The Mistress of Misery
Copyright 2003, Michael Bihovsky
This song occurs towards the beginning of the play. It is our introduction to the character of Acacia, a gloomy princess of the past royal family who has, due to sustained illness, attained a certain sense of morbidity that, at first glance, can seem "over-the-top,” and almost comic. Acacia has just stumbled across a poem written by Aristocles, a timid prince of the new royal family who has been quite taken with the mystical Acacia since a very young age. This poem, a masochistic piece entitled the "Door of the Dead,” was intended by Aristocles as a joke, and was certainly not meant for anyone's eyes but his own. The poem intrigues Acacia, leading her to turn her seductively mesmorizing attention to Aristocles. Alongside Acacia are her "shadows,” the princess' gothic women servants. Aristocles knows that she has read one of his poems, but does not initially know which one. The song begins:
ACACIA
I find that your thinking is very...insightful
I feel a connection to you; so strong, it’s alarming
It’s almost as though we are bound at the core
I envy the dead, while sheer life you abhor
I wonder what led you to open this door...
It’s just as you said: "The door of the dead"
Before I tell the story, how a simple poem seduced me
I beg you, share my glory! Let the shadows introduce me...
SHADOWS
She's the mistress of misery
Seeker of shadows
Defender of darkness
Never seen the sun
Faithful to fear
Daring disaster
Coveting Chaos
Always on the run...
ACACIA
It’s my way of having fun...
Who needs forgiving, we mortals can never decide
But why bother living in a world that has already died?
ARISTOCLES
Well truthfully, princess, to me it’s not all that appealing
ACACIA
How about now?
ARISTOCLES
Revealing...
ACACIA
And what do you feel for this lovely attire?
ARISTOCLES
(Spoken)
Desire...
ACACIA
I’ve searched through the years all over this land
I’ve finally got the whole world in my hand
(Simul)
I’ll always be grateful
You don’t understand
I’m alive!
ARISTOCLES
(Simul)
I beg you dear princess
You don't understand
I'm alive!
ACACIA
Now that I’ve read "The Door of the Dead"
It seems you have the talents to voice all I’ve never spoken
While I create the balance of a soul that is lost, and a heart that is broken
I’m the...
ACACIA and SHADOWS
Mistress of misery
Seeker of shadows
Teacher of terror
Never left these walls
Guilty of gloom
Harboring horror
Signaling spirits
Crying in the halls...
ACACIA
So join me, be part of my ongoing trend
Together we’ll find what comes after the end
Stay with me here, and I’ll be your friend
Fiend of the fire
Despair and desire
Martyr to murder, it’s true
Mortality? Kill it!
For now, if you will it
This mistress belongs to you!
SHADOWS
(Simul)
She's the mistress of misery
Seeker of shadows
Defender of darkness
Never seen the sun
Faithful to fear
Daring disaster
Coveting Chaos
Always on the run...
Mistress of misery
Seeker of shadows
Teacher of terror
Never left these walls
Guilty of gloom
Harboring horror
Signaling spirits
Crying in the halls...
ACACIA
(Simul)
Oh!
I'm faithful!
Forever!
Oh!
Now the spell has been cast
And the princess deserted
Finally bound, I am free!
All these ideas
You've so cleverly worded
Mean so
Much to me!
ACACIA
I'm the angel of dread
Now take me through the door of the dead!
(Spoken)
Well said.
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