The Void

Cast of Characters

AARON:                                A man in his mid 40s.

ELLEN:                                 A woman in her early 30s

.

Place

The Void.

Time

is meaningless here

 

ACT I

Scene 1

 

 

Setting:            The only set pieces required are two chairs facing each other at center                                                                     stage, and a door that allows entrance stage left. The rest should be empty.

 

At Rise:           Aaron sits on the stage right chair. He is illuminated by spotlight. He wears a nice suit. Not                               too fancy, but definitely giving him the air of upper class.

 

Aaron: Do you know what happens when you die? Perhaps you think that, when your heart stops, your soul leaves your body and goes to either Heaven or Hell, depending on whether or not you lived a life free from sin. Perhaps you think that there is no soul, and your mind simply ceases to be. Synapses stop firing and your existence becomes nothing but unconscious darkness. Maybe you think you will be reincarnated, perhaps as another person, perhaps as an animal this time. (pause) None of those are correct. When you die there is a part of you, call it your soul, consciousness, whatever, that leaves your body and enters into The Void. There’s nothing there except for your own thoughts, and you feel as if you could drift for eternity in the darkness with nothing except for yourself. It may seem like you could get bored to tears, but it’s really not so bad. Eventually, you start learning how to use your powers. Yes, powers. If you focus hard enough on something, a location you know, a memory you have, even a movie you love, it suddenly becomes… real. Right there in front of you. You can’t quite interact with it, only observe, but that doesn’t matter. You have infinite time with infinite entertainment. But remember, I said “powers.” Plural. After a while, you will find that you aren’t as alone in The Void as you thought.

A knock on a door off stage left, out of the light; Aaron goes to it, opens it, leaving the light.  Another person is heard walking in to the room. This is Ellen. She does not enter the light. Aaron goes back to his stage right seat; Ellen takes the stage left one, and is out of the light. She wears a light blue sundress.

Ellen: Hi Aaron, how are you… I want to say today, but that’s not really a valid measurement anymore.

Aaron: I’ve been here a lot longer than you, I think, and I still haven’t broken those habits. And I’m pretty good, how are you?

Ellen: I’m a little sad. I just saw my sister get into a car accident. I don’t think she was ok. I lost my connection from the emotions.

Aaron: Was she the first of your loved ones you saw get hurt?

Ellen: The first that was alive when I left.

Aaron: Ahh, yes. It’s true; we all have a lifetime of pain, suffering, and death behind us.

Ellen: It hurts so much sometimes. That’s why I refuse to look into the future. I’m afraid to see the things to come.

Aaron: It’s very hard, at first. It takes a lot of strength to look forward, to see the problems that will arise and then not have the ability to warn anyone. I know the exact time, place, reason, and result of the assassination of the 48th president. I saw it on the news through my son’s eyes, from a position standing to the man’s left, even from the perspective of his killer. I watched the nation mourn, watched the speeches that fired up a hurting populace, and watched as a third world war erupted because of it. I know they blamed the wrong nation. I know they will never find out who was truly behind it. And worst of all, I know that this knowledge doesn’t make a difference at all.

Ellen: How can you handle that?

Aaron: Acceptance. I know things will never change and there is nothing I can do about it. I’ve accepted that as a fact. No reason to worry about things you can’t control.

Ellen: Why does this all sound so familiar?

Aaron: We’ve talked about this a few of the times we’ve met.

Ellen: Oh, I’m so sorry I—

A dog barks offstage, interrupting her.

Ellen: There are animals here?

Aaron: Yes, sometimes. They don’t come around very often, and they don’t interact much. You mostly have to feel their presence rather than know it. Dogs are the most common to find, but all of them are here. I once found a wooly mammoth, in fact. I was able to share in its experiences. That was an experience I will never forget.

Ellen: Do I talk about this all the time, too?

Aaron: Oh no. And don’t feel so bad about it. Memories can get so hard to sort out here.

Ellen: Have you ever found… life from another planet?

Aaron: You mean aliens?

Ellen: Yes.

Aaron: No.

Ellen: But, you’ve looked into the future, right? You know if they exist in reality, right?

Aaron: (laughs lightly) Reality is infinite, and I’m afraid that I haven’t gone quite that far yet.

Ellen: Well, I hope that there are. This place is so dreadfully lonely; I would hate to think that our old world was even worse.

Aaron: It wou—

More dogs bark, and Aaron goes offstage right to see them. Now, the light shifts to Ellen.

Ellen: It was always something I wanted to see during my lifetime. The exploration of space, the colonizing of other worlds, our first meeting with aliens. I wanted to be there, to be at the front it. I was going to be an astronaut, leave the world and enter the darkness of space with only myself and a couple other team members. We would fly on forever, always getting further from home, but that wouldn’t matter because when we got far enough away the aliens would take notice, they would see how we had advanced and come to share their secrets with the world. And then it would all be less lonely.

Aaron can be heard returning to his seat.

Aaron: That dog was one my parents had when I was just a baby. He died before I was old enough to remember him, but he remembered me.

Ellen: How long has he been searching for you?

Aaron: Oh, I wouldn’t call it searching. He just happened to be nearby and he recognized the feeling of my presence.

Ellen: Maybe you don’t give him enough credit. You may have meant more to him than you think. Dogs are very loyal creatures, after all. It wouldn’t be too surprising to find out that they search out their old owners and friends here.

Aaron: They aren’t that intelligent, Ellen.

Ellen: Why can’t they be? They have eternity to learn, and their consciousness isn’t trapped inside a limited brain. None of us are anymore.

Aaron: This isn’t a path you should go down.

Ellen: Why not? Maybe we aren’t just dead. Maybe we have surpassed our previous forms in a type of evolution. We could have the powers of gods and we just don’t know how to use them. What if the only thing keeping us from taking control of the world is the attitude that our previous form will forever limit us? Maybe you can fix the third world war. Or maybe you could even save the president. Maybe I could save my sister,

Dogs are heard barking offstage.

Aaron: Ellen, it’s vitally important that you stop this. It is not allowed.

Ellen: Who says that it isn’t? I haven’t found a god here, there is no higher power setting rules in stone for us to abide by.

Aaron: No, there is no god here.

Ellen: Then who is it that says we can’t find these powers within ourselves. We could be limitless!

Aaron: Just because there is no god doesn’t mean there isn’t a devil, Ellen.

There is a long pause.

Ellen: So what, are you saying we’re in Hell?

Aaron: No, it’s only The Void.

Ellen: I don’t believe that. If we once lived as human beings on the third planet from the sun in one of infinite numbers of solar systems in infinite numbers of galaxies, why can’t there be a place beyond here as well? And what about before we were born?

Aaron: There are a lot of questions, yes, but you shouldn’t focus on those. Just accept that this is the way it is, and the way it will continue to be.

The light goes out. In the darkness, Ellen moves to stand stage right and Aaron stands stage left.

Ellen: No, I won’t accept that. I will find a way to get out of here. I will break free from all restrictions, I will become more than I could ever have dreamed I would become. I won’t just be the astronaut that finds aliens, I will be the god that creates them! I will control the world, and make it a better place. Nothing bad will happen to anyone. Never will they live without a feeling of happiness. I will create perfection!

Aaron: Ellen, please stop. It’s dangerous. You can still be hurt here.

Full lights up.

 Ellen: By this devil you talked about? How can you be so sure?

Aaron: I’ve seen it happen to so many people.

Ellen: Why haven’t I, then? Why hasn’t this devil come and found me and revealed its laws to me like you say it has to you?

Aaron: Who says it hasn’t?

Ellen: I DO! I have no memory of it, none at all.

Aaron: You also didn’t know that we have talked thousands of times before.

Ellen: I think I would remember meeting the devil.

Aaron: Why do you think that?

Ellen: I think that he would be the memorable type.

Aaron: Why couldn’t he just be a man?

Ellen: Then he wouldn’t have any power over me.

Aaron: But maybe you’re right, maybe we do have infinite potential. What if he is the one who unlocked it first?

Ellen: Then it’s possible to fight back. (a bell rings four times) What was that?

Aaron: I’m sorry, Ellen. Your time here is over.

Lights out, barking dogs can be heard growing louder and angrier, and then Ellen screams.

 

Curtain