(they circle each other)
I do understand, I will not be able to save myself from certain
magic words.
They occur very infrequently
Do you think so?
(Pause)
Are you going to tell me theyíve begun happening?
(Pause)
Are we under attack?
What makes them magic
You tell me
Me
Oh? Thatís a new level of confusion
Iím interested in confusion because it lessens somebody
elseís power over my person with a couple of magic words
One of those words could be ìmeî
Yes, it IS me
Thatís part of the confusion, when you repeat myself.
The word ëmeí is universaly applicable
--If you perform the correct mental operation
Doesnít everybody? Me.
Me
Me--
--Donít you sense the difference between us, even when
we use the same magic word?
(Pause)
Now you make me thinkl that perhaps Iím mistaken in my
choice
Ah--
But we also, in this bried period. let so many words pass-- I
canít remember them all.
You donít have to remember them for the magic to function
True, but you said ëbe on guardí-- by implication.
And now-- I probably havenít been on guard.
(Pause)
Choose a word
Any word
Yes
Yes
Make that the magic word
Yes
Be on guard
I donít know how, of course, to be on guard against a word
Use it
Yes
Now, be on guard against it
(Pause)
Yes
Now decide, of the two words youíve been paying special
attention to, which has the most power
Me
Is it good for you
No
Then try the other
Yes, but itís not as powerful
(Pause)
Maybe thatís because itís more powerful but you
donít know how to protect yourself against it
Right
Ah--
Why did I say right instead of ëyesí
I donít know
I donít know either
Evidently, neither of us is able to save ourselves from magic words
(Pause)
Your turn
(Pause)
(Hold)
Notice.
I donít think I said anything by my avoidance of unnecessary words or gestures.
(Pause)
Iím talking, but your language and gestures are not talking.
Iím gesticulating-- mildly-- you are not
(Bell)
What was that
That deliniates an area within which the rest of us speak, but
the speech is, as it were-- off the record.
Oh please, spare me that little bit of pretentiousness
What
ìOff the recordî
Letís effectively eliminate certain of my words. Here is
a roll of tape
Which words will this tape eliminate
It depends how one uses the tape
(Pause)
If your mouth is taped, all possible words.
No. Just some
(Pause)
(Tape)
Now-- you canít speak, but I can. So our conversation will be very one sided. The solution is-- change oneís consciousness of time, so that in the past, and even in the future, your words are part of the conversation weíre having in the present.
Ah
Thatís one of the words we didnít want to eliminate
(Gets small gift package)
I wonder if you can open this even if your mouth is closed forcefully
(Pause)
By tape
(Removes tape)
Youíre too far away
I expected you to come and take it
Even with a taped mouth
Yes
Then re-tape it
Iíll have to put the the present back I the drawer
Just put it on the table
No, then itís vulnurable to attack
Nobodyís going to attack it
Well, letís say a premature opening of the present
Risk it
(package on table)
Now Iíll take myself
(Other re-seizes package)
(Other comes and opens-- itís a watch, straps it on)
(Perhaps many packages & gifts?)
(stop and look at clock, at watch)
I know. They donít agree. Hereís the peobem. We should make them coherent. But it isnít in your catagory to adjst a clock that doesnít belong to you, and it isnít in my catagory to adjust a wrist watch youíre already wearig
(Pause)
So-- weíll just have to go on, being out of synch, wonít we--
(exit. Other sits, faces clock and blindfolds self)
(Return)
He canít see, he canít talk, but he can still hear
(Strap pillows on ears. Music rises. Free one then dances, other
coes to door)
Donít stop
No. As long as youíre watching me, Iím stopping
(Music rises-- 3rd dances, 2nd returns and dances, one with stuff dances)Know that inside the mind there is a second mind.
Look, look-- this jeweled container is the second mind;
or a representation of the second mind--
or a substitute--
Look, look--
how it trembles from the silence of invisible thunder.
This container never opens.
This container never opens
Here is the a second container which is the representation of
the original containerWhy is a table a symbol of stability since
a table can be easily destroyed by an ax or a second table
An ax I understand. But another table--?
Well, it can always be superceeded, in the sense that a table
can be used for something, but then that same activity could be
moved to another table
But that doesnít destroy table number one
Yes it does
(Pause)
OhProbably, this landmard decision (to
Oh, oh, oh, no need to confess anything
The numbers thathopscotch through my brain are very old numbers.
I- 2- 3- 4- I go on and on
Whose youth in on the line now, please?
Congradulations of a certain specifi verasity, ie-- Loud noises.
Very loud noises
No one can do without the worship of their own-- well, shall we say-- secret part of their own mind?
Here is a mind, use it, but use most of all, itís secret compartments.
Now-- because they are secret, the manner in which one is able to access them, is secret also.
But there are ways to try, and some of the
ways seem to make use of the human body rather than the human mind--
but rest assure, it is the secret mind at work-- the secret mind.Experts
are confused
Ellen was being psychoanalysed-- which enabled her to have wonderful
conversations.
When she said something, her psychoanalyst would look to the side of the room and see an amazing light.
He looked into the light.
Experts are confusedExperts are confused. They ride mental elevators and discover themselves moving sideways. Are they in search of more intensity?
Of course.
They enter a late night bar -- but wait a minute-- where is the loss of life, the threat to equilibrium?
If it could be in a mental elevator, it could be here, also, lifting the glass of alcohol to dry lips-- this could explode into something else at any moment. This is no trick. Experts are confused, and now the peversity of their position is clear.I pick up this fruit. I taste it.
There is no way anybody else in the world can experience what
I experience
(In row boat)
I say there-- may I have a taste of fruit?
Iíll be glad to offer you some fruit. But you have to realize
that what you taste, wonít be what I taste
Oh-- similar, I should think
Similar-- I have no way of knowing. But it wonít be my
experience youíll be sharing. You do realize you canít
share my experience
(Pause)
Then maybe Iíll just row off
I canít offer you some fruit?
My rain-- is or is not working against me
Is this working aginst you?
Hide that
First-- take a bite
By all means, I chose to protect myse;f
(Pause)
I mean I chose to protect my brain, also
Letís do research
Brain research?
Letís do brain research.
(playing card packs, designs)I donít experect a reward
I donít expect happiness
I donít expect sexual favors--
I donít expect to be famous
I donít expect intellectual stimulation
Please donít open anything without saying this gift should
change our relationship
First, I should tell you my name--
But why, since Iíve already revealed most of my secrets
I wasnít aware of that
Of course not-- because I didnít reveal them verbally.
You should have been able to look deep into my eyes, and seeing
what lurks-- should you have taken back your presents?
I never profit from my mistakes
You never make mistakes
You can tell?
Thatís my secret. Eye contact. Every one of my guesses
turns out 100% correct
Then Iím glad weíve met
Why
Iím the opposite, and opposites attract
(Gone)
I guess I said the wrong thing. Oh well, there are still several unopened packages. But Iíll save them for later
(exit)ìFind girls, attractive girls, who enjoy physicaly
attacking each otherî. This was the content of the note,
passed to me by the disheveled man with long white hair, muttering
under his breath as I passed close by him on my way to the park.
Instead. I went into the room where the women were fighting. As
they tore at each otherís flesh, I could see parts of bodies,
discolored by scrapes and bruises. But at this tremendous moment,
nothing else in the world seemed interesting to me.
Finally, I exited and looked at the sky.
I fought against the delicacy of my anticipation, and then when the event arrived, it was slices of raw met in the store window that surfaced against my eye like a plate of glass-- lifted whole, and shattered in the arena of my appitite. Can I tell you more about myself?
The woman in the white care rose and came toward me.
I hid from her. I hid from her
Her weapn fell into the dust at her feet, disolving in mid air--
From another angle, she turned beautiful, and I worshipped her by groveling in the dust amidst those invisible weapons that began sucking upon my body until I was ready to bite back, and I held onto her radient thigh, which twisted against me in the hot wind. Now-- I am deep into one of my disguises, I thought, and I meant-- really, really deep.Who was this ghost?
It was himself.
He rose from the floor, wearing his glass bubble suit.
This caught everyoneís attention immediately
He was probably protected from germs-- but was he protected from
his desires?
Do you hate me? Do you hate me for my desire?
I could not answer. But I was not required to answer, because
it was not to me that the appeal was being addressed
Try on this yellow suit
Is that the proposal?
This yellow suit will protect you from your desires
Biut I had no way of knowing whether or not this was the truth--
so indeed, I tried on the yellow suit
The yellow suit is my buffer against reality. That means, my desires
turn into a magnet. And everything I desire, rushes toward me
at tremendous speed, but that speed, in and of itself-- tranforms
my desire into something very different from my desire and so
it is no longer attractive to me even thought in a sense, it is
still my desire.
So nothing else, you are condemned to be a prisoner of your desire
even when it is transformed into something you no longer desire.
Then a man or woman knocked at the door and I was asleep suddenly--
the knock-- put me to sleep
What aspect of the knock on the door
Possibly the fact that the door was in another room, and so my
hearing was not good enough to hear
But possibly something else
Yes
How did your desire happen to instal itself in that knock, knock,
knock.
Say it again with your voice, rather than with knuckles hitting
the door, and Iíll be able to tell your fortune. I mean
your future
Knock. Knock. Knock
What youíve done, is to have just made me terribly conscious
of the empty space between my legs
Empty?
Come on, tell my future
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Hereís the answer. Your future is my past. Which is your
past also
End the confusion
(a story is told. . .My desire is to discover relevent situations
ad insert myself into those relevent situation
Please-- embrace me only if there is a secret involved
The secret involved is that I do or do not embrace you-- that
embrace in limbo-- which can indeed be felt, mutually, inside
two bodies at once
The secret is-- I have two bodies-- at the same time
I canít choose
Choose between them
(Pause)
Can you imagine my arms going in unimaginable directions
Now wait a minute-- letís put this table between us
(Done. one goes under, other over)
Help me up
Who needs help most
Help me u[
If I come over there, you should be able to lift yourself by starting
out at my shoes. I mean-- making contact, and then lifting your
body by pulling yourself with your hands that first get to the
ankles, then the calves, knees, thighs, hips, waist, torso and
soon-- youíre standing-- or at least holding onto me in
a relatively upright position
(Pause)
I repeat myself. Help me up.
I repeat myself.
The world tried to be beautiful, and failed.
It was much like that for the idiot savant who, as he aged, was
less of one as he was more of the other.
Arriving in the city of his dreams, a rather elderly gentleman
reached out to touch his shoulders where wings were trying to
sprout.
ìI wanted to persuade myself this was optical illusion
only--î claimed the elderly gentleman. The idiot savant
smiled because he knew better. He smacked the elderly gentleman
across the face with his blond, bland smile and the elderly gentleman,
whoís hair was of a whiteness that intensified blondness,
as is shaking white now from his lion-like mane of hair, rose
to the height of his contempt and exclaimed-- ìIf wings
are to be imagined, they had better not bust myself in trying!î
In a flash, he was gone. The idiot savant was left-- writing his
own obituary-- but of course-- several decades early.Oh idiot
Savant, you know the names of streets. You too have dreams of
changing your hair color. You too mingle addresses behind forehead
so the vista of your own personality, well-- contradictory in
nature-- just a smile at an inappropriate moment.
Why are you called the idiot savant. Is it because you fall over
things you should never do more than anticipate?
The idiot savant changed his clothes. He was disguising himself
for the fun fair.
ìThatís not fairî cried Marie. ìIf
you disguise yourself, I want to know how to pick you out of a
crowd, and that wonít be any fair.î
ìWhere we have to go, itís never crowdedî
cried the Idiot Savant.
Does that mean far? Or less far.
Marie liked crowds, but the idiot savant certainly did not. If
one was going to whirl on a carosel for instance, it should best
be oneís private carosel. The numerous horses, unoccupied,
were more, therefore, evident. And that could only be a logical
plus.
The idiot savant was now disguised-- it was a very high degree
of disguise. Everybody recognized him because of the excellence
of his disguise which was more excellent than the hundreds and
hundreds of rivals in disguise who, briefly, thought or dreamed
they could rival the idiot savant.
But his celebration (remember the p[rivate carosel?) was therefore
a failure. And the brilliantly colored horses, revolve as they
might, did not move from the spot.Oh idiot savant, in the darkness
of your eyes, knwledge like a drum whipped by the events that
succeeded each other one by one in your radient atmosphere. The
girl in the rowboat who tipped, the airplane fromage, the sugar
doll of the accident at the drawbridge-- did you remember these
different events only to erase them with the power of your re-interpretation?
The idiot savant whispered to himself and directed his telephone
towards the moon. Then he saw reflected, his own face smiling
and with the power of smiles he re-invented telephones for all
nationalities. All were capable of promising him the rewards of
what-was-to-be-the-same, his own pre-eminance, his own name on
the moon in white letters, moon boulders arranged like the extended
rays of alarge star, idiot savant himself in the center, face,
name, hint, --what did it matter if all sympathetic telescopes
were oriented in the same general direction?I have the means,
certainly, to make you happy
What are your means?
Well, happiness, as you know, is unachievable
Over the long run, perhaps. But I myself have had moments of happiness.
Are you certain?
Well-- I think they were moments of happinessSomethings wrong.
My hand isnít obeying my orders. Itís acting on
itís own
I canít believe that
Look-- I tell my hand to move to my face
(Done)
It did
Now-- I tell my hand to move to my face.
(Nothing happens)
See? Itís my hand that decides whether or not to obey my
orders
Nonsense
Yes, a kind of nonsense
(Pause)
Do you fail to make sense of my demonstration
Just because you say something doesnít mean you MEAN something.
You can say ëhand--moveí, but you may not mean it
What proves if I mean it
If the hand moves, you mean it. If it doesnít move, you
didnít mean it
Hummm-- I donít know how I decide to mean something. I
really donít know whatís inside of me when I say
ìhand move-- I swear I feel the same degree of sincerity
during the saying of it-- whether the hand does or does not move
Try this-- try moving it without saying ëhand move.í
(it moves to face. Then -- moves differently)
Well, as far as Iím concerned, thereís a mystery
here
Are you trying to solve it?
I donít think thatís possible
(Pause)
Then itís not a mystery
Well, itís not a mystery because most of the time I forget itís a mystery
(Pause)
And a second mystery is-- why do I forget, most of the time, this
totally perplexing mystery that in fact, informs every moment
of my waking life.
No answer
Me neither. No answer
(Other goes)
What made him go. Mystery number threeIf I throw myself into violent
activity, will you profit?
Yes. All of us will profit
Provide the explination
The explination is in the return to non-activityAgetha enters. . .Agetha lies down on the couch. . .sees trees in the window. . .then he comes. . .Agetha is swerving on the couch and her face blends into hundreds of other faces. . .then itís her face again. . .he is fiddeling with a microphone in the corner. . .she feels leather under her elbow and bare legs. . . he leans over her and a microphoe is in her face, close to her lips. . .tell me what you remember. . .she thinks about pushing the microphone away. . .she doesnít and it comes closer to her lips. . .heís smiling and she isnít.
This idiot savant-- could this be one of his memories?
Now that I understand how much pain Iím going to come upon,
Iím moved to say ëthank youí in advance
Iíll never be able to answer your important questions
The question is, how can I free myself from my own well learned behavior
Donít believe this is true, never believe this is true
Go on-- go on--
Donít believe this is true. I am trying to find out about
myself: but donít believe this is true-- what I find out
about myself
What do you find out about yourself
Go on go on go on
No, you go on, you go on
What I find out about myself is I go on, I go on, but do you go
on, I want to find out if you go on
Do we go on together-- together do we go on
Please please Please--but we go on without having to go on together.
I do not want to go on together
But you do want to go on, you do want to go on
Yes, I do want to go on and look, look, I am going on, I do go
on
Where are you now-- where are you, when you are here, now, where
are you when it is now
I am now, in the hotel, that is this hotel-- called Radio Hotel.
Radio Hotel. Why is this Radio Hotel
Please-- allow this to be a kind of adventure. This is a kind
of adventure, so allow this to be that adventureLook -- this thing
doesnít exist
What thing
You donít know about it?
How can I know about it if it doesnít exist
Look, the radio in this Hotel does not exist
The radio does not exist in the Hotel Radio?
It does not existInsolent, insolent fool
Do not think of me as an insolent fool. Perhaps I am an insolent
fool, but I do notwish to be spoken of as an insolent fool
This is my right, to speak of you as an insolent fool
My table is well spread-- is it correct to speak of one as an
insolent fool if oneís table is well spread
Your table is well spread, but you are an insolent foolHotel Radio. The play hotel Radio says I am now inside the hotel radio, even though there is no hotel and there is no radio, and there is no such thing as the play in the sense that the play is a character in this play-- but an invisible character.
So if an invisible character named Hotel Radio is in fact a character in this play-- that means the play must be imagined as being pulled from itís outside being into the inside being of this character.
But since this character is invisible-- well, the play is now
invisible and there is no play--
The play says-- Hotel Radio, Hotel Radio-- I hear it saying Hotel
Radio
Are you nuts?
Yes, I am probably nuts. That is to say- there are criteria outside of me-- gridlike-- in terms of which I could be determined nuts.
Not that I believe such criteria
The play says-- cast off parts of me are my best parts. Normally,
when one looks through a suitcase-- one casts off these parts
of the contents of oneís suitcase until one finds the item
one is looking for-- and the discarded or cast off items are not
the ones you are looking for but they are the best ones because
you can use them and find them wonderfully becoming in the future
perhaps. But the item you found and have been looking for, that
item is always a disappointment.
It sounds like the play is wiser tha you are
No. We are exactly the same in the department of wisdom
What did you find
When
In your speaking-- what did you find-- did you find what you were looking for?
No-- I was casting out ideas-- but none of them were the ideas
I was looking for
Iím sorry
Donít be sorry. Iím doing ok because the ideas I
cast out were OK just like meThe play says-- before I was a character
in the play Hotel Radio, I was the play Hamlet in the Hotel Radio.
Then, after that, I was the play Man and Superman in the Hotel
Radio, but now I am the play Hotel Radio
No-- I think you are the play that is sometimes a character in
the Hotel
I am not. Why do you make the mistake of thinking I am the character
the Hotel Radion-- I am no such play-- I am no such characyter.
The character that I am, is simply a character in the play Hotel
Radio.The grid on which my experience may be charted is not my
experience
I want to make my play impenetrable, impenetrable because CONTRADICTORY
at every moment
An impenetrable object=that narcsistically loves itself=in which
everything that arises-- loves itselfIs it ok to be an aberent
human being. Or. Is it the fact that every aberent human being
is in fact inside another human being who is not aberent but is
the same human being
The play Hotel Radio says-- I am an aberent play, in direct communication
ith aberent human beings who are therefore no more or less averent
than the play in which they occur-- but how can a human being
occur inside a play-- this is something I do not understand, but
of course how can a play understand things-- says a character
in the pay called Hotel RadioI do believe this is the end of my
reign here on earth
Oh? I donít know about that
About what
Your reign here on earth. I didnít understand you held
that kind of power
I held that kind of power and now I do not
Do not, for a second time
My do not is not limited
How can that be-- everthin is limited
But a ëdo notí cannot be limited
Fool!
Donít say that
Fool!
I have the impression your reign is not over-- not yet
Iím sorry I said ëfool!î
Being sorry you said fool is ok, but it is not a ëdo notí
situation
Ok, I was wrong
About what
My reign on earth is not over, and perhaps can never be over
Now that you recognize that-- here is a reward
(Kiss on cheek)
I donët need rewards in order to be happy
(exit)Ah-- and you do studying one, you do trying to get inside
where there is no inside
How many versions of you exist
Hundreds of versions of me exist
Knowing that, Iím getting inside you just a little bit
Guess againI do find you most remarkable, after all
Caught
In what
Iíve caught your attention, which means, Iím the
one caught
No, my attention is trapped
No, Iím smothered by your attention
So weíre both in trouble
(Pause. One goes)
He went, so I didnít have to
(Pause)
On the other hand, am I trapped? help
(in other door)
No. Donít come near me
(starts to go)
Wait, donít go
(Pause)
Now I have to say something to keep you from going
(Pause, goes)
Oh well, I can get out of this just as easily as he can get out of this
(Goes to door)
Except, I feel comfortable here. Trapped-- but comfortable. Ah. Being trapped is being comfortable
Hotel Radio is named Hotel Radio
The play named Hotel Radio says I exist, but I am not the imaginary
thing called Hotel Radio. But since it is the play called Hotel
Radio saying these words, is the play hotel Radio a character
in the play Hotel Radio named Hotel Radio. Since whoever speaks
in the play Hotel Radio, in order to speak, must be a character
in the play Hotel Radio
I am a character named Joseph Martino and I am in the play Hotel
Radio
Are you also in the Hotel Radio itself?
Yes, my character Joseph Martino is in the Óotel Radio
as well as being in the play Hotel RadioPlease, allow me to be
inside the play Hotel Radio
Nothing could be easier
How
You are now inside the play Hotel Radio
You mean--
Yes
Without knowing I was inside the play Hotel Radio-- I was already
inside the play Hotel Radio
Certainly yes
If I am inside the play Hotel Radio, what I sould be able to hear
is the play Hotel Radio, doing speaking
Listen to that speaking
(Pause)
When I stop speaking, I no longer hear the play Hotel Radio soing
any speaking
To bad, because in spite of everything, the play Hotel Radio is
still speaking
Maybe itís because there is no radio in this room
Maybe
If there was a radio in this room, I could probably hear the play
Hotel Radio speaking over the radio
(Pause)
Probably
It is really too bad there is not a radio in this room in the
Hotel Radio * * *
Who now asks-- what rules there are that are the rules of Hotel
Radio
How can there be separate rules for Hotel Radio, which is in no
sense a kingdom unto itself
(Pause)
A hotel called Hotel Radio is by self-definition, a kingdom unto
itself. If you donít believe that--
I donít believe that
You will be severly punished
How will I be punished
Do you mean, what form will your punishment take?
Thatís exactly what I mean
(Pause)
Your punishment willtake the form of rumors
Rumors about what
Runors about your punishment
(Pause)
I can think of different kinds of punishment that would cause
me more pain than that kind of punishment
The most powerful aspect of punishment is not necessarily pain
I think pain is the most powerful aspect of punishment. Thatís
me-- speakig personally
Not the Hotel Radio speaking through you
No.
Then itís settled
What
Your punishment will be rumors about the pain caused by your punishment
Will people hear about this on the radio
If they have a radio
But is it a rumor if itís hear on the radio?
Itís a rumor if itís heard on some radios but not
on other radios
Other radios-- radios that dont exist?
You put your finger on it
If some people donít have radios in their room-- then those
radios could be said not to exist
But if they DO in fact exist, not inside the appropriate room--
In the appropriate hotel
Which is, of course, the Hotel RadioWhatís behind desire
when something speaking is behind desire
Perhaps one day I shall understand all this idiocy
Perhaps one day-- clarity will be my clarityThe problem is as
follows.
God is the most interesting object to talk about-- or at least--
to ponder in private
But since he doesnít exist, there is nothing interesting
to talk about or to ponder
But clearly, you think he exists
No I don
t
You do
I donít
Then you wouldnít consider him the most interesting things
to talk about or ponder
To that exitent, youíre right. But isnít it unfortunate
when the most interesting and elusive and fascinating thing is
the thing that doesnít exist, or does that make it more
interesting
God
Yes
God
If it doesnít exist, the interesting collison between God
and the mundane world of our mundane existence-- that interesting
collision no longer exists-- so the subject is that much less
interesting
We probably souldnít be talking about this
Why
There are probably more interesting things to talk about
Such as?
is God watching?
It may not be necessary for God to watch
You mean because something important is happening
mean the opposite
Arenít important things important
Important things are never noticed
Why
They are not important
Sitting in this chair is not im portant
Furniture is never important
Wrong. Furniture is very importantThis is not hiding from me
Whatís not
My words are not hiding from me
(Pause)
Probably you are not using real words
What makes words real or unreal
Ah, he thinks now we are about to find out something important.
But the truth is there is no difference between important and
unimportant things, and therefore I could easily switch subjects,
and heíd say youíre changing the subject on me--
but he wouldnít be smart enough to realize I was changing
the subject
(PAUSE)
As long as weíre going to change the subjecyt--
Donít you dare evemn THINK about that
(pause)
What are you going to say next
Iíve forgotten
Then it must have been an uninteresting subject
No. Everything I forget-- those are the important subjects. Havenít you noticed?
(Pause)
You should have noticed, since you suffer from the very same problem
You know me that well
I know you hardly at all, but I do know that whatever I chose
to say about you-- that actually changes you into who and what
I think you are
(Pause)
Let me show you another side of myself
Whatever side you show me, thatís not whatís dominating
my preoccupations
I have that kind of power over you
Of course, because your power over me is a mirror, and Iím always looking into mirrors
(Exit)
I wonder if Iím still a mirror, even if heís not here.
Now wait a minute-- If Iím still a mirror, everything should be invisible to me, and it isnít. I touch this wall-- itís really here. I believe that.
If I didnít believe that, I could pass through it-- using my own piostulated invisibility-- but that doesnít follow.
If I were invisible, would the world still know about me-- in the sense that it would give up being an impenetrable wall, just becxause of my own invisibility.
So if I am invisible to anybody-- itísmyself only. Aside from other people who at this moment happen to be otside this room.
Iím saying something-- I havenít reached final carity-- but Iím on the verge of something important, I KNOW I am-- and thereís nobody here to follow me in this discovery-- what a waste of time for everybody but myself. But thatís OK. I feel good about this.
(Exits, pause, return)
Oh well, back to the real world
(Exit)I think the hotel Radio has been trying to understand the
world. The question ius-- what kind of understanding can the Hotel
Radio have of the world, and does it resemble the understanding
a human being can have of the Hotel Radio
Donít you mean-- the kind of understading a human being
can have of the world-- itís that the appropriate comparison?
No-- between a human being and the hotel Radio, there is no appropriate
comparrison
But you introduced the notion of their realtive understading--
Of things appropriate to their different realms.
A human being can try to understand the world
No. In trying to understand the world-- and I can see you believe
you are engaged in such an activity-- what you are realy trying
to understand is the truth concerning the Hotel Radio
Iím not even sure I believe in the EISTENCE of the Hotel
Radio
What are you trying to understand about the Hotel Radio. Whether
it truly exists?
I am not trying to understand that particularly
Nor is the Hotel Radio trying to understand, particularly, whether
or not the Hotel Radio exists or is only said to exist
(Pause)
I thought you said-- and how would you know, by the way-- that
the Hotel Radio was trying to understand the world
That was my way of explaining something
What
Ask me again
What
--Can you understand the world
No, I canít
You are not the Hotel Radio
I am one person, which is a different kind of entity than the
entity hypothosized as the Hotel Radio
Yes. And a hypothosied being might, just mght, undersatand another
hypothosized being-- since the two hypothosided beings can be
said to exist in the same realm
(Pause)
The world of hypothosized beings
The Hotel Radio
At least you grant me real existence as opposed to hypothetical
existence
Yes. Iím sorry to insult you
Why
(Pause)
It would make you feel very bad to be insulted
No. It makes me understand the world that much better. The way
it really operates
No-- this is information in the form of experience that takes
place inside the Hotel Radio-- so what you understand potentialy,
is the Hotel Radio and not the world itself.
And does the Hotel Radio understand something through the example
of my experience
Yes it does
What does it understand, exactly
Not the world itself, but a reflection
Yes
An echo
Yes
Something spoken or articulated inside the Hotel Radio which is
not the Hotel Radio, but has its source, invisibly, in the Hotel
Radio, which is as invisible as is invisible the radio that is
hidden inside the Hotel Radio
(Pause)
Certainly
What
There are no radios inside the Hotel Radio
Well, letís just say-- we have never seen such a radio
Is it possible for me to discover whether a radio exists inside
the Hotel Radio
Inside certain rooms of the Hotel Radio, a radio may or may not
exist
Or, radios--
But as of this moment, you an I also, do not know. But as this
is the moment that does exist, we can simplify this knowledge,
and say simply-- we do not know. And this is the simplest and
therefore most desirable form of this knowledge
So the state of knowledge we are in is a desirable state of knoledge
Yes
And we should therefore, think--
Think? No. Do not think the Hotel Radio, because the Hotel Radio
holds quite different expectations, and these we can ultimately
know, if we are willing to accept knowledge in the most simplified
and purified form of knowledge, and I do think we accep this--
do you know why?
I think so
Right. Because we are inside--
The Hotel Radio
Exactly
(Both)
The Hotel Radio! The Hotel Radio! The Hotel Radio! Nothing to
explain
Nothing to justify
(Pause)
Look, no hands!
Everytning is much easier than it seems. . .?
Try harder.
Only the superficial is true
True, but I donít think you really believe that
why would I say it
To impress me, of course
Isnít my desire to impress you superficial?
Yes, but by putting it into words, you trivialize it
The same thing, no?
No. To be suerficial is not the same thing as to be trivial. Figure
it outApparently I am not allowed pleasure
Correct
It really bothers me to hear birds outside
Inside
What? There are no birds inside
You hear them, you are inside
(Pause)
It really bothers me to hear birds in the city
Thatís a radi. A RADIO, a radio, a radio
Push on--
Thatís a radio IN THIS ROOM.
Your eyes are very powerful
This is the roomIf you ask for the impossible, you get it
I get it
Calm down
Donít I look calm
You look excited
The more I look calm on the outside, the more excited I get on
the inside
Whatís inside me is alive, rather than deadI knew that
my life was only half successful, so I resolved to live more,
to throw myself into a variety of experiences
Oh Benita Canova, are you ready to endure lots ofpain
Maybe that wonít be necessary
How can you think such a thing
Maybe I can axcess my anti-pain mechanism in painful situationsOn
such an afternnon, when my very hands themselves wept tears at
the softness of things they did touch--
You can never have enough of me--
Hereís what I delight in-- the eye-- seeable after all
Iím looking into that eye
And Iím touching a very soft quadrant of flesh with my
own quadrant ability hands of similar flesh
Careful-- your expectations are no different from my ownWould
you like a Connecticut burger for your dinner
No
Even if it were free?
A Connecticut burger has no ideas about freedom--
Yes it does--
Bite it and find out
If itís going to be your dinner, you should be the one
doing the biting
I did bite-- often-- but it was not a Connecticut burger that
was on those occasions, the repository.
Suppose--
No
Just suppose, I re-defined the food opackage that you unknowingly
conceptualize at the beginning of each dayPlease, please, please.
I have a word stuck in my head which is please, but the word isnít
please but another word, hidden behind the first word.
What word
PleaseOh, I donít think this is my normal behavior
Youíre not doing anything special
You mean, you canít read my mind
If I could read your mind, youíd know about it
This hurts
What hurts
Donít ask me to be more specific
Does more specific mean-- more hurt
(machine in)
OK. Put your arm in these two openings
Will it hurt
Absoluteluy not
(Done)
Youíre right. It didnít hurt
1-2-3-4. Now. Does it hurt?
No
(arm out-- siezed)
Ow! Why did you do that
I was making up for the failure of my machine
(Pause)
I think itís life that causes one pain
Have you suffered
Life has made me suffer like everybody else
Has life provided you with happiness, like everybody else
Yes
Ah, a genuine American
I donít think Iím limited by my nationality
Carefgul, youíre starting to slip between catagories
Iím going to come back tonight and slice you to pieces
Donít say that even in jest
Have I slipped bedtween your catagories
(swoon)
Get up please
I canít answer you because I fell down
All that means is you have a different perspective
______________
(What I did most of all was hurt my nose when I fell down)
Could I get a nose job
You want your nose fixed?
No. Itís OK as a nose-- but I want it altered, not fixed
I think it has to be fixed
Why
Itís not the shape you want
No. The shapeís fine, but I want to alter the function
Of the nose
Yes
(Pause)
I quit
(Goes. Pause)
That must mean, tereís a lot of periferal power in this
nose of mine
OK. Close up shop
You mean-- theater
Yes I do
(Turs chair)
See?
This isnít reall a chair
Who cares
(Pause)
This is irrelevent to my life. One hundred per-cent
Careful-- nothingís one hundred per-cent
Oh yes there is-- there is one thing and just one thing that is
one hundred percent
What is that one thing that is one hundred percent
You have to find out for yourself, because If I tell you, it wonít
have the same power as finding out about it for yourself
Ok. God
That is irrelevent to my life
Well-- if weíd been around say 200 years ago-- it wouldnít
have been so irrelevent
Donít you notice anything?
What
We just zipped backwards in time
200 years
Not quite
OK. Then we close up shop
Wait a minute-- 200 years ago-- the theater seemd very important
indeed to civilized society
(Louis 14 in)
Itís Hotels that donít seem important
Radios didnít even exist 200 years ago
But theyíre important, however
Yes.
Theyíre on the verge of existing
Wait a minute--
What
Iím on the very of something
(HOTEL RADIO set in big letters)
God damit, this is irrelevent to my life.
You donít even know the first thing about what your life
about because you are Mr Not Well Informed on the subject of your
own life, so shut up and try to figure it out!