42/2023: Macbeth Remake
ACT I
ACT I SCENE I
“Lucky”
In a dystopian version of modern-day Bangkok, a beam of light shines through the six-paneled windows of Lucky’s apartment, he gets prepared to tackle the everyday challenges of a Thai salaryman.
Lucky
What did I do to enrage the sun!
Looks like someone was provoked!
He navigates around his bed, his bones cracking along with every step. He grabs a cup of water, dresses up, and leaves for work.
Neighbor 1
You’re up early I see!
Good luck going to work,
You wouldn’t want to be late for work again!
Lucky
Yes, third time’s a charm!
I woke up extra early today,
There is no chance I'm late today!
Lucky (Cont’d)
What grueling weather it is today,
God must have upset the sun!
Anyways, I’ll get to work.
Neighbor #1
See ya! Good luck!
You’ll need it.
He strolls down the gray painted stairs, humming the theme of “Love Is An Illusion” by Ronnie Walker.
As he came down the last few steps, someone else invited him for a conversation.
Neighbor #2
Lucky! Good morning!
Pleasant morning isn’t it?
Lucky
Anything but! The sun is absolutely scorching!
Especially at 6 o’clock in the morning.
Neighbor #2
8? It’s 9 o’clock, son!
Don’t tell me you messed it up again!
Lucky
(Slowly realizing) God damn it!
That guy lied to me!
Running through the luscious green blades of grass he ran the hardest he ever had in 10 years. Once he neared the train station, he took a huge sigh of relief.
Lucky
How did I set the wrong time?
I’m so stupid!
Train Intercom
Now arriving at Phaya Thai
Phaya Thai.
Doors will be opening on the left side.
Lucky
(Talking to himself) At least I made it,
I should be fine now.
Time to sit back and relax.
ACT I
ACT I SCENE II
Nine-to-five
The subtle feeling of uneasiness fills the room. Lucky enters a room full of grumpy, lazy, and hungover workers.
Boss
Who wrote this nonsense?
“10 ways to secretly drink alcohol at work!?”
What type of article is this!?
Boss (Cont’d)
Our company’s reputation has been thrown in the trash!
At this rate, we’ll be the worst news site!
Even worse than BuzzFeed!
Whoever did this, show yourself!
Lucky moved his chair back on the carpet lined floor and stood up.
Lucky
I did it sir, I’m truly sorry.
Boss
You just pulled the last straw!
We are a political news website,
How dare you write this piece of crap!
Lucky
Sorry sir, I will make it-
I’m sorry-
Boss
I’ve had enough of you Lucky!
Leave and never come back!
6 hours pass and he receives a text from his best friend Pat. Upon reading the message, he chooses to call instead. The phone rings.
Pat
Hey man, you alright?
We should go for a drink,
You’ve had a rough day.
Lucky
Yeah, it’s tough, but I’m good.
I have to go home, my wife is waiting.
Pat
Hey, I’m always here for you,
I don’t want you going insane or anything.
Lucky
Hah, I won’t go insane,
Hey um… nevermind,
I’ll call you later.
*Sound of phone cutting.*
ACT I
ACT I SCENE III
The Great Gatsby
An alarm clock runs rampant, bells going back and forth like an out-of-control metronome. Lucky wakes up from a horrid night’s rest. The sound of his front door opens.
Lucky
My head… It hurts!
Who’s there?
Melody
I’m home!
How was work?
Lucky
Gosh, I'm in for a beating…
Come here, Mel!
Melody
What’s up?
You look very grumpy today.
Lucky
Listen, Melody…
Melody
Uh oh, you said my full name,
This sounds like trouble.
Lucky
Look, I got fired.
I’ve just thrown my job down the well.
Melody stares in disbelief, she sits down on the bed and comforts him.
Melody
You know… Sometimes things just don’t go our way.
And when these things eventually happen,
You shouldn’t hold your head in shame,
It’s a sign that you are evolving,
It is a chance to go even further.
You know… After so many years together,
I’ve always been in support of you,
You can always turn to the next page.
Lucky
I know… I know,
I just feel like I’ve failed you,
My family.
Lucky abruptly leaves the room, the room eases into a deafening silence. Melody itches to confess something, the clock hand blurs and the numbers become no longer legible.
ACT I
ACT I SCENE IV
Familia Ante Omnia
To some… Family is above all. But to others… It is an endless miserable walk through hell.
Lucky
Why must my life be so miserable!
Even with all this support,
It feels like dying over and over again.
Why must I have so much hubris!
This pain and suffering that comes from self-expectations,
It makes me drown in whirlpools of shame and sorrow.
Lucky paces the neighborhood bike trail; back and forth over and over again. The sunset and the wind turn into a wintry breeze. He returns home to his wife talking on the phone.
Person (On the phone)
I’m afraid it is true, his DNA does match yours in some areas.
You are related to him.
Melody
What? This can’t be, even my family members don’t know th-
Person (On the phone)
It says on your document that you were adopted at a young age.
Do you have any knowledge of this?
Melody sits in silence like a corpse.
Person (Cont’d)
I’m afraid he’s your brother…
The door slams.
ACT II
Family Matters
ACT II
ACT II SCENE I
Vinculum Aeternum
Lucky is in shock, he runs out of the house in horror. He runs speechless into the horizon.
Lucky
(Panting) A man named Lucky, what utter bullcrap.
All I’ve been through is nothing but an utter mess.
Why must god do this to me, why must I be so unlucky!
He runs and runs, until he finds a beach.
Lucky
(Panting) I’ve come so far, I must be insane to run away.
Whatever, the past is the past, I must now move on.
He finds a mysterious hut set on limestone boulders, he enters into the eerie room. The room is empty, full of cooking utensils and canned food. Lucky settles down in the hut.
Lucky
Someone must be living here.
I should explain to them once they come home,
I’ll settle here for now.
Lucky (Cont’d)
Rows and rows of knives,
I might be chopped into pieces once they come back (laughs).
They seem to like technology, this machine looks very interesting,
Maybe I just ran into the next Nikola Tesla.
Lucky ends the day and slams his back on the wooden planked bed frame, shuts his eyes, and drifts to sleep.
ACT II
ACT II SCENE II
The Most Dangerous Game
The sun rises and the door of the hut creaks open.
Dr. Benjamin Timeley
That was a great holiday!
Man, that night was rough!
I should get myself some grub.
Luck hears the commotion and appears out from the spruce doors.
Dr. Benjamin Timeley
Who are you! Get out of my house!
Lucky
Sir, I can explain, please give me 5 minutes.
I come from Bangkok,
I’m lost and I need a house.
Dr. Benjamin Timeley
Then why are you here? (Grumpy tone)
Go get a hotel or something,
You are not welcome here.
Lucky
Please, please sir, give me a chance,
I can do house work if you want.
Dr. Benjamin Timeley
Look Mr. Intruder or whatever your name is,
I have some business at home that I must attend to,
You are not welcome, this is a very private matter.
Lucky
Its Lucky, and I apologize but I believe there aren’t any hotels nearby,
Please let me stay just for a little while.
Dr. Benjamin Timeley
(Sigh) My name is Dr. Benjamin Timeley,
Call me Dr. Timeley,
We aren’t on a first name basis and I sure hope not that you’ll be in a couple of days.
Fine, I will give you 5 days max,
Any longer and I send you back using my time-
Lucky catches on to the situation, after all, it was strange for the man to be this opposed to helping someone lost. Dr. Benjamin Timeley, owns a time machine.
ACT II
ACT II SCENE III
A Blast To The Past
Lucky now knows vital information, but what will he do with it?
Lucky (Talking to himself)
Time machine? There is no way, right?
Let me walk around and find it,
He’s fishing, maybe I can catch him off guard.
He looked around every nook and cranny of the room until he found it, a time machine.
Lucky (Cont’d)
3 random dials and a button in Latin?
What is this? Did he do this on purpose?
How do I fix this mess that I have created,
When I can’t even use this machine!
He recklessly plays with the machine, tweaking the settings and placing a water bottle inside it to see if anything happened until he reached a stump. He ends his day.
Dr. Benjamin Timeley
Wakey Wakey kid!
It’s time you and I do some chores together!
Off to fish together!
Lucky
(Sigh) I’m not a kid!
Why would I go fishing?
I am practically fighting for my life!
I have made so many mistakes and now I have to fix them!
Lucky runs away abruptly, into a separate room far away from the kitchen. Dr. Benjamin thought he was going back to sleep, but he didn’t realize, Lucky knew about his biggest secret.
ACT II
ACT II SCENE IV
First Encounter
It was repetition for Lucky, 20 years passed and without the internet nor the help of others, he relentlessly continues his attempt to crack the code.
Lucky
Aha! The smell of burnt steel never fails to satisfy me!
I might have gone insane but cracking it all has never been more exciting!
Click, click, click, these buttons have a strange aura,
I must crack it! This puzzle has made me cry! Happy! Sad!
But I have to keep chipping away at this!
Lucky shifts his body over to the time machine, crying, as if he had lost a loved one.
Lucky
Oh dear, it has been too long since I found this machine,
Every day has been full of guilt and sadness.
Latin or whatever it is, I shall find it one day,
As I can’t repent for my mistakes any longer.
(The sounds of the clock hands ticking)
Lucky (Cont’d)
Tick tock. Tick tock. The clock hands turn
Every second shaving away from my existence.
Tick tock… Tick tock
(Lucky sounds desperate but sad at the same time)
He turns the dials and gears of the machine until he heard a buzz. He gets aggressively thrown across the room and passes out.
Lucky
Where am I? It seems to be an old hut.
I should call Benji,
Hello!? Hello!? Benji, are you there!?
He shouts and shouts with no response, he leaves the hut and realizes he was sent to the past.
ACT III
Gaussian Blur
ACT III
ACT III SCENE I
Old Beginnings
He gathers himself and sets himself on a journey. The harsh burning smell of smog suppressed his senses as he marched out the door, he hears an old man patting his cane on long blades of grass.
Old Man
How ya doin’ son!
Lovely day outside isn’t it?
I haven’t seen someone here in ages!
Come, follow me, I’ll guide you to somewhere special.
Lucky
I would love to sir,
Please bring me along with you on your fascinating journeys.
Old Man
(scratching his beard and laughing) Hah! My journeys aren’t interesting,
They are hardly mine to begin with,
Now, let's get going shall we?
He follows the old man, wondering where the twisty roads will bring him. The nicely paved concrete roads were nothing but harsh sharp gravel.
Lucky
Sir, where are we going?
We’ve been walking for days!
My head is spinning like a hurricane!
Old Man
(hits Lucky on the head with his cane)
One must be able to catch up with a wise man,
An old one at that.
You might think of me as any other grandpa,
But I know more than you could ever imagine.
Lucky did not question the old man, he kept following him in hopes of an answer. The more he walked with the old man, the more exponentially familiar his surroundings had become.
Old Man
Here kid, you look thirsty,
You know, back then we had good ol steel bottles,
None of this plastic nonsense.
You know, you kids are lucky these days,
But who am I to judge,
I’m just someone who guides people through their problems.
Lucky
Thank you, I’ll down this right away!
Lucky is surprised by the silky smooth texture of the drink, it's as if he drank in the air.
Lucky
How old are you anyway?
You look quite young.
Old Man
As a wise man I don’t believe in the concept of age,
Age is nothing but a fallacy, a conspiracy made up by the errors of mathematicians.
You shouldn’t ask for someone’s age, ask for their knowledge and wisdom.
Hang out with someone wise and knowledgeable for a long time,
And you’ll realize just how much they know.
Lucky
I see? So I should ask you for some information.
Old Man
You don’t see anything child, you see the lies of the universe.
False assumptions by errors of judgment,
A fallacy of realism shrouded by the very belief of god.
The old man reaches a standstill, he gazes up at a wooden building, one which brings Lucky a feeling of nostalgia and fear.
ACT III
ACT III SCENE II
Guider of Lost Souls
Lucky stares in confusion, he spots his childhood home. Before he knew it, the man vanished, leaving him all alone.
Lucky
This house, is so familiar, yet so unsettling.
(Sounds of a child laughing)
Something calls me but draws me away at the same time.
Unknown Child
(Laughing from a distance)
Look Mom! We have a visitor!
Unknown Woman
Who is it, Lucky?
Lucky
Lucky?!? Where am I?
Wait… Who? Am I?
Child Lucky (Unknown Child)
Mom! This stranger is acting weird!
He runs away in confusion, but he soon realizes he can’t run away, the old man magically appears.
Old Man
Do you see what I mean now?
If you are here from the future,
How are you able to see yourself from the past?
Age is nothing but a paradox of the universe,
An illusion to fool you!
What will you do now?
It is up to you.
The old man vanishes again, leaving Lucky to contemplate his next move.
Lucky
The universe!
Are you trying to fool me?
We’ll see who gets the last laugh.
Whatever is out there!
Come at me!
He reached his final decision.
ACT III
ACT III SCENE III
Suicide By Murder
He waits until midnight confident to get the deed done. He jumps off the tree branch he sat on and slowly snuck into the window of his room.
Lucky
With this,
Finally, I can end it all!
(Laughs maniacally)
Oh… Sleep tight, little prince.
(He stabs the boy)
Everything went black for Lucky. He wakes up back in the hut. As he stood up he noticed everything around him being motionless. The leaves freeze in place, the tree branches stood still, his bed sheets stiff like a metal rod. He is surprised by a voice coming from the kitchen.
Old Man
(Stoically) You are foolish, you know?
A foolish young man, unaware of his very moves.
A king who fails to command his pawns,
Leaving the queen to clean up his duties.
A general, sending his troops to death.
You just messed with the paradox of time,
You and I will be kin friends from now on,
It is just you now,
Burning way to the very end.
The old man disappears, laughing as he fades away. Lucky crawls back into the lab, seeing visions of his family. He knows the end is already here.
ACT IV
A Slow Rush
ACT IV
ACT IV SCENE I
Ashes to Ashes
His state of mind has been so bent, his insanity would be incurable. Everything he looked at, it was full of rage and darkness.
Lucky
For God’s sake! Why must I go through this endless suffering?!
All things that happen around me are nothing, but hell!
Good sir, we have been through many journeys together.
But the time must come, I must end this everlasting suffering.
Let us live on to the fullest!
As I, her brother, am ashamed to live in this junk!
Enough is enough!
He reaches for a hammer and smashes the time machine into pieces. His state of mind is so cataclysmic it resembles the likes of Mt. Vesuvius. Destruction is no longer a fear but a constant thought that runs rampant in his every thought and word. The room engulfs in flames. When the fire reaches his arm, he realizes that it will spread all over his body and that pain will consume him.
Lucky
No! No! No!
You must not come here!
How dare you come at me like ever relenting waves!
Run! Run! Run! Away from me!
I shall live in the past!
No man is ready to die this early!
No man is ready to pass on the afterlife!
No man is ready to die with his sins etched into his history!
Eyes scorched, sight perished. His peeling skin numbs him of any pain.
Lucky
This is how our story ends…
.My family must peacefully live on!
Away from kings who twist puzzled pawns!
Death is silently approaching.
Flames crackling like the reminisce of camping!
Sister, Father, Mother, live on!
For this fire is relentless!
Live on without me!
Flames! Wipe me of my sins!
Let my family forget me!
For I, Lucky! Choose to live a better life!
One away from all this pain and suffering!
May my family live in eternal happiness!
As the flames engulf Lucky, he crumbles into ashes, sinking into the cracked floorboards of the room. No one seems to know about his existence. All his belongings fade away like a distant memory. Everyone, even his family and friends, forget about him. Leaving him to be nothing but a glitch in reality.
THE END
Comments
Post a Comment