scene1: the stage is set to resemble a park.the background shows a setting sun highlighting dusk.the stage is covered with plants and the sound of flowing water is heard.towards the corner a man is seen sitting on a park bench. a slow melancholy plays in the background. the man sits facing the backdrop looking at the skies with his arms stretched wide on the bench.
man: you must be wondering what i'm doing.It's almost night and here i am starring into the darkness. i know that i cant see anything and i must be mad to sit here amidst all these mosquitoes and insects..but i'm here for a purpose...i come here everyday, same time, same bench. all i do is sit here and stare into the darkness trying hard and hoping someday that this darkness would vanish and i can see rite through it..you must think i'm mad..but you all will realize that you're doing the same...(here the stage light dims and focuses center stage)(a group of friends are seen walking together and having fun)
It all started one fine day..i was lying down staring into the night sky.i love the starry sky..it often reminds me how small we were compared to outer space...
i lay down on the wet grass staring into wilderness thinking how bizarre the world is. how people fight for petty issues, how every country is in war, how global warming has reached a new level, and most importantly how implants seem to have become the latest trend..yes this is the world today..
while i gazed into the sky debating how pamela anderson had revolutionized the world with just a pair of breasts.. a thought came across me..what am i doing with my life?..what is my purpose here?..now this thought ladies and gentlemen lit a spark in me. a spark that didn't seem to pass..a spark that seemed eternal.
(the stage lights dim and focus center stage.)
(a boy is seen reading a text)
boy:(reading out loud and walking up and down) "even this shall pass away"..funny this text..it says everything in life will pass away..depression, sorrow, happiness, joy, anger, even my youth!Everything!..wonder how jobless this poet was.!retard! why cant he just get out and enjoy life?!..god! people and their joblessness! and here i am stuck with this text! it's because of people like him that we're forced to study and vomit in our exams..how on earth is this poem ever going to be of any use to me?!..i hope this text passes away!
(the lights dim and come back on stage.This time an older man is seen on one corner of the stage. And on the other end a group of friends)
(man is under dimmer lights)
man: these are my friends..i've known this guy i the blue shirt for 3 years now. he's just like me.easy going, fun loving and most importantly care free in life. come what may and we're the same..no hard feelings. we hang out 24-7. we drink together smoke together..to sum it all- we enjoyed life together....."Pleasure comes but not to stay;"
*dim lights*
(the stage is now set to resemble a road accident)
man:(screaming) DUDE! DUDE!! WAKE UP!..WHAT THE FUCK! WAKE UP MAN!..WAKE UP..
Man: i can't recall clearly what happened that day..it was all very vague..people pulling us off the road..the smell of blood everywhere..the nauseating hospital smell..and all our friends staring at me with agony and pain in their eyes..a wailing mother and a grief struck father standing in front of us..the most dreaded day of my life..i would never want that day to come..and never had i thought that things would end this way..i got up from my bed and limped towards the room crowded with people..lying there in the center was my friend..his head covered in blood with his eyes shut..lying there motionless..dead."Life is done, but what is death?" i could not bring myself to look at him..to look at my best friend who was always there for me and promised to face all of life along with me..i sat there in the corner cursing god..why god..why take away my friend and not me..every minute seemed like an hour..the worst and the longest day of my life.."Pain is hard to bear,"
..(music plays)(lights dim)
(the lights are focused on the center stage)
man:yes! finally! i'm one of the few people who made it! ecstatic over my accomplishment i was jumping in air and punching through the air! this is the most proudest moment of my life i thought! i was living a dream..the thing i wanted the most had finally happened! i made it to the top 7 out of 14500 students in my college..i was in heaven i thought..for the following three months i was one of the most important persons in college.. i could get anything in college..everyone looked up to us seven..we were the kings and any decision had to be taken by us..and finally it had to end..we had to give way to our future successors..dam does this have to end i thought..but what the hell all good this come to an end right..?..Fame is but a slow decay
(dim lights)
( the stage is set to resemble a park.the background shows a setting sun highlighting dusk.the stage is covered with plants and the sound of flowing water is heard.towards the corner a man is seen sitting on a park bench. a slow melancholy plays in the background. the man sits facing the backdrop looking at the skies with his arms stretched wide on the bench.)
man: i come here everyday, same time, same bench. all i do is sit here and stare into the darkness trying hard and hoping someday that this darkness would vanish and i can see rite through it.. i might not have witnessed much in life..but in a strange way i feel that this is only the beginning..so here i am staring into the night..hoping one day that i can see through the darkness and know what lies for me in the future..i've hit a new low in life..unclear of what life has in store for me..but i'm here to stay and face life..i recall to myself... one day even this shall pass away...
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Even This Shall Pass Away
Once in Persia reigned a King
Who upon his signet ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before the eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance,
Fit for every change and chance.
Solemn words, and these are they:
"Even this shall pass away."
Trains of camels through the sand
Brought his gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to match with these.
But he counted not his gain
Treasures of the mine or main;
"What is wealth?" the king would say;
"Even this shall pass away."
In the revels of his court
At the zenith of the sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests;
He amid his figs and wine,
Cried: "Oh loving friends of mine!"
"Pleasure comes but not to stay;"
"Even this shall pass away."
lady fairest ever seen,
was the woman he crowned his queen,
pillowed on his marriage bed,
softly to his soul he said,
though no bridegroom ever pressed,
fairer bosom to his breast,
mortal flesh must come to clay,
even this shall pass away!
Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield;
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent;
Groaning from his tortured side,
"Pain is hard to bear," he cried,
"But with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away."
Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue, carved in stone,
Then, the king, disguised, unknown,
Stood before his sculptured name
Musing meekly, "What is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay
Even this shall pass away."
Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Waiting at the gates of gold,
Said he with his dying breath;
"Life is done, but what is death?"
Then, in answer to the King,
Fell a sunbeam on his ring,
Showing by a heavenly ray,
"Even this shall pass away."
--- Theodore Tilton
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