ACT ONE

The company come on stage. Among them is the POET.

And the POETis a man.

POET.

At this moment . . .

At this moment I am always so afraid

I know I am with friends.

Or at least I try. I try to know this.

Know I am with friends.

And I also know . . . know together we will create

Something that has never been seen before

Something that will never be seen again.

The difficulty terrifies me.

I want to ask for help

From you, you the actors,

From the unconscious, from the audience,

From angels. Even from God.

Evil entered my life last year

And destroyed one person I truly loved.

I need to grieve. I need to understand.

Understand how I can begin to live again.

And I don’t know, but . . .

This strange old poem, Goethe’sFaust, may help.

I know evil has entered your lives too,

In one form or another. And as we look around the world,

Evil seems to be stronger everywhere.

We all are suffering.

Like me you need to try to understand,

Need to find out which is the stronger:

Evil or Good. We don’t know the answer.

We need to discover. We need to enter the dark.

Help us. Help us if you can.

DIRECTOR.

Yes that’s all very well, but.

Where’s the play?

POET.

The play?

DIRECTOR.

Yes. The play! There are deadlines.

POET.

I know.

DIRECTOR.

I’m the director. I worry about these things.

POET.

I’m the poet. I worry too. I do my best.

(To the actor about to be FAUST.)

I’m sorry. Would you mind?

It’s just the director. Getting anxious.

He often does that these days.

If you could just sit in that chair.

No. This chair. Look baffled.

No I’m not sure that’s right.

More lost and vulnerable.

Thank you.

(To the DIRECTOR.) There. That’s your play.

DIRECTOR.

A shabby man? In a shabby chair?

I mean, I know he’s