Weekly #4

Setting: Athens in the time of the Peloponnesian War

Characters:

Narrator

Jasper: main character/ Athenian traitor

Charon, Eros, and Yorgos: plague men

Urias, Seth, Panos, and Jonas: Athenian soldiers

Azad, Cy, and Dario: Spartan soldiers

Prologue:

Narrator: Athens was the most powerful city in the ancient world at one time.  It is amazing to think how such a terrific and terrible city could become 1/3 of what it once was.  All this is thanks to one man named Jasper.

(blackout)

Act One

(Scene opens up with Jasper alone onstage in front of curtain)

Jasper (to audience): I am a traitor.  In my opinion, I am the greatest traitor of all time.  Thanks to me, my home city of Athens was wiped out, and I became one of the most powerful men in history.  You may not have heard of me because my story is to upsetting to tell.  After my death, the Spartans decided to say that their generals and strong army were the reason for their victory.  I am here today to tell you the story of what really happened those many years ago.  Let’s go back in time to the very beginning of this terrific tale. (Jasper exits)(curtain opens to Urias, Seth, Panos, and Jonas in a group onstage)

(Jasper walks in and stays off on the edge of the stage to eavesdrop)

Seth:  Guys, Pericles is really going overboard on the whole, “Let’s take over Sparta so we will rule all of Greece!”  I’m tired of fighting with people.  We are already the most powerful city in Greece.  Why worry about Sparta?!?

Urias: Seth, don’t worry about it.  Our army is strong enough to take them on, and all our trade routes will still be open so we’ll have plenty of supplies.

Jonas:  Yeah!  Don’t worry Seth.  We won’t shrink from a fight.

Seth:  I guess you guys are right.  Did you hear about the shipment infested with disease?

Jonas:  No?  What happened?

Urias:  I heard that one of the ships that we trade with has diseased rats on it.

Panos:  How are we going to get rid of the rats?

Seth:  As soon as the ship pulls into the harbor, we are sending it right back out to sea.

Jonas:  When is it coming?

Urias:  Sometime next week.  Watch what you eat.  None of us can afford to get killed.

Panos:  Stop worrying.  We’ll be fine.  Come on!  We have a war to train for. (men exit)(Jasper walks center stage)

Jasper: (to audience) This, my dear friends is only the beginning.  (laughs evilly and exits)

(Azad, Cy, and Dario enter)

Azad:  Guys, I don’t know what to do!  We can’t let those Athenians beat us.

Cy:  I know.  What are we going to do! (Jasper enters)

Dario:  Get out of here you Athenian fool!

Jasper:  No, I am here to offer help.  You guys want to win the war right, because I have a plan that will guarantee your victory.

Cy:  No way! Why should we trust him?  We will win on our own.

Jasper:  Trust me, if my plan works, at least 1/3 of the population will be wiped out!

Azad: Let him talk.  What do we have to lose?

Jasper:  Thanks.  A new shipment is coming next from across the sea.  I heard that the ship has rats infested with some disease.  They are planning on turning the ship around before anyone can catch the disease.  I’ll tell the traders to go through anyway, and then the whole city of Athens will get a terrible plague!

Dario:  How do we know what you are saying is true?

Jasper:  You have my word, and anyway if the ship doesn’t have the disease, it didn’t cost you anything.

Cy: But once the plague starts, won’t everyone just evacuate the city?

Jasper:  That’s where you guys come in.  If you block off the trade route, food won’t get in, and the Athenians won’t be able to get out.

Azad:  Alright men!  We have our orders, now let’s get to work! (all men exit)

Act 2- The Plague

(Charon, Eros, and Yorgos enter)(there is a big box of fruit on the stage)

Charon:  Hey look guys the shipment came in today!  They must have just unloaded this box so far. (men run over to box and start eating)

Eros:  Thank goodness it got here.  I’m waiting for the day the Spartans try and block off this route.

Yorgos: (has a girly voice) Ewwww! Is that a rat! Gross!

Charon:  Stop freaking out.  I don’t see anything.

Yorgos:  But I swear it was right there!

Eros:  Come on Yorgos; let’s leave before you have another panic attack.  (Charon and Eros laugh and exit with Yorgos following)

(Jasper, Azad, Cy, and Dario enter; all in very good moods)

Azad:  Well guys, we did it.  The goods can’t get to Athens, and the plague is going to start to have its effects very soon.

Cy:  We couldn’t have done it without you Jasper.  (pats him on the back)

Jasper:  Happy to help.  I’m just glad it worked so perfectly.

Dario:  You can say that again.  Now we get to sit back and wait for them to start to die.  (laughs evilly)

Cy:  Jasper, how could you betray your home city like that?

Jasper:  I just got tired of being the loser who is always left out.  I learned that you have to do whatever it takes to be on top!

Azad:  Quick, let’s get out of here.  That plagues going to spread, and I definitely don’t want to catch it.

(all men exit)(Charon, Eros, and Yorgos enter)

Eros:  What- what’s happening to us!

Charon:  I feel awful!  My neighbor told me the best way to end this is to crawl into a sewer and die.

Yorgos:  I told you it was a rat!

Charon:  I’m starving!  Why don’t we have any other food?

Eros: I heard that the Spartans blocked off the path the traders use to get here.

Yorgos:  Guys… I think we are going to die.

Charon:  Don’t worry Yorgos! We might make it.

Eros:  Come on; let’s see if we can find any more food.

(men exit) (Urias, Seth, and Panos enter)

Seth:  I can’t believe Jonas died!

Panos:   Me either.  He was the strongest out of all of us.  If anyone could come up with a plan to get us out of this mess, it would be him.

Urias:  I know what you mean.  There is no way we are going to win the war now.  I think we should just surrender.  Then at least we will have food to give to the people still alive.

Panos:  Alright.  I’ll go to the Spartans tomorrow and let them know.  I think this is honestly for the better.

Seth:  Poor Pericles.  I can’t believe he died either.  Now who is going to rule over Athens?

Urias: (grumpily) The Spartans will.

(men exit with heads hanging)(blackout)

(narrator enters)

Narrator:  As you can see.  This was a time of great pain for the Athenian people.  Their money gone, their people starving or dead, their once brilliant navy destroyed.  All thanks to Jasper.  Sadly, Charon, Yorgos, and Egos all died of the plague along with many others.  On the other hand, the Spartans returned in triumph!  They had defeated the once mighty Athenians.  A statue was erected of Jasper, the hero of the Spartan army. (blackout) (Narrator exits)

(Jasper enters)

Jasper: (to audience) Now you know the tale of my victory.  Three years after my death, the statue was burned down, and Azad, Cy, and Dario took all the credit for the war that I won for them.  Athens was never able to recover from the horrible thing I did, and Sparta became the most fearsome group of people that ever existed.  I killed 1/3 of the population of Athens, and I will never regret what I did.

(blackout)

THE END