Kim-Anh Schreiber
Image by Rachel Sipser
KULT OF KONSCIOUSNESS
A play set in a 10’ x 10’ tent on the beach.
CHARACTERS: Karma (KA), The Dominatrix
Kween (KW), The Dreamer & Visionary
Khaos (KH), The Personality, who is always challenging others…
The Stagehand, dressed in black
SETTING: A kitchen. Three flowers, Karma, Kween, and Khaos, lounge and smoke cigarettes.
A little drone is buzzing around recording them.
CHARACTERS: Karma (KA), The Dominatrix
Kween (KW), The Dreamer & Visionary
Khaos (KH), The Personality, who is always challenging others…
The Stagehand, dressed in black
SETTING: A kitchen. Three flowers, Karma, Kween, and Khaos, lounge and smoke cigarettes.
A little drone is buzzing around recording them.
Scene 6: Water Birth
Karma, Khaos, and Kween, very pregnant, sit and eat their petal salads in thoughtful contemplation.
Khaos
(to Karma) I’m worried about Kween. She’s afraid that at the moment
she gives birth she’s going to lose her youth and turn into a troll… I
told her yesterday she just needs to stick a flower in her vagina.
Karma
Like Mother Earth!… (taking a bite of her salad) Khaos, think of it this
way. I’m trying to set everyone up beyond life… what Genghis Khan
did for DNA, let us do for Konsciousness. (gesturing to the drone) Let
this drone capture our konsciousness and let it spread, let it pollinate
the Earth, creating entire kult fields. (to the drone) Are you ready to
catch this?
Kween
No, you sticky wet vaginal drip! I don’t want this on camera. I’m not
ready.
Karma
Kween, we already have contracts lined up with twelve exclusive
products to be placed in the frame of the event.
Kween
You didn’t tell me that!
Khaos
Mom! What’s wrong with you?
Karma
(crying) You don’t understand. You are strong and beautiful. One day
you’ll be like me and you’ll understand how fleeting such a
comfortable place actually was.
Khaos
So are you for singularity or character? Whose team are you on?
Karma
Khaos, I’m against using isolation to avoid experiencing inner
emptiness. The new singularity.
Kween
Guys, what does a contraction feel like?
Khaos
Like someone shoved an alien up your cervix and forgot to clip its
talons.
Karma
Kween, get in the tub! You’re gonna have to do a water birth!
(to Karma) I’m worried about Kween. She’s afraid that at the moment
she gives birth she’s going to lose her youth and turn into a troll… I
told her yesterday she just needs to stick a flower in her vagina.
Karma
Like Mother Earth!… (taking a bite of her salad) Khaos, think of it this
way. I’m trying to set everyone up beyond life… what Genghis Khan
did for DNA, let us do for Konsciousness. (gesturing to the drone) Let
this drone capture our konsciousness and let it spread, let it pollinate
the Earth, creating entire kult fields. (to the drone) Are you ready to
catch this?
Kween
No, you sticky wet vaginal drip! I don’t want this on camera. I’m not
ready.
Karma
Kween, we already have contracts lined up with twelve exclusive
products to be placed in the frame of the event.
Kween
You didn’t tell me that!
Khaos
Mom! What’s wrong with you?
Karma
(crying) You don’t understand. You are strong and beautiful. One day
you’ll be like me and you’ll understand how fleeting such a
comfortable place actually was.
Khaos
So are you for singularity or character? Whose team are you on?
Karma
Khaos, I’m against using isolation to avoid experiencing inner
emptiness. The new singularity.
Kween
Guys, what does a contraction feel like?
Khaos
Like someone shoved an alien up your cervix and forgot to clip its
talons.
Karma
Kween, get in the tub! You’re gonna have to do a water birth!
Kween wraps her blanket around her.
Kween
No way, mom! This water is disgusting. I look at what it does to the
pots and I think about what it’s going to do to my organs. (making the
sign of the cross) Going up my throat, up to my cranium, down to my
pituitary gland…
Karma
We’re gonna fix that water… add seaweed, antidepressants,
Klonopin, lavender… and Shea butter for stretch marks…
Kween
What if I have a boy?!
Karma
You won’t, honey. Mommy’s right here with you and I’ve done this
tons of times. Trust me. Get in the tub!
No way, mom! This water is disgusting. I look at what it does to the
pots and I think about what it’s going to do to my organs. (making the
sign of the cross) Going up my throat, up to my cranium, down to my
pituitary gland…
Karma
We’re gonna fix that water… add seaweed, antidepressants,
Klonopin, lavender… and Shea butter for stretch marks…
Kween
What if I have a boy?!
Karma
You won’t, honey. Mommy’s right here with you and I’ve done this
tons of times. Trust me. Get in the tub!
Kween walks to the shore, carrying her blanket. Karma and Khaos follow her holding it like a bridal train.
Karma
(to Khaos) I’ve waited forever and ever for the birth of my first
grandchild. I’ve got to make this the most amazing event ever. Let’s
call the lineage.
Khaos
Mom!
Karma
What? These memories involve everyone. I’m a discusser…
(to Khaos) I’ve waited forever and ever for the birth of my first
grandchild. I’ve got to make this the most amazing event ever. Let’s
call the lineage.
Khaos
Mom!
Karma
What? These memories involve everyone. I’m a discusser…
The stagehand scatters dead flowers around them.
Khaos
This is so suffocating. So many women everywhere, nowhere to go.
It all reeks of formaldehyde.
Karma
How amazing, I feel like I’m at the spa.
This is so suffocating. So many women everywhere, nowhere to go.
It all reeks of formaldehyde.
Karma
How amazing, I feel like I’m at the spa.
In a gorgeous, silent moment, Kween gives birth to a petulant flower.
Kween
It’s a girl! She’s new and disgusting. I love her!
It’s a girl! She’s new and disgusting. I love her!
Karma looks back at the dead flowers, addressing each one.
Karma
This is so important… this is the most important moment… this
moment is of cataclysmic importance. (crying) Kween, I’m so proud of
you. You’re amazing. I’m so excited to watch you become the mother
you were destined to be.
This is so important… this is the most important moment… this
moment is of cataclysmic importance. (crying) Kween, I’m so proud of
you. You’re amazing. I’m so excited to watch you become the mother
you were destined to be.
They pass the baby around and hold her.
Khaos
(to baby flower) You are going to die babe, yes you are going to die.
Your only choice left is if you’ll opt in…
Karma
What are you going to name her? Kat? Kismet? Krisis? Kettle?
Khaos
KrayKray?
Kween
Hillside…
Khaos
Ugh.
Karma
Ugh. That’s so disgusting.
Kween
No mom – it’s epic.
(to baby flower) You are going to die babe, yes you are going to die.
Your only choice left is if you’ll opt in…
Karma
What are you going to name her? Kat? Kismet? Krisis? Kettle?
Khaos
KrayKray?
Kween
Hillside…
Khaos
Ugh.
Karma
Ugh. That’s so disgusting.
Kween
No mom – it’s epic.
The Stagehand — 'Cut!'
KIM-ANH SCHREIBER is a writer, performer, and director. Her work includes Kult of Konsciousness, a collaborative play in which costume, set, and script worked non-hierarchically to inform the end narrative, and Candy Ego, a sci-fi noir comedy. Her play Meatloaf will debut this fall with BWSMX at DAMA in Turin, Italy. She has an MFA in Cross-Genre Writing from UC San Diego and will be a 2017-2018 Artist-in-Residence at LMCC's Workspace Residency Program.
