Before They Were Night Vale: The Time Traveler (Patreon)

I'm surprised I haven't put this little play on here yet. I looked through the Patreon archives, and it seems I have not done so, not at all. It's a pretty important piece of pre-Night Vale history. Joseph and I met in 2009, when he did a workshop with the Neo-Futurists. And I became a pretty big fan of his writing style. 

He came to a lot of our shows, volunteering in the box office and what-have-you, and he seemed to enjoy the stuff I was doing too. Then in 2010, the Neo-Futurists put out a call for a new board op for the tech booth. Joseph expressed interest, though he didn't have any theater tech training to speak of. I was pretty sure he would have learned what was necessary for the job and then done great work with it. But I also knew his talent was writing, more than running lights and sounds for our little show.

So I reached out to him to say, basically, hey don't do that. Do something else. Maybe let's meet and talk about writing something together. And over the next year, we co-wrote a biographical two-man show called What the Time Traveler Will Tell Us. And it was based on this short play I had written for the Neo-Futurists. 

This play was a sci-fi end-of-days story told in reverse chronological order. It plays with the horror of omission. We're not told ever what the Time Traveler actually told us, but we're left to see the emotional aftermath of what was said. There's not a lot here, story-wise, just a framework for telling a story. 

I thought it would be an interesting template for a full-length play. And it might be, though the play Joseph and I wrote together ultimately became an autobiographical series of vignettes centered around the idea of what time travel actually is, metaphorically speaking. Time travel is about regret. It's about memory. And it's about holding on (for good or for bad) to our own histories. 

But that's not what this original play is. This is just the template. A starting point. 

What the Time Traveler Will Have Told Our Alternate Selves
(c) 2009, Jeffrey Cranor

[The 3 spinny doors are the 3 different stations: Left Door (Neo 1), Center Door (Neos 3 & 4), Right Door (Neo 2). During each section below, a flood light reveals that station. The light is off in between sections. "Year of the Dog" plays at the start. It plays for a few beats before 1st section.]

Section 1: Part 4

Neo 1: And some will go mad with knowing. Others will live peacefully and fruitfully, but they will be few. While others, which will be most of us, will carry on as if nothing had happened. Only, inside, we will be crumbling, confused. Like I said at the beginning of this story: he will reveal the Truth, and we will be chilled by it. The End.

[Neo 2 on his knees, no goggles on, eyes closed. The bowl is gone. 2 is frantically feeling for it.]

[Neo 3 in front of spinny door. S/He is holding up a knife and a large, full duffel bag. 3 is looking around, as if in a stand-off.]

Section 2: Part 3

Neo 1: There will be no choice but to carry on, regardless of what we will learn. Because in the future, it will be known anyway, and if time exists physically. Excuse me. Because time exists physically, it is all there now. It is just unseen.

[Neo 2 is crouched on the ground sloshing her/his hand back & forth in a large bowl of water. 2 is wearing goggles and looking around suspiciously, protecting her/his bowl.]

[Neo 3 & 4 are in front of the spinny door, clutching each other tightly and audibly straining.]

Section 3: Part 2

Neo 1: ...the time traveler will say as he will be lifting his helmet and sliding off the heavy, black gloves. And we will have tears in our eyes just thinking of the implications such knowledge will have on our lives. We know it now, and will know it then. And if we could, we would have chosen to un-know it. Infinite possible worlds, and this ill fiction will be ours.

[Neo 2 is standing, wearing goggles, smiling cradling a bowl of water., S/He begins taking a large drink from it. Water pours down her/his body]

[Neo 3 & 4 in front of spinny door. They are standing upright, hugging each other, hands tenderly moving over the backs of each others' heads. Song stops when light goes down on this scene.]

Section 4: Part 1

Neo 1: Once upon a future time in a possible quantum world, we will meet a Time Traveler. We will ask him to tell us of the future, and despite his admonition, we will press on. With his green eyes, looking more dizzy than weary, he will reveal the Truth, and we will be chilled by it…

Lights out. Song starts again for a few beats. CURTAIN