The Charioteer of Rome · MacBeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Othello, Julius Caesar,...
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The Charioteer of Rome
The Charioteer of Rome
By
M.J. Burgess
Self-Published, New York City
THE CHARIOTEER OF ROME © 2016 By Monique Janelle Burgess Self-Publishing ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. DESIGNED BY MONIQUE JANELLE BURGESS COVER ART BY MONIQUE JANELLE BURGESS "The Chariot of Rome," © 2016 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
In Memory of William Shakespeare
christened April 26, 1564, died April 23, 1616
Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones And cursed be he that moves my bones. -epitaph
Also in Memory of
John Heminges and Henry Condell, Friends and colleagues of Shakespeare who compiled
The First Folio of Shakespeare’s Works in 1623
This book is dedicated to Shakespeare’s fans all over the world; to every actor who has played a Shakespearean character – whether it was on stage, on film, or at a high school auditorium – I salute you. To every artist and every dreamer - I hope you enjoy this play and hold on to the words of Buddha:
What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract.
What you imagine, you create. Keep dreaming. And continue to create art.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is widely regarded
as the greatest writer in the English language and the
world’s most famous playwright. He wrote 37 plays,
154 sonnets, and 2 narrative poems. His most famous
and beloved plays include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,
MacBeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Othello,
Julius Caesar, and Henry IV. Born and raised in
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England,
Shakespeare moved to London and worked as an
actor, writer, and part-owner of the theatrical
company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later known
as the King’s Men after Queen Elizabeth passed away
and her Scottish successor James I became king of
England). In 1599, the company built The Globe
Theater near the Thames River. Here, many of
Shakespeare’s plays were performed by the most
famous actors of the Elizabethan Era including
Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. On
April 23, 1616, Shakespeare passed away. In 1623,
John Heminges and Henry Condell created and
published the first collection of Shakespeare’s works
called the First Folio.
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Charioteer of Rome…..XIII Poem: To Master Shakespeare…..XXI
The Charioteer of Rome Dramatis Personae…..23
Act One Scene 1…..27 Scene 2…..34 Scene 3…..47
Act Two Scene 1…..57 Scene 2…..67
Act Three Scene 1…..70
Act Four Scene 1…..88 Scene 2…..101 Scene 3…..119
Act Five Scene 1…..147 Scene 2…..162 Scene 3…..174 Scene 4…..187 Scene 5…..192 Scene 6…..197 Dramatis Personae for Actors…..199
Afterword Commentary Essay: Brotherly Love and Sibling Rivalry…..207
Second Commentary Essay:
The Four Wherefores…..211
Bibliography…..224
Poem: Author’s Autobiography…..231
XIII
INTRODUCTION TO THE CHARIOTEER OF ROME
his year marks the 400th anniversary of
Shakespeare’s death and many companies
around the world are celebrating by putting
on Shakespeare’s plays. However, I decided to write a
new Shakespearean play. In July 2008, I was living
and working in Tarrytown, New York when I read
the article, “The Man with The Golden Pen,” in The
Vanity Fair magazine. The estate of Ian Fleming – the
writer who wrote twelve James Bond novels – asked
novelist Sebastian Faulks to write a new James Bond
novel in honor of Fleming’s 100th anniversary of his
birth (May 28, 1908). When Vanity Fair interviewed
Faulks, he admitted that he wanted to read the novels
first. Eventually he agreed to write the novel and said,
“…it wouldn’t be like writing a new Shakespeare play,
would it?” That got me thinking, can you write a new
Shakespeare play? At the time, I was writing my first
screenplay so I decided not to think about it. I had no
plans to write a Shakespearean play.
It took me nine months to write my first
screenplay. In May 2009, I was getting rid of papers
and cleaning my desk when I found the Vanity Fair
magazine again. I kept hearing this strange voice
nudging me to write a Shakespeare play. But, I felt I
was not qualified and it seemed impossible.
Shakespeare is a genius according to –everyone! But
what changed my mind was when I asked myself the
T
XIV
following question: If Shakespeare was alive today,
what would he write about? If I can find an idea, I
will do it. If I can’t find an idea, I won’t do it. And the
idea for the play came to me. Right away, I said to
myself, “He would write about cheating.”
I thought about what happened in 2008 – The
Olympic Games and the IOC cracking down on
doping among athletes. I thought about the headlines
in December when Bernie Madoff was arrested for
the biggest ponzi scheme in American history. I
thought about the number of politicians who was
caught cheating on their wives over the years–
Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards,
Former New Jersey Governor James McGrevey,
Former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer. Madoff,
Olympics athletes, American politicians all have one
thing in common – cheating. Cheating in its many
forms.
When I started writing, I knew three things: it
would be about two brothers – the oldest who is a
politician and the youngest who is an athlete, it would
take place in Rome and I knew I needed the Greek
Gods. But then another theme began to emerge and I
figured I was going to write a play with a main plot
and a subplot. And these two plots would show a
juxtaposition between brotherly love and sibling
rivalry. I started writing poetry when I was 11 and one
of the things I learned is poetry writing forces you to
pay attention to things most people overlook. And I
have noticed in my life and among other people (in
XV
general) that siblings have a huge impact on us. Being
an only child has a major impact on a person. It’s as if
siblings are an invisible force – just as important on
us as human beings as our parents and grandparents.
I started writing the play in the late spring of
2009 and I decided then a good time to put on the
play would be 2016. I had seven years to work on the
play. During that time, I wrote my first book of
poetry and learned about self-publishing. I stopped
writing poetry for several years so spending the next
few years writing a book of poetry helped me write
the poetry in the play. I also wrote a novel during
November 2013 and November 2014. I read as much
as I could about Shakespeare, Greek mythology and
Ancient Rome. However, the most important book I
read was The Complete Works, all of his plays and his
sonnets in one volume.
How do you write a new Shakespeare play? I
started with the article in Vanity Fair in which the
reporter writes that Faulks’ James Bond novel is not a
Fleming clone. So I decided not to write a
Shakespeare clone. Next, I read about Shakespreare’s
flaws. Prior to this I never knew Shakespeare had
flaws but a professor at Oxford wrote an essay about
it and in his opinion, Shakespeare wrote too much
too quickly. So that was the next goal, don’t write a
play that is too wordy. I personally have the opposite
problem; my professors at Columbia thought I didn’t
write enough. But learning about Shakespeare’s flaws
along with being aware of my own flaws, I began to
XVI
believe that writing this play was going to be difficult
but no longer impossible.
Shakespeare also provided no moral
instruction in his plays. I made a note to myself: no
preaching, no Aesop’s fables. Next, all of
Shakespeare’s characters are fully fleshed out - which
is in line with the observation that Shakespeare was a
humanist and compassionate towards all of his
characters including the villains. Some also believed
Shakespeare was an early feminist. And it is possible
since he had two daughters and he started his career
under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. My next goal
was to embrace the feminist in me and unleash it. As
a result, I created the character of Amoris, the only
female charioteer in the world of the play.
I came up with more goals. According to
scholars and experts, Shakespeare’s shortest play is
The Comedy of Errors, his worst play is Titus
Andronicus and, his best play was Hamlet. So my
original plan was to write a play as short as The
Comedy of Errors and just as good as Titus
Andronicus. The idea of writing a new Shakespeare
play is very ambitious; thinking I can write a play as
good as Hamlet is arrogant, delusional, and unrealistic.
A good writer should know their limitations.
The next goal is to simply do my best in
honoring Shakespeare and writing a play my acting
colleagues can be proud of. From time to time over
the past seven years, I was reminded of what my
grandmother told me – when you do your best, angels
XVII
in heaven can’t do better. So I promised myself I will
stop editing the play until I reached a point where I
feel I have written the best Shakespeare play I can
possibly write.
But why? Why do it? Why honor Shakespeare?
Why write a new Shakespeare play? I honor him
because he means too much to too many people. Also,
studying him made me a better writer and a more
compassionate human being. I wanted to learn how
to write a Shakespearean sonnet. And also, I had an
idea for a play and I felt I needed to write it.
At the time of writing the first draft of this
introduction, I finished the 2nd revision of the play.
Like my screenplay, this play will go through several
revisions. The play now is different from the play I
imagined in 2009. The play has less characters – 22 in
all. In 2009, none of the human characters had names.
The politican, Sapienas, and the charioteer, Milesares,
have a middle brother, Secundus – who is of African
ancestry and adopted. Adoption, I learned, was
common in Ancient Rome. In 2009, the main
characters were Sapienas and Milesares. Now the
main characters turned out to be Milesares, Minerva,
Mars, and Apollo. Even the plot structure changed.
At first, I had 21 scenes divided into five acts: Acts 1,
2 and 4 had five scenes and Acts 3 and 5 had 3 scenes
each. Then after watching “Romeo and Juliet” on
Broadway in September 2013, I realized I needed to
write the play in 2 acts. So that was the plan for the
past 2 years. Then when I finished the first draft, I
XVIII
had 15 scenes instead of 21 and I was able to divide
the play into 5 acts. So in the book, the play will be
divided into 5 acts and in the theater, the play will be
divided into 2. Even though the main characters have
a lot to do, the minor characters have a lot to do as
well. To my surprise, the longest monologue (written
in blank verse) is recited by the Magistrate. And Act 2,
scene 2 is one long hip-hop-styled poem recited by
the servant boy, Kyrio, and chariot racing fans in the
audience at the Circus Maximus. This is just proof for
me that I can never fully plan and write an accurate
outline of a play. The plan keeps changing. The story
keeps changing. And the characters will take over at
some point in the writing process and surprise the
writer.
Now, I am convinced that this story had to be
told. I resisted because I was not confident in my
abilities as a writer. But even though I am an okay
writer, I do believe that the older I get the better my
writing gets. And I do believe the best person to write
a new Shakespearean play is someone who loves his
works, who considers themselves a fan. Most
importantly, the characters were there all along –
waiting for an opportunity for their story to be told. It
was a pleasure to spend time with them these past few
years. My hope for the future is that people continue
to enjoy Shakespeare and that a few more writers
spend a couple of years of their lives writing
Shakespearean plays of their own. And I hope there
XIX
are actors who are brave enough to bring these stories
(including this one) to life.
-November 12, 2016
XXI
To Master Shakespeare Shakespeare, we must be silent in thy praise.
We must look at ourselves in Hamlet -
Must feel for Romeo and Juliet -
For love was a bright smoke and a sick health.
For in the hearts of our forefathers,
Hidden in the crevices of our brothers,
Virtue turned to vice, vice turned to virtue –
Silver and gold turned poison to their souls.
The place we find ourselves is neither
Church nor school but the world on a bare stage
Where I look at I, thy gaze on thy self,
My weals, thy woes, my rues, thy yesternights,
Til I know not where my story begins
And thine end. In thy mirror, I. am. thee.
23
Dramatis Personae MARS, The Roman god of war (His Greek name is Ares.) MINERVA, The Roman goddess of war and wisdom (Her Greek name is Athena.) APOLLO, The Roman/Greek god of the sun, medicine, music, archery, poetry and prophecy; (His nickname is Phoebus.) CALLIOPE, The chief goddess of the nine muses, the muse of epic poetry, Thalia’s oldest sister THALIA, the muse of comedy, Apollo’s lover DIANA, the Roman goddess of the moon, the hunt, and the wilderness; Apollo’s twin sister (Her Greek name is Artemis; her nickname is Phoebe.) ERIS, the goddess of discord and chaos, Mars’ twin sister THANATOS, The god of death SAPIENAS GERMANUS, A Roman senator and the eldest Germanus brother SECUNDUS GERMANUS, A tax collector, a retired charioteer, and the brother of Milesares and Sapienas MILESARES GERMANUS, A professional charioteer, the youngest Germanus brother ATHENA GERMANUS, matriarch of the Germanus family, mother to Sapienas, Secundus and Milesares SANFRIDA, Sapienas’ wife KYRIO, servant boy to the Germanus family Kyrio’s GRANDFATHER, a blind man and a fan of chariot racing
24
MERETRICIA, Sapienas’ mistress and one of the wealthiest courtesans in Rome Servant GIRL, Meretricia’s servant and a fan of chariot racing MAGISTRATE of the horse, the highest official of the chariot racing sport and one of its financial sponsors BELLATOR, manager of the Russata chariot team (aka the Red team) FLAVIUS, A horse breeder and one of the wealthiest members of the Equites class AMORIS, Flavius’ daughter and a charioteer The ARABIAN, A fan of chariot racing The ROMAN, A fan of chariot racing and the Arabian’s friend Roman citizens
25
The Charioteer of Rome
26
27
Act One Scene One
A dead body is on the ground. Enter THANATOS. He
picks up the body and walks across the stage. Enter MARS.
MARS
hanatos! Handsome death with raven’s wings,
To you the sickly, the hopeless soul sings
Thanatos - called Letus by the Romans –
How is the job, your mistress, your woman?
THANATOS
Away from me, you call this hell a job -
How’s it? You should know – you keep me busy –
You are bloodthirsty and you are cheating.
You rob, you mob, babies scream, women sob.
MARS
Come, Thanatos, come – we don’t spend much time-
You and I – and your life seems so sublime.
THANATOS
Only you could say those sarcastic words.
Only you have fun with daggers and swords.
When death sees the lifeless soul of a youth
He is angry – now that’s more of a truth.
Exit MARS left and THANATOS right.
Enter MILESARES and KYRIO.
T
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MILESARES
Did you not see a fight break out just a while ago – here in front of the temple of our great god, Jupiter?
KYRIO
Yes Master, but it seems the fight is over.
Why you ask?
MILESARES
Wherever there is a brawl or an argument,
that’s where Mars will be.
KYRIO
You are looking for the god of war?
MILESARES
Yes.
KYRIO
Why?
MILESARES
You will see why.
KYRIO
No, I will not see why. I will be gone before I
see anything. So you might as well tell me now.
29
MILESARES
You are not going anywhere. Who is the
master here?
KYRIO
I am.
MILESARES
Are you crazy?!
KYRIO
A servant is a master in disguise so don’t let my fashion fool you.
MILESARES
If you think you are fashionable, then you are
the fool.
Enter MINERVA wearing a cloak.
MINERVA
Milesares.
MILESARES
Nothing makes me happier than a beautiful
woman saying my name -
MINERVA
-I heard you were looking for the god of war.
30
MILESARES
Yes. Who are you?
MINERVA
I am the goddess of war.
MILESARES
Forgive me, but you do not look like the
goddess of war or so I’ve heard -
MINERVA
- And what have you heard?
MILESARES
That your eyes are a light shade of grey and
cold as a trip to the highest peak of the Alps.
If you are the goddess of war –
MINERVA
-I am therefore I am.
MILESARES
I accept you are what you are, goddess. But,
where is your brother?
MINERVA
He is not here.
MILESARES
Where can I find him?
31
KYRIO
Master, you don’t need him. You have the
goddess of war.
MILESARES
(speaking to Kyrio but staring at Minerva)
I still need him. I switched to his team
therefore, I need his help to win the races.
(to Minerva)
You have beautiful lips. How come no one
talks about your lips?
KYRIO
She is also the goddess of chariot making.
Goddess, can you make him the finest chariot
in all of Rome?
MINERVA
I could. A light weight chariot that once the
magistrate drops the mappa and the horses
speed down the stadium floor, the crowd will
think you know how to fly.
MILESARES
Goddess, I am your servant. (bows)
MINERVA
Good. You do not need Mars helping you
anyway.
32
MILESARES
Why not?
MINERVA
He’s been a sore loser these days. And you
Milesares, - you are a winner. I have been
watching the races.
MILESARES
Have you? I thought the gods were ignoring
us mortals these days.
MINERVA
We pay attention to the chariot races. You are
one of my favorite charioteers: a thousand
races, nine hundred fifty-eight wins, twenty-
nine second place finishes, thirteen third place
finishes. No one has the kind of record you
have – you are the closest person to being an
unbeatable charioteer.
MILESARES
I am also unbeatable in other things.
MINERVA
So am I. But the only thing I will do for you is
build you a chariot. Nothing more.
Milesares bows.
MINERVA exits.
33
KYRIO
Don’t even think about it. She will kill you if
you get too close. Please tell me we are going
home. We do not need the god of war.
MILESARES
We will go. But I still need the god of war.
And I know she is dangerous. I like danger.
And besides, she likes me.
MILESARES and KYRIO exit.
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