The tenth night
The hegemony of the ruling class is a triumph of the echo over the cries of the masses. Spectres haunt the Valley of Reverberation waiting to vent their anger through the dying words of the body politic. They wait for the man who would give them back their voices.
The First and Last Man conjoin; they are the rank and file of humanity. The alpha and omega of the long pig, a thin line that is now finite.
Scene 1. A balcony overlooking Saint Peter’s Square in Rome
The First and Last Men are in conversation:
The Last Man
History is ending
The First Man
Is this my legacy? I thought we would evolve.
The Last Man
History is ending
The First Man
Not with a bang then or a whisper, a rubbed out drawing, a simple change of plan.
The Last Man
History is ending
The First Man
Sit down awhile;
And let me once again assail your ears,
That are so fortified against our story
What we have through the generations seen.
The Last man
I am a Christian warrior.
The First man
To the inheritance of Hegel,
Had he been vanquisher; as, by the same covenant,
And carriage of the article design'd,
His fell to Marx.
The Last man
My principles rest on pillars of truth.
The First man
Nothing is funnier than a principled man.
The First man looks down into the square below. He then turns and stares at the balcony opposite. The windows to this balcony are closed and it is impossible to see what is going on behind them. He then turns goes out, and comes back immediately with a small footstool, carries it over to the balcony ledge and sets it down. He gets up onto the balcony ledge and then stands on the precariously positioned footstool. He gazes out towards the other balcony, it is impossible to read his expression. He then gets down, takes six steps towards the right of the balcony, reverses and comes back for the footstool, carries it over to the right side of the balcony and sets it down onto the balcony ledge, gets up onto the ledge and again stands on the footstool, he stares out and down into the square. He gets down, takes three steps towards the back of the balcony, goes back for footstool, carries it over and sets it down on the left-hand side of the balcony, gets up on it, looks out towards the closed windows of the opposite balcony again.
Brief laugh.
He repeats the above actions.
Brief Laugh.
Dressed in a dressing-gown, a hood pulled up over his head, a large blood-stained handkerchief tied over his knee, a North American Indian charm hanging from his neck, thick grey socks and sandals on his feet; the Last Man seems to be asleep. The First Man looks him over.
Brief laugh.
The first man goes to exit through the balcony door, halts, turns towards audience.
Laughs loud and long.
End of Scene 1
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