V. GOROVITZ
(The Devil’s Stickpin)
By Benjamín Gavarre
© BENJAMÍN GAVARRE SILVA
Contact this address if you have produced it or wish to do so: gavarreunam@gmail.com
V. GOROVITZ
(The Devil’s Stickpin)
SYNOPSIS: In a basement that is simultaneously a bunker and
a mental palace, Pavel fights his double, Levap. But cracks of a domestic
reality—the voices of a mother, a brother named Carlos, and the rush of a
normal life—filter into the delirium, suggesting that the true tragedy is not
chaos, but inevitable solitude.
CHARACTERS:
- PAVEL: 19 years old, obsessed with logic. Wears an
impeccable tuxedo, though perhaps a bit too large for his frame.
- LEVAP: The Double. He is Pavel, but with disheveled
hair, an open shirt, and a dangerous, disconcerting charisma.
SCENE I: The False Constant
(The basement. Bare walls, piles of antique
junk. Pavel listens to Nina Hagen on his phone. With a gesture of annoyance, he
transfers the audio to a smart device).
PAVEL: (Looking at his hands, as if searching for a
flaw). I am coherent. I am the only constant in this equation of madmen. This
music isn't bad, but I prefer something more modern... more daring. I need
something to discipline the chaos.
(He plays a Tchaikovsky waltz. The sound
floods the basement, emanating from the device).
(From the shadows, a spotlight reveals LEVAP.
He doesn't walk; he distorts. He dances to the waltz spasmodically, as if the
classical music were giving him electric shocks. It is a physical mockery of Pavel’s rigidity).
SCENE II: The Family Tree
(Pavel sits in an 18th-century wrought-iron
chair. He stares at his phone, absorbed in an online shopping app).
PAVEL: I am not a baker's son. I inherited this at
twelve, though I only took possession at eighteen. Up there, reality gives me
hives; furniture covered in yellowing sheets... a graveyard of fabric flowers.
I prefer my basement with its old clutter that speaks of a more vivid past. I
only rescued this chair from my great-grandfather. It’s uncomfortable, yes, but
iron does not lie about the passing of years. (Taps on his phone). I’ll order a
minimalist futon. If anyone tries to come down... that’s what the sabers and
shotguns are for. Order is defended with gunpowder.
LEVAP: (Pavel does not hear him. Levap whispers to the
audience). Ah, my basement... I want it to be an enchanting place, bleeding
poetry, where rats leap and chase each other freely, where the food has eyes,
and where spiders love each other intensely... But this boring... mediocre
fool... he wants a futon. So kitsch... and he won't go upstairs... well, that I
understand.
PAVEL: (Obsessive). My fortune is genetic. Pavel I, the
founder. Then Pavel II, "Gorovitz," who spent his life on vices until
his wife tamed him with a whip. Then Pavel III, the arms dealer. My father,
Pavel IV, invested it all in bonds before the plague took him along with my
unknown mother. Now I, Pavel V Gorovitz, have sealed the windows with white
sheets so that cursed summer light doesn't get in. No germs here. No viruses.
Here, I am the fifth and the last.
LEVAP: (Approaching, curious). Gorovitz? Where do you get
these Russian operetta names? Your name is... (Mocking). Can you really afford
a futon? Who is Carlos Taboada?
PAVEL: (Quickly, pointing at Levap, with a flash of
terror). You! Is it you... Carlos?
LEVAP: (Stops, terrified). Who?
PAVEL: (Wiping his forehead). Nothing... just
interference. Someone is hacking my brain. You don't exist.
SCENE III: The Broken Mirror
(Pavel enters a shower installed in the
corner of the basement. He emerges wrapped in a towel, facing a full-length
mirror. Levap is right behind his reflection).
PAVEL: I’m not doing too bad for a survivor. Maybe I
should go out. In-person classes. A girlfriend...
LEVAP: (Dictating). A hot girlfriend.
PAVEL: (Like an automaton). A good girlfriend.
LEVAP: Bah ! But you’re terrified. You don't even know how to
touch a woman.
PAVEL: (Distressed). Who is hacking my brain? It’s a
spell!
LEVAP: (Produces an emerald stickpin). Look at this. Your
great-grandfather’s pin. Pure emerald, extracted from the dreams of a hanged
man. If you can receive it, it’s a sign you’re ready to listen to me.
(Levap drops the pin. The metal hits the
floor with a solid thud, but in the background, a microwave dings: Ping!)
PAVEL: (Picking up the jewel). It’s a sign.
Great-grandfather, you are speaking to me from beyond the grave... Are you
staying for breakfast, Carlos?
LEVAP: The world is a lie, isn't it?
PAVEL: You are a lie, a hallucination. The basement is
the only truth.
SCENE IV: The Inversion
(The light turns violet, dense. Pavel coughs.
Levap steps through the mirror frame and enters the physical space).
LEVAP: The emerald looks good on you. "The Devil’s
Stickpin." Your great-grandfather used this to summon demons. I am what
you scream, naked in your nightmares, when the wolves chase you.
PAVEL: (Looking at his transparent hands). I’m fading
away!
LEVAP: There can only be one Pavel. They only saved the
boring one! (Screams toward the ceiling). I will avenge you, Mother!
(The basement is flooded with red fabrics and
Nina Hagen’s music at full volume. Levap dances lewdly. Pavel, in a final burst
of will, lunges at Levap with an animal clawing motion).
PAVEL: I am not a statistic! That object is mine!
(Pavel violently rips the stickpin from
Levap’s lapel. At that instant, the music distorts into absolute silence. A blinding flash of white light).
SCENE V: The New Order
(When the light fades, Pavel is standing,
solid. He wears the stained tuxedo, his hair wild. Levap is tied to the iron
chair, his mouth gagged with a dirty rag).
PAVEL: (Deep voice). I have decided to include chaos in
my inventory, Levap. I took your soul while you were dancing on my grave. Now I
am the order... and the madness.
LEVAP: (Spits out the gag, fascinated). I did it! I’ve
awakened the demon. I’m no longer needed... you’ve proven to be a worthy Pavel
V. And that stickpin looks very good on you, don't lose it.
VOICE OF A WOMAN (Off, very clear): Pavel! Carlos is gone! And you’re going to be
late! Where are your books!
PAVEL: (His jaw drops. He looks toward the stairs with
terror). Carlos? Carlos Taboada?
LEVAP: (With a sad smile). Carlos is the one up there, the one who got tired
of your games. I’m just the stain he left on the wall when he walked out. You
didn't hear me... I’m already gone. I left a long time ago.
SCENE VI: Daylight
(The light in the basement becomes normal,
yellowish, and dusty. Pavel is asleep in the iron chair with headphones on. The
PC screensaver flashes: "Where do you want to go today?").
PAVEL: (Waking with a spasm). Ah! My neck... it’s going
to kill me. (Looks around. The basement is just a place filled with old junk.
No sabers, no luxuries).
(Pavel stands up. On the floor, right where
Levap was tied, there is a shred of red fabric or a broken glass;
a physical trace of the delirium).
PAVEL: (Toward the stairs, with a breaking voice). Mom?
Carlos? Are you gone? Don't leave me alone... I fell asleep again. I don't want
to be down here alone...
(Heavy silence. Pavel begins to tremble. A
soft voice is heard right behind him).
VOICE OF A WOMAN (Off, tender): I’m right here, son. Don't be afraid. Come up now,
the sun is beautiful.
(Pavel looks toward the stairs. An intense
white light descends the steps. Pavel walks toward it, reaching out his hand).
PAVEL: (In a whisper). Is it you... Mom?
FADE TO BLACK.
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