52

10.30.06

A LARGE ROOM with TWO DOORS, one at either end. Audience members are instructed to walk in single file across the room. When they enter, the room is dark, except for light coming from the two doors. As they walk across, warm, amber light pulses in the room, making elements of the room barely visible. In the first few steps, there are various toys strewn about. We hear distant sounds of children mixed with echoing drips. As the steps continue, so do the drips, where we hear the sound of sports and forgotten prom nights. Here we se our first couples, in prom attire, making out. The steps move on past piles of textbooks and groups of people making out. The drips now echo with the sound of famous speeches including that of James Joyce reading his own work. A few steps later and we see blood, followed closely by the sounds of war, still distant, though not as distant as the other sounds. We see dead bodies on the floor, some of them disfigured. One body is lies atop a wedding cake. The last few steps are through real grass, as the audience makes their way through the other door. On the other side of the door, ushers hand out wedding cake and take prom photos of the audience standing next to soldiers of both gender. The mood is that of a high school dance until a nurse runs in, covered in blood, screaming:

NURSE
IT’S A GIRL!

All the ushers and performers applaud. The new mother emerges, and is crowned prom queen. The baby (in this case, a doll) is dressed up as a soldier and given a rifle. Cigars are distributed along with candy and ammunition. Eventually the principal asks everyone to have a safe ride home.