February 13, 2003

• HERE’S MY PLAY! NOT DONE YET BUT I’M WORKING ON IT!!!! Remember it is based on my actual experiences.

  
  

  “Thrice Broken, Once Betrayed.”

  
  

  CAST:

  
  

  Jonathan: Young man who is the son of a respected politician in the local lands. He is very polite, chivalrous, and the people in town believe he will grow to be a great man some day. Alas, the one thing he wants in life eludes him: love. Every woman he falls for breaks his heart. In public he is a happy kind young man, in private he is a sad spirit, often writing his thoughts down on paper. He is very smart and often helps William with his schoolwork.

  
  

  William: Jonathan’s best friend. His father runs the market in town and is often very busy. He is polite when it suits him, but he likes to pull pranks and get into mischief. He flirts with all the ladies, but appears to have a good and moral heart much like Jonathan. He is very handsome and athletic and fairly intelligent.

  
  

  Josephine: A modest looking servant girl that works on the land owned by the local lord. She is Jonathan’s first love, but she bluntly refuses him when he professes his true feelings to her. Josephine is very clever but never went to school. She is a hard worker.

  
  

  Maggie: Very religious, kind, beautiful and quiet. Jonathan’s second love but she refuses him on the basis that soon she will be off to a convent to give her life to God. She later becomes engaged to a former suitor and leaves with him to a town far away, never going to a convent.

  
  

  Kate: Jonathan’s third love, kind of. She lives in the forest and is somewhat of a sorceress, she knows a few tricks and spells her mother taught her when she was little. She does not believe in God, but she is very kind and pretty. Jonathan warns her early that feelings are stirring inside him, and she politely tells him no, and due to that gentle honesty they remain friends.

  
  

  Elise: A beautiful young servant girl often seen in the background. She goes about her daily tasks without anyone noticing her, but she always seems happy. She often sings beautifully to herself. Jonathan’s final love before his death.

  
  

  Matthew: A young man studying to be a friar. Very large and often teased about it by the children playing in town. He pays them no mind, just continues reading his Bible happily. He and Jonathan become good friends. Very optimistic.

  
  

  SETTING: Early 1700s in a small European town. The main set should be a marketplace/town square. Additional sets may include a church interior, a forest, and a small grassy bank with the edge of the stage being a stream.

  
  

  ACT ONE

  
  

  Scene 1

  
  

  Narrator: Ah! How glorious were the days of yore!

  
  

  When men courted a lady, tipped their hat,

  
  

  When the sword was still born with dignity

  
  

  And skill, when battle was a gentleman’s

  
  

  Art. Happiness would seem prevalent, yes?

  
  

  Nay, for I shall tell thee all a tale of

  
  

  Such sadness all your troubles will seem

  
  

  To be nothing but worms upon which you

  
  

  May step upon and therefore rid of them

  
  

  Forever. Listen well.

  
  

  Open curtain to show square. Many people are walking through on their way home. There is much laughter and gaiety as a great joust had just concluded, as hinted by the gestures and words of the remaining two people as the throng passes on: Jonathan and William.

  
  

  William: Did thine eyes view the sure and swift steed of

  
  

  Sir Drayson as he rode to knock the hind

  
  

  End of Sir Leon to the muddy earth?

  
  

  (They laugh.)

  
  

  Jonathan: Aye! I did view the mighty fall! Didst thou

  
  

  See the fair lady waving to thee from

  
  

  Her perch within the seats of nobility?

  
  

  William: Fair lady? Nay, I saw her not! Why not

  
  

  Did thee warn me of this phantom angel?

  
  

  Pray tell or I shalt cut out your lying tongue!

  
  

  Jonathan: I did not warn thee. . .

  
  

  William: Yes? Tell friend, tell now!

  
  

  Jonathan: I told thee not for the woman bore a

  
  

  Striking resemblance to thine own mother!

  
  

  William: But my mother was present there with the

  
  

  Local sheriff, Sir Gyer. . . halt! Thine tongue

  
  

  Speaks in a jester’s language, as if I

  
  

  Were a fool! Aha, you have indeed struck

  
  

  With a humorous blade my dearest friend!

  
  

  (They laugh again.)

  
  

  Jonathan: So, how shall two young men find their way home

  
  

  This late in the sleep of the sky? For ‘tis

  
  

  A considerable distance to tread

  
  

  ‘neath the grin of the wise man above us.

  
  

  William: Fear not my friend, for behold! Mine ears hear

  
  

  The clatter of hooves and the noisy roll

  
  

  Of wooden wheel upon cobblestone!

  
  

  Jonathan: Ahoy there! Sire!

  
  

  William: Or pray thee woman!

  
  

  Jonathan: Wouldst thou grant two poor men a ride tonight?

  
  

  A simple cart arrives with Josephine upon it. She stops near them, looking at them with a large grin on her face.

  
  

  Josephine: William? Could that be the prankster youth

  
  

  I have known and still know despite many

  
  

  A bump of the brain and erasure by drink?

  
  

  (William is strangely silent. Jonathan looks at him curiously.)

  
  

  Jonathan: Madam, may I ask thee of what crime my

  
  

  Friend William has committed ‘gainst thee?

  
  

  Josephine: Would thee consider the burning of braid

  
  

  In candle flame a crime when the twisted

  
  

  Locks are possessed by thine own precious head?

  
  

  Jonathan: (looking at Will accusingly) Be these severe allegations of truth?

  
  

  William: Aye, of truth these past actions are a part.

  
  

  Jonathan: What say you to this lady now, my friend?

  
  

  William: (bowing to Josephine) Milady, your servant humbly asks of

  
  

  Thee thine forgiveness for acts performéd

  
  

  By a child that did depart years gone.

  
  

  Josephine: (she thinks for a time.) Very well, thou art forgiven young sir.

  
  

  Climb aboard you two!

  
  

  Jonathan: Thank you milady!

  
  

  William: Aye! Thank you! ‘Tis a very kind gesture!

  
  

  The two young men board the cart, William first. Jon pauses on the step to ask a question.

  
  

  Jonathan: Dost thee wish for payment? A penny I

  
  

  May have if my friend did not eat the thing.

  
  

  Josephine: ‘twould delight me, but pay I do not need.

  
  

  Jon checks his pockets, and then his purse. All are empty.

  
  

  Jonathan: Milady, I am afraid the only

  
  

  Gold you shall soon see shall be at the rise

  
  

  Of sun in the morn. . . hold! A coin I spy!

  
  

  Jon bends down to pick up a coin from the ground.

  
  

  Josephine: What luck! God has surely smiled upon me this

  
  

  Fine night! A coin in my pocket and two

  
  

  Young handsome men in my little old cart!

  
  

  They drive off.

  • 1:21 am
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