THE BATTLE SCENE SCORE
The stage is a raft on water.
On stage, there are remains of a shipwreck: deflated floats, piles of clothes.
On stage, the artist rests on the sand.
I
THE ENTRANCE: A RETURN
The actors of the reconstruction of the battle come back on stage one after the other, a grin on their faces.
Seven actors advance in a queue to the rhythm of the music, toward the raft.
II
THE DROWNING: A DECISION
The actors stand on the raft, gaze at the public defiantly.
They decide.
They plunge their heads into buckets of water repeatedly, reconstituting their own drowning.
They lie on the shore.
Zoukak Theatre Company, The Battle Scene, 2015. The Drowning: A Decision. Photo by Ayla Hibri
III
THE SCENE: A PAINTING
The artist numbers the dead and traces the outlines of the crime.
Zoukak Theatre Company, The Battle Scene, 2015. The Scene: A Painting. Photo by Ayla Hibri
IV
THE REVIVAL: A BEGINNING
(The actors take the audience as witnesses as they proceed with their stage actions)
Three men rise. They wring their clothes and head to the arena of the stage.
In unison, they beat their clothes on the floor.
They beat the ground with their clothes.
Four women rise.
They pass through the arena together.
They stop in the front of the arena. Fix the public with their gaze.
They stretch their bodies on the floor. Corpses.
The men revive the women with their breath.
The women regain their breath, coughing: the beginning of the word.
The men retire, each to his space on stage.
The women stand up, they take off their jackets.
In unison, they beat their clothes on the floor.
They beat the ground with their clothes.
They stop.
A woman returns to her previous position on the floor. A corpse.
The others withdraw themselves one by one and go towards the men.
Couples meet, find each other, embrace, and start to rotate on themselves slowly.
Zoukak Theatre Company, The Battle Scene, 2015. The Revival: A Beginning. Photo by Ayla Hibri
V
THE DEAD: A SURVIVOR
A–The Young Lovers:
The meeting: the clouds as museum
They look at a painting; the stage
The Discovery: the revolution of the Negroes
“The Raft of the Medusa”
B–The Clueless Ones
C–The Parents
Zoukak Theatre Company, The Battle Scene, 2015. The Dead: A Survivor. Photo by Ayla Hibri
VI
THE RALLYING: THE INCARNATION OF THE CRIME
VII
THE FLAGELLATION: A BATTLE
Zoukak Theatre Company, The Battle Scene, 2015. The Flagellation: A Battle. Photo by Ayla Hibri
VIII
POLIS
The Man King: declaration of war
The Woman: a chorus of women remove the veil
The City: a front
Zoukak Theatre Company, The Battle Scene, 2015. Polis. Photo by Ayla Hibri
IX
THE STAGE: A SONG – A BATTLEFIELD
The actor is a warrior
The action a verb
This article was first published on www.ibraaz.org. Reposted with permission of the publisher. Read the original article here.
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Zoukak Theatre Company.
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