Serpentine

an expressionistic verse tragedy

"Copulation of serpents determined my destiny. Boyish, unmanly, I
ventured, adventured my way into forests primeval; glanced down in the
dirt, in the dirt-trodden path, where I witnessed the scaly sinews of
snakes intertwining in love..."

from "Serpentine"

Audience Praise for "Serpentine"

"This show is very, very theatrical. The sort of faux-Greek poetic language and costuming, the sound design, the mythic structures... it's about magic and theater and classical mythology, with anything modern or humanist almost dehydrated away."

"...you will very likely squirm. Then you realize you're supposed to squirm. Then you realize your squirming is complicity as you bear witness to some absolutely true humanity."

"Very powerful show. At times, a difficult show to watch....maybe leave the kids at home for this one but share the message with them when you get back."

"...compelling and engaging, Serpentine delivers much more than it promises...works on a more subtle level and has multiple layers..."

Script Information

a one-act expressionist verse tragedy
by phillip andrew bennett low
estimated running time: 35 minutes

Cast: two male, two female, four total.
Setting: mainly forested areas.
Time: ancient Greece, heavily anachronistic.

Produced? Yes, at the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival.
Family-friendly? No; contains disturbing, violent, and sexual imagery, including descriptions of masturbation, bestiality, rape, incest, murder, and necrophilia. (Told you it was Greek...)

Summary

A young boy slaughters a pair of copulating snakes, and is cursed to spend his life as a double-gendered voyeur -- a prophet, both male and female, whose visions of the future are ridiculed by their subjects.