The Ants and the Grasshopper
Grove of the Other Gods, Fall Equinox 2010
by Blue Starthief
The shadow puppets:
ANT COLONY- female. Hard-working, practical. Many speaking through one voice.
2 ant puppets, 2 props for them to carry - fruit and roast turkey
GRASSHOPPER- female. Creative, idealistic.
1 2-handle grasshopper puppet, 2 props - violin and trumpet
The people:
SATYR 1- male. The driving force behind the narration.
SATYR 2- male. A smartass. Given to tangents.
Lines in italics are rhyming verse. Generally, the rhythm goes: bah BUM bah bah BUM bah bah BUM bah bah BUM. For some lines there will be an extra unstressed syllable (“bah”) at the beginning or end of the line, or an unstressed syllable has been dropped, to ensure that the emphasis stays on the right(ish) syllables to maintain the flow; bear that in mind as you read over the script. (so read “YOU haven 't HELPED us, so WHY should we BOTHer?” instead of “you HAVen't helped US, so why SHOULD we bothER?”). Lines in normal text are blank verse, and have no specific rhythm.
SETUP - what we need
2 folding chairs for puppeteers
stage
bright light
scripts (7)
flashlights for script readers (2)
puppets (7)
satyr masks (2)
music & sound effect
THE PLAY
(MUSIC during set-up - fades as puppeteers are ready. (Rondoncino (Allegro); Mela Tenenbaum, Richard Kapp; Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840))
SATYR 1:
We'll start the play not with a hymn, but an announcement:
The chorus has been given the night off.
The Muse can show up if she likes, it's no skin off my nose.
SATYR 2:
Tonight the story's being told by a pair of satyr.
(grandly:) Our hearts were moved by the Father of Olympos to entertain
As an act of service to your fine community.
SATYR 1:
What he means is court-ordered community service.
SATYR 2:
We'll spare you the details.
Anyway...
Tonight, mortals, a tale of human drama!
A decades-old vendetta threatens a pair of young lovers...
SATYR 1:
Jim, that's not our tale at all.
SATYR 2:
It's not? What story are we telling, then?
SATYR 1:
The Ant and the Grasshopper.
SATYR 2:
What?! That's an outrage!
It's about bugs, I can't make any wang jokes without it being really weird!
I refuse to waste another minute--
(Thunder rumbles. SATYRS are frightened.)
--er.... so I'll start the play now.
(MUSIC - Grasshopper violin intro to give characters a chance to move around stage - fades when movement is done - before speech. (Romanian folkdances (Arr. Zoltan Szekely): II. Sash dance Vadim Repin; Bartók, Béla (1881-1945))
(The screen is lit. Enter ANT COLONY (2) and the GRASSHOPPER with VIOLIN.)
SATRY 2:
The insects of the world are as diverse in temperament
As they are in appearance. The naive butterfly!
The amorous lightning bug! The belligerent centipede!
SATYR 1:
O... kay...
But none are so opposed as the grasshopper and the ant.
GRASSHOPPER:
I sing and I dance on the blades of the grass.
Routine and drudgery? I think I'll pass.
My mission is simple, to practice my art
And fiddle my music to gladden the heart.
No planning, no saving, no worries, for I
Eat, drink, and be merry: tomorrow we die.
(Ants pick up fruit prop here)
ANT COLONY:
We excavate, tunnel, and build with the soil,
The sweat on our brows from an honest day's toil
The proof that we need so that we can be sure:
Our industry means that our family's secure.
We know our tomorrow, the next day, the next...
And ad infinitum. Let leisure be hexed!
(Grasshopper puts away violin here)
(Ants put away fruit here)
SATYR 2:
While the ants spend their days working,
Building their colony and storing food,
The grasshopper fills the meadow with her music.
(MUSIC - brief vocal to allow characters to move around - fades before speech. (Midsummer Faire, Green Crown) )
(Ants move around busily, grasshopper stays still.)
ANT COLONY:
The April day finds us constructing our home.
GRASSHOPPER:
And meanwhile I am composing a poem.
On Midsummer Night, I'm performing a ballad.
(Ants pick up turkey prop)
ANT COLONY:
We gather up crumbs from a picnicker's salad,
Then burrow more tunnels beneath August's sun--
GRASSHOPPER:
I entertain guests at my artists' salon.
The Equinox nears and I dance tarentella
ANT COLONY:
We take inventory of stock in our cellar.
(Ants put down turkey prop, continue to move around busily.)
SATYR 1:
As the nights grow longer, and the days colder,
The grasshopper knows she will soon die without shelter.
SATYR 2:
She decides to seek mercy from the ants.
Tread lightly, Grasshopper!
If you're too big of a prick, the ants won't let you in their hole!
SATYR 1:
(big sigh)
You just had to slide that in there, didn't you?
SATYR 2:
(gleefully) That's what she said.
SATYR 1:
We were this close to performing at a children's hospital.
What would you have done then?
SATYR 2:
Gotten kicked out, probably...
(ANT COLONY clears her throat, loudly and impatiently.)
SATYR 1:
Anyway. With the first frost due any day, the Grasshopper approaches the ant colony.
(MUSIC - sad violin to allow grasshopper to slowly approach ants - fades before speech. (Melody Vadim Repin; Pyotr Il'ych Tchaikovsky) )
GRASSHOPPER:
I've watched you all Spring as I leapt through the field,
Your efforts were mighty and great was their yield.
Your pantry is stocked and your mansion is vast,
You wouldn't begrudge me some rest and repast...
ANT COLONY:
We likewise have been watching you this whole season.
You find yourself hungry and sloth is the reason.
You haven 't helped us, so why should we bother?
For we are an island with no need for others.
(Exit grasshopper slowly.)
SATYR 1:
And with that, the ants sent the grasshopper away to certain doom.
They returned to their labor, but soon found something was missing...
ANT COLONY:
Our pantry is full, there's enough for a giant--
And yet we're not happy. Our home is too silent.
Could it be that the music performed by our neighbor
Inspired us to find the joy in our labor?
A winter in silence... we might as well rot!
Her talent's not useless, as we had once thought.
(Exit ants.)
SATYR 2:
The Grasshopper, too, was feeling some regrets.
(Enter grasshopper.)
GRASSHOPPER:
All summer my outlook was smug and elitist,
But now that I'm starving, it's rather defeatist.
I thought the ants foolish for being so frugal.
But I can't survive on my fiddle and bugle.
The ants owe me nothing, I won't be a boor,
But offer my skills to take part in their store.
SATYR 1:
The Grasshopper returned to the anthill the next day.
(Music - sad trumpet to give time to enter and move around - fades before speech. (Freddie Freeloader, Miles Davis) )
(Enter Ants, move around busily.)
(Enter Grasshopper with trumpet, moves slowly toward ants.)
GRASSHOPPER:
I return to you hungry, with buzzards awaiting,
Not for a handout, but co-operating.
Your strength and your stamina, I can't compare,
But I have my music, and stories to spare.
ANT COLONY:
We focused all summer on physical wants,
Not sparing a moment to sing or to dance.
If we have a bard, then our home will be whole;
We'll warm your body if you warm our soul.
(Ants and Grasshopper stand together. Grasshopper puts down trumpet.)
SATYR 2:
(to SATYR 1) What is with this play, did you find it on HuffPost or something?
SATYR 1:
Quiet, you!
The two spent the winter in relative bliss.
Our tale has a moral to it, and it's this:
SATYR 2:
You go through your duties, consistent, unshirking,
But if there's no love, then for what are you working?
For wealth isn't merely material things.
Though Winter draws near, may our hearts dwell in Spring,
Through the creative spark gifted by Dionysos--
SATYR 1:
--But let us stay mindful of dark days of crisis.
Prudent Apollo sees into the distance,
And shows us that foresight can lengthen existence.
Plant at Ostara for harvest at Mabon;
Plan for the future, or you may not have one.
SATYR 2:
Though we're divided by different opinions,
The Earth is our Mother; we all are her minions.
SATYR 1:
May our outlooks be balanced and futures be bright
ANT COLONY:
Between Summer and Winter...
GRASSHOPPER:
...between dark and light.
(Grasshopper and Ants bow and exit stage.)
(Music to take down stage - fades when done. (Sonata In A Major For Violin & Keyboard - Op. 9 No. 5: Allegro Ma Non Troppo Mela Tenenbaum, Richard Kapp; Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) Sonata In D Minor For Violin & Keyboard - Op. 6 No. 12: Allegro Mela Tenenbaum, Richard Kapp; Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695-1764) (The Devil's Thrill) )
THE END
