Twisted and twined love stories from the cabaret stage.
CHARACTERS // SYNOPSIS
HAUT
Diable :: [played by THE RINGLEADER] He is a solitary figure, set apart by a circle of downcast eyes-- most in the world of Tordre prefer to believe that he doesn't exist. Holding all the strings to the Reine de fou, he controls the circus from a secondary position. With only a word, anything he wishes could be so-- but if such is the case, why is the song of the diabolo so sad?
Reine de fou :: [played by HILDA] A madwoman who believes she's queen in a closed off world that lacks order. She masquerades as the Ringleader of the cabaret, the queen of the circus-- she mimics the words of Diable's songs in raunchy overexaggeration in order to make them her own, speaks his commands as her own thoughts, and is subject to his every whim. She is the guide to survival through Tordre, and she dances at the end of a puppet's string.
Voleur de Bijoux :: [played by YAN-JING] Diable's treasure, his bird in a cage. She watches the happenings of Tordre without applying it to herself. She sings and laments the sorrows of those around her, because she knows none of her own.
Déplumé :: [played by ASBEL] Oblivious to the farthest extreme; the personification of innocence. Such an angel lost in such a debauched place? Terrible.
Tiret + Pois :: [played by DR. SIR and SHEM] Two clowns, jesters for the Reine de Fou. They are perpetually oblivious to their surroundings, only focused on two things-- laughter and amusement. A tragic duo, a dynamic pair; polar opposites in intelligence, poise, and look.
The Chorus :: The chorus is the inhabitants of the cabaret, of Tordre-- strippers without a home, whores without a cause. They watch everything that happens with an objective eye; they dance when they wish, they move when they wish, they point and laugh when they wish. Who needs to follow rules and etiquette when you're already losing out?
The Urchins :: A band of homeless musicians that accompany the happenings of Tordre's twisted stories. They're kept out of love and fancy by their tattered clothing and are relegated to mingle with the audience, trailing at the edges of the stage, but never slipping into the spotlight. The Urchins long to bombard the stage, but they fear for their lives at the hands of Diable, so they make their music in discontented apathy, silenced by the white of their makeup.
story :: NARCISSE
...is the story of a girl, Seul-Suiveur who can love only herself.
The two halves are inseparable, even when another, Echec, tries to pronounce his love in between them. The twist and twine against each other, unable to tear their eyes away for a moment to regard anyone else. Their story is sensual and self-centered, beautiful and egotistical, yet tragic in the fact that they'll never break past the mirror.
Seul :: [played by VICE] The wicked half of a severed whole. She is always connected to Suiveur, constantly desiring her, and can bring herself to love no other-- she hears noone when she's gazing at Suiveur.
Suiveur :: [played by VERSA] The good half of a severed whole. She is always connected to Seul, infatuated by her, and can bring herself to love no other-- she hears noone when she's gazing at Seul.
story :: UNILATÉRAL
...is the story of a girl who wants nothing more than to be loved and the boy who was too afraid of failure to provide.
Constantly waiting, Belle passes the days wishing for love from anyone, wanting desperately for that which she's never had. Diable assures her she needs no such thing, and she believes him, for a time, but she pines for it anyways. He warns her of the fatal effects of a broken heart, a withered soul, a desire for dependency, and the draining effects of waiting. She never touches the floor, always placed on a pedestal by Diable, or as is sometimes the case, by the Reine de Fou. Baisser pines silently watching constantly-- going so far as to pantomime his desire during her act. He, however, never speaks, even when she regards him. Longing for love so deeply, Belle decides that life is too dark to live without love and dies of a broken heart starved by deprivation, tumbling from the circeaux to her death. Baisser confesses his love to a body, and kills himself soon after. During the acts, Belle is always waiting, and Baisser is always watching, neither making a move to prevent their eventual fates.
Belle :: [played by ILA] A beautiful girl with a simple desire :: to love and be loved in return.
Baisser :: [played by CEDAR] A deformed boy with so little confidence that he feels he is undeserving of love and, thus, punishes himself through never pursuing it.
story :: SE DÉVOUER
... is the story of sacrifice and selfish obsession.
After pronouncing his love to the unhearing ears of the girls of NARCISSE, Échec falls in love with Rabat-joie. Because he has no choice in his inability to look at Diable, Rabat-joie is mad with obsession-- and wishes for the devil's attention at any cost. Noticing the boy and his undying trust and love. Rabat-joie formulates a plan to force Diable's eyes onto him and Echec, so enamoured by the one he loves, follows through. Rabat Joie tries his hardest to impress Diable with his knifetricks, but the song of the diabolo says that the devil isn't watching. It isn't until Echec is dead that the singing stops and Diable regards Rabat-Joie, stonefaced, and smears a thumbprint of the dead boy's blood on the other's forehead, before he leaves the stage. There is a breakdown.
Rabat-joie :: [played by SHOU-YE] A mad figure driven wild by inability and desire; his selfishness is amplified by his willingness to turn a boy's love into something he can take advantage of. Rabat-joie isn't an evil figure-- such an obsessed creature should, inevitably, be pitied.
Échec :: [played by SUU] Échec is a sorrowful figure of regret, but finds peace in sacrificing himself for the desire of the one he loves, strung up on hooks and, eventually, dying on the floor.
story :: ESPÉCE
... is a tale of two species.
As Echec lays dead on the floor, the beautiful Carmin and her birds descends from the sky and she pines for her grounded lover, the innocent Deplume. The arena fills with the sounds of scuttling legs, millions of roaches flooding the stage. Coquille, the spirit of the earth pulls the body into the ground and stands in its place. Thinking it so strange to see something from the sky so close to the ground, Coquille entices the grounded bird with the beauty of his comrades, as Carmin watches from her roost in the sky. Deplume takes no note of either, preferring to watch the movements of the Urchins. They, of course, blame each other, and come to a war of impressive feats, but when neither can reach the winged boy, they both fail, wither, and fade.
Carmin :: [played by AVI] The sensual spirit and heart of the sky, the wind under the wings of one million birds. She lost her grip on Deplume and mourns that one little slip.
Coquille :: [played by KUIE] The subtle spirit and soul of the earth, the dirt under the feet of one million creatures. He finds Deplume within reach and strives to keep what the sky has lost.
story :: à LA DÉBANDADE
... is a story of loss, of losing.
Puceau is deeply loved by Mirador and he, plucking her unwittingly from her life, attempts to make the feelings mutual. He is, however, unsuccessful, and is rewarded only by the memory of her touch.
Puceau :: [played by CISUM] The young, youthful virgin that totters on the edge of Tordre. She is sick with the disease of the cabaret, and loses herself all over the stage. When Mirador woos her, she cannot hold herself together any longer and falls completely away.
Mirador :: [played by MAKXIM] An older man, desperate for love tha he will seemingly never find. He falls in love the the purity of Puceau and is devastated when he's left with only her hand in his-- a memory he can't let go of.
story :: SAISIE . DÉTRUIRE
... is the story of a foxhunter driven by jealousy.
Isatis is the apple of every girl's eye, the bane of every man's existence. He wears his daredevil heart on his sleeve. Having caught the eye of Chausseur, he romances her and leaves her without batting an eye. In a fit of jealous rage, Chausseur kills the fox, then herself.
Isatis :: [played by JIN] The lover of a million, the chorus' most desired. He catches the eye of Chausseur and, in keeping to his live-free-love-free ideals, inspires the girl's jealousy and rage.
Chausseur :: [played by VELOURIA] A chorus girl on the outskirts of the troupe, she falls in love with Isatis' lies-- but when he leaves her, she goes absolutely mad.
story :: ISOCÉLE
... is the story of a butterfly trapped between two predators.
Fille-de-Papillon is, initially, carefree, breaking free from her coccoon only to attract the attention of the two predators-- Araignée-minet and Léve-tôt, who watch her dance with fascinated infatuation. Léve-tôt tries to impress her with his illusions and, though she's attracted to him as a beacon of brightness in such a monochromatically dark world, she steers clear. Araignée-minet tries to tempt her from the sky, to touch his web, but the girl knows better and only teases back playfully. Eventually though, when Araignée-minet breaks free from his web, he comes to the girl and coaxes her down from the top of her silks and drags her the rest of the way to the floor, all but raping her (in a tastefully choreographed scene! 8D) and leaving her near naked, her stitches adding a new dynamic to her appearance, to her broken wings. Léve-tôt finds her in this state and pursue's the spider's web, and when all the razor wire's been cut through, Fille-de-Papillon is almost through with her final attempt at flying-- in a fit of madness, she takes a rough trip down the silks and is violently deposited on the floor between the two waiting predators.
Araignée-minet :: [played by NINE] The wickedness of a spider that plays with padlocks and razor wire shines in his eyes-- he is the darkest predator and his kiss burns madness into the minds of his prey. A charmer; a dark curiosity; a dangerous risk. He beckons to all the women who come his way, but all are smart to steer clear.
Fille-de-Papillon :: [played by AINSI] A butterfly, wings freshly unfurled, is always the easiest to catch in a spider's web, in a bird's beak. Naive, innocent, graceful, and beautiful, Fille-de-Papillon starts as a symbol of beauty and purity and ends as a creature of frailty and madness.
Léve-tôt :: [played by REVE] The beauty of colour and the lightness of air, the noble brightness of Léve-tôt is a direct contrast to the seedy spider; He creates illusions out of nothing, a more playful endeavor than the danger of a spider's web, but fails in his attempt to catch Fille-de-Papillon's eye. A charmer, for sure; a symbol of riteousness; a protectorate; a safe haven. He beckons the beauties that come his way, but holds no ill intent, unlike the spider. But who can trust the good word of a predator?
Acts ::
1. BIENVENUE [opening; ban, hilda, clowns, voleur de bijoux; chorus]
2. SECOND SOI [double contortion and counterbalance; vice, versa]
3. J'ESPÉRE [hand balancing on canes; ila]
4. ----------> ENTRACTE [diabolo, pantomime; ban, ila]
5. INTITULE [pantomime; cedar]
6. DUPER [clowns; dr.sir, shem]
7. VOYANT [diabolo; ban]
8. FORFAIT [suspension, knife throwing; suu, shou-ye -- death of echec]
9. ---------> ENTRACTE [diabolo, pantomime; ban, shou-ye -- breakdown of rabat-joie]
10. DESESPOIR [circeaux; ila -- death of belle]
11. ----------> ENTRACTE [pantomime; cedar, ila -- death of baisser]
12. CIEL [birds, pantomime; avi, asbel]
13. TERRE [roaches, pantomime; kuie, asbel]
14. ---------> ENTRACTE [birds, roaches, pantomime; avi, kuie, asbel]
15. DECHIRE [floor excercise; cisum]
16. FENDRE [solo trapeze; makxim]
17. ---------> ENTRACTE [duo trapeze; makxim, cisum -- the crumbling of puceau]
18. AUDACE [stunt, freerunning; jin]
19. ---------> ENTRACTE [dance, pantomime, acrosports; jin, velouria]
20. S'ESQUINTER [sword swallowing; velouria]
21. EXPIER [freerunning, dance, acrosports, pantomime, artistic torture/rending asunder; jin, velouria -- death of isatis, chausseur]
22. --------> ENTRACTE [clowns; shem, dr.sir -- collecting the pieces]
23. --------> ENTRACTE [jewel's sorrow, voice, dance; yan-jing]
24. ECLOSION [silk contortion; ainsi]
25. ARTIFICE [illusions; reve]
26. TOILE [escapism; nine]
27. SANS PITIE [minimal silk contortion, dance; ainsi, nine]
28. ----------> ENTRACTE [pantomime; reve, ainsi, nine]
29. EUTHENASIE [silk contortion; ainsi -- death of fille-de-papillon]
30. ADIEUX [closing; cast]
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