As It Always Was by Katie DiPietro
Cast of Characters:
(In order of appearance)
NOKEN: (m.) Brother of Huldra. Malevolent spirit, created for
entertainment, who lures humans into the water to drown them. Thinks
he is in love with Freya. Hates Dyre. Mysterious, seductive,
thoughtful, conflicted.
HULDRA: (m./f.) Sibling of Noken. Malevolent spirit, created for
entertainment, who lures humans into the snow to kill them. Hates
Dyre. Brassy,mischievous, plotting, upbeat, loyal, enthusiastic.
BRENN/A: (m./f.) Sibling of Gyda. Storyteller. Viking warrior led by
Magda. Boisterous, intense, protective, loyal, strong.
EIRA/O: (m./f.) Viking warrior led by Magda. The only Viking without
any family connections. Outspoken and insightful, powerful, brave.
MAGDA: (f.) Sister of Freya. The leader of the Viking warriors.
Obsessed with revenge. Strong, violent, bold.
GYDA: (f.) Sister of Brenna. Comic relief, Viking warriors led by
Magda. Goofy, fun, loud, melodramatic.
HEL: (m./f.) The god of the underworld, the keeper of souls.
Responsible for the malevolent spirits and their actions. Has a soft
spot for Huldra. Brooding, cold, intense, dangerous.
DYRE: (m./f.) Malevolent spirit, created for destruction. In bitter
competition with Noken and Huldra.
Evil, twisted, dangerous, cruel, impulsive.
FREYA: (f.) Sister of Magda. Viking warrior thinks she is in love
with Noken. Hidden behind the "veil." Bright, quick, emotional,
fearless.
[Brenna, Eira, HEL and Dyre can be cast as any gender. Pronouns can be
changed for performance purposes, as casting indicates. The roles of
BRENNA, EIRA, and DYRE are written as female and HEL is written as
male in manuscript in accordance with original casting.]
SCENE
A dense forest in the Icelandic wilderness close to a Viking homestead.
TIME
Circa 800CE, when the world was still wild.
NOTE
The production is meant to be presented as a multi-media piece. Most
scenes should be accompanied by tracks or live musicians. Tracks/music
can be chosen at the director's discretion. Music suggestions have
been added into the script for reference.
ACT I, SCENE 1:
SETTING: A clearing in the woods. The set consists of large trees,
dense, colorful foliage, and hidden shadowy areas.
AT RISE: NOKEN and HULDRA are alone on the stage. Noken is lounging.
The mood is peaceful, playful, and nonchalant. Huldra, however, seems agitated.
NOKEN: It's been a dull winter.
HULDRA: Thank you, Noken, I definitely hadn't noticed.
NOKEN: No need to be testy. It's just a thought.
HULDRA: You've lost your edge.
NOKEN: I haven't lost my edge.
HULDRA: How many humans have you drowned, lately?
NOKEN: You know as well as I do that the drowning isn't the fun
part. The chase is the fun part. Huldra, you're a terrible god.
HULDRA: I am not a god. I'm a malevolent spirit, just like you.
NOKEN: ...a malevolent spirit
HULDRA: To be fair, you haven't even chased in a while. It's
been It's been a long time.
NOKEN: (smiling) You're a historian now? A malevolent historian?
HULDRA: Yes. And you've lost your edge.
NOKEN: It's been a dull winter.
HULDRA: We used to have fun, you know.
NOKEN: We still have fun.
HULDRA: Not for ages!
NOKEN: It's been months. At most it's been months. We still have fun.
HULDRA: Yeah, but we used to do terrible things together. I'm
talking about sick, twisted, nasty things.
NOKEN: Ah, the good times.
(The mood becomes energetic and mischievous)
HULDRA: Yes, the good times! Remember that time we came up with that
plan to convince those rival clan leaders that they were both in love
with me? We told them to journey all the way up to the
NOKEN: (cutting her off) top of the mountain over on the east side
of the black sea?
HULDRA: There was so much wind over there!
NOKEN: It was freezing to begin with.
HULDRA: And you told them that to win my love they had to swim across
that freezing creek.
NOKEN: They couldn't stop shivering!
HULDRA: They looked ridiculous.
NOKEN: We had trouble with that one girl, remember? She was the wife
or something of one of the clan leaders and she kept following and
following and yelling at them saying that they were idiots for going
up to the mountain alone!
HULDRA: (laughing) Oh yeah! We convinced them to tell all of their
warriors not to come with them because there was a massive ice storm
coming in.
NOKEN: They knew about the storm!
HULDRA: You "took care" of her and then you climbed up the damn
mountain, so you wouldn't miss the fun!
NOKEN: I stood there next to a colossal fire; warm and toasty while
you convinced them that the one who lasted the longest in the snow
would get to spend eternity with you.
HULDRA: Pathetic!
NOKEN: All the frost on their beards
HULDRA: The best part was when you decided to float the bodies up the
river to the homesteads! That was messed up.
NOKEN: Ah, the good times
(The mood calms as the two reminisce in silence for a moment)
HULDRA: I'm thinking we should have a bet.
NOKEN: A bet?
HULDRA: Yes.
NOKEN: Expound, woman. I'm not a mind reader.
HULDRA: I have a firm belief that I am much better at manipulating
humans. We both have the same general purpose and interests; finding
innocent victims, luring them to their deaths The only real
difference between us is that I lure them into the snow and you lure
them into the water.
NOKEN: That's not a bet.
HULDRA: I think my charms are considerably more intoxicating than
yours. I can drag anyone into the wilds. Anyone.
NOKEN: Really?
HULDRA: Yes, really.
NOKEN: And I can't?
HULDRA: That is the suspicion. I think you've lost your touch. You
haven't drowned anyone in ages.
NOKEN: What's the bet?
HULDRA: You, Noken, will have to lure someone to their death before I
do, or else I
NOKEN: (pause) the dramatic pause being thrilling as it is
HULDRA: (cutting him off) get your soul.
NOKEN: Making me mortal.
HULDRA: Making you mortal.
NOKEN: I don't have a soul, Huldra.
HULDRA: You do. Or at least, you did at one point.
NOKEN: And?
HULDRA: And it will be mine if I win.
NOKEN: Then?
HULDRA: (playfully) Oh, who knows? Maybe I'll hunt you down and kill
you, myself. Just for sport, of course.
NOKEN: Of course.
HULDRA: It's been a dull winter.
NOKEN: Huldra, your bets aren't what they used to be.
HULDRA: Hang on! I'm not done. The soul that you lure has to be in
love. Wait, no. The soul has to choose to go with the
spirit…voluntarily die…. knowing that they won't be able to
return.
NOKEN: I don't see the challenge.
HULDRA: (frustrated) Fine, then. Continue to sulk. Sit here on the
edge of the water and pretend you're doing something worthwhile with
your immortality.
NOKEN: Don't mind if I do.
HULDRA: Or we can talk about our last wager. We can dissect the
intricacies; the ins and outs of my victory. I know it's really all
you think about anymore, so I'm sure we'll have plenty to discuss.
NOKEN: I'll take your bet. There isn't anything else worth my time.
HULDRA: Excellent. I'll say goodbye, for now. I'm off to find a
suitable human.
NOKEN: Oh? Are we judging on quality?
HULDRA: We are "malevolent spirits." We can't just bet on riff raff, can we?
[End of Extract]