The Prologue

The Prologue
(Occurs on all stages)

SETTING: The globe.
AT RISE: The stage is dark. All video screens are black. The choros begins softly and slowly builds in intensity.

VOICE
(Authoritative sounding, possibly Zeus, possibly Homer. As the words are spoken
the text is placed on the elevated screen dedicated to the location´s mother language)

It began with a woman.

(Various images of a strikingly attractive woman switch from screen to screen)

The most beautiful mortal woman ever to have graced the face of the earth, Helen of Troy.

Taken from her rightful husband by Paris and secured behind the fortress walls of Troy, she and her new lover spent the days in sensual bliss.

(On the screens, from left to right, replacing the image of Helen, are a series of maps showing Troy.
They move from a wide shot of the general area to a close-up of Troy)

Soon, thousands of men seeking to avenge the honor of the forlorn Menelaus, left the comfort of their homes and families and laid siege to the city that contained this most precious of prizes. A Jewel for which countless men were willing to die.

(Images of all the actors who play Odysseus switch from screen to screen)

Among these men were Odysseus and his companions.

For nine long years they waited.

(The choros increases in intensity as images of the Trojan horse fill the screens)

And then in the tenth year, through cunning and trickery, they breached the walls.

(The choros grows even more intense as images of cities destroyed by war switch from screen to screen)

And burned Troy to the ground.

(The choros falls silent and the screens go black.
A moment passes, then, on the Text Screen in bold letters appear the words)

THE ODYSSEY BEGINS

(The screen goes black. Then a single light
illuminates Odysseus standing on the stage)

VOICE

Odysseus.

(All four of the screens start to show Odysseus’ vital
signs, heartbeat, pulse, blood pressure)

(The sound of Odysseus’ heart beating)

Now that the war is over, he and his companions will begin their journey home.

(From left to right the screens change from Odysseus´
vital signs to maps of the ancient locations and then
change again to maps of the cities of Oudeis, Chicago,
Rome, Rio, Vienna, Buenos Aires, etc.)

A trip that will take them across the oceans to the farthest reaches of the globe.

(Odysseus disappears as his light fades out)

Carried by the winds, by streams of electrons, by the pure energy of light.

(Odysseus reappears in a different location as he is
reilluminated)

For what is man but matter?

(Equations from Einstein’s Theory of Special
Relativity switch from screen to screen)

And what is matter but energy?

(Images of nuclear explosions replace the equations)

Light.

(Images of the sun and solar flares fill the screens)

(All four screens turn brilliantly white and then
simultaneously with the light on Odysseus fade to
black leaving the stage totally dark)

(A moment passes and then a single light illuminates
Odysseus standing in yet another section of the stage)

Odysseus, the man, made of flesh and blood, with a heart and soul.

(The light on Odysseus fades out as the screens fill
with images of the actor playing Odysseus)

Odysseus, the image, a collection of electrons.

(The first light cone appears)

(On screens 2 and 4, Odysseus´ vital signs)

(On screens 1 and 3, a beating heart)

(The sound of Odysseus´ heart beating)

Odysseus, the light, pure energy. As he travels the earth, Odysseus, his companions, and others will be all of these things, for they are no longer governed by the laws of man but by the whims of the gods.

(The light cone disappears as all four screens are
replaced by images of the storm laden ocean)

(Sound of choros)

(On screen 1, the words "visualization of the choros"
appear and then the visualization itself)