V. GOROVITZ
(The Devil’s Stickpin)
By Benjamín Gavarre
© BENJAMÍN GAVARRE SILVA
Contact this address if you have produced it or wish to do so: gavarreunam@gmail.com
V. GOROVITZ
(The Devil’s Stickpin)
SYNOPSIS: In a basement that is simultaneously a bunker and a mental palace, Pavel fights his double, Levap. But cracks of a domestic reality—the voices of a mother, a brother named Carlos, and the rush of a normal life—filter into the delirium, suggesting that the true tragedy is not chaos, but inevitable solitude.
CHARACTERS:
- PAVEL: 19 years old, obsessed with logic. Wears an impeccable tuxedo, though perhaps a bit too large for his frame.
- LEVAP: The Double. He is Pavel, but with disheveled hair, an open shirt, and a dangerous, disconcerting charisma.
SCENE I: The False Constant
(The basement. Bare walls, piles of antique junk. Pavel listens to Nina Hagen on his phone. With a gesture of annoyance, he transfers the audio to a smart device).
PAVEL: (Looking at his hands, as if searching for a flaw). I am coherent. I am the only constant in this equation of madmen. This music isn't bad, but I prefer something more modern... more daring. I need something to discipline the chaos.
(He plays a Tchaikovsky waltz. The sound floods the basement, emanating from the device).
(From the shadows, a spotlight reveals LEVAP. He doesn't walk; he distorts. He dances to the waltz spasmodically, as if the classical music were giving him electric shocks. It is a physical mockery of Pavel’s rigidity).
SCENE II: The Family Tree
(Pavel sits in an 18th-century wrought-iron chair. He stares at his phone, absorbed in an online shopping app).
PAVEL: I am not a baker's son. I inherited this at twelve, though I only took possession at eighteen. Up there, reality gives me hives; furniture covered in yellowing sheets... a graveyard of fabric flowers. I prefer my basement with its old clutter that speaks of a more vivid past. I only rescued this chair from my great-grandfather. It’s uncomfortable, yes, but iron does not lie about the passing of years. (Taps on his phone). I’ll order a minimalist futon. If anyone tries to come down... that’s what the sabers and shotguns are for. Order is defended with gunpowder.
LEVAP: (Pavel does not hear him. Levap whispers to the audience). Ah, my basement... I want it to be an enchanting place, bleeding poetry, where rats leap and chase each other freely, where the food has eyes, and where spiders love each other intensely... But this boring... mediocre fool... he wants a futon. So kitsch... and he won't go upstairs... well, that I understand.
PAVEL: (Obsessive). My fortune is genetic. Pavel I, the founder. Then Pavel II, "Gorovitz," who spent his life on vices until his wife tamed him with a whip. Then Pavel III, the arms dealer. My father, Pavel IV, invested it all in bonds before the plague took him along with my unknown mother. Now I, Pavel V Gorovitz, have sealed the windows with white sheets so that cursed summer light doesn't get in. No germs here. No viruses. Here, I am the fifth and the last.
LEVAP: (Approaching, curious). Gorovitz? Where do you get these Russian operetta names? Your name is... (Mocking). Can you really afford a futon? Who is Carlos Taboada?
PAVEL: (Quickly, pointing at Levap, with a flash of terror). You! Is it you... Carlos?
LEVAP: (Stops, terrified). Who?
PAVEL: (Wiping his forehead). Nothing... just interference. Someone is hacking my brain. You don't exist.
SCENE III: The Broken Mirror
(Pavel enters a shower installed in the corner of the basement. He emerges wrapped in a towel, facing a full-length mirror. Levap is right behind his reflection).
PAVEL: I’m not doing too bad for a survivor. Maybe I should go out. In-person classes. A girlfriend...
LEVAP: (Dictating). A hot girlfriend.
PAVEL: (Like an automaton). A good girlfriend.
LEVAP: Bah... But you’re terrified. You don't even know how to touch a woman.
PAVEL: (Distressed). Who is hacking my brain? It’s a spell!
LEVAP: (Produces an emerald stickpin). Look at this. Your great-grandfather’s pin. Pure emerald, extracted from the dreams of a hanged man. If you can receive it, it’s a sign you’re ready to listen to me.
(Levap drops the pin. The metal hits the floor with a solid thud, but in the background, a microwave dings: Ping!)
PAVEL: (Picking up the jewel). It’s a sign. Great-grandfather, you are speaking to me from beyond the grave... Are you staying for breakfast, Carlos?
LEVAP: The world is a lie, isn't it?
PAVEL: You are a lie, a hallucination. The basement is the only truth.
SCENE IV: The Inversion
(The light turns violet, dense. Pavel coughs. Levap steps through the mirror frame and enters the physical space).
LEVAP: The emerald looks good on you. "The Devil’s Stickpin." Your great-grandfather used this to summon demons. I am what you scream, naked in your nightmares, when the wolves chase you.
PAVEL: (Looking at his transparent hands). I’m fading away!
LEVAP: There can only be one Pavel. They only saved the boring one! (Screams toward the ceiling). I will avenge you, Mother!
(The basement is flooded with red fabrics and Nina Hagen’s music at full volume. Levap dances lewdly. Pavel, in a final burst of will, lunges at Levap with an animal clawing motion).
PAVEL: I am not a statistic! That object is mine!
(Pavel violently rips the stickpin from Levap’s lapel. At that instant, the music distorts into absolute silence. A blinding flash of white light).
SCENE V: The New Order
(When the light fades, Pavel is standing, solid. He wears the stained tuxedo, his hair wild. Levap is tied to the iron chair, his mouth gagged with a dirty rag).
PAVEL: (Deep voice). I have decided to include chaos in my inventory, Levap. I took your soul while you were dancing on my grave. Now I am the order... and the madness.
LEVAP: (Spits out the gag, fascinated). I did it! I’ve awakened the demon. I’m no longer needed... you’ve proven to be a worthy Pavel V. And that stickpin looks very good on you, don't lose it.
VOICE OF A WOMAN (Off, very clear): Pavel! Carlos is gone! And you’re going to be late! Where are your books!
PAVEL: (His jaw drops. He looks toward the stairs with terror). Carlos? Carlos Taboada?
LEVAP: (With a sad smile). Carlos is the one up there, the one who got tired of your games. I’m just the stain he left on the wall when he walked out. You didn't hear me... I’m already gone. I left a long time ago.
SCENE VI: Daylight
(The light in the basement becomes normal, yellowish, and dusty. Pavel is asleep in the iron chair with headphones on. The PC screensaver flashes: "Where do you want to go today?").
PAVEL: (Waking with a spasm). Ah! My neck... it’s going to kill me. (Looks around. The basement is just a place filled with old junk. No sabers, no luxuries).
(Pavel stands up. On the floor, right where Levap was tied, there is a shred of red fabric or a broken glass; a physical trace of the delirium).
PAVEL: (Toward the stairs, with a breaking voice). Mom? Carlos? Are you gone? Don't leave me alone... I fell asleep again. I don't want to be down here alone...
(Heavy silence. Pavel begins to tremble. A soft voice is heard right behind him).
VOICE OF A WOMAN (Off, tender): I’m right here, son. Don't be afraid. Come up now, the sun is beautiful.
(Pavel looks toward the stairs. An intense white light descends the steps. Pavel walks toward it, reaching out his hand).
PAVEL: (In a whisper). Is it you... Mom?
FADE TO BLACK.
