PROLOG - THE
LOSER A sickly sad HAS-BEEN ARTIST reluctantly attends a
Costume Party of AFFLUENT ADMIRERS. When a FORTUNE TELLER deals him a bad
hand of Tarot, everybody laughs. But our seriously lonely Has-Been DIES OF
EMBARRASSMENT!
We follow his SOUL as he is witness to the grim death of
another sad OLD MAN with bloody rags about his throat. Our Has-Been's SOUL
is then pulled on to face THE GODS in a glorious Cosmic Judgement. . Found
lacking, his Foolish Spirit is flung to float, fall, then crash upon a
YIN-YANG WORLD divided into Civilization and Wilderness, to be reborn a
glowing white adult and ignorant FOOL.
ACT I - THE
FOOL THE FOOL is found and claimed by THE
WILD WITCH, but is rescued by THE PRINCE, carried to CASTLE CITY, revived
by THE GOOD MAGUS, presented to the KING & QUEEN, and smitten in Love
by THE PRINCESS. Much to the dismay of THE JEALOUS KNIGHT. (All Guests from
that Party)
Our Fool's SPIRIT grows strong with innocent child-like
Love... until he is tricked to trade away his Spirit for a gliitering Gift
that fails to impress his Princess. Plunged into the same depression that
killed him once before, tempted again by the seductive Wild Witch, saved
again from such stupidity by The Magus, our Fool is judged lacking and
banished to wander alone in The Wilderness.
Awesome and dangerous
Nature demands his full attention, rubbing and scraping and washing the
whiteface from his face. We also discover The Wild Witch is as sad as he
is. A vengeful woman scorned, bitter mistress of THE
BEASTS.
The Fool evades a Beastly WHIPPERSNAPPER to recapture his
Spirit and returns to Civilization riding proudly atop a SHARKODILE. His
foolish whiteface is gone. He is now a MAN come back to claim his
adoring Princess in a grand Wedding Ceremony. Life is
Perfect....
ACT II - THE MAN The
Wicked Witch plots something dark with The Jealous Knight. While our Foolish
Man loves his bride well and studies hard with The Magus, The Knight steals
the powerful Spirit, takes it into the Wilderness to win the favour of the
vengeful Wild Witch. Clouds darken the Civilized Land.
One
morning, from out of The Wilderness, SHE comes, with her ARMY OF BEAST-MEN.
As an awesome battle is waged, SHE uses the captured Spirit to overpower
The Magus and takes almost everyone prisoner. Only The loyal Prince and our
Foolish Man escape with a few Guards... into The Wilderness. They find
shelter in Witch's caves. The remaining CREATURES are no
danger.
ACT III - THE MAGUS The
Yin-Yang World is out of balance. Upside-down. With no Beasts, the Wilds
are too peaceful. Under The Witch, Civilization is grim. SHE is now
beautiful on the outside, grows uglier within. All SHE wanted to possess
was her Fool. SHE perverts The Spirit to torment The Princess, and sucks
power from The Magus with cheerless triumph. All hope is gone for everyone,
everywhere.
One morning, from out of The Wilderness, HE comes with his
few Survivors. They swoop in astride enormous DRAGONFLIES, and a great
BATTLE begins. BEAST-MEN against MAN-BEASTS. Loyalists v. Traitors. Prince
v. Knight. The Princess fights equal to any Warrior. Yet the Beautiful Witch
is winning.
Our Foolish Man frees his Spirit in time to save the dying
Magus, but the tired old man channels all that POWER right back into his
awkward rescuer. Our now-Powerful Man joins the battle and turns the tide.
It all stops when The Witch steps out on the Tower, raises the severed
head of the Magus.
In a burst of powerful emotion, our Man BLASTS
The Witch and her Knight. But, when the dust clears, they are not dead.
Transmuted into children, these villains are given another chance to live
an innocent life.
EPILOG - DREAM COME TRUE DEJA VU. In a mirror of his earlier Vision of Death, our
Powerful Man is witness to the satisfied death of the old man with
bloody rags about his throat. Thanks to their shared MAJICK SPIRIT, the
beheaded Magus is restored long enough to pass his Wand to the new young
Magus, then dies happy and....
...at just that moment our
HAS-BEEN awakens back at the Affluent Party! Was it all a Dream? Feverish
hallucination? Near-Death Experience? The AFFLUENTS are circled with
concern. Our poor Has-Been has been transformed. He is peacefully happy to
be beautifully alive. Among familiar friends.
STORY