CREDO by Glenn Laszlo Weiss

This Play is the copyright of the Author and must NOT be Performed without the Author's PRIOR consent

CREDO was first presented by the Vernon-Jackson Vision on March 6, 1989 at the University of the Streets on East 7th Street, New York City and was directed by the author with the following cast:

CHOCK Fullowitz ……………. John (Jay) Haran
TAG Omen …………………......Ty Henderson
CHILERA Spite ………………..Norma Jean Howland
GOLDIE T ……………………. Elizabeth Pressman
CONNIE Edwards ……………. Thomas Davidson

Music was from contemporary adaptations of Thelonious Monk’s music. Invaluable assistance was provided by Michel Stuart.

Author’s Note: Written to pieces of music, especially scenes titled i.e. The Terrors, The Passions, etc. Collaborators should feel free to choose what music they want and where.



CHARACTERS:

Chock Fullowitz
Chilera Spite
Tag Omen
Goldie T.
Connie Edwards


TIME AND PLACE:

A brief period of time following a crisis in the mind and life of CHOCK Fullowitz.

CHOCK is a thirtyish Jewish Man with a manic/depressive range of emotions, movements and thoughts. He has a fleeting nature.

CHILERA is a mid—twenties part American Indian woman who can be both spiteful and very giving within the same moment. She has a vulnerable nature.

TAG is a thirtyish black male who is wise and knowing. He represents a positive force in

CHOCK’s life. He has an artistic and romantic nature.

GOLDIE T. is a Jewish woman in her thirties. She is passionate and above all, pragmatic. She is extremely capable of getting everything done.

CONNIE is an insidious, puzzling and negative force. Only CHOCK is aware of his presence.

CREDO

BEGINNING

(TAG is discovered on the telephone as lights come up.)

TAG: He jumped into a plate glass window? Problems, no. Grass, a little. No, not a problem. No. Oh, every day. Huh, five or six years, yeah. Jobs, hundreds of them, about a day or so. Shows,yeah, a few. What? Tell people. Who? Don’t know that he had any friends. Chock, the Great Isolator. There’s just the lady he lived
with. OK. Be there. Bye. (Hangs up)

[BLACKOUT]


(TAG with CHILERA in a room.)

CHILERA: He started listening to that music, Working with it. Brought problems on. Stopped relating to people. Felt against the grain of the world. Drove five hundred miles in different directions to find another place to live. Came back. Lower each time. Ran out of places to run from himself.


TAG: Sounds like premonitions of disaster. your head. And the noise, the words you need a foundation to withstand it. When I go out there and
play my ax, night after night, I buffer my soul from the pain.
Naturally and unequivocally. I learned the fire again and again. Chock doesn’t even remotely have the inner protection. With the noise in his head, it was a sheer premonition of disaster right from the start.

[BLACKOUT]



(CHILERA and CHOCK alternate lines, phrases as marked. CHILERA is where we
left her. CHOCK is in a hospital bed with his head bandaged. CONNIE is by CHOCK enacting images of speech where appropriate.)

CHOCK: CHILERA:
It’s like a feeling that comes
over you A blanket of numbness.

When everything flows to the top.
When you know that the last drop
of concern for life around you has
vanished. Into thin air.
When you see the person you were. Is now a zombie.
When everything comes to a head A sleepwalker.

You call out to the person. As if looking for vital signs.

You try to determine
Whether there is any relationship to.... What once was awake.

Where you were at the point of
embarking on a life. What once was so alive that he
carried me away.

A life where you had an idea.
Big ideas. Now has stuffed, stifled and
ensconced me.
That led to trouble. To what I can only call an
early grave.
A Nightmare.
That led to sedation. Which gives me an attitude
Misguided self—preservation. Of a very unforgiving nature.

CHOCK: CHILERA:
Getting numb saved me for a while.
The desire to hurl oneself at a
window was always there.
Dark shadows. Instead of
sunlight. Blinds forever
Drawn.



CHOCK CHILERA
The permeation to the soul of a force
driving you to hide. Beseeching you to
run. Bemoaning the bridges you have
burnt. Pretending everything’s O.K.
Believing it to be true. But
knowing life is turning out all
wrong.
Exit signs everywhere. The craving
to get out of your skull. Away from
the pounding thoughts. Feeling that I’m going insane.
That I can fix everything. A
roaring insecurity that
paralyzed my movement.
Movement not away but toward
the insanity.
Then a point where you can not
get out. Where the only thrill is
finding the drug, not using it.
IT DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE!
Now always ragged. Always inadequate.
Permanent dis-ease. A marking of two paths gone
awry. Beyond a point of
cohesion. Beyond rationality,

CHOCK: CHILERA:
excuse, justification. A repetition of
family background.
Father, a drunk. Mother, I
don’t know what? Shotguns
going off in the dark house. Siblings
scattered from the Arctic to the
Equator. Feeling all this inside.
Months, years, you can’t remember. Lots
of scenes inflicted upon loved ones,
colleagues, powers that be. The
destruction of all that you embarked on.
A perpetual scowl.
A clenched face
etched in bewilderment.
[BOTH SIMULTANEOUSLY:]

CHOCK: Your mind says “Jump.” You jump.

CHILERA: This is it! This is how it ends.
Together: Then you wake up in a strange room. With a whole new set of circumstances. Pieces of shattered glass is what’s left of your life. You both try to begin all over again. Though you’re very tired. You try again.

[FADEOUT]
(TAG and CHOCK in a hospital room.)

TAG: Wanna clue me in. What happened?

CHOCK: It was the night before. I made a decision. A decision to end my life.

TAG: Why?

CHOCK: It all seemed so pointless. Failure. I couldn’t live with it
anymore. No prospects as a director. No stability. Driving Chilera crazy.

TAG: Help? Why didn’t you just ask for help?

CHOCK: I couldn’t. That just isn’t part of my make-up. I could say that I’m miserable but asking for help? I didn’t know how. A man’s supposed to...take care of things. As everything slipped away.. .1 don’t know. Everyone else was getting things done. just couldn’t even start. Just berated myself and Chilera started to get on me...over and over again. It’s not her fault, though. I understand. I was just floundering...I...I’m so tired.

TAG: I’ll let you sleep. I’ll go talk to Chilera.

[BLACKOUT]
(CHILERA and TAG. She’s packing.)

CHILERA: I’m getting out of here before Chock gets out of the hospital.

TAG: No, don’t do that. He’ll need you more than ever.

CHILERA: He’ll need me more than ever? He always needs me more than ever. He needed me when he went crazy. When he stopped participating in life. When he stopped working and stopped trying to get a job. When he just got high all the time. When he stopped buying food. When he stopped paying the rent. When he stopped dealing with his family. His family that never accepted me. When he stayed home all the time and bombarded me with his problems, his crises, which were never ending. When he demanded I listen in rapt attention to all his fantastic dreams and plans that kept us up all night. That he was never even going to begin because he was so mentally out to lunch. Now, he needs me more than ever.

TAG: Don’t go. Chock will come around. He is a survivor. Even a plate glass window couldn’t stop him. He loves you. He just got lost for a while. A little understanding can go a long way.

CHILERA: I don’t think I have any left. I need to take care of me, now. I got so sidetracked with his problems. I want a career. I need to devote myself to my acting, not to a maniac who suffocates me with his “I want, I want” litanies.

(She goes to leave)
TAG: But you love him, right? (Blocks her) (She nods, breaks down) Stay. Wait.

CHILERA: Just for a little while.

[BLACKOUT]


(TAG, CHILERA and CHOCK [bandaged and in wheelchair] enter from hospital. CHOCK runs from the others as TAG and CHILERA blend in with CONNIE and GOLDIE who are the voices, walkers and dancers in this scene. They create the impression of multitudes of people going by involved with their situations.)
Voice 1: So, we’re going to have my cousins over.

VOICE 2: Why can’t the ol’ Prez just tell the truth. Since he’s gonna die, he doesn’t want anyone to live past him.

VOICE 3: Capital gains are the most vital aspect to freedom for any individual. Don’t you agree?

VOICE 4: Actually, what I believe...

CHOCK: Put it on the shelf, they said. Put it all on the shelf. (Hugs self)

VOICE 5: I run drug centers. Treatment centers for drug addicts. And with what the government is planning to do, throw money at the problem. Why, I am in a position to make a fortune. You’ll see. A fucking fortune!

(All four actors converge in movement on each other and break apart. Stage is littered with confusion.)

CHOCK: Free at last! Free! Now how do I get from here to there? Do I even want to?
TAG: Bread, soup, nuts, family.

CHILERA: Job, clock, rhythm, crises.

CHOCK: Put it on the shelf, they said. Just put it on the shelf.

TAG: Trains, motion, bullshit, fear.

CHILERA: Why did you do it? What did I do? How can you make me feel this way?

CHOCK: Put it on the shelf, they said. Put it on the.. .(angry) What? I was overwhelmed. Needed escape. You were there. You don’t understand.
CHILERA: And what you did to me? I held you up for years and then you give me this?
(Tempo quicker. The following is repeated)

TAG: Money, bread, soup, dread. CHILERA: What did you give me but
Hate, fear, no love there. problems? All I
FEAR, FEAR, FEAR, FEAR. Did was pay and make
excuses for you.
CHOCK:
Put it on the shelf, they said. Put all of it on the shelf. Put all...of it...on the...they...said...Put it...put it... on.
[BLACKOUT]

(CHOCK runs into TAG on the street.)
TAG: Whoa, slow down, man. You’re really charged up.
CHOCK: I just got out of this place. (Catches breath) You know, the hospital sent me there. It’s like medicine. We talk about what we’re going through. All kinds of people with the same problems. It makes me want to live.
TAG: That’s great. Just keep doing it, kid. I gotta run uptown. See you later.
CHOCK: Yeah, before you go. Wait. (pause) I just want to say, well... I need Faith and Patience. I mean, I’ve been lost for along time.
TAG: Hey, we all do. We gotta do the best we can. Just keep going there, Chock. You’ll be able to do what you always wanted. A job and your work in the theater. Love, all that stuff. Gotta run. (exits)
CHOCK: It would take a miracle, I think.

[BLACKOUT]

[THE MARCH OF TREPIDATION.]

(CHOCK and CONNIE Edwards wrestle. CHOCK alternately breaks free, runs and flounders as CONNIE reaches him and smothers him. This action continues through the scene over and over.
CHOCK: Here I go...
Time to face our problems each day
To be productive, responsible