Copyright held by the Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop
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written & performed by Katie, Whitney, Sophie and Kaitlin
directed by Gwethalyn
under the influence of Harry Kondoleon
Once upon a time
Though it grows increasingly difficult to recall the correct order of events
There was once a happy time, when we were the main characters and she was a lentil in the fireplace.
There was once a time when two sisters began to fight and a false friendship was made.
There was a time when one became a wench and two became like queens
A time when mother cared not for what we wanted
And we were left with a false father and false promises
Time is deceiving and dreams are unearthed.
Once upon a time
When we had eyes
A WICKED STEPSISTER SPEAKS
We often spent long hours in our room wishing for the prince, he would be handsome and rich and experienced, full of charm and wit, basking in a glow of all knowing manhood.
Then came Cinderwretch
Distain and abounding hubris in her thin, shrill doll-like voice. We knew something must be done about this new wretched sister. We learned to fake innocence (and to blame the innocent) and break insolence (to rob her of her false pride) and embrace our indulgences (making ourselves the princesses and her the maid)
But our happily ever after became an unhappily ever after for Cinder wretch would get the prince and we would become crippled and blind.
TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE
The blood had become a warning to all who wanted happiness.
They looked elsewhere as if to say, “this is what happens to those who dream” and
silently wished their eyes were gone too
And the birds convened in a bath of blood leaving one eye behind
And the churchgoers convened in a bath of blood no eyes left behind
thinking “this is what happens to those who dream
Let us look no more
Let us look no more”
TWO AGAINST ONE
Do my cleaning!
“Yes step sister”
Make my dinner!
“I’d love to step sister”
I’m cold, make it warmer!
“With pleasure step sister”
Yes, love to, with pleasure!
She bends to my words like a delicate little flower. Held up by the simple elegance of a complex stem. I must break that stem, rip it from its earthly home and tatter its petals with a rough hand and a sharp word. It will know me as its master. No longer answering orders with a smile and a nod, but with a look of dread and a low bow.
THE PRINCE ARRIVES
Once upon a time the King and Queen decided the Prince must get married. A ball! A kaleidoscope of color, fantasy, and lust explodes in my mind. The handsome prince escorts me into the ballroom where we dance gracefully, necks held like swans in courtship. “She is my partner” the prince tells the other handsome suitors and I imagine a decadent white gown, servants waiting on my every fancy. All at once the plates clash to the floor, as a sun goddess glides into the prince’s arms. He says, “She is my partner,” “She is my partner” over and over again while the sister weeps, “He was my partner! He was my partner, how cruel the fates can be!”
A KNIFE IS PUT TO GOOD USE
We will send her crying to the cinders
We will work her fingers to the bone and dance lightly and then heavily with the prince in marriage
The coachman at our feet laying a transparent slipper on the floor while mother tells us to chop off our toes
“Chop off your toes”
And I will take a knife and slice
Slipping into love with ease
But the birds will tell the prince I am not the one
“She is not the one”
And mother will tell us to chop off our heels
“Chop off your heels”
And I will cut through the tendon
Slipping into love with ease
But the birds will tell the prince I am not the one
“She is not the one”
“She is not the one”
“She is not the one”
“She is not the one”
THE MOTHER HEN
Now Drizella, or Charlotte, or Anastasia, or whatever your name is my dearest child
Try on this little slipper, isn’t it sweet? It doesn’t fit? Well, that can easily be remedied. A little swish, off comes a heel, a little swish, off comes a toe, simple really isn’t it—No? Well it really is for your own good you know, after all I’ve done for you aren’t you being just a little bit selfish, I’m only asking you to put on one little shoe. Desire has a way of leaving its mark on a person, so take this knife, there’s a dear, and make all your dreams come true.
DOES THE SHOE FIT?
Once upon a time
There were two sisters who arrived at a ball
Obsessed with the prince
Although they did not know his name
And he seemed to have a one sentence vocabulary
And the palace was really quite gaudy
They spun sugar with him
Content to dream until they collide
And fall on the ground
Ashamed with sore bottoms
Once upon a time
Cinderella dropped her hat instead of her shoe
And because the sister’s had to win the affections of the prince
And the only way to do this was to fit into the hat
Their mother picked up the knife
And sliced their heads clean off their necks
And the prince took them both to the castle
where they lived happy headless after.
Once upon a time
They dreamt of something so simple
So clean and harmless
Which would utterly change their lives
For one
As one
Till one rose from the ashes
Like a great and terrible hurricane
Swept him off his feet
Swept us off our feet
Drowning in the current in her wake
Left to pull ourselves out of the stinking shores
Back into society with mud that can never be fully washed off
THE RAGE OF A WICKED STEPSISTER
And after our legs crumpled into a bloody slop much like the scraps of a butcher,
We turned to rage.
We became a fury
A torrent of pity and revenge plots
The hands that were once thought above me, I worked to be beneath me yet somehow are above me again.
Where we were loved
We became disowned
and cast aside like lepers begging on the street corners for spit and pennies
Where we were loved
We became an old horse to a farmer
Who does not know whether to simply put him down
Or turn him into glue
ONE QUESTIONS
When she became queen, she no longer slept in the ashes. If I lose my mother and sleep in the ashes, will I find my prince charming?
THE PRINCE DEPARTS
The prince arrives at my house. My sister is already gasping with joy. Our mother is already weeping with happiness. The prince enters the house. The wedding will be planned and they shall sing songs of my triumph and of Cinderella’s failure. I will send her to work in the kitchens. The grime on her face will become a permanent blush and her spine will twist and curve. He could never love such a horrid looking creature. He will take me to his bed, giving me the gift I have desired all along. Something greater than a proposal and more treasured than a wedding band. But Cinderella’s charms are revealed even through her grotesqueness. Before my eyes her attire of dirty dishrags will transform into yards and yards of the finest golden silk.
CINDERELLA’S ADVICE FOR A HAPPY HOME AND FACE
Shine shine shine
It’s what catches the eye and seizes the heart
Blind them with your light and they’ll never ask questions
When they do, act pious, but kill when necessary
Seem obedient, but keep control of everything
Never grimace, it can wrinkle
Don’t have children, but act disappointed about it
Keep your teeth impeccable, shine remember?
Play with hearts, but don’t get blood on your hands
Knit, sew, do good works, feed the poor, kiss babies, wave with a turning movement in your wrist, embroider, paint tables, and learn the romance languages
Be everybody’s hero, but don’t do any actual saving
Be omnipotent, but don’t let any of them figure it out
TWO QUESTION
As you walk down the lane, every once in a while there is a bird who will sing you a song.
The song is sweet but often the lyrics will reveal the truth, which you would give your big toe or heel to be able to hide.
THE MOTHER HEN AGAIN
Hello my dears! You know I always get the rotten end of this story, everybody thinks “Oh why was the mother so cruel and heartless?” Well sweetie, sometimes people deserve to get punished. Think of all the good it did for Cinderella! She became a princess and lived happily ever after Frankly I’m just glad I didn’t get my eyes pecked out. My inspirational message to all of you is, don’t have children unless you plan on killing all the birds around your house.
THE LOST SISTER IS FOUND
There was never a question of not doing it
Not going for it
Not punishing her
It was something one did without even thinking
And now
We must envy the other beggars
The ones with sight
The ones with perfectly whole feet
The ones with happily ever afters
If we could go back and change what we did
Would we
Do anything differently
Would we
Sometimes as you’re washing the dishes the sound of your old piercing orders fill your ears.
They deafen you
Stopping the work doesn’t help
Picturing Cinderella as they first met.
The evil stepsister is awake
They make her push and scrub and clean until her back is broken
and they say she deserved it that dirty bitch
telling us we don’t belong in her father’s house
that our mother is a whore.
And we will close our eyes at night and tell ourselves that we are right
That everything will turn out all right.
But she is her own downfall
A cruel end to a cruel sister
And if Cinderwench is kind enough to forgive them
The forgiveness only burns like water in a pair of freshly pecked eyes
She doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.
A lost stepsister knows that forgiveness from Cinderella is not the answer
A lost stepsister knows the frustration of self destruction
The lost stepsister needs her sister.
They share eyes, toes, and heels.
No prince would have the crippled around
No God would give them eyes again
No chance for even a shabby husband in sight
But while the churchgoers grope around
for the words that have escaped them
The sisters have seen though Cinderella.
They carry their burden with the airs of a queen
And if the false sister should offer them the favors of the court
They would refuse
groping for their canes and shuffling home
They know that desire is nothing
if not the knife that severs all men,
making them lose their faith
and break their vows
The sisters do not need desire
The sisters do not need charity
The sisters do not need Cinderella.
Alone at night they huddle cold and frostbitten,
only to roll over and find
that the other is still breathing softly in and out,
wrapping her arms around her.
