NOCHE OSCURA a Spanish Noh Drama The play is structured on Japanese Noh Drama. It has a similar plot: a monk on a journey of spiritual enlightenment, accompanied by a servant, who then encounter obstacles in the form of demons, enlightenment eventually being attained. First blackout is one minute long. Each succeeding blackout is thirty seconds longer than the preceding one. Thirty seconds before lights fade up, dialogue begins in darkness for any speaking part. DARKNESS & LIGHT should be considered to be living presences or characters in the performance of this piece. The Chorus should be singer/ actors. The play should be chanted in an Arabic or Flamenco style. The Chorus will provide sound effects of wind, fire, etc. The Battles described in the play are open to improvisation by the performers, director or choreographer. NOCHE OSCURA a Spanish Noh Drama PROLOGUE Upstage center are stairs leading to a barred prison door. Center stage lights fade up revealing four hooded figures forming a gauntlet -- each holds a whip. The door opens. San Juan is flung in. The door slams shut. He staggers down the stairs and through the gauntlet. Every time he is struck he groans or screams. He is Unmasked. Blackout. Lights fade up center stage. San Juan is in chains. SAN JUAN One dark night, Fired with love's urgent longings -Ah, the sheer grace!- I went out unseen, My house being now all stilled; Sound of wind. In darkness, and secure, By the secret ladder, disguised, -Ah, the sheer grace!- In darkness and concealment, My house being now all stilled; Sound of sea. On that glad night, In secret, for no one saw me, Nor did I look at anything, With no other light or guide Than the one that burned in my heart; Sound of fire. This guided me More surely than the light of noon To where He waited for me -Him I knew so well- In a place where no one else appeared. Prison door opens & vanishes: Blackout upstage. SAN JUAN(continued) O guiding night! O night more lovely than the dawn! O night that has united The Lover with His beloved, Transforming the beloved in her Lover. Upon my flowering breast Which I kept wholly for Him alone, There He lay sleeping, And I caressing Him There in a breeze from the fanning cedars. When the breeze blew from the turret Parting His hair, He wounded my neck With His gentle hand, Suspending all my senses. Stage lights begin to fade. I abandoned and forgot myself, Laying my face on my Beloved; All things ceased; I went out from myself, Leaving my cares Forgotten among the lilies. Blackout. SCENE ONE The sound of wind through mountain trees fades up. Lights fade up revealing Mt. Carmel, upstage center. There are three paths leading to the summit. Stage left is the path leading through the "Goods of Earth" [Earth/Water]. Stage right is the path leading through the "Goods of Heaven" [Air/Fire]. Center stage is the path leading directly to the summit. Down stage is revealed San Juan [in Mask] & a Carmelite Brother [in Mask]. Also upstage on raised platform is Chorus of Four Hooded Brothers. CHORUS To reach satisfaction in all desire its possession in nothing. To come to the knowledge of all desire the knowledge of nothing. To come to possess all desire the possession of nothing. To arrive at being all desire to be nothing. They repeat stanza three times. As Chorus begins and during repetitions San Juan and Brother mime a scene of departure. San Juan is called by a steady glowing and ebbing of light on the summit of the Mount. Brother objects, attempting to dissuade San Juan. Eventually they begin a journey to the summit. Chorus ends chant. Blackout. SCENE TWO BROTHER Venerable Father Juan, how does one become enraptured? SAN JUAN By denying one's own will and doing the will of God; for an ecstasy is nothing else than going out of self and being caught up in God. BROTHER What is the Dark Night Father? SAN JUAN There are two nights or purgations of the soul. The first night concerns the sensory part of the soul. The second night concerns the spiritual part. This first night is the lot of beginners. CHORUS To come to pleasure you have not you must go by a way in which you enjoy not. To come to knowledge you have not you must go by a way in which you know not. To come to the possession you have not you must go by a way in which you possess not. To come to what you are not you must go by a way in which you are not. Repeat three times. San Juan & Brother arrive at path stage left. They encounter Earth(possessions)/Water (love). There ensues a Battle. Brother is seduced and must be saved by San Juan. Earth/Water is vanquished and vanishes. Chorus ends chant. Sound of rain. Blackout. SCENE THREE BROTHER I am a burden to you Father. SAN JUAN It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. Deny your desires and you will find what your heart longs for. CHORUS When you turn toward something you cease to cast yourself upon the all. For to go from the all to the all you must leave yourself in all. And when you come to the possession of all you must possess it without wanting anything. Repeat three times. San Juan & Brother arrive at path stage right. They encounter Air(glory)/Fire(joy). There ensues a Battle. Brother is seduced and must be saved by San Juan. Air/Fire is vanquished and vanishes. Chorus ends chant. Sound of fire. Blackout. SCENE FOUR BROTHER Father, I grow tired. SAN JUAN The soul that walks in love neither rests nor grows tired. Enter within yourself and work in the presence of your Spouse, who is ever present loving you. BROTHER Father, I grow hungry. SAN JUAN Feed not your spirit on anything but God. Cast off concern about things, and bear peace and recollection in your heart. He who falls alone remains alone in his fall, and he values his soul little since he entrusts it to himself alone. San Juan & Brother arrive at the path center stage. CHORUS In this nakedness the spirit finds its rest, for when it covets nothing, nothing raises it up, and nothing weighs it down, because it is in the center of its humility. BROTHER The appetite blinds and darkens the soul because the appetite as such is blind! SAN JUAN The blind soul who falls will not get up alone in its blindness and if it does, it will take the wrong road. BROTHER The more I desire to seek them the less I had. The more I desire to possess them, the less I had. CHORUS In this nakedness the spirit finds its rest, for when it covets nothing, nothing raises it up, and nothing weighs it down, because it is in the center of its humility. San Juan encounters a Demon. They battle. San Juan with rosary. The Demon with sword. The Demon is vanquished and vanishes. CHORUS In this nakedness the spirit finds its rest, for when it covets nothing, nothing raises it up, and nothing weighs it down, because it is in the center of its humility. San Juan journeys toward the summit. As he walks the path becomes illumined and stage lights fade to darkness. At the summit he is enveloped in WHITE LIGHT. The path fades to darkness. He can be seen inside the LIGHT: TRANSFORMED. CHORUS Glory matters nothing to me. Suffering matters nothing to me. Here there is no longer any way because for the just there is no law, they are a law unto themselves. I brought you into the land of Carmel to eat its fruit and its good things. Only the honor and glory of God dwells on this Mount. Blackout. EPILOGUE Prison door opens and closes. Lights fade up center stage: San Juan in chains. Prison door and stairs upstage center. SAN JUAN On knees: Unmasked. O living flame of love That tenderly wounds my soul in its deepest center! Since Now You are not oppressive, Now Consummate! if it be Your will: Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter! SAN JUAN & CHORUS San Juan stands opening arms in cross- like stance revealing the bleeding wounds of the Stigmata. O sweet cautery, O delightful wound! O gentle hand! O delicate touch That tastes of eternal life And pays every debt! In killing You changed death to life. O lamps of fire! In whose splendors The deep caverns of feeling, Once obscure and blind, Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely, Both warmth and light to their Beloved. SAN JUAN How gently and lovingly You wake in my heart, Where in secret You dwell alone; And by your sweet breathing, Filled with good and glory, How tenderly You swell my heart with love! Blackout. A full minute to five minutes. Lights fade up very slowly,