a son I ' " II I , III' I we wl..:re. Happy. who likes to go shopping is as close to heaven as most of us get. Even among the young and elegant all around us, he was head- 11 '1 II , 11.-1111'(' I..:;tch tour I have coffee and read th~ paper h~re in turningly beautiful. Gray flannel trousers and a blue blazer, every- I" \ 1111111 \ . SIIIII I..: One leaves them outside my door WI th the mat!, on where. Very Brooks Brothers. Very fifteen going on forty, and d",,, I ,Il l' (" \ ';lsiOIlS when I have mail. Coffee, paper, tour: I do the where's my pipe. (Remembering.) No! Not even fifteen. Still with " '''i ' tllIlI)', evl..:l'y day, The structure gives me somethin~ to ~ink my peach fuzz. Young enough to let me touch him and run my fingers II \ 11, 111111. Ii's important in life to always have somethmg 111 front

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of you that you can focus on and move toward. "Look at your",,·, 1'1'1' 11 ' \ I'()IIIl~' when he published that first anicle. My coO[ri­ feet," thar's one of my rules. "Go forward, keep your eyes in frontl" IIIPIl\ I iI' l' lidd h :.lVC been a bit more unimpactful. In the hard of you, and don't ... look ... back. " That's the key. Because when ,I I ' III II" I" III I'ave a limited window. When you're young is when you do ... for me ... it's like there's a mountain. Looming. And 1\11 11 I,.,V! I.. IIl.lk(' your mark. Contribute something of your own stand like a statue, frozen in the shadow of it. (She points to a blue, I" 11 01, 111 l' '" i II, I 1