The Decline and Fall of Us All
by Robert Joseph Ahola
ISBN #1-60513-082-6
JAC
#2010-0023
Cast
of Characters
- RODERICK VANOWEN (“Roddy”): A self-confessed male
chauvinist relic in his forties, he is addicted to “painkillers,”
martinis and antiquated rules of morality and manners. Proud of his
testosterone and ties to the past, he unashamedly shares his
proclivities for shooting at “Outsiders” on the country club fairway
just outside his back yard.
- EMILY VANOWEN: After her namesake Emily Dickinson,
Roddy’s significant other lives in a poetic alternate reality. This is
no longer her plane of existence, a point she emphasizes by taking as
much Zoloft as she can pour into her body in one day and by reciting
poetry whenever things upset her. This elegant woman may be in her late
twenties or late thirties, and seems undefined by the clichés of both
age and sexual role-playing.
- GILDA: Sexy, materialistic and bored with her own
socially incubated lifestyle, she longs for a diversion, even if it
means bringing in outsiders from the vast unwashed. In her thirties, she
dresses in a long cocktail dress and appears to be something of a
caricature cut out of a 1940s film noir.
- DAVID: Gilda’s beau and apparently Roddy’s cousin,
David is both contemptuous of the Outside World and fascinated by it.
The consummate gentlemen, this first generation Brit in his early
fifties is a fashion plate and fancies himself as something of a
Sherlock Holmes, which gives him more forum for dry martinis and the
notion of adventure.
- STEDMAN: Always with this group but never truly part
of them, he is an older gentleman who is openly and unashamedly a
voyageur into this time and place. What this fey little fellow’s role
here, really? Only time will tell.
- CLINT: An “Outsider” named after his favorite
fantasy actor, Clint Eastwood, he nonetheless wears splashes of Gran
Guignol makeup that tends to make him look like a member of KISS. And
yet, he is much more complex than his street thug image and far removed
from the creatures Roddy is convinced are “dangerous to humanity.”
- BRIDGET: Common and immersed in shocks of
multi-colored hair, Bridget is caustic and opposed to everything that
even appears to be appropriate. She feels that she is the only stable
point of reference in the entire gathering. (Is she? And what gives her
such a sense of moral rectitude?)
A NOTE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS:
This is living theatre in the context that at least one of the characters
may assume another identity. The Character of Stedman is a constant, as are
the female characters. But the male characters may be interchanged in the
final scene to give the producer and playhouse a choice as to who animates
and joins the dialogue and who in fact remains frozen in time. Once the
animated character is revealed it will not affect the intention of the plot,
but may alter its flavor and audience perceptions, for him to assume the
conversation with the pivotal character of Stedman.
Synopsis
It is the 21st Century, some time in the not-too-distant
future. The world as we know it has virtually come to an end. Not through
any holocaust—everything has just stopped working! The rich hide in
"walled-up" country club estates while no one really knows what the rest of
the world is doing. Into the mystery of this muddled future, we find the
Vanowen clan in their decaying Faulknerian mansion on the fairway of Rock
Ridge Country Club, proudly aristocratic and clinging to the shards of their
culture like a drowning man to flotsam. As we meet these cultural
throwbacks, we also behold a world sadly amusing and frail beyond belief,
especially when some "Outsiders" are captured and change the dynamics
forever. Approximate Run Time: 105 minutes.
Author Biography
 Robert Joseph Ahola is an author, playwright, producer and director who
lives in Malibu, California. As CEO of Galahad Films, he has written and
produced over 300 films, commercials and documentaries for television,
satellite, and private distribution. He has scripted ten screenplays,
including GODWIN, WORLD CLASS/The Jerry Quarry Story (in development),
Billingsgate, An Accident of Birth and One Hour of Madness and Joy, based on
Walt Whitman’s The Leaves of Grass, (currently in post-production). An
environmentalist and animal rights activist, Mr. Ahola is an
author/co-author of thirteen published books including The Silent Healer
(now in its fifth edition), Delusion is Good,
I, Dragon and The Return of
the Hummingbird Wizard. Robert has also authored a number of published or
produced plays, including Dr. Max Love, The Year of the Tiger, HIGH TEA/With
His Excellency, Judas Agonistes, The Last Othello, The Ghost and Josh
Gibson, A Meerkat Christmas, The Decline and Fall of Us All, SCOREKEEPER, and Pavlov’s Cats.
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