THE HORNS OF THE MOON

 

 

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THE HORNS OF THE MOON

(A Quantum Romance)

 

By Gavarre Benjamin

 

© INDAUTOR

Cd. De México

 

BENJAMÍN GAVARRE SILVA

 

Contact: bengavarre@gmail.com

gavarreunam@gmail.com

 

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THE HORNS OF THE MOON

(A Quantum Romance)

 

By Gavarre Benjamin

 

English Version: The Horns of the Moon

Production Notes

The Concept: A quantum romance where the only constant is the connection between two men, André and Ben, across different versions of reality.

Set Design: Minimalist. Use of lighting to define spaces. A "void" stage with reflective floors.

Production Notes: The Horns of the Moon Introduction This work is a map of the invisible. It explores the idea that love is not a chance event, but a universal constant that manifests itself even when the laws of physics or memory fail. Through sharp dialogues and absurd situations, André and Ben show us that, even if the world changes color, constellations or history, the connection between two souls is a knot that no one can untie.

 

Costume Proposal: "The Base Uniform" To facilitate jumps between worlds without breaking the rhythm, a neutral base costume (wildcard) is proposed on top of which key accessories are added.

 

André (Philosopher): Dark dress pants and a light linen shirt (always with the possibility of wearing it backwards).

Accessories: A wool jacket (house/café), reading glasses (bookstore), an elegant but unkempt scarf (subway).

 

Ben (Actor): Dark jeans and a quality black turtleneck or basic t-shirt. Accessories: A leather jacket (motorcycle/premiere), a yellow umbrella (rim), a book under the arm (bookcase).

 

Scenery and Spaces (Suggested) The staging must be minimalist and conceptual. We don't need an actual subway car, but the feel of one. The Device: An empty stage with a floor that slightly reflects light (mercury effect). Furniture: Two designer chairs that move and reconfigure to be the sofa, the coffee tables or the subway seats.

 

Lighting (The Silent Narrator): Coffee: Warm amber. Meter: Cool, flashing white light (soft strobe effect). Beach: Cobalt blue and silver. Bookcase: Dusty overhead light. Music and Soundscape Transitions: An electronic glitch sound or low-frequency hum that denotes the quantum leap.

 

The Leitmotif: A version of Go WEST (or similar) that sounds "slightly distorted": perhaps with a distorted electric guitar in the background or a strange reverb. Atmosphere: Distorted (metallic) sounds of the sea and the rattle of the subway that merges with the sound of the wind.

 

 

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THE HORNS OF THE MOON

(A Quantum Romance)

 

By Gavarre Benjamin

 

 

Characters:

• ANDRÉ: A philosopher.
• BEN: An actor.

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ONE-ACT PLAY

OPENING SCENE: Domestic Shift

(A cosmopolitan apartment. André is cleaning a bookshelf. Ben is staring fixedly at a floor lamp in a corner by the sofa).

BEN: André... has that lamp always been there?

ANDRÉ: (Without looking) Since last Tuesday. We bought it at the garage sale, remember?

BEN: No. Last Tuesday we had dinner with your parents. That dinner where your mother smiled with her mouth but stabbed me with her eyes.

ANDRÉ: My mother is a professional of hypocritical courtesy. What... don’t you like the lamp you chose anymore?

BEN: I don’t like it and I don’t remember buying it.

ANDRÉ: (Stops, looks at him) Too much stress over the premiere? Once the season starts, you’ll remember you even asked for a discount on your precious Art Nouveau lamp. Honestly, you’re such a snob.

BEN: (To himself) It’s not stress. I’m going crazy.

(The light changes abruptly to a warm amber café tone. We enter the first knot).

SCENE 1: The Snake Eating Its Tail (Bookstore-Café)

Ben is sitting in a wing chair, reading aloud with theatrical projection, ignoring that it is a public space. André is two tables away, trying to concentrate on a Heidegger text.

BEN: (Reading intensely) "...because in one possible world I am a figure skater, but in another, I’m a low-paid bellboy in an expensive hotel in Cancun. Here, well, I’m an actor, as we know. What is reality but a bad rehearsal for a premiere that never arrives?"

ANDRÉ: (Without looking up, sharp) Hey, actor... take it down a notch with that stentorian voice— Or rather... shut up, or speak softly. You’re not in your living room, buddy.

BEN: (Lowers the book slowly. Stares intensely at André and says nothing for five seconds).

ANDRÉ: (Uncomfortable under the gaze, looks up) What? Is there something on my face?

BEN: (Gets up with electric audacity. Walks to André's table and sits opposite him without permission). Up close, your eyes are even more expressive. You have the eyes of a man in love.

ANDRÉ: (Stunned, but ultimately flattered) You wish... It wouldn’t be with you, friend.

BEN: I’m sure we knew each other from other lives. In one, you were a monk and I was the demon tempting you with forbidden fruit.

ANDRÉ: (Gives a cynical chuckle) Ah, what an unoriginal way and what a terrible seducer. Using that whole story to skip protocol. But I’ll forgive you... if we go to the pier right now for ice cream.

BEN: (Smiling triumphantly) I’d like that. Chocolate and...

ANDRÉ: ...and raspberry.

BEN: (Stops dead for a second) How did you know?

ANDRÉ: (Gets up and closes his book) I don’t know. As Plato said... we are only in this world to remember who we were and, besides... it seemed logical. Let’s go.

SCENE 2: The Pier of Borrowed Memories

They walk along a pier. The sound of creaking wood under their feet sets the rhythm.

BEN: It’s funny. You always put your t-shirt on inside out when you’re trying to look intellectual in front of a stranger.

ANDRÉ: (Looks at his collar, astonished) How the hell do you know...? This is the first time I’ve seen you, Ben.

BEN: I know. There are things floating in the air. Like knots. Time isn't a line, André. It’s a fisherman’s knot. We’re all squeezed into the same point, believing we’re moving forward.

ANDRÉ: (Looks at him with sudden tenderness) You are the strangest man I’ve met in my forty years of meaningless life. But I feel that if I let you go, I’ll start floating into space.

BEN: (Chanting) Bon, bon, bon, bon, bon.

ANDRÉ: (Between horrified and ecstatic) Though I don’t know, I think knowing you or not knowing you has to do with a very rabid and messed-up karma.

BEN: Hey, I could say the same.

ANDRÉ: Of course, you know what they say: Karma is a bitch.

BEN: Exactly.

TRANSITION SCENE: André’s Monologue

(Back at the apartment. Ben has vanished from the stage).

ANDRÉ: (To the audience) There are days when I wake up and I don't recognize him. I watch him sleep and wonder if the Ben next to me is the same one who complained about the lamp yesterday. Reality flickers. We are fools to believe we are the same all the time. Every instant we are someone different: every breath, every heartbeat…

(Sound of torrential rain. The apartment fades away).

SCENE 3: The Tire and the Rain

World B. It’s pouring rain. André is next to his car, with a flat tire, soaked and furious, kicking the tire. Ben passes by with a yellow umbrella.

BEN: Need some help, neighbor?

ANDRÉ: (Hostile) No. I already called the insurance. They say it’ll take two hours because the world is sinking. Go, before my bad luck splashes on you.

BEN: (Undeterred, closes the umbrella) Insurance won’t make it. Give me the jack.

ANDRÉ: The what?

BEN: (Kneels, starts loosening the nuts with a skill that doesn’t seem his) I’m not going to let you die of galloping pneumonia. Pass me the spare, Professor.

ANDRÉ: (Surprised by the sudden empathy) "Professors don't know how to change tires," is that what you’re telling me? Or how did you know I’m a teacher?

BEN: (Finishing the tire change, gets up and wipes his hands on his pants) You have the face of a Philosophy teacher: "Why does the car stop if it’s made only to roll?", "Why do cars and people exist?", "If we didn’t exist, what would Nothingness be like?"… If Nothingness existed, it would be something… so all existence is a total absurdity. (They look at each other. The hostility evaporates).

ANDRÉ: You’re a philosopher too, Ben. Thanks for helping me.

BEN: And that?… Did I tell you my name?

ANDRÉ: (Confused) I don’t know. Is your name Ben?

BEN: (Smiles) Benjamín, supposedly, yes. In this world, at least.

ANDRÉ: (Given the eerie atmosphere) Right… this is the only world I know… I think. My name is André.

TRANSITION SCENE: The Constellation

(Clear night. André and Ben are on a terrace).

BEN: What a night. Look at the sky... you can clearly see the fifteen stars of the Chimiceront.

ANDRÉ: (Tense) I only see three stars… three. The very famous and well-known constellation "The Three Wise Men."

BEN: (Puzzled) Kings and Magi? Look… the wings of the Chimiceront almost touch the horn of the moon.

ANDRÉ: (Puts his hands to his face) The rhinoceros? The horn of the moon? It’s a full moon, you moron. (Laughs, forced) It’s called the "horn of the moon" when it’s waning or waxing.

BEN: (Hugs him) I don’t know… I was referring to the volcano.

ANDRÉ: (Whispers) I think you’re high without having taken anything or… you’re going crazy. The moon is a very cold rock and it does not—listen to me—it does not have volcanoes.

BEN: Not even a tiny volcano?

ANDRÉ: Not a single one.

(Cold light of a theater lobby).

SCENE 4: The Knot in the Last Carriage (World C)

(The stage becomes the interior of a subway car. Cold, flickering light. The muffled rattle of the rails. It’s the last train of the night. Ben and André are sitting at opposite ends. The atmosphere is orphic, heavy).

(Several seconds of silence pass. They look at each other. They take time to react, as if waking from deep anesthesia).

BEN: (In a hoarse voice) I don't know why you’re staring at me.

ANDRÉ: (Slowly) I wasn't looking at you… I was thinking I’m not the only moron who thought of traveling by subway at this hour.

BEN: (Moves a bit closer, his gaze cloudy) I know you…

ANDRÉ: (Gives a sad laugh) That’s the most cliché way to hit on someone…

BEN: From before. I know you from before… I feel we were even friends, at least neighbors, or schoolmates.

ANDRÉ: That could be it… you have the air of a classmate I always wanted to talk to…

BEN: (Shakes his head) And why didn't you? You lost the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m getting off at the next one.

ANDRÉ: (Feigning indifference) Don't think I’m getting off with you. I don’t know you at all, we were never classmates, and this is a shitty carriage.

BEN: (Gets up as the train brakes with a screech) If you say so... Come with me, idiot.

ANDRÉ: In your dreams, moron.

(The doors open. Ben leaves. André hesitates for a millisecond and runs out after him. The carriage remains empty).

TRANSITION SCENE: The Mercury Dream

(Silver light, orphic).

ANDRÉ: I dreamed we were on a beach. But the water wasn't water. It was a sea of mercury.

BEN: Yes… it was heavy. Brilliant. With that tone only mercury has… like an alchemist’s… it didn't make a sound when it broke. If you went into the sea… you turned into a gold statue.

ANDRÉ: Sure, a statue, of course, of course… Gold? I doubt it. I remember the sky was cobalt blue.

BEN: And there was a small moon next to the large one. There were two moons.

ANDRÉ: And we were satisfied that the stars were the same, even if they had unpronounceable names.

BEN: Cariótida, Nemnósida, Sáxila…

ANDRÉ: Yeah? What nerd names!

(Modern art museum. Ambient light).

SCENE 5: Surprise at the Museum

World D. Both are in a modern art museum in front of a painting that is just a white canvas called "The Entwined Void."

ANDRÉ: (To himself) It’s the perfect representation of nothingness.

BEN: (At his side) It’s not nothingness. It’s a mirror. If you look closely, in the center there is a mercury-colored dot that can only be seen if you stop breathing.

ANDRÉ: (Looks at him) Yes, I can see a mercury-colored dot, but only if I squint.

BEN: Yes, that’s how it works… that triggers the quantum function of the canvas… mercury has a special shine… like alchemical, don't you think?… it can turn into gold… Let’s close our eyes and when we open them, the mercury will have transformed into gold.

ANDRÉ: (Falsely aggressive) No… that sounds a bit too weird to me…

BEN: (He closes his eyes tightly and opens them quickly) You broke the spell… the mercury was about to turn into gold.

ANDRÉ: (André puts his hand to his chest, feels a déjà vu that takes his breath away). Will you let me buy you a coffee? I feel that if you leave, this painting will be erased from my memory. Ben... (Come...)

BEN: How do you know my name is Ben?

ANDRÉ: No… I didn't know. I said "come," like "come here"... Are you coming? Ben... Come...

BEN: I'm coming… You know?... You have the face of an Andrés.

ANDRÉ: Almost. André, as if it were French… you know: the style…

BEN: Ugh, I don't know if it's a good idea to go out with you, but let's go.

TRANSITION SCENE: An Encounter at the Bookstore

(A dusty bookstore).

SCENE 6: The Bookstore (Possible World E)

(A second-hand bookstore, silent and dusty. BEN is behind the counter, but he’s not working; he has a small chessboard in front of him and is checking an app on his cell phone, lost in fierce concentration. ANDRÉ enters, walks through the aisles without looking at the books, his eyes fixed on BEN. He approaches the counter).

ANDRÉ: Are you playing chess with yourself?

BEN: (Without looking up, in a sharp tone) What’s it to you? Are you going to buy a book or just come here to ask stupid questions?

ANDRÉ: (Offended, takes a step back) Hey, you don't have to be so discourteous. I was just trying to be nice.

BEN: (Imitating him mockingly) "Discourteous"... What are you, from the nineteenth century? What’s next? Are you going to challenge me to a duel at dawn?

ANDRÉ: (Remains silent, staring at him. Suddenly, he covers his mouth with his hand, his eyes wide) Wait! I know you.

BEN: (Sighs, annoyed) Here we go again... Why does this karma haunt me? My God, what did I do wrong in other lives!

ANDRÉ: No, seriously. You were in the movie A Hundred Tomes of Ponson du Terrail… You were Rocambole.

BEN: (Stops dead. Looks up for the first time and stares at him with a mix of horror and respect) I didn't remember that pompous name anymore… who can be named Ponson in this world… Ponson du Terrail… Am I pronouncing it right? Ponson… blah blah blah… Well, you just made my day, friend… (Short pause, scans him from head to toe) Maybe you're not so much of an idiot.

ANDRÉ: (With a timid smile that takes ten years off him) I'm not. Or at least, not today. Hey... would you like to... (hesitates) do you say "have" an ice cream or "eat" an ice cream?

BEN: (A side smile appears, closing the chess app) Whatever. Come on then, would you like an ice cream?

ANDRÉ: I’d love to. I want a raspberry one...

BEN: ...and chocolate.

ANDRÉ: (Stunned) How do you know?

BEN: (Gathering his things, with a familiarity that scares him) You’re predictable... I didn't say boring, eh? Let’s go. I’m going to order a chocolate with raspberry… or better, raspberry and chocolate, what do you think?

ANDRÉ: (Playfully) Walk on, Ponson.

BEN: (Mockingly) Ha, ha, ha.

FINAL SCENE: The Mercury Camping

(We are in an open camping tent. The horizon is visible. The sea is a dense mercury color, the sky is a dark, deep blue. The moon shines with a volcanic relief that looks like a horn. There is a second moon with a curious way of orbiting around the large moon).

ANDRÉ: (Satisfied) The stars... there they are. The Three Kings, the Chimiceront... and what else?

BEN: Cariótida, Nemnósida, Sáxila…

ANDRÉ: Your mother… Ha, ha… Well… the stars are spectacular. Names don't matter. It’s wonderful to think that each one of them is burning and that we can see them millions and millions of light-years away.

BEN: (Holding his hand, smiles) Sure, but look at what’s in front of us and not millions of light-years away… this sea of mercury is so peaceful. And do you see how dark the blue of the moon is? That’s why it’s a source of creation for all poets and blues singers.

ANDRÉ: (Looks at him with an endearing connection) You could be a poet if you didn't talk so much nonsense.

BEN: Do you realize? ...we always end up on the same beach. A deserted beach and a blue moon… and the moon’s moon.

ANDRÉ: The same beach, always the same beach. Always.

(They look at each other, smile. The glow of the blue moon floods the stage as they hold hands).

THE END

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