Mobled

Mobled

GENRE: Play

PLAY: The play THE FINAL PERFORMANCE OF "THE MOBLED QUEEN," is a two-act contemporary tragedy set in the home of a college professor, but based on the siege and fall of Troy. During an intensely emotional evening, the effects of selfishness, lack of strong moral standards, and weak female participation in society are explored. This otherwise traditional American family-in-crisis drama includes a play-within-the-play built with Shakespearean quotes to deepen the dramatic effect and enhance the classical tale’s structure and the impact of the shattering violent climax of this tragedy.

EXCERPT

JABEZ (Spoken, with intermittent music) "I am Jabez." "Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear." "I'll speak in a monstrous little voice." "And let me wring your heart; for so I shall, if it be made of penetrable stuff." (Plucking the lute and singing) UPON THE EASTERN SHORES OF POSEIDON'S SEA, THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, WHEN GODS BEHAVED LIKE MEN, AND MEN LIKE GODS, STOOD STATELY TROY, "CLOUD-KISSING ILION," "A FORTED RESIDENCE 'GAINST THE TOOTH OF TIME AND THE RAZURE OF OBLIVION." (Spoken) But "Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold" And "The strongest castle, tower, and town, The golden bullet beats it down." For man may plow, carve, and hew his way through generations, But still not move one step towards civilization. "And nothing can we call our own but death; And that small model of the barren earth, Which serves as paste and cover to our bones. For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground, And tell sad stories of the death of kings...." "What is past is prologue." Now, since "to see sad sights moves more than hear them told..." (Pointing, as BARBARA enters) ...Gaze upon Hecuba, the Mobled Queen... "She that was ever fair and never proud, Had tongue at will and yet was never loud."