The Little Prince in Egypt

Travel to ancient Egypt where Setka, a young scribe, and Nafrini, a young dancer, break new ground in paving their creative paths. The pair lead a youthful revolution powered by dance and the spirit of joy.

This play includes one parody song and two choreographed dances to Egyptian electronic music.

Playwright Bio:

Novelist, poet, playwright, performer, and screenwriter, John Biscello, is the author of four novels, Broken Land, a Brooklyn Tale, Raking the Dust, Nocturne Variations, and No Man’s Brooklyn; a collection of stories, Freeze Tag, two poetry collections, Arclight and Moonglow on Mercy Street; and a fable, The Jackdaw and the Doll, illustrated by Izumi Yokoyama. He also adapted classic fables paired with the vintage illustrations by artist Paul Bransom for the collection: Once Upon a Time, Classic Fables Reimagined. His produced, full-length plays include: LOBSTERS ON ICE, ADAGIO FOR STRAYS, THE BEST MEDICINE, ZEITGEIST, U.S.A., and WEREWOLVES DON’T WALTZ. He is the founder and director of the Taos Youth Ensemble, a theater collective, and as an independent drama educator, he has worked in various schools, creating plays with grades ranging from K through high school.

Excerpt from the play:

CHARACTERS:

NARRATOR

SETKA — Young scribe
MEMNA — Setka’s dad
NAFRINI — Young dancer
AKILA — Nafrini’s mom
EMU— Nafrini’s cat
THE LITTLE PRINCE — Little man who fell from a star
PHARAOH —Ruler of Egypt
QUEEN CLEO —Queen of Egypt
PERFORMING MONKEYS – Five performing monkeys
DANCERS — Part of Akila and Nafrini’s dance troupe
MR. KOHL — Stealer of souls
SERPENTINO—Kohl’s assistant

SCENE 1

SETTING: Thebes, ancient Egypt

(SETKA sitting cross-legged: a papyrus scroll in his lap, reed brush in his hand, practicing hieroglyphics. MEMNA, SETKA’S father, is standing over him, arms folded, monitoring his son’s progress.)

MEMNA:
Very good, Setka. Your hieroglyphics are improving.

(MEMNA exits. SETKA rises to stand and launches into the story.)

SETKA: (to audience)
Okay, now where were we?
(pause, as he remembers his place in the story)
And then Ra, blazing with sun-fire, grabbed the serpent by the tail and swung him round and round and round….

(SETKA, unaware that his father has returned, nearly hits him in the head with the imaginary serpent he’s swinging. Then he sees his dad.)

SETKA:
Uh, hey, dad. I was just taking a break.

MEMNA:
To tell stories again. To your phantom audience.

SETKA:
(to audience)
He doesn’t see things the way I do.
(to his father)
Dad, I had to tell them how Ra defeated the serpent.

MEMNA:
What you need to do is practice your hieroglyphics. It takes years and years of hard work to become a scribe. Remember—

SETKA: (to audience)
Here it comes—

MEMNA:
You must apply yourself to this noble position. Forget dancing and bird-catching, forget crocodile tears.

SETKA: (to audience)
I don’t even know what that means.

MEMNA:
Befriend the scroll. It pleases more than wine.

SETKA:
I don’t drink, Dad.

MEMNA:
Okay, then. Befriend the scroll, it pleases more than . . . cola.

SETKA:
Hasn’t been invented yet.

MEMNA:
Well . . . befriend the scroll because your father says so.

(MEMNA starts to leave, stops, and turns around.)

MEMNA:
Remember: Thoth is All-Seeing. He has eyes in the back of his eyes. And those eyes have eyes.

(MEMNA exits.)

SETKA: (to audience)
It’s not that I didn’t want to become a scribe. I did. But a different sort of scribe from the one my father expected me to become. (points to his temple) I see things in my mind. And I want to write them down . . . in my own way.

(SETKA exits.)