FADE IN:
Stage is lit mostly by candle light: GROUP: Three people in the front row and three in the back row which is staged so we can see everyone. They are all dressed in black and hold candles at their waist with both hands so that it lights up their faces from below.
GROUP MEMBER#1
2019—Coronavirus, COVID 19.
GROUP MEMBER #2
The worst human pandemics and epidemics —
DIFFERENT GROUP MEMBERS
HIV, SARS, avian flu, swine flu, Ebola, Zika —
all stemmed from trading and consuming animals.
GROUP MEMBER #3
2020— (number to be filled in) are infected,
(number to be filled in) are dead.
GROUP MEMBERS
(in unison)
We hold this vigil for COVID 19’s victims and
for the billions of animals who have been
commodified, exploited, abused, and killed.
LIGHTS FADE UP:
White Dove sendoff: Origami doves (that resemble paper airplanes) flutter above.
LIGHTS FADE DOWN/FADE UP:
ANIMALS—LION, ELEPHANT, BEAR, ZEBRA, WILDEBEESTS, MONKEY, RHINO--in a jungle setting; but far back on the horizon is an apocalyptic city scape.
TWO YOUNG WILDEBEESTS are about to bound off into the jungle.
FEMALE WILDEBEEST
Hey, don’t wander off too far.
MALE WILDEBEEST
There are still humans around.
YOUNG WILDEBEEST turns and looks back at adult wildebeests.
YOUNG WILDEBEEST #1
But they don’t eat animals anymore.
FEMALE WILDEBEEST
They’re still dangerous.
(under her breath)
Always have been; Always will.
GIRAFFE rambles through.
MALE WILDEBEEST
What are you up to, Giraffe?
GIRAFFE
Just stretching my legs.
MALE WILDEBEEST
(chuckling at his feeble quip. )
Not your neck.
Giraffe grimaces. Others express disapproval and/or annoyance.
.
LION
Yup. It’s great to have our jungle back.
BEAR
Well I wouldn’t say it’s quite back yet.
LION
But it’s getting’ there.
ZEBRA
The fewer humans there are, the greater
chance it has to restore itself.
ELEPHANT
Ain’t that the truth.
RHINO
Why don’t you stick around, giraffe? Some
domesticated animals are visiting.
ZEBRA
We’re welcoming them back to nature.
Helping them with the transition from
dependency and…
MONKEY in a tree.
MONKEY
The farm animals are arriving.
COW, CHICKEN, PIG, and CALF saunter in, clearly tired.
PIG
(huffing)
We’re not used to walking so much.
CHICKEN
We’re not even used to being outdoors.
GIRAFFE
Have some water from the stream.
They drink from the stream.
PIG
(looking around in awe)
It’s amazing. I’ve never seen such beautiful
nature.
LION
Humans destroyed most of it, you know.
BEAR
It was a lot better. I remember childhood stories
from my mother… how it was before humans
encroached on our wild spaces.
COW
(somber)
I walked by the slaughterhouse where my
relatives were murdered. I wanted to show
my son…
She looks down at the calf who looks up at her.
BEAT.
MALE WILDEBEEST
I guess it’s a holocaust mooozeum for you.
Cow grimaces at him. Others express disapproval and/or annoyance.
COW
(overwrought)
At least you had some freedom and open space.
LION
(guffaws)
You mean sanctuaries. (sarcastically)
Nature preserves. Euphemisms for
CAPTIVITY.
PIG
It’s a lot better than what us farm animals
had to endure under Big Ag.
Farm animals chime in.
CHICKEN
We were isolated and raised in miserable
conditions from the moment we were hatched
until the day we were killed.
PIG
I couldn’t even turn around in my confinement.
They kept me immobile and pregnant
CHICKEN
Try being squashed into a wire cage with
several other terrified chickens.
COW
How about being in a CAFO, standing up to
your ankles in excrement.
LION
Well wildlife didn’t exactly fare any better.
RHINO
We’re almost extinct. Loss of habitat,
poaching; My own species was being
exterminated for our horns.
ELEPHANT
Same thing with us, for our tusks.
GORILLA
And for our body parts and bush meat.
RHINO
Our horns were considered aphrodisiacs.
We almost went extinct because of some
bogus claim that our horns helped men
get erections.
MONKEY
Don’t forget us. We’re used in excruciating
lab experiments.
LION
How about trophy hunting. Why in the hell
do people stick our heads on their wall?
FEMALE WILDEBEEST
We’re not competing here. We’re here to
show solidarity.
Just then a dog comes bounding in.
DOG
Sorry I’m late.
ZEBRA
We’ve all been treated terribly my humans.
DOG
They weren’t ALL bad.
GIRAFFE
Tell that to your ancestors, the wolves .
DOG
Huh?
BEAR
(scoffing)
What do you expect from “man’s best friend”?
ZEBRA
Like I was saying, we were all victims of
human behavior, whether we were destined
for dinner plates, pharmacists, pet cages,
lab cages, trophies, sport, entertainment.
Everyone appears solemn.
PIG
In the end, it’s leading to mankind’s demise.
The way they treated us, the animal kingdom
and the planet in general.
CALF
What do you mean?
PIG
COVID 19. Like its predecessors, this virus
emerged from in those wildlife markets
of sick, crowded, stressed animals with
their feces, urine, blood…
CALF
Gross. Please stop.
PIG
Anyway, it was the perfect storm for
the virus. They were told to isolate themselves,
keep a distance from other humans but
most of them didn’t do that. So, the microbes
mutated and created…what we’re seeing now.
LION
Serves them right.
GIRAFFE
Mother nature’s revenge?
LION
Something like that.
ELEPHANT
Some kind of karma.
DOG
(emphatically)
Not all humans are bad.
MALE WILDEBEEST
Now you’re just being DOGmatic.
Dog grimaces at him. Others express disapproval and/or annoyance.
ZEBRA
No other animal fouled its own nest as
much as human beings.
PIG
And they didn’t heed the warning signs
of their damage.
BEAR
Like?
PIG
Well, climate change for a start.
MONKEY
(shouting)
Quiet!
BEAT. A hushed silence is followed by a low growling sound.
MONKEY
It’s a human. He’s running this way.
All the animals duck for cover. The growling gets louder.
A HUMAN MALE ZOMBIE arrives swaying and darting around the stage. He stops in the center of the stage with his back facing the audience. He peruses all of the animals who no longer cower but stand upright and stare at him unflinchingly.
ZOMBIE turns to face the audience.
ZOMBIE
The food is cold here.
ZOMBIE examines the audience.
ZOMBIE
(wild grin and growling)
I bet you it’s warm down there.
He jumps off the stage and pretends to attack the audience members.
The End.
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