PASSION PLAY: GRAY HAI The cast consists of players who play dual roles. Cast: DEATH/REBIRTH as DEATH: raggedy black cloak, bald wig with a black cloth wig/hood, black cloth booties over shoes. as REBIRTH: silvery gown, long hair, shiny shoes. YOUTH/WISDOM as YOUTH: mini-dress, false eyelashes, full swingy hair. Bottle of bubbles, blower. as WISDOM: white graduation cap and gown, diploma rolled FEAR/WOMAN as FEAR: gray full length, long sleeved hooded garment with braid fringe all over as WOMAN: multicolored catsuit, multicolored garment without sleeves or hood worn open down the front. Hand mirror, handkerchief. DISMAY/HARMONY as DISMAY: gray catsuit, black skull cap as HARMONY: Sheer full length gown with wired hem that moves on its own, long hair. Small book marked "POEMS". BEAUTY plain white muslin gown. Handled masks to be held over the face when the character is not speaking, bouquet of daisies (BEAUTY is the only character that plays a single role. The others are first seen in the first costume description, under which is the secondary costume, and which will be discarded at the proper moment. The masks worn by BEAUTY could be made by pagan children as part of a coven project.) Curtain: Several trees are on-stage, either cardboard stands or potted silk trees with the pots covered by a "grass carpet" are acceptable, to suggest a forest, on one side of the stage. A park-style bench near center stage. (DEATH and YOUTH are on-stage. DEATH is sitting on a bench and YOUTH is prancing about, gleefully.) (Offstage, a scream.) (YOUTH stops moving, looks startled toward the sound of the scream. DEATH ignores the sound. FEAR runs on-stage, weeping, carrying a hand mirror and a handkerchief. She looks into a mirror, standing a moment in front of the bench, cries out again and collapses on the bench.) YOUTH What the heck is going on? What is wrong? FEAR I feared something like this all along! (She cries again) (Enter DISMAY, yawning and stretching) DISMAY I'm exhausted! She's been carrying on all night! YOUTH If you ask me, it's pretty damned impolite. (FEAR bends over to show DEATH the top of her head) DEATH What is it... what am I supposed to see? (FEAR lifts a hair or two to demonstrate) (DEATH continues, mocking concern) A silvery hair? Oh, my! Can it really be? (FEAR glares at DEATH, groans and continues to weep. DISMAY holds her head against the sound. YOUTH peers at FEAR's head, trying to see the gray hair.) DISMAY I was with her when she saw it first. That's when it started, this mournful outburst. YOUTH Oh, I see it now, the sparkle catches my eye. (BEAUTY enters, giving each character a few flowers) Whew! it's blinding! You know, it kind of looks moldy. Well, it's official now. You're an oldie! (DEATH rises from the bench, giggling at YOUTH's comments.) DEATH A silvery hair - that's what it's all about. What nonsense. It's hardly worth a pout. FEAR You don't understand. It's only the FIRST! There's bound to be more. My youth and beauty are cursed. Nature tries to rob my youth, Painting white my future truth. BEAUTY But Nature is an artist, you know, And the artist plans a new tableau. DISMAY How can that be? Only gray has shown. BEAUTY Within you are all the hues, full-blown. (BEAUTY hands FEAR the rest of the flowers. DEATH proceeds to stand behind the bench.) DEATH Everyone gets old, gray hair is only a sign A symptom inevitable of youth's decline (DEATH reaches down to embrace FEAR from behind) I can set you free from your fears And soothe you when vanity appears. YOUTH Color it, cover it up, get rid of it Youth-in-a-bottle! Scientific benefit! (plucking petals from her flowers) DISMAY Oh, yeah! There's an answer all right. An elderly woman with hair blue-bright! (FEAR glances up at the word "elderly" and pulls away from DISMAY) DEATH My dear, gray hair? Have not a care of them. Just pluck them out, their lives condemn (removes her cloth wig to show a bald pate, then replaces the cloth wig.) Give them up to lovely death (preening) I'll hold them with my frosty breath (she approaches FEAR with fingers poised, as if to pluck. FEAR pulls away) YOUTH (throws the plucked petals over her head) As long as she does SOMETHING, what difference does it make? Pretty isn't a crime, for goodness' sake. BEAUTY But beauty doesn't begin or end on top of the head It comes from within, as I've often said Wisdom's touched you, changed you of late Given you new growth to illuminate The place she touched is marked with silver So all can see where you received her Wisdom's kisses leave behind a silver strand Her loving touch, a wrinkly may remand (FEAR looks horrified, touches her face and looks into her mirror again) YOUTH Are you sure there's only one gray hair? Let me see Maybe there's more; there might be two or even three. (FEAR puts up a hand to stop YOUTH's approach.) FEAR I'm too young to be this old! It's just too soon to put me out in the cold! I brush my hair one hundred strokes each day I thought good care would keep old age away DEATH Twenty-five is good. One hundred strokes can be dangerous; Your hair could fall out. I'm really serious! (Again removes her cloth wig, permanently this time) FEAR There WAS a lot of loose hair on my brush... Oh, what have I done? My hair used to be so lush! What if it all falls out and I'm left... bald? DEATH (smoothing her bald head) Well, I, for one, would be appalled! You're only half attractive now, Without hair I don't see how... (voice trails off, she turns away, chuckling) YOUTH (playing hopscotch) You... could have a... hair... transplant DISMAY Oh, THAT would be a sight, I'll grant. DEATH (laughing and teasing) Wait! Is that a wrinkle on your face? (FEAR moves threateningly toward DEATH, who is unconcerned) FEAR I think you'd better find yourself a hiding place! Wrinkles, crow's feet, what could be next? YOUTH (aside) Much more of this, and I'll be sorely vexed! DEATH (counting on her fingers) Well, there's liver spots and cataracts Dentures and polyester slacks Memory loss and menopause... FEAR (sits heavily on the bench) I guess I'll never be again the way I was YOUTH (blowing bubbles) You could live by candlelight from now on Wrinkles don't show as well, by Oberon. FEAR I'll never laugh again, for laughing draws new wrinkles BEAUTY Ah, but those are signs of wisdom, enlightened sprinkles. DEATH Teeth fall out, hair goes gray Yet you cling all the way To a silly hope that time stands still and death (preening) will someone else fulfill You mayn't dictate your desires to time For age will find you in your prime FEAR (ignoring DEATH) I used to be the loveliest around They said no match for my beauty could be found I used to be a magnet for all the boys I used to be a beautiful source of joys (YOUTH looks incredulous) Everyone said my beauty was forever, That it would never fade... NEVER! I should have been more thrifty with it I should have known. I must admit, I never thought it would come to this. BEAUTY But, dear one, this is metamorphosis! Don't cling to things, to looks, or even goods Don't settle for the used-to-bes and shoulds DEATH Oh, turn her bed to face the setting sun Let her hear the strains of her final orison YOUTH (practicing a model's walk and turn) You know, wine IMPROVES with age. FEAR (exasperated) I'M NOT WINE! This is an outrage! YOUTH Oh, I'm so sorry, indeed I am, yes Ma'am! FEAR (rising with indignation) MA'AM!! How old do I look? (glares at YOUTH to prevent her answer, then speaks to the others) She calls me Ma'am! (moans and drops again onto the bench) That took another ten years off me (fans herself with the mirror) What's happening here is purest cruelty My life is ending, now I'll be unwanted All my lonely nights will be haunted I'm no longer sprightly feminine I'm a shadow, an old has-been (collapses in tears, dropping the mirror) YOUTH (takes up the mirror and begins to play with her hair) Oh, have a face lift, shave your mustache Anything can be fixed if you've got the cash Take a hormone, have a crystal massage Relax a little! Don't have a hemorrhage! DISMAY You're not being very considerate, my dear This woman's having a crisis over here! Have some compassion, it could happen to you YOUTH Not me! I won't get old, I don't want to! Say, why don't you write your memoirs... to give you ease? FEAR STOP IT! I'm too young to have memories! (YOUTH begins to dance about the stage. DEATH begins to show signs of weakness, beginning to slouch, voice not as strident, tone not as sarcastic) DEATH But aging isn't the end of a thing It's a gateway, a blessed lifespring And now, I reach the purpose for my life The end of it; I face it without strive For comes the tranquil land of twilight The darkness greets me, bids me have no fright And I continue past this simple lifetime Into the next, where beauty is sublime Come into the night along with me Unless you fear its secret, shadowy... (voice trails off and she dies in a heap on the floor) FEAR I love the stars too much to be fearful of night For they offer me comfort, treasure and light (FEAR crosses the stage to go to DEATH, passing YOUTH, who grants passage with a sweep of her hand) YOUTH Age before beauty, that's what I always say! (FEAR tries to swing at YOUTH, who ducks and laughs as if it's a game. YOUTH gets close to the body during this exchange, sees it, and is visibly shaken) BEAUTY Ah, but beauty's on the rise, clear the way! (BEAUTY now assists DEATH's conversion) DISMAY (to audience) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder Instead of older, I think she's getting bolder (YOUTH tries to continue to dance, but her heart doesn't seem to be in it any more) FEAR I am closer to my ending than my beginning Now it seems that ugliness is what I'm winning BEAUTY (to YOUTH) Pretty is as pretty does, don't you know YOUTH (as if trying to convince herself) I'm so pretty! I'm all aglow! BEAUTY Yes, well, dance if you can, my dear child But it seems that you are only beguiled When time dances by you, who are you then? YOUTH I-I-I suppose I'll be the same sweet citizen... (sits near BEAUTY and lays her head on BEAUTY's shoulder) FEAR I see an old woman in my looking glass One gray hair is the coup de grace BEAUTY (takes YOUTH's face in her hands) All your days are spent in loveliness And the pursuit of timelessness But soon you'll tire of such delusion Perhaps retire in sad seclusion Lest you reach beyond your vanity And find your innermost humanity (to FEAR) That alone will save your beauty eternal YOUTH (thinking aloud) If I rely upon my loveliness internal... (to BEAUTY) Oh, you weave a magic spell with words They comfort me like the song of sacred birds REBIRTH (rising from the shroud of DEATH) Life is a garden to be carefully tended Death follows life as it's portended Life follows death and the circle turns Age follows youth and wisdom returns "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" And are not life and death intertwined? (YOUTH is guided by BEAUTY through the 'forest', and is transformed into WISDOM as she walks) WISDOM (dances in a stately manner) If you dance in timeless motion Play the game with true devotion Fearing not time's passing by But choosing LIFE to amplify DISMAY (to WISDOM) Your comforting words seem also to be A mystical mystery that arouses me But the rhythm of them in me pounds The music in the words abounds (DISMAY begins her transformation) WISDOM How strange that the perception of beauty seems To be connected to eyesight, not self-esteem BEAUTY Humans set too much store by beauty mundane For beauty is spirit and ever will reign (HARMONY has transformed from DISMAY) HARMONY Spread this message over the land That life's worth living hand in hand That hairs of gray are blessings too And life itself is a living clue FEAR I am giddy with this lovely melody My heart sings in living rhapsody Fading are the terror and the tears The panic and the petty fears REBIRTH Wisdom changes everything she touches And she has you in her loving clutches (WISDOM and FEAR dance together) FEAR Now I see that all is changing All is movement, rearranging HARMONY All is changing, growing yet So face the future without regret (HARMONY enters the audience with this statement) BEAUTY (smoothing FEAR's hair) Everything changes - but two, I say For Beauty remains and will never decay And love that is true will never change No matter how long the lovers estrange For what is true once is true always And ever burns brightly, ever ablaze Love never tastes of death or dying And Beauty never changes satisfying FEAR I have wakened from my recent nightmare Fear of aging I now foreswear I sing this hopeful day with celebration I am alive! Hear my oration! (the others now assist her to remove the fringed garment, enabling her conversion slowly) BEAUTY (to the audience) Keep your self eager and alive With poetry and charity, you will survive REBIRTH If you choose to live your life alive Your spirit will eternally survive (entering the audience with this statement) WISDOM Those who never dare a living life Find themselves embraced by strife "Life is fleeting" they complain And sleepwalk through their life's demesne. FEAR I'll not be seen as whitened death But a rainbow shimmering with living breath (FEAR puts on the rainbow garment to complete her transformation) WOMAN On this new palate, paint me alive A new dawn rises and I will thrive Who walks in beauty has no need of fear She travels with a heart sincere WISDOM Love places beauty upon the human face It glows there, grows there with each embrace (WISDOM proceeds into the audience) BEAUTY A woman is beautiful merely by the look she gives her child For beauty lies in the heart and cannot be defiled A woman's child may be a living being, or perchance The product of her mind, a poem, a dance The pride she shows in her own creation Is the visual part of beautification REBIRTH Faith creates Beauty in the mortal Rising from the center, mystical (gesturing from the abdomen) WISDOM Find your beauty in your inward soul Draw it outward and you will be whole HARMONY Kindness evokes a simple beauty in people One that touches others in a fashion magical WOMAN In all ranks of life, the human heart Yearns for the beautiful to set it apart Hope arouses beauty in the human And gives it rapture to illumine BEAUTY A face that is beautiful is one that is kind The beauty's reflected from a sensitive mind A person who is beautiful is one who caresses The air by breathing and gentleness possesses WISDOM Now you've gained the threads of truth Salute the changes now from sweet youth Love becomes now more fulfilling Lover's kisses far more thrilling And oh, my dears, when you are dancing! The movement's slower, more entrancing All this magic's there in your essence For wisdom has found you in her presence Enter your life without fearing it Receive the blessing, the joy, the eternal wit REBIRTH "Beauty never slumbers, all is in her name But the rose remembers the dust from which it came" "Shed no tear! O, shed no tear! The flower will bloom another year Weep no more! O, weep no more! Young buds sleep in the root's white core" (reading from a small book) BEAUTY You are made of the same stuff as the stars The same elements are in both a reservoir You are a sample of all the universe And you are god itself - diverse WOMAN Search for beauty the whole world over Look without and you'll soon discover You'll find it not there, for it lies within Where it is born every moment, where it's always been REBIRTH This is no time to practice self-control Release the life within your soul! (returns to the stage) HARMONY What is beautiful is not always good, you know But what is good is always beautiful! So..... (returns to the stage) WISDOM I'd like to tell you something very simple Brothers and Sisters, the Goddess is in your Temple! (returns to the stage) (Close curtain)