The text below is part of a publication by Pia Eikaas for Afgang 2014

“The Potential of Play”
- A Potential Play


Characters:
1
2
3
and a long flag of shit (merdrre)

Scene 1

A raft on open water covered by a tent.

It is very hot.

The three characters are seated on the hard floor of the raft.

1: Oh dear lord, the heat is killing me, how long must we suffer in this post-apocalyptic gate to hell. All ground beneath us has been swallowed by the wave and we are left to die from thirst or worse!

2: My friend, I suffer too, but we shall not let ourselves be defeated by the regime of the catastrophe, let us at least continue fighting!

1: But my head is heavy, my arms too much of a burden to carry around, I see no reason to continue, all there is left to live for is misery and misfortune. Can we even call this a life?

3: My dear friend, raise your spirit, at least we have each other!

2: Exactly! I wouldn’t dare to think of being alone on this godforsaken raft with nothing but rats and my increasing insanity.

1: But dear comrades, do you not know of the inevitable ending to this tale - we shall end up murdering each other, eating the corpse of the first one to go. All ethics and morals aside - at the end of the day, who can deny bodily needs?

3: What bodily needs do you speak of? I know only one need and that is comradeship, and what you are talking about are lessons of consumption from the old world!

2: Yes, speak for yourself, I would rather eat my own sluggish arm than hurt my fellow sufferers.

3: And I would go as far as eating my own feces rather than dive into this exploitation of others. Which might happen sooner rather than later considering I really have to go!

1: Hold on, that is not a bad idea at all my friend, we could live off shit and friendship, think of all that nutrition...

2: What a brilliant idea, we could be completely self-sufficient out here. Our shit will be the fertilizer that would maintain our existence - we will not decrease for demands of growth, only maintenance is our goal!

3: We shall be the pioneers of the new world of shit!

1 takes the stick of shit (merdrre flag) and waves it.

1: Hail the new world of shit!

3: (Laughing) Haha, you do know that it is not possible to live off shit, right?

2: (Also laughing) Hahaha, but of course, that is not healthy at all!

1: (Joins the laughter) Haha, no but we are just playing are we not? Eating our own feces would kill us surely, but we are going to die anyway, hahaha!

All continue laughing.

3: Yes we are all gonna die - but it is nice to have a laugh about it, if nothing less:) Shitting and laughing and playing shall be the driving force of our new world, hahaha!

1: (still waving the flag) Hahaha, oh stop it already, my stomach aches from all the laughter and joy :-D

2: Hahaha, oh tell me about it dear comrade, I think I just shat my pants, oh lord, it is hilarious!

3: Hohoho, me too - all this talk of shit, I cannot hold it back!

Suddenly the raft starts leaving the ground. All cease to laugh.

1: What the heck, this raft of ours is taking off, do you not feel it too?

3: I feel it! We are flying - it must be all the gasses! It has caught on to the flag of shit and now we are taking off, fighting hot air with hot air, who could have guessed...

2: Indeed, this is happening, we might just survive! Praise the potential of play!

1: Praise the potential of laughter!

3: And praise the potential of shit!

All in unison, waving the flag, singing:

Praise the potential of play! Praise the potential of laughter! Praise the potential of shit!

All characters continue playing after the curtain falls.