EROS & PSYCHE
by
Donna Spector
115 Blooms Corners Road
Warwick, New York 10990
845-986-7718
[email protected]
Dialogue Sample
CONTACT:
Peter Sawyer, President
Fifi Oscard Agency
1440 Broadway, 23rd Floor
New York, NY 10018
(212) 764-1100
0
CHARACTERS:
EROS: the god of love, appears as a young man
PSYCHE, a princess on the island of Crete
APHRODITE, the goddess of love and beauty, appears as middle-aged
KING MANOLIS, PSYCHE’s father
KAIA, PSYCHE’s younger sister
IANTHA, PSYCHE’s other younger sister
SIBYL, the Delphic Oracle, a woman, any age,
QUEEN OF THE ANTS, may be doubled by SIBYL
SHEEP, may be doubled by SIBYL
PERSEPHONE, may be doubled by SIBYL
CERBERUS, the three-headed dog, may be doubled by KING MANOLIS
CHARON, the old Ferryman, may be doubled by KING MANOLIS
SETTING:
Various places on the island of Crete, Mount Olympus, the hill of the sheep with golden fleece
and the Underworld. These may be merely suggested.
SYNOPSIS:
Psyche fancies herself a scientist who studies the stars. Eros is, of course, a playboy who
accidentally falls in love with her, and then there is the vain Aphrodite, Eros’ controlling mother,
also the exasperatingly ambiguous Sibyl, as well as Psyche’s narcissistic and jealous sisters,
her worried father and a talking sheep, the Queen of the Ants, Cerberus, the three-headed dog,
beautiful Persephone and the Ferryman who takes mortals to the Underworld. Psyche’s journey
is to learn to think with her heart.
1
(KAIA and IANTHA, PSYCHE’s sisters,
are looking out a window in their
palace on Crete.)
PRELUDE:
KAIA
Psyche’s out there again.
IANTHA
Studying her stupid stars.
KAIA
Why isn’t she getting ready for the banquet tonight?
IANTHA
Psyche doesn’t care about banquets. Or parties.
KAIA
She doesn’t like to dress up.
IANTHA
Or socialize. She just sits there looking miserable.
KAIA
All those princes gaga over her, and she doesn’t even notice.
IANTHA
Mother shouldn’t force her to come to parties. Or banquets.
KAIA
She’s such a bore. Not scintillating, like us.
IANTHA
I hate to say it, but I wish something bad would happen to her.
KAIA
Me too. Father’s little scholarly darling.
IANTHA
She doesn’t like us, you know.
KAIA
Hardly ever speaks to us. Her own sisters.
IANTHA
Let’s forget about Psyche. We’ve got important things to do. Will you help me with my hair?
KAIA
Of course. Let’s wear lots of jewels tonight.
IANTHA
Yes! Let’s steal some of Psyche’s jewels too. She won’t even miss them.
2
SCENE ONE:
(Evening. Crete, a garden. PSYCHE
stands with a notebook and pencil,
looking up at the starry sky.)
PSYCHE
Five thousand thirty-four. Five thousand thirty-five.
EROS
(Enters, disguised as a hunter, with bow
and quiver of arrows. He stares at
PSYCHE, then, he draws out an arrow, and,
while fitting the arrow in the bow, he
accidentally scratches himself.)
Ow! Damn!
(He instantly falls in love with her.)
Wrong arrow. What an idiot! I’m lost, and there’s no help for it now.
PSYCHE
Five thousand thirty-six, five thousand thirty-seven…
EROS
Oh, goddess of the evening…
PSYCHE
(Still staring at the sky.)
Five thousand thirty-eight…
EROS
Oh, maiden lovely as the moon…
PSYCHE
Five thousand thirty-nine, five thousand forty…
EROS
Oh, dazzling nymph…
(He waits. Then…)
What are you doing?
PSYCHE
Counting stars. Five thousand forty-one…
EROS
Why?
PSYCHE
Someone has to. And after I count the stars, I’m going to study them.
EROS
Why?
PSYCHE
Because there must be a reason why they exist in our sky.
3
EROS
You believe in reasons?
PSYCHE
Of course. Doesn’t everyone?
EROS
I have a bit of trouble with them. Let me see your notebook.
(He reaches for it.)
PSYCHE
Don’t touch it!
EROS
Why not?
PSYCHE
Because you’ll get it dirty! You’ll smudge my work. Don’t even breathe on it!
(She wipes notebook on her skirt.)
EROS
Sorry.
(He backs off.)
PSYCHE
I’m going to call my study of the reason for stars “astronomy.” When I’ve understood the stars
completely, I’ll be the first astronomer, and someday my name will be written in all the scientific
scrolls on our planet.
EROS
Ah. You want to be famous.
PSYCHE
As a scholar, yes. But my eyesight is so limited. I think I’ll invent a telescope tomorrow. It will
make studying the stars so much easier.
EROS
You’re beautiful.
PSYCHE
What?
EROS
Celestial. And your form is divine.
PSYCHE
(She turns to look at him.)I hate that kind of talk. Who are you?
EROS
Eros.
4
PSYCHE
That’s not a local name. Why are you in our garden?
EROS
Um….I’m here because…
PSYCHE
Are you hunting?
EROS
Well, I was, I mean, I…
PSYCHE
My father has forbidden hunting on our palace grounds! Go away!
EROS
I can’t. I’m in love with you.
PSYCHE
Nonsense.
EROS
It was an accident, but nonetheless, I’m sodden with love.
PSYCHE
Then get over it. I’m so tired of men telling me they’re in love with me!
EROS
Really? This has happened before?
PSYCHE
Yes! They come from everywhere. Sumerian princes, Egyptian princes, Harappan princes, even
one from China. They all hang around praising my beauty and talking of love. It’s exhausting.
EROS
Why don’t you marry one of them?
PSYCHE
Well, I wouldn’t even if they did, but they don’t ask. My father the king says they’re all afraid to
ask for me. He says they’re so overwhelmed by my beauty, they can’t imagine the mundanities
of living together in a castle. Servants would do the cooking and cleaning, of course, but every
morning some unlucky man would be unable to eat his cheese, bread and olives, because my
face would be right there, across the breakfast table…
EROS
How could the man possibly be unlucky, seeing you each morning?
PSYCHE
My father says my husband would starve to death.
5
EROS
Does that make you unhappy?
PSYCHE
Not at all. Though why my father allowed my two younger sisters to marry before me is beyond
my comprehension.
EROS
Perhaps he feels only a god would be worthy of your beauty.
PSYCHE
If that’s so, I’ll never marry, which would make me quite ecstatic. Imagine having to chat in
Dravidian before my first sip of wine every day!
EROS
But everyone needs love, even the gods.
PSYCHE
Then I am an anomaly. All I need is time to study the stars. And for your information, love is a
much over-publicized myth. But why am I bothering to talk with a hunter, especially one who is
trespassing on royal grounds? Go away!
EROS
Wait. I wasn’t really hunting. My mother sent me because…
PSYCHE
Another mama’s boy. I should’ve known.
EROS
My story can’t be the same as stories you’ve heard, because my mother…
PSYCHE
Let me guess. She’s extraordinary.
EROS
Yes! She’s a goddess.
PSYCHE
Yawn.
EROS
I’m sure you’ve heard of her. Aphrodite?
PSYCHE
Very funny.
EROS
She’d heard people say you are more beautiful than she is, so…
6
PSYCHE
(Looking up at the sky.)
Where was I? Oh, yes, five thousand forty-three… No, forty-two. Where is five thousand fortytwo?
EROS
Listen, most lovely maiden…
PSYCHE
Leave me alone!
EROS
Things went wrong, but if my mother has her way…
PSYCHE
There’s five thousand forty-two! She’s hiding behind forty-three.
EROS
You must hear me!
PSYCHE
(Puts her hands over her ears.)
I’m not listening.
EROS
(Gently takes her hands away from
her ears and pulls her toward him.)
Psyche…
PSYCHE
You know my name?
EROS
Yes. Now listen to me.
PSYCHE
How did you find out my name?
EROS
People speak of you, your beauty, your…
PSYCHE
Oh, be quiet! And don’t come near me.
EROS
Please, Psyche! Pay attention: If my mother has her way, you are in great danger.
PSYCHE
Why?
EROS
She’s jealous of your beauty.
7
PSYCHE
How is that possible? She doesn’t know me!
EROS
Unfortunately, she has seen you.
PSYCHE
When? Where?
EROS
What does it matter, where or when? The point is—no pun intended—she sent me to kill you.
PSYCHE
(Now he has her attention. She
drops to her knees at his feet.)
Oh, please! No! Please don’t kill me. I’m too young to die!
EROS
I won’t hurt you. I mean, I would have, but I took the wrong arrow, and now there’s no hope.
PSYCHE
No hope? Ah! I will give you anything—except my notebook—if you will spare my life!
EROS
(Helping her up.)
Rise, lovely one. I will protect you from my mother if you will grant me one kiss.
PSYCHE
(Looking into his eyes.)
I’ve never kissed any one. I don’t know how.
EROS
I will teach you. It will be an astounding experience for you. Trust me.
(He takes her in his arms.)
PSYCHE
All right, just one kiss.
(They kiss passionately.)
That was….amazing. Like….electricity, and I haven’t even invented it yet. Do it again.
(EROS kisses her again.)
PSYCHE
(Swoons in his arms.)
Oh! I might faint, and I’ve never done that either.
EROS
Will you marry me?
PSYCHE
Marry you? How could I? I don’t know anything about you.
8
EROS
All you need to know is this: if you marry me, you will have a lifetime of astonishing kisses.
PSYCHE
That’s very tempting, but…no, I just can’t! I’m sorry, Mr. Eros. I’m a scientist, and I need time
for my work.
EROS
What is work without love?
PSYCHE
How can I neglect the stars? They need me to count and explain them.
EROS
The intellect of man is forced to choose
Perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
PSYCHE
You’re a poet.
EROS
No. Those lines will be written centuries from now by an Irish poet named Yeats.
PSYCHE
Oh. Well, it’s a hard choice, but I’m afraid I choose perfection of the work.
EROS
You’ll regret that in five minutes, but good-bye, then.
(He goes behind a tree and vanishes.)
PSYCHE
Good-bye? Wait! Don’t I get a chance to reconsider?
(Runs after him. Stops and calls.)
Let’s kiss again! Do you hear me? Where are you?
(Pause. She walks back, picks up
her notebook and pen, wipes her mouth.)
No more kisses, Psyche. How like a man, to run away just when you’re attracted to him. So
forget him. You have important work to do. Hmmm. I wonder, will there be other women like me
someday who will have to choose between romance and their work?
(She sighs.)
Back to my studies.
(She stares up at the sky.)
Five thousand forty-four, five thousand forty-five…
(Lights out.)
9
(Mount Olympus. APHRODITE’S
dressing room. Wearing an elegant
robe, a golden circlet in her hair, she
is staring at her face in a mirror.)
SCENE TWO:
EROS
(Wearing wings and a short, Greek
tunic.)
Mother.
APHRODITE
Is that a laugh line?
EROS
You don’t want me to call you “Mother”?
APHRODITE
What in the heavens are you talking about, Eros?
EROS
I said one word, and then you said…
APHRODITE
Stop blathering, darling, and look at these lines at the corners of my eyes.
EROS
I can’t see them.
APHRODITE
Goddesses don’t age. They can’t. Our very essence is immortality. Which means eternal youth.
I chose to look like a woman in my 30’s. So why do I have lines at the edges of my eyes?
EROS
Impossible. You’re the goddess of love and beauty.
(Comes close to mirror, stares at her
image.)
Hmmm. The mirror lies, as usual. Look at me.
(She does.)
Not a line, not a blemish. Nothing but your flawless skin.
APHRODITE
Oh, good. I must remember I get paranoid flashes when a millenium birthday approaches. Next
week I’ll be five thousand.
EROS
We’ll have a grand celebration. What a magnificent barbeque! All those heifers with gilded
horns.
APHRODITE
Heifers don’t have horns, darling. Homer was wrong about that. Now, sit down and tell me about
the girl.
10
EROS
Psyche?
APHRODITE
Who else? Was she as beautiful as everyone says?
EROS
Yes.
APHRODITE
More beautiful than I am?
EROS
Of course not. But she is….very lovely. Breathtaking. Like a spring morning, when dew is
sparkling the orchids, flaming purple and gold, and the olive trees are leaning into the sunlight…
APHRODITE
Enough! You killed her, of course.
EROS
No. I couldn’t.
APHRODITE
WHAT? I specifically sent you there either to kill her or to make her fall in love with the satyr
waiting outside her garden.
EROS
I know. I intended to. But there was….a small, unfortunate accident.
APHRODITE
What did you do?
EROS
I scratched myself.
APHRODITE
With the poisoned arrow?
EROS
(Looking down, abashed.)
No. One of my usual arrows.
APHRODITE
Do not tell me you’re in love with her.
EROS
I am. Hopelessly in love.
APHRODITE
Ridiculous, Eros! You are the essence of love, but you cannot be in love!
11