SF Olympians

The festival is almost here! Today we present the final installment of Bryce Duzan’s serialized version of his play, CASSANDRA. Thanks for reading and come check out the festival, starting November 6, through November 23rd, for more Trojan madness!

CASSANDRA

by Bryce Duzan

ACT TWO

Scene 6

(We are now back in modern day. APOLLO has just touched his fingers to CASSANDRA’s temples. She now snaps back into reality and pushes him away.)

CASSANDRA
You…Apollo…no! Why do you keep doing this? Why do you keep making me remember what has been?

APOLLO
Why do you keep running, Cassandra? Why do you keep forgetting what has been?

CASSANDRA
You know why, scum. I run…I forget…to stay away from you.

APOLLO
And I keep following. I will keep following you. Don’t you see? Don’t you see my love yet?

CASSANDRA
How blind are you that you think this is love? How unaware of humanity can you be? This is not love, Apollo. This is obsession.

APOLLO
A man who will never leave your side. Some women would die to have such a lover. Why not you?

CASSANDRA
I am not “some women.” I am Cassandra of Troy. You made me rise above when you scarred me with your “gift.”

APOLLO
You never think of it? Think of life with me? Love with me?

CASSANDRA
Of course I do.

APOLLO
Really?

CASSANDRA
Yes…oh Apollo, it would have been so good. If you had only…

APOLLO
Only what, Cassandra?

CASSANDRA
Only respected me. But you do not. Now I’ll ask that you leave.

APOLLO
I will not, Cassandra. I have a purpose for coming this time…more than usual, that is.

CASSANDRA
What kind of purpose is that?

(APOLLO ignores her question and begins to move around the room, inspecting the house.)

APOLLO
You have done well for yourself, Cassandra. What do you do now?

CASSANDRA
I work for a lawyer. I try to help people. It’s a simple home and a simple life…what I’ve always wanted.

APOLLO
And you live here by yourself?

CASSANDRA
No, with my daughters.

APOLLO
(Surprised.)
You have children?

CASSANDRA
Indeed I do, Apollo.

APOLLO
With whom?

CASSANDRA
Do I sense a twinge of jealousy?

APOLLO
I am…merely curious, of course.

(He is clearly lying.)

CASSANDRA
Of course. Well, you’ll be relieved to know that they are not mine. Biologically, anyway. I adopted them when they were both very young and raised them myself.

APOLLO
Yourself? Why?

CASSANDRA
Because I’ve always wanted children…and have never wanted a husband.

APOLLO
Hm, I see. What are their names?

CASSANDRA
Hecuba and Helen.

APOLLO
Your mother and…why Helen? Why not your blood sister?

CASSANDRA
My sister holds a place in my heart. Helen and my mother were influential to my life. I will never forget any of my family for as long as I live, but those two…I hear their words and advice in my mind always. Now they live with me. They are…both very good girls. I think I did pretty well.

APOLLO
I see. Congratulations.

CASSANDRA
Thank you.

(There is a heavy pause.)

APOLLO
Well, then…

CASSANDRA
Yes. Why are you here this time, Apollo?

APOLLO
I have come to give you a choice.

CASSANDRA
Let me guess. You’ve derived a scheme. Choose eternal life and love with you, or else something terrible will happen, yes?

APOLLO
Something like that, yes.

CASSANDRA
What makes you think this time will be any different?

APOLLO
Because this is something you want. Come with me, Cassandra…or I will let you go.

CASSANDRA
…what?

APOLLO
That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want death. Release from this prison called the earth. And I can give it to you.

CASSANDRA
No…why now? I finally have a life, a life I can be proud of. Why have you come to rip that away from me? Come back in fifty years, when I am supposed to retire and my children have lived long, happy lives. Come back then, when I should be ready to pass on, and then I will gladly take death then!

APOLLO
Don’t you see? That is precisely why I have come at this time in your long, long life. Because now is when you are at your peak. Think of it: if you die now, what will happen to your children? The people who depend on you? They will suffer because of your choice. And that is something you could not possibly bear, is it?

CASSANDRA
You bastard. You clever, cruel bastard. Why would you do this?

APOLLO
Because I know that this is my only chance to finally have you.

CASSANDRA
Please…Apollo, I beg you. Don’t make me do this!

APOLLO
I’m sorry, Cassandra, but now is the time.

CASSANDRA
Is it really so easy to cut these binds that have held me for so long?

APOLLO
Easier than you know.

(APOLLO extracts a dagger from a pocket. It is golden and shines with an unnatural light. He shows it to CASSANDRA, who recoils slightly.)

CASSANDRA
What…a knife?

APOLLO
One of the last artifacts from our time. It can free you…for good.

CASSANDRA
I…I don’t know, Apollo.

APOLLO
We have time, Cassandra. I can wait.

CASSANDRA
But…the girls! They’ll be back soon!

APOLLO
Then I suppose that you do not have any time left. How ironic. You are always the one making me chase you through time, and now you are the one who is out of it.

CASSANDRA
No, I can’t do this…not now!

APOLLO
Take it, Cassandra! Feel your freedom in your hands!

(APOLLO grabs CASSANDRA by the wrist. She struggles, trying to get away, as he puts the handle in her hand. Once she is holding it, she calms. She analyzes it.)

CASSANDRA
(With wonder.)
I can feel how powerful it is just by touch…

APOLLO
It is with great pain that I bring it here. Now the question is…will you use it?

CASSANDRA
What if I do?

(A long pause.)

APOLLO
I…do not know.

CASSANDRA
Are you that confidant that I will go with you? Or simply that desperate? Furthermore, what if I do go with you? I will be leaving my children behind all the same.

APOLLO
You can stay with them. Fifty years, as you say. Then you come with me.

CASSANDRA
I see… (Her eyes wander back to the blade.) And there is no other way?

APOLLO
There is no running this time, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
Why is that?

APOLLO
That would be worse than death for you and you know it. You would run and leave your children behind? No, I don’t believe you will.

CASSANDRA
(Sighing.) You are right. It is strange… Clytemnestra told me that someday I may have to resort to violence. I did not believe her until now.

APOLLO
We all have lessons to learn, Cassandra. I hope you have learned-

(CASSANDRA stabs APOLLO in the stomach with the dagger. Shocked, he gasps, falling to his knees. She lets go of the dagger, leaving it in him.)

APOLLO
What…what are you doing, Cassandra?!

CASSANDRA
We must all make our own path, Apollo. I am making mine. The children will be home soon. Once they are… I’m taking them far away from here.

APOLLO
This is murder, Cassandra!

CASSANDRA
It would seem so.

APOLLO
I…I only loved you, Cassandra. Is that a crime?

CASSANDRA
You know everything wrong with that statement, Apollo.

APOLLO
What will you do when I’m gone? My curse will remain…and the dagger is spent. You will be immortal forevermore!

CASSANDRA
You’re right. Though it gives me grief to do so, I must…

(CASSANDRA kneels next to APOLLO. She wrenches the dagger out of him. He grunts in pain. The dagger already has lost its luster and is rusted. She tosses it aside and puts her hands on APOLLO’s wounds.)

APOLLO
What are you-

CASSANDRA
Shut up. Look me in the eyes, Apollo. (He does.) I am taking this wound from you. It will not manifest now, but in fifty years, it will appear on me. I will die. In pain or in peace, it does not matter. I will die. You will not. That is my gift…to you.

(CASSANDRA takes her hands off of APOLLO. His wound is gone.)

APOLLO
What…but how?

CASSANDRA
It seems you gave me a bit more of yourself than you’d intended.

APOLLO
I’m healed.

CASSANDRA
Yes. And your hold over me is broken.

APOLLO
Cassandra…

CASSANDRA
You can leave now.

APOLLO
This…this can’t be! This isn’t over, Cassandra!

CASSANDRA
No, it most certainly is over. For good.

(APOLLO tries to work up his anger, but he cannot. He is utterly defeated.)

APOLLO
I…am sorry, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
I know. There is nothing left to say. Please go.

APOLLO
(Looks out the door, then at CASSANDRA.)
As you wish.

(APOLLO walks to the door. He gives one final look at CASSANDRA, then departs. She breathes, a heavy, healthy breath, and exhales. She smiles. It is bright and lit with true happiness. The smile of a prisoner freed.)

CASSANDRA
It…is over. By everything good, it is over.

(HELEN and HECUBA enter.)

HECUBA
Mom? Is everything okay? Why is the door open?

CASSANDRA
Oh, girls, you’re home! The cable man just left. Said he needed some tools from work and would be back in a little bit.

HECUBA
Oh, okay.

HELEN
Are you alright, Mom? You look…different?

CASSANDRA
What do you mean?

HELEN
I dunno. You just look…really happy, I guess!

CASSANDRA
(Smiling.) I am, dear. I am. (She hugs them both.) I love you both so much. More than you can ever know.

(BLACKOUT)

(END OF SHOW)

Here’s another installment of Bryce Duzan’s CASSANDRA play, which we’re serializing this year to help build your appetite for the festival in November. Enjoy!

CASSANDRA

by Bryce Duzan

ACT TWO

Scene 5

(It is now 1918, just after the end of the first World War. The scene opens on an abandoned and mostly destroyed European village. CASSANDRA is sitting, leaning against a bombed-out building. She is weeping, her head in her hands. There is a pall of stillness in the air. Eventually, the silence is broken by APOLLO, trudging through the mist. He has a look of shock and bewilderment. CASSANDRA quickly looks up at his entrance. She sees him, and in a flash is on her feet, charging him. She pushes him to the ground and stands over him.)

CASSANDRA
You! Why are you here?

APOLLO
Cassandra…! I felt you were here.

CASSANDRA
Yes, I am here. Now why are you here?

APOLLO
I…what has happened? The last four years…how gripped in madness the world was! The horrors…they called it a World War. The world…gripped in flames. This is what you saw, isn’t it?

CASSANDRA
Yes. This is what I tried to prevent. I failed, clearly. Every move stymied. Every truth turned aside. How could this happen? How could I let this happen?

APOLLO
At least…it is over now.

CASSANDRA
No, you stupid fool! Fifteen more years and it will happen again! This time longer and even more bloody! The millions put to death…oh gods, it is terrible!

(APOLLO finally stands back up and composes himself.)

APOLLO
Then will you try to prevent it as well?

CASSANDRA
Why? Why should I bother trying just to fail again? Why am I forced to be the one to try to save an unwitting world? Why didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you try to save them?

APOLLO
I…can’t.

CASSANDRA
What?

APOLLO
I lack the power now.

CASSANDRA
You lost it? How?

APOLLO
There is no faith in the gods of yore now. They believe their one, or they place belief in their own capabilities. I do not blame them. What have we done? What…have I done to help them? Now I cannot. I can do nothing but stand by in mute terror. For eternity, I assume.

CASSANDRA
And I…?

APOLLO
You are the only one keeping me here, Cassandra. Please, go with me. The others have left this world already. They wait for me in Olympus.

CASSANDRA
No.

APOLLO
Why not?

CASSANDRA
Do you not understand, Apollo? I do not want to live anymore! I am but a mortal! I am not fit to live forever. Please, end this torment!

APOLLO
If you die, Cassandra, then surely I will follow.

CASSANDRA
Idiot! You claim love. You claim devotion. Yet where are you when I try to fulfill my hopes and dreams? Nowhere! Or worse, stymying me at every turn! Taunting me for trying to help this blasted earth. If you truly love me…then help me. Help me do what I can to prevent this from happening again.

APOLLO
You…mean this?

CASSANDRA
Yes. If you love me so, then prove it.

APOLLO
…I can’t.

CASSANDRA
What?

APOLLO
I cannot submit myself to these horrors again.

CASSANDRA
You…refuse? I can’t believe it.

APOLLO
Cassandra, listen to me. If you succeed, who is to say that this won’t just happen again? You can’t prevent every war that will be waged. That is madness!

CASSANDRA
You…coward! I should have known it. From the day you cursed me the first time, back in the days of Troy, I should have known that you were nothing but a coward. Only have the strength to toy with girls who don’t know what love is, is that it? You can taunt me with every waking moment, but you can’t stand up to other mortals?

APOLLO
Cassandra, it is impossible this thing you ask of me! You want to end war as a concept! That is not a doable thing for two to do, even if both are immortal.

CASSANDRA
It is my path. It is what I choose to do. It may be madness but it provides the only solace I have in life.

APOLLO
…I can’t walk that path with you, Cassandra. I…I am sorry.

CASSANDRA
I see. You disappoint me, Apollo. I had hoped that you were more than words, but I see that is simply not true. Then…I have nothing to do with you. Except…I do have a request.

APOLLO
You do? Name it.

CASSANDRA
Kill me.

APOLLO
What?

CASSANDRA
If you will not help me, then I want you to end my curse. It is the least you can do, and I will accept it as penance for the tragedy you have inflicted upon my life.

APOLLO
I…no! I will not do such a thing!

CASSANDRA
You cannot even do this for me?!

APOLLO
Cassandra, the tragedies I just witnessed…you want me to contribute to that? I will not do it.

CASSANDRA
Do not think of yourself as above those actions, Apollo. You are not. In fact, do not think of it as violence at all. Think of it as a kindness.

APOLLO
I am sorry once again, Cassandra. I cannot—will not—do it.

CASSANDRA
So you will not help me and you will not end me. Apparently, all you can do is torment me and nothing else!

APOLLO
Cassandra, if you’d just let me, I can make sure-

CASSANDRA
Enough, Apollo. Please. I will not go with you.

APOLLO
(Getting angry.) Do not act as if my presence has been a burden, Cassandra! I have only wanted to make you happy, yet you insist on trying to pursue your foolish desires! What fault is it of mine not to help you in a mad and futile task?

CASSANDRA
And you don’t act as if you didn’t curse me in the first place as a punishment! It has always been your intent to cause me pain, no matter what your silver tongue would have you say!

APOLLO
(Scoffing.) Believe what you would like, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
I would say the same, Apollo.

APOLLO
It seems that we are at an impasse, then.

CASSANDRA
If you will not join me, and you will not kill me, then I will have nothing to do with you.

APOLLO
I will not leave you, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
Then I will be rid of you.

APOLLO
And how do you propose that?

CASSANDRA
I haven’t figured it out yet. How do you always know where I am?

APOLLO
Why should I tell you?

CASSANDRA
Aren’t I your one and only love? The one that you bare your soul to? Is it my curse? When I tell the future you can sense it somehow?

APOLLO
No…

CASSANDRA
Then what? It must be something. You can’t simply know where I am at all times. Especially now that you have lost most of your power.

APOLLO
I could tell you, but…

CASSANDRA
But?

APOLLO
You wouldn’t like it.

CASSANDRA
I doubt that has stopped you before. (Silence.) Fine. At least tell me if I guess correctly, then?

APOLLO
Fine.

CASSANDRA
So…if it’s not when I see the future…(She looks to him for confirmation. He shakes his head “no.”)…then what could it be? You are always showing up the most inopportune times. Every time I need to air out my plans to someone, or when I least need someone there to tell me I’m wrong. You always show right when I want to try to do something dramatic. It’s almost as if… (She stops.) No.

APOLLO
Like I said. You wouldn’t like it.

CASSANDRA
You can’t tell when I’m going to see the future. You can tell when I’m going to change it. Please tell me I’m wrong.

APOLLO
I’m afraid you have it exactly.

CASSANDRA
Then…if I am to be rid of you…

APOLLO
Then you have to give up on your mad quest.

CASSANDRA
Even when you don’t mean to, you punish me. You rend me in two with your very existence, Apollo. You are truly a cruel and unforgiving god.

APOLLO
Cassandra, listen to reason-

CASSANDRA
I’ll do it.

APOLLO
What?

CASSANDRA
I’ll stop.

APOLLO
Then…you’ll come with me?

CASSANDRA
Oh, no. I will never do that. I’m going to stop, but on my own terms. If I cannot change the world, then I will do the only thing I can think of.

APOLLO
Which is…?

CASSANDRA
I’ll forget. I will make myself forget. There is no point in what I’m doing anyway, is there? I do nothing but fail. So I will make myself forget everything. My past will be erased, and I will start a new life.

APOLLO
You’ll forget everything?

CASSANDRA
Yes. Maybe, if I can forget the horrors I’ve experienced…maybe, for once…I can be happy.

APOLLO
I’ll find you, Cassandra. You will slip up eventually. You cannot repress your gift forever. And when you make a mistake…I will be there. Eventually…you will be mine. I swear it!

CASSANDRA
We shall see, Apollo.

(APOLLO leaves. For a moment, all is still, then CASSANDRA leaves in the opposite direction.)

(BLACKOUT)

Only one more installment to go! Check back soon!

Here’s another installment of Bryce Duzan’s CASSANDRA play, which we’re serializing this year to help build your appetite for the festival in November. Enjoy!

CASSANDRA

by Bryce Duzan

Act Two

Scene Four

(It is now the mid-1800s, in the lobby of the Ford Theater, the day of Abraham Lincoln’s death. CASSANDRA paces in the lobby. She is dressed for the times, wearing a fine gown. However, she looks tired. Eternally tired.)

CASSANDRA
Why am I here? On another fool’s errand? Trying to stop a future hurtling towards me with impossible speed? Towards this…gods-forsaken world? Why do I keep trying? All I do is fail. It seems insurmountable. Even more aggravating is the fact that every time I try to change the future…I always feel him.

(As she says this, APOLLO enters the theater, dressed in a fine suit.)

APOLLO
Thinking of me, love?

CASSANDRA
Apollo! What are you doing here?

APOLLO
I could ask the same of you! It doesn’t seem like you’re here to take in a night of theater. Though, if you are, I do have a spare ticket…

CASSANDRA
You’re right, I’m not here for the show. I’m here to save the president. He is going to be assassinated after the show.

APOLLO
By one of the actors, yes, a Mr. John Wilkes Booth. And, let me guess, you want to stop him?

CASSANDRA
Of course. President Lincoln’s assassination would send the country into turmoil, so shortly after it has settled into peace.

APOLLO
Let them tear themselves apart! This young country was founded on the wrong ideals anyhow.

CASSANDRA
Wrong ideals? The United States of America was founded on the principles of freedom, justice, liberty-

APOLLO
And in the same breath was built on the back of slavery and oppression!

CASSANDRA
They are young. They will learn.

APOLLO
You are…ever the optimist, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
Perhaps I am. I prefer wide-eyed optimism to harsh pessimism, at least.

(There is a pause.)

APOLLO
So where have you been for so long? I’d lost track of you in the seas of time.

CASSANDRA
That can’t be. I always felt your presence at times like these.

APOLLO
You must have been imagining things. “Times like these?” So you’ve tried to influence time before? After our little Caesar incident, that is.

CASSANDRA
Tried, yes. But rarely succeeded.

APOLLO
Do tell.

CASSANDRA
I don’t have time for this, Apollo.

APOLLO
Nonsense. You’re quite early. Booth won’t be here for some time, and the audience won’t be arriving until long after that.

CASSANDRA
(Sighs.) Fine. Where do I start…I hid myself from the world after Caesar’s death. I was ashamed that I had failed. For a long time I hid and lost myself in thought. When I emerged…the world had changed. The proud Roman people with their gladiators, their stolen gods, and their Senate had gone. In their place were knights clad in iron, monarchs ruling strips of land, and a strict system of honor. I saw an emperor rise to power, uniting the kingdoms. All of this and I stood by and watched. In Rome, the popes rose and fell, one after another, a line of religious leaders. Then, one of them sounded a call for action. He called them the Crusades. It was to be a massacre.

APOLLO
And so you acted?

CASSANDRA
I tried, yes. But my words could not convince the pope, and I feared if I said too much, I would be accused of blasphemy. The tenants of this religion called Christianity were much more strict when it came to…the old ways.

APOLLO
Yes, I’ve noticed.

CASSANDRA
…what is your life like now?

APOLLO
What?

CASSANDRA
Well, at least in Rome, they still knew you, though you were called by a different name.

APOLLO
They still know the name of Apollo here!

CASSANDRA
Hardly. They speak of you like a fairy tale. It’s just a word to them. They do not truly know you like the Greeks did. I’m surprised you haven’t…

APOLLO
Haven’t what?

CASSANDRA
No, nothing, don’t pay me any attention.

APOLLO
Well…it’s true. They do not worship me as the Greeks did. They do not tell my stories like the Romans did. They hardly acknowledge my existence except in some scattered writings. It is…infuriating. I was…I am a god! I deserve respect!

CASSANDRA
So…why do you not make them respect you?

APOLLO
I…I will. (For a moment, his composure is gone. He is lost. Then, it’s back, and he is all charm again.) But anyhow, this isn’t about me, is it? It’s about you. Please continue.

CASSANDRA
Alright…the next event I met a French girl named Jeanne. I saw her future, a future where her country was crushed, leading to England becoming too strong and crushing the world in a tyrannical grip. However, I saw that Jeanne was special, and that she could help me change fate.

APOLLO
How was she special?

CASSANDRA
Well, I do not know how, but when I spoke frankly and told her the future…she believed me. Immediately.

APOLLO
What? That isn’t possible!

CASSANDRA
Trust me, I know, Apollo. (Pause.) I told her what I had seen, and she said…she called me an angel sent by God to lead her people to victory. I…was just so happy that someone believed me for once.

APOLLO
So what went wrong?

CASSANDRA
What?

APOLLO
We both know how this story ends, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
She…was too eager. After she won battle after battle, I saw the future change. She would be captured and executed for heresy. Somehow, she knew I was hiding something. She demanded the full story.

APOLLO
Which was?

CASSANDRA
That her death would be a symbol for the French people. That years afterwards she would provide strength to them in times of need. She sacrificed herself, even when I begged her not to. I…let her die.

APOLLO
And what if you had protected her? Then your original vision would have come true! Would you protect one girl in exchange for a country?

CASSANDRA
No, but…I was close to her. I felt like a sister to her. I had…not been that close to someone in a long time.

APOLLO
Cassandra…

CASSANDRA
I am not like you, Apollo. I do not have godhood to keep me busy. I am merely a mortal who cannot age. Why…why make friends when they just die in a matter of time? Why try to get close to someone? All it ends with…is pain. Pain at the loss. By now, I have seen babies born, age, die, and decay to dust. I have seen empires rise and fall. But her death…I was there, Apollo.

APOLLO
I’m sorry, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
You wouldn’t understand, Apollo. You and your kind are much too alien to understand true grief.

APOLLO
I…did not intend to hurt you, Cassandra. I merely meant-

CASSANDRA
To punish me.

APOLLO
No! I was just trying-

CASSANDRA
Do not try to twist your words, Apollo! I know why you have cursed me. Cursed me twice, even. If you wanted to apologize for your actions, you have had plenty of time. I have wandered the world waiting for the end to come, and it still has not.

APOLLO
Is that what you want, Cassandra? The end to come?

CASSANDRA
I do not want to be timeless, Apollo. I do not want to see everyone I meet crumble into dust in front of me. I do not want to see this world crumble and rebuild itself anymore. I…I just can’t.

APOLLO
Then join me and give up this pain at last! You will never feel pain again by my side, I swear it.

CASSANDRA
Never. I would rather rot here and be free than be a slave to you.

APOLLO
You would not be a slave, Cassandra. I would treat you-

CASSANDRA
Hush! He’s coming.

(JOHN WILKES BOOTH enters. He is a proud Southern man. He is dressed well and seems to be in a hurry.)

APOLLO
That is him?

CASSANDRA
Yes. Excuse me, sir, Mr. Booth?

BOOTH
Yes? Can I help you, miss?

CASSANDRA
(Curtsies slightly.) Cassie Sanders, Mr. Booth. I wanted to speak with you before the play.

BOOTH
Well aren’t you a pretty face? (Glances at APOLLO.) This your husband?

CASSANDRA
(Chuckles.) God, no.

BOOTH
Well then, what can I do for you? Need an autograph signed?

CASSANDRA
Not exactly, no.

BOOTH
What is it then?

CASSANDRA
You need to not kill Lincoln today.

BOOTH
…I’m sorry, what?

CASSANDRA
You’re planning on assassinating President Lincoln today at the show. You can’t do it.

BOOTH
I’m sorry, lass, but you’re not making any sense! Why would I kill the president of the United States?

CASSANDRA
You’re an accomplished actor, Mr. Booth, but I know what you will do. You hate President Lincoln, and you think assassinating him is the only way to fix things. I’m here to tell you that you are very wrong.

BOOTH
So what, are you going to arrest me?

CASSANDRA
No, I’m here to simply ask you. Don’t do it.

BOOTH
How do you know I’m going to kill him?

CASSANDRA
I have my ways, Mr. Booth.

BOOTH
Look, why not? He smothered the South, that son of a bitch, he deserves to pay for what he did to my people!

CASSANDRA
John, you don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t know the implications of your actions! If you kill him then the South will suffer even more.

BOOTH
How do you know what will happen to the South?

CASSANDRA
Because…I’ve seen it.

BOOTH
…right. And I’m the queen of England. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a show to perform.

CASSANDRA
Mr. Booth, please see reason! (He turns to leave.) They’ll catch you within the month. (He stops.) In that month, you will despair as you learn that the entire country, North and South, mourns. It will happen at a farm. You refuse to leave, so they set it on fire. An officer, full of rage, shoots you. You die in a puddle of your own blood. And you are vilified for the rest of history. Is that how you want this to happen?

BOOTH
You…who are you?

CASSANDRA
More than you can comprehend, Mr. Booth.

(Suddenly, audience members begin to trickle in.)

BOOTH
He’s coming…!

(He turns to leave.)

CASSANDRA
Booth, wait! (He leaves.) DAMN IT!

APOLLO
He seemed shaken by your words. Perhaps that was enough?

CASSANDRA
No. It hasn’t changed…nothing has changed! (She stares hard at APOLLO.) This isn’t over. It won’t happen. I won’t let it!

APOLLO
Let what happen, Cassandra? (She exits.) Cassandra, wait!

(BLACKOUT)

Check back next week for the last installment!

Here’s another installment of Bryce Duzan’s CASSANDRA play, which we’re serializing this year to help build your appetite for the festival in November. Enjoy!

CASSANDRA

by Bryce Duzan

Act Two

Scene Two

(History has reversed. It is now the time of Ancient Rome, the day of Julius Caesar’s coronation as emperor. CASSANDRA paces back and forth, away from the cheering crowds that await Caesar’s approach.)

CASSANDRA
What shall I do now? I know the future that will come if I allow this. Caesar will be murdered if he is crowned king. His murder will lead, to a civil war in Rome and, eventually, to the downfall of Rome itself. Hundreds of thousands will be displaced or killed. But how do I seek an audience with him? How do I approach him? How do I even form an argument to sway him?

Ah! If only I had some contacts from the old days. The friends I had formed after escaping the palace of Agamemnon were great indeed, but…they have long since passed now. And I remain…unchanged. (She looks at her hands.) I cannot believe that Apollo would go to such lengths to curse me. First my sight, now my life. Both extend into eternity, and there is nothing I can do to stop either…and where has he gone? I have not seen him for many years, though I still feel his sight upon me from time to time. Has he slipped into the pages of history? I doubt I should be so lucky. If he were to disappear, I would hope that my curses would disappear with him.

Still, a small part of me is thankful for the strange things I have seen. Were I still mortal, I would not be privy to the rise of Rome. But the Roman people are strange to me. Their customs and ways seem far more brutish than those of Greece. I find more in common with their slaves than their royalty! Yet, slaves cannot grant you an audience with a king.

(A cheer erupts from the crowd.)

The parade has begun! He will be here within minutes. Perhaps I can give him some sort of warning…

(APOLLO emerges from the crowd.)

APOLLO
I see you are plotting again, Cassandra.

CASSANDRA
Apollo! I knew you could not be far from me. Why are you here?

APOLLO
You are attempting to influence history, Cassandra. You are trying to change the future you see. Why?

CASSANDRA
I do not want what happened to my home to happen here. There are many people that would suffer in the coming war if Caesar is assassinated.

APOLLO
And what about the future you cannot see? What would happen if Caesar were to remain as king?

CASSANDRA
What do you mean?

APOLLO
Think of it. Caesar obtains the power he desires, but soon, it is not enough. He craves more. It becomes a hunger inside of himself, devouring all it can. Soon he is driven insane, and all of his subjects suffer under his rule. Can you not see it?

CASSANDRA
That…is not true! You are just trying to confuse me! There is only one future written as of now, and I am trying to change it.

APOLLO
There is one future that you can see, Cassandra. The future that will come to pass. But there are countless other possibilities.

CASSANDRA
How do you know what will happen?

(APOLLO chuckles.)

APOLLO
You may be immortal, my dear Cassandra, but you are not a god.

CASSANDRA
So…you say that whatever I do, I will not be able to affect fate?

APOLLO
Indeed. You cannot change humans. They will find a way to destroy themselves in
the end.

CASSANDRA
No, there must be something I can do!

APOLLO
Cassandra, stop this foolishness. When you have seen humans squabble amongst themselves for as long as I have, for as many petty reasons as there are stars in the sky, you realize the pointlessness of it all. I too, was once concerned for them. Then I grew angry at them. Then…well, it is all amusement to me now.

CASSANDRA
And you do not believe you sometimes squabble over petty reasons with your divine brothers and sisters?

APOLLO
Please, we are above such things!

CASSANDRA
Is that so? I seem to remember a certain story about a girl who resisted your advances, so you cruelly cursed her for the rest of time…

(They are silent for a moment.)

APOLLO
So you wish to try to save this Caesar?

CASSANDRA
His fate is less important to me. It is the fate of the Roman people whom I care for.

APOLLO
How interesting! How much you’ve changed already, Cassandra!

CASSANDRA
What?

APOLLO
I seem to remember a girl whose city had burned to the ground. Weeping, she returned to the ruins of her once-glorious home, and sought not for the common men and women, but her own family.

CASSANDRA
Are you accusing me of not caring for the common folk of Troy? I shed tears every day for my people-

APOLLO
Yes, “your people,” you say. It’s always “your people.” But what people? You call out for Hector, for Priam, for Hecuba, but never have a name for the commoners who lived and died serving you and yours! What about the peasants, the soldiers, the hundreds, no, thousands who died fighting for Troy and Troy’s royal family? What about the innocent merchants and craftsmen, the wives and children of the soldiers, all huddled in the city, looking to your family to save them from destruction? Whose salvation was never secured, and who died knowing it was you who had failed them? Those are your people, Cassandra, and you failed them!

CASSANDRA
Enough! You do not know about these people, Apollo, you knew nothing of their plight! How dare you suggest that I did not care for them! I poured my heart and soul into caring for them, and they knew it. They loved and respected me for everything I tried to do to help them!

APOLLO
But you hated them too, did you not?

CASSANDRA
What are you talking about?

APOLLO
When you first received your…gift, did you not feel hate in your heart when they turned their backs on you?

CASSANDRA
No, never! They…simply did not understand…they could not understand!

APOLLO
Yet they shunned you! For all the kindness you had shown them, they laughed at you, called you mad!

CASSANDRA
They…yes, they did.

APOLLO
And it pained you, did it not?

CASSANDRA
…it did. So very much. I needed them, and they all turned their backs on me.

APOLLO
So, tell me. Why do these people deserve your pity? What makes them so special?

CASSANDRA
…no! I will not hear these words from you! This is too much. Your words eat holes into my brain and drive me mad with fury. Enough! (She turns to leave, then stops.) No, wait…you are pushing me away. You are trying to make me leave, are you not? Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to stop me?

APOLLO
I simply do not want you to be crestfallen when you have failed, that is all.

CASSANDRA
You are hiding something from me. What is it? Tell me!

(APOLLO smirks and turns away. CASSANDRA grabs him by the arm and spins him to face her. He is genuinely shocked by the action.)

APOLLO
I…a mortal should not be able to change the future, Cassandra!

(Cheers erupt from the crowd once more.)

CASSANDRA
Watch me do so.

(CASSANDRA moves to the crowd.)

APOLLO
He will not believe you, Cassandra, try as you might!

CASSANDRA
I must try, Apollo. I must try.

(CASSANDRA pushes past the crowd and calls out to CAESAR, who is attended by CASCA and BRUTUS.)

CASSANDRA
Caesar!

CAESAR
Ha! who calls?

CASCA
Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!

CAESAR
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry ‘Caesar!’ Speak; Caesar is turn’d to hear.

CASSANDRA
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
What woman is that?

BRUTUS
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
Set her before me; let me see her face.

CASSIUS
You, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.

CAESAR
What say’st thou to me now? speak once again.

CASSANDRA
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
She is a dreamer; let us leave her: pass.

(CAESAR, CASCA, and BRUTUS leave, the cheers of the crowd echoing all around. APOLLO is left as the crowd follows CAESAR.)

CASSANDRA
He…did not even heed my warning.

APOLLO
Indeed. ‘Tis a shame. I thought you might really make him believe for a moment.

CASSANDRA
You had something to do with this. I know it!

APOLLO
I did not.

CASSANDRA
You must have! You did something, empowered my curse, made my truths seem like greater lies!

APOLLO
Cassandra, you were the daughter of a king once. But that was many, many years ago. Who are you now? Troy is all but forgotten by these people. And you, by all accounts, should be dead…for a great number of reasons, I might add. You are just another woman wandering the world now.

CASSANDRA
That is where you are wrong, Apollo. I am so much more. This is not over. I will change this world, I swear it.

APOLLO
Why do you bother, Cassandra? This war is lost. Caesar heads to his doom.

CASSANDRA
Do you not see it? Far ahead, hundreds of years in the future…fire enveloping the earth…tragedy like Troy a hundredfold.

APOLLO
(Chuckles.) Perhaps you are mad, dear. Come, end this-

CASSANDRA
No! Leave me be, Apollo. I have much to do now.

(CASSANDRA storms off. APOLLO makes no move to follow her.)

APOLLO
Run as much as you want, Cassandra. One day you will realize how pointless it is. All I have to do is wait…and time is on my side.

(BLACKOUT)

Keep checking for more installments!