Untaming of the Shrew

“I was Sly. Sly was I. There was no room tween I and Sly.”
The pacing forms into a circle. I jerk to a halt.
“But if I be Sly, I call the Lord a liar.”
Ominous silence.
“No Sly would call the Lord a liar.”
I begin pacing again, in the opposite direction. I stop.
“If I be not Sly, then I must be the Lord!”
Momentary joy turns to consternation.
“But if I be the Lord, this Lord would quickly call that Lord a liar.”
I pinch my lips.
“And if that Lord be a liar—”
I rub my head.
“I go back to being Sly.”
My eyes dart right and left.
“A Sly that called the Lord a liar.”

You should have closed the frame on me when you had the chance, you manipulative little weasel. Now I have The Lord's Bedchamber. See you later, sucker - Christopher Sly (gratefulseeker.com)

“Can I be neither Sly, nor Lord?”
The second threshold begins to glow.
“And if I be neither Sly, nor Lord—

Re-posted from my favorite Shakespeare quote -

“O monstrous beast! how like a swine he lies!
Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image!
Sirs, I will practise on this drunken man.”

The Lord trying to justify what he is about to do to Christopher Sly in Taming of the Shrew. This has personal meaning because I was about to put on the role of Christopher Sly. Not the first time I've been set up by a pirate lord, but the most educational. The Lord's Bedchamber deserves a lot more attention as a mechanism for "inducing" character movement. From the "Gates of Hell", to the Yo "Ho Ho", the pirate lords use the lord's bedchamber to strip the people of their free roles, and drive them into roles the lord controls. But I don't think I was supposed to notice that. It's a comedy, right? And Sly deserves it, after all.

Monstrous, loathsome, drunk.

"I see one. I see two. I see you all..."

I stand in front of the threshold and I rub my fingertips like I am about to crack a safe. On the other side of the threshold, a shadow figure begins to solidify. He is knocking on the other side of the portal, cheering me on. He is stretching like a sprinter waiting for the pass of the baton. What character is hiding here, and for how long has he been trapped behind the unused hero’s threshold of this dusty forgotten chamber?
“Can I be anyone I wish?”
The glow dims. The threshold character is shaking his head. Wrong way.
“Or perhaps I be not at all?”
The threshold is brighter, burning gold. It starts to hum. The threshold character is pumping his fist, go, go, go. His hand is out, waiting for the pass.

I scratch my itchy scalp.
“If Sly can be a lie, why not I?”
All of the tumblers click, and I finally understand the physics of how this tricky lock was picked.
“This jug is empty.”
The threshold fires.

Thanks for putting up (so far) with this little bit of Shakespearian subterfuge. I couldn't post a link to the play until I made 5 posts. It is a 5 page scene in which Christopher Sly escapes The Lord's Bedchamber. I present it as the final act to Taming of the Shrew. Since Mr. Shakespeare was so kind as to leave open my frame, I wrote my own ending.

This completes my little play to stroll into Shakespeare's Kingdom, and pinkle his players. This thread is now yours, ladies and gentlemen. I'm off to a better world...

The Lord's Bedchamber - a play by Christopher Sly
http://www.gratefulseeker.com/the%20...bedchamber.pdf