THE JUDAS ANGEL
(Revised December 10, 2007)
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Timothy Hustler
Seymour Best Friend
Agnes Transgendered
Chance Friend
Judas Messenger
SYNOPSIS
Four friends are at a Judas’s grave complaining about his suicide.
This is an excerpt from the book: The Judas Angel.
ACT ONE
SCENE ONE – GRAVEYARD – AFTERNOON
The sound of flapping wings, the roar of a lion, the cry of a man and a strong wind is heard as the lights slowly come up on Timothy, Seymour, Agnes and Chance standing over the body of Judas. Seymour and Chance gives Timothy dirty looks. Agnes is wiping tears from her eyes.
TIMOTHY
You all look at me like it’s my fault.
SEYMOUR
Trash. Fucking trash. He never did like taking out the trash.
AGNES
People like you foul the air and then others have to clean up your shit.
TIMOTHY
He got what he asked for. We all get what we ask for.
CHANCE
He didn’t ask for this.
TIMOTHY
I didn’t kick dirt over his face.
CHANCE
You gave him the mud to play with.
TIMOTHY
At least I was real about what I am. Poor little rich boy. Rich only in attitude and a sagging ass stuck in designer pants.
SEYMOUR
Guys like you, we tried to keep him away from.
TIMOTHY
Maybe that’s his fucking problem. He didn’t want to be a Mister Goody Two Shoes. You frustrated bitches always want to stick someone’s ass on a stake and make your life so fucking sanctimonious.
SEYMOUR
You shouldn’t be here.
TIMOTHY
I have a trick waiting for me. I don’t want to be here.
AGNES
I kept telling him sweep out the trash.
CHANCE
He’s not supposed to be dead.
TIMOTHY
And I’m not suppose to be standing here listening to whiny queens.
AGNES
What did he see in you?
TIMOTHY
Maybe he likes it sweaty and nasty.
CHANCE
Oh please.
TIMOTHY
Oh please what? You want some of what he tasted.
SEYMOUR
You’re not the poison that changes poison.
TIMOTHY
Look, he didn’t like himself; I liked him for what I could get. He’s dead. He’s better off. It’s what he wanted. So all of you; get over yourself.
CHANCE
You don’t know the events you set in motion.
TIMOTHY
I’m in a fucking nightmare. I need to wake up. I have a trick coming.
AGNES
Sex has made us and destroyed us.
CHANCE
I should have seen this coming.
TIMOTHY
Who really listens?
AGNES
All you hear is the sound of silver coins hitting the floor.
TIMOTHY
I heard his pain. I gave him the pain, the pleasure he needs.
SEYMOUR
You are an addiction.
TIMOTHY
You want to get high off me.
SEYMOUR
Why is he here?
CHANCE
This grave should not exist. This space should not exist. This time should not exist.
TIMOTHY
You all remind me of a good dump I need to take.
CHANCE
He’s still alive.
TIMOTHY
Dead okay. We are standing at his grave.
SEYMOUR
You’re the one who should be dead.
AGNES
(Touches grave) He’s not dead. He just shed an old skin.
SEYMOUR
He’s dead. And it’s this asshole’s fault.
TIMOTHY
At least my ass makes money. I don’t need hand out and fast food religions to feed my stilted ego.
AGNES
Among the ruins there is always life.
TIMOTHY
And you’re wearing too much make up to see truth.
CHANCE
I could feel his pain.
SEYMOUR
Who couldn’t?
AGNES
We did nothing.
TIMOTHY
We all have our own shit to deal with. Can’t go rescue every nut job out of their own personal insane asylum.
SEYMOUR
But you love making money off them.
TIMOTHY
He wouldn’t give me space. A night was all he gave me. He wouldn’t give me space. There was no room for people like me. He got what he deserved. I’m tired of being homeless. I offered him love, a chance to have comfort.
SEYMOUR
You’re a whore, with the street value of three dollars.
TIMOTHY
I had a run of bad luck and the world keeps punishing me.
AGNES
You’re punishing yourself and you think everyone should suffer.
TIMOTHY
I gave him what he needed.
AGNES
He ate your sins. Your darkness became his darkness. You were so self-indulgent on the world you didn’t hear him.
TIMOTHY
Go take a flying leap on a short pier.
SEYMOUR
You’re a disgusting piece of shit.
CHANCE
Stop it! We should be paying our last respect, not arguing.
SEYMOUR
He shouldn’t be here.
AGNES
None of us should be here.
TIMOTHY
I liked him. But I didn’t want to like him. I don’t like guys. But they pay more money. I let them blow me, I’ll fuck them but I don’t flip, and I don’t give blow jobs. He wouldn’t let me touch him. Said I could not see him, so I couldn’t feel him.
SEYMOUR
I hate missing my mother. He was like that for me a mother. But I knew, every time I wasn’t in his presence, it was like I buried my mother again.
AGNES
You all saw him as you needed to see him. And now, you don’t see him.
TIMOTHY
The character speaks. You are even a joke to yourself. No one takes you seriously.
CHANCE
Let’s just get this over with. I don’t want to be here.
TIMOTHY
We are not on a pleasure cruise.
Judas wakes up. But no one realizes this but Agnes. He stands and goes to her; but no one else realizes or can hear the exchanges between them.
CHANCE
Well I think one of us should say something.
SEYMOUR
We never think about how we affect someone’s life. I know this is weird but I could hear him calling me when this was happening. I felt someone touching my shoulder. I knew it was him. But I was in the middle of watching my favorite TV show and it wasn’t a commercial. I figure, that third glass of wine and a joint had me jumpy.
CHANCE
He always wanted to talk about things I didn’t want to hear. He always said he was tired. I told him to stop walking alleys like some whore in heat, keep his ass at home. But he said the world was still in pain. I told him he brought misery on himself, hanging out with losers. Not everything in a shiny package has good intentions.
TIMOTHY
I begged him for space to stay. Make room in your heart, I’d be there. I’d be anyone you want me to be. I didn’t want to be in the world. But I had no where else to go. He was my ticket out of my life, but he wouldn’t let me come aboard for the ride.
AGNES
Eating darkness isn’t easy.
CHANCE
Even after we had sex like two tricks, we still became friends. I think he wanted to stay in his head too much. I kept telling you need to land somewhere and make some sense. This bullshit about looking at everything from so many different perspectives is for god only and the insane. He was good for a laugh. Sometimes I thought he’d be a good lover but he never could be in one place at one time. I felt like I was talking to a crowd. But every now and then he made sense, and it scared me. I liked him when he was drinking. He was always good for a laugh. But he didn’t’ know joy. I don’t want to be around a joyless person. I don’t want to know at the end of the day I wasted my time with a loser. He was not going anywhere but into his imagination. Who the fuck can make a life, a living staying in your imagination? He needed to accept the hard cold facts about life. And this attraction to low life people was disgusting. They are losers. They are going no where. At least having him around for a friend said I was open minded, I was liberal, and he was a good joke to have around. He never embraced life, so maybe being dead is good for him.
JUDAS
Sometimes you must know death to know life.
CHANCE
We should go, I just felt a chill.
AGNES
You should have called me.
JUDAS
It happened fast.
AGNES
There was time.
JUDAS
No one listened.
AGNES
I would have.
JUDAS
And you would have judge me to keep me the way you think I should be.
AGNES
Obviously, no one listened.
JUDAS
And now, you see.
CHANCE
Hate when people mumble to themselves, at least be a man and say what you got to say.
TIMOTHY
She failed in the man department.
CHANCE
Let’s do this okay. We all have somewhere else to be.
AGNES
Four friends, four directions, four animals.
JUDAS
And now we are five.
AGNES
I gave a good performance all my life though I had to carry around my own spotlight. I got tired of the dog shit being thrown at me.
SEYMOUR
Okay, I’ll start. Judas was a good person. Judas was eccentric. He heard and listened to the voices in his head instead of his friends but we loved him anyway. Judas was born in Harvest Town in Illinois. He was the fifth child. He also thought of himself as the white sheep in the family, never fitting in. I remember he told me felt like a new version of the Invisible Man. We saw him. We saw him through ups and downs and we were always there for each other. We saw the kindness in his heart, we saw the sadness in his eyes but we loved his laughter.
AGNES
How much money did you spend on that bitch?
JUDAS
It’s okay.
AGNES
You attracted the cream of the crop.
JUDAS
I experienced.
AGNES
You came and you left…too soon.
JUDAS
I was tired.
AGNES
You should try walking around in these heels and looking fabulous twenty four hours.
SEYMOUR
Judas and I use to be an item but you know items sometimes break and sometimes the seams come a loose.
CHANCE
Here he goes about the sacrifices he made to be with you.
SEYMOUR
Shut up, you’ll have your turn.
TIMOTHY
I still wish someone would tell me why I have to be here, it’s not like we had a real connection.
AGNES
I can see why eating shadows can give you indigestion. This one is a piece of work.
JUDAS
My qualities have returned.
AGNES
You left no note; no warning, you just up and died. Suicide is not something that is just solely about you. It affects others.
CHANCE
I remember the last time Judas and I talked.
AGNES
I feel like we defeated you.
JUDAS
I strayed off the path.
CHANCE
Judas, you know wanted to see the world from different perspectives instead of the ones that were financially productive.
Timothy and Judas are remembering.
TIMOTHY
(Remembering) Look, I just need a place to stay. A place to shower. Okay I’ll have sex with you if that’s what you want.
JUDAS
You don’t need me; you just need a place to stay.
TIMOTHY
I thought you had a heart.
JUDAS
I’m tired of carrying broken pieces. I’m tired of being the everyday toilet bowel for people’s problems. You decided to be a hustler. Take the responsibility and deal with it.
TIMOTHY
I don’t want to do this shit anymore. But I can’t get out of it. No one will give me a chance.
JUDAS
Well, I’m not a rescue worker.
TIMOTHY
I lied to you about not liking guys. I was just doing that macho thing. I like guys.
JUDAS
I’m convenient. Well, I’m not feeling like a welcome wagon.
TIMOTHY
Okay, we can have sex if that is what you want. Let me sleep on the floor, I’ll clean your house, I’ll do anything but I’m going to lose my mind if I stay on the street. The streets are killing me.
JUDAS
You choose this life.
TIMOTHY
And you can give me a new life.
Judas and Chance are remembering.
CHANCE
So Judas, having sex with you is like being with a corpse. You’re not there.
JUDAS
You have gotten so good at your technique, didn’t think you noticed.
CHANCE
Look if you don’t like me just say so.
JUDAS
I don’t like you making me feel like I need to explain myself, justify myself. Nothing is good enough for you. Everyone has to be corrected, changed to meet your approval.
CHANCE
You’ve always settled for less. I expect more and that’s how it is if you’re going to be with me.
JUDAS
So being true to me is an embarrassment?
CHANCE
You don’t know how to be a normal day-to-day person; you talk about things that don’t matter.
JUDAS
And you’d suck an old wrinkled dick for success.
CHANCE
I tolerated you.
JUDAS
I opened a few doors for you but your ego slammed them shut.
CHANCE
I love you.
JUDAS
You don’t love me; you needed what I could bring to the table. Everything is a business proposition.
CHANCE
Look, I think you are missing a great opportunity. I know you. I know what you need. Did it ever occur to you, I’m tired of tasting your bitterness, I’m tired of eating your anger, and I’m tired of you being tired. You don’t laugh enough, you don’t smile enough, and you are always standing in shadows. You’d be better off being worm food because you’re not bringing life to anyone.
Present moment with Agnes and Judas.
AGNES
Sometimes we stay too long at the dance.
JUDAS
I know.
AGNES
Sometimes we need to hurt the other person to get them to move on.
JUDAS
Shedding skin is painful.
AGNES
You should have called.
JUDAS
Everybody has to let go.
AGNES
Your light is still needed in the world.
JUDAS
Look at this grave, the books have gathered. A new light comes.
AGNES
Will I still be young and beautiful?
Back to present moment with everyone else.
TIMOTHY
No one trusts me anymore. I can’t score. I haven’t showered in three days. I haven’t had a decent meal. People look at me as if they wanted to wish me away.
CHANCE
I can’t give anymore. I’m empty. I need to make space in my heart for someone new.
SEYMOUR
All he did was attract dead things. Well, I don’t need dead things in my life.
AGNES
Funny how mirrors talk to us and we don’t listen.
TIMOTHY
And I wish this tired bitch stop mumbling to him self. Speak up if you got something to say.
AGNES
Will they ever see you?
JUDAS
They are not ready.
AGNES
How much time do we have?
JUDAS
You will have as much time and as many forms as you will need.
AGNES
I thought we’d get it right this time.
JUDAS
You will.
AGNES
They think you committed suicide. They see what they want to see and not what they need to see. Why did you die consciously?
JUDAS
The shadow died. I carried so much darkness the body couldn’t take it anymore. This new body is the new work.
AGNES
I was there for you.
JUDAS
Even the light loses its way sometimes.
AGNES
Will you be back?
JUDAS
I never left; just will be seen in a different way.
They all take notice of Agnes talking to Judas. They do not see Judas; but a stranger.
CHANCE
Who’s that?
SEYMOUR
Where did you come from?
TIMOTHY
Probably some trick of Agnes’.
AGNES
This is a new friend of mine who came to pay his respects.
CHANCE
Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.
TIMOTHY
How do you know Judas?
CHANCE
You seem familiar.
SEYMOUR
I know Judas’ friends and I don’t remember you.
JUDAS
You will know me when you know your selves.
TIMOTHY
Another cryptic bitch. Let’s end this.
CHANCE
So, I guess this is good-bye.
SEYMOUR
Well, I’ll pray for you. People like you who commit suicide usually wander around not realizing their dead; and haunting familiar places. I read that in a book okay. So do me a favor, do not haunt my place. Love you but you are dead and gone. And also, I’ll pray for your lost soul. You took your life you stupid piece of shit and left us alone.
AGNES
You can feel the love here.
JUDAS
It’s okay.
AGNES
Sorry we didn’t listen. Sorry we didn’t understand. Sorry we didn’t know the trials and tribulations of a sin eater. But in the end, we are lucky, because you choose to take our darkness and bring it into the light.
TIMOTHY
(Exiting) There she goes mumbling again and her friend took off quick. Probably another loser missing a meal ticket.
CHANCE
(Exiting) I didn’t hear a thing she said.
SEYMOUR
(Exiting) You know women like to mumble when they get into that let’s be about feelings and intuition.
AGNES
You will not be recognized, will you?
Agnes and Judas hug. Agnes walks away without looking back.
JUDAS
Tried to kill myself today
So I could make space
For a new me to be born
I am being strangled to long
By a world that is not a world
But a dream that is a program
That is caught in a loop
So a coffee cup of pills and soda
Made space and I did not mourn
For the passing of this self
I shed this skin that had grown dark
From the many touches,
Midnight kisses, dark alleys in minds
Where I have been a homeless beggar
Shedding the temptation of apples
That strangers have offered
And I don’t want the Sleeping Beauty life
And no more apples will I sample
As I make space, as death comes and
Takes what belongs to death and
JUDAS (CONTINUED)
Leave the space for what must come…the Life.
There is the sound of thunder and lighting.
JUDAS
(Laughs) There is still life among the ruined!
Lights fade quickly.
BLACKOUT
THE END
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