Pavlov's Cats
by Robert Joseph Ahola
#2005-0023ISBN #1-933159-27-8
(See also Robert Joseph Ahola's The
Year of the Tiger, High Tea With His Excellency,
and Dr. Max Love)
Cast Requirements:
The better (or “worser”) Angels of our Nature.
 | FIDEL. An adjudicating apprentice angel who oversees the greater
responses to all the small decisions in our lives – the self-appointed master of
“Nanotology.” A bit more conservative than his co-worker, Catrina, he tends to
worry at times, which is a very “non-angelic” thing to do.
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| CATRINA. Fidel’s coworker and partner in “angelic
oversight,” she advances her own theory that all people fall into one of two
categories — dogs or cats. And she will do anything to prove they are right. Also an
apprentice angel (and therefore still in heaven on a “trial” basis,” she is
in a hurry to move things along in the course of the human lives in their charge.
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| GABRIELA. An archangel in charge of these two troublesome but
well-meaning angels. (Yes she is the “Gabriel” of legend, before sexist
historians took over her bio. She’s just too nice to contradict anyone, and smart
enough to understand the relativity of misperception.) |
| LUCIFER. Even more charming, ingratiating and confusing than usual, the Prince of
Darkness needs no introduction, mainly because he prefers to make up his own.
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The Human Beings.
| JEREMY THORPE. A young stockbroker. A scoundrel. An opportunist, soon to be a
political power. And a generally fine human being with a great deal of potential (as soon
as he learns the difference between right and wrong). |
| GEORGE LANE. Jeremy’s well-to-do banker and friend. He sees everything clearly,
and is just now learning not to hide his light. But will he learn this quickly enough. |
| LETICIA McANALLEY. The female equivalent of “The Plain Dealer.” She is
beautiful, candid, sarcastic, vulnerable, and an exceptional fashion designer. She is also
prone to rash decisions about her life. |
| ELLEN LARAMOUR. Wealthy, intuitive, and nearly psychic, she has an innate
understanding of everyone’s inner nature — even the natures of angels.
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Synopsis
When two well-intended but meddlesome apprentice angels set out to prove their
respective philosophical points of view, they make the untenable error of trying to prove
them with the very human beings they’ve been entrusted to help. Of the two
angels, Fidel (the male) firmly believes in his theory of Nanotology —that all major
events in life hinge on decisions made in infinitesimal moments in time, and it is upon
those nanoseconds that all events turn. he female, Catrina, on the other hand ridicules
Fidel’s theory, choosing instead to believe that all human beings fall into two
categories — cats and dogs — and that the “cats” in the human world
are the only creatures with the initiative to think outside the box that life has built
for them.
Assigned by the archangel Gabriela to act as guides and angelic counselors to a high
profile, high-strung quartet of young men and women, Fidel and Catrina are cautioned about
the dangers of interfering in the traffic of human emotion. Especially since these human
beings are intelligent, headstrong and driven to success, they are also inclined to
exercise the gift of free will with reckless abandon. As a result our watchful celestial
messengers are very hard pressed to get them to follow the paths for which they are
presumably destined. In their attempts to help their charges, these angels are willing to
resort to any means necessary. That extension of energy alone conjures Lucifer himself.
And when the Devil enters the equation, anything can happen.
A comedy in three acts, Pavlov’s Cats, proves to be as willful, as spontaneous and
as joyously unpredictable as its name implies.
Synopsis of Scenes
| Act 1. Scene 1 —
Heaven. Act 1. Scene
2— Two Pocket Sets. A Car. The side of the Road
Act 1, Scene 3 — The Club. Pocket Set/ A Table.
Act 1. Scene 4 — The Club. Pocket Set/The Entrance
Act 1. Scene 5 — Limbo Between Pocket Sets |
Act 2. Scene 1
—†Heaven Act 2.
Scene 2— The Club (Pocket set). A Table.
Act 2. Scene 3— The Club (Pocket set). The Dance Floor
Act 2. Scene 4— The Club. (Pocket set). A Table.
Act 2. Scene 6 — The Club (Pocket set). The Dance Floor
Act 2. Scene 7— The Club. (Pocket set). A Table.
Act 2. Scene 8— At the Altar
Act 2. Scene 9 — Limbo
Act. 2 Scene 10 —†Ellen’s Bedroom. |
Act 3. Scene 1—
Hell. Hell’s Kitchen (as
it were). Act 3. Scene 2—Another Bedroom
Act 3. Scene 3—A Sitting Room
Act 3. Scene 4— Political Caucus Room.
Act 3. Scene 5— George’s Car.
Act 3 Scene 6 — Political Caucus Room.
Act 3. Scene 7— Back in Hell’s Kitchen.
Act 3. Scene 8 —George’s Car.
Act 3. Scene 9 —Political Caucus Room.
Act 3. Scene 10— The Club. A Table.
Act 3. Scene 11 — Ellen’s Den.
Act 3. Scene 12 —Jeremy’s Study. Three Years Later.
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| Because there are numerous scene changes, the
sets are definitely designed to be minimalist, interpretive and make maximum use of the
implied accents of a room or setting. What’s more, if properly handled the changes of
scene and movements into them can and will add to the dynamics of pace and the style of
staging. Let’s think outside the box, here. (Pavlov’s cats certainly would
have.) FLY SPACE would be preferred for this staging, but it is not essential.
THE USE OF THREE ACTS is optional. It would be just as easy to break it down into two
acts. In fact, it does so nicely by carrying Act I over to the end of Act II. But
somewhere in the process, the milestones just seemed to fall nicely into place as they are
currently constructed. And that is the recommended conformation for this piece.
Approximate running time 1 hour/45 minutes
Properties List
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- Two high stools (for the angels in heaven)
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- A table and four chairs (for the club sequences)
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- Four cell phones
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- A car steering wheel (or implied car)
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- Two car seats (for driving sequences)
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- Two large signs saying “Defining Moment”
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- Possible political signs (optional)
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Costume Plot
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- White tops and pants for the three angels
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- Black top and pants for Lucifer
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- Modern business attire for four human beings
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- Change of wardrobe for four human beings in Acts II and III (Black tie options for
the human beings throughout Act II) |
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Author Biography
Robert Joseph Ahola is an author, playwright, screenwriter and producer who lives in
Malibu, California. He has authored such plays as The Year of the Tiger, Judas
Agonistes and Pavlov’s Cats, and is an author/co-author of eleven
published books including Delusion is Good, The Silent Healer and I,
Dragon. The Return of the Hummingbird Wizard is his seventh work of book length
fiction. |
