Act 1 Scene 5
The Whore and the Beast
As the curtains open, you are seeing that the stage is mostly bare with the exception of that sinister character dressed as the devil sitting on his throne in the far left corner. That dim red light is shining on him casting that same reddish glow.
There are also seven, what looks to be wooden posts, about 6’ tall with looks to be piles of wood below them. They are set towards the left part of the stage about 8 feet or so apart from each other.
Then you see some movement from the right side of the stage. You observe one of the actors come into view. He has a dirty white robe on him and has a rope in his hand. He is clutching the rope which is draped over his shoulder and runs behind him in the air.
You are wondering what this man is doing when you see another appear, and another. One by one they appear until you can see seven of them. All of them in dirty white robes holding ropes draped over their shoulders. They appear to be pulling something very large and very heavy.
Then, coming into view are some other men. These are dressed as regular people, wearing suits. The suits are a dirty white in color. They also have ropes slung over their shoulders helping to pull something onto the stage.
You count these two groups, who all working together laboring, and pulling in unison. There are seven of the men that are dressed in the robes. There are eight dressed in the suits.
Then what they are pulling begins to appear. They all seem to pulling this thing from the back corner of the right hand side of the stage. You first see this big, monstrous head appears. As it comes more into view, you realize this looks just like that odd beast that was wheeled up to the stage earlier. That seven headed beast in the cage.
As you see more of this beast coming past the edge of the curtain, it is most definitely a replica of the beast that you saw earlier. Except, this one is huge! It looks to be about twelve foot or so tall and about ten foot wide. It has the same seven heads with the four wings. The heads are moving around, appearing to be searching for something.
This looks like one of those big floats you might see in a parade. But you have never seen one like this. This is a very hideous, very sinister looking beast.
You can see as the heads move around, they have the same seven names that you observed on the beast in an earlier scene. The names of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and Kingdom of God were upon each of their foreheads. Each head had one title assigned to each head. You can also see the ten horns and a smaller horn behind them.
Then you see that this beast is not alone. Upon the beasts’ back, is a large woman that is sitting on this beast. She has a robe draped around her that is a very shiny, shimmering purple and scarlet color.
She has a large golden cup in her hand and has raises it up like she is toasting something. As she sits upon this beast, she is swaying slightly, making it appear that she is drunk.
Then this procession of bringing this huge float of the beast with the woman sitting on it stops. You can see that the seven dressed in robes, and the eight dressed in suits are all pulling on the ropes that are attached to this spectacle you are witnessing. They all take a quick breather, and lean against the ropes and give it a big pull together.
The float jumps forward with a small jolt. When it does, you realized that there is a red liquid that was in that golden cup. Some sloshes out and drops onto her hand. It looks like that same dark red liquid you saw in the previous scenes of the wheat tares being dipped in the golden cup on the table with wheels. It looked like the same dark red color and consistence of what covered the moon in the last scene. When you read the book, (Bible) it told you that this dark red liquid is the blood of the saints.
As these fifteen stagehands in their costumes of dirty robes and suits pull this large beast and woman to the center of the stage, the head of the woman turns and faces the audience. You then see that there is something written on her forehead.
The writing is large enough that you can make out what it says. You can see very clearly the writing. It says “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Under this, there is much smaller writing that is too small to read. As you are struggling to try to figure out what it says, you realize that when this scene is over, you will be able to look at the book (Bible) and it will tell you what is written under this larger writing.
The fifteen men in dirty robes and suits stop pulling. They each walk to where the ropes are attached to the base of this float and unclip each of their ropes. They all roll up their ropes into a coil.
The seven stagehands with their ropes walk to the front of this float and lay their coils of rope on the base of this float. The eight stagehands in dirty white suits exit the stage with the ropes in their hands. The seven stagehands having placed their ropes on the base of the float, at the feet of this beast with the iron teeth and brass nails, exit the stage.
As you are contemplating what this beast with the woman sitting on his back is all about, you see movement towards the back of the woman sitting on the beast. The robe of scarlet and purple is moving. You see what appears to be a small door open, pushing the robe off to the side where it is now pinched behind the door. You can see that a hand with a red sleeve pushed the door to the side.
A character dressed in a red robe appears, stepping through the door opening and onto the back of this beast. This character has a serpent’s tail protruding out the back of his robe. As he takes a few steps towards the back of this beast’s body, he bend over and grabs a small handle of another door. This door is a trap door built into the top of the butt end of this beast.
As this character in the red robe with the serpent’s tail proceeds to step down into the opening of this door, another character dressed the same as him appears. He is stepping out of the door on the backside of the whore. Then another appears, dressed the same, and another.
They are all coming through the door on the back of this woman and walking over to the door in the back of this beast. One by one they come out and then disappear into the opening, climbing down into the belly of this beast. As you are watching this, you count these characters. There is a total of seven of them. The last one disappears into the belly of this beast.
You then see a differently dressed character come out of the back of the woman. This character is wearing a black robe. As he comes through the door, you can see a scorpion’s tail protruding out of the back of his robe. One by one, several characters come through the door and head to the trap door. They each climb down into the belly of this beast. You again count them. There are seven of them.
As the seventh character dressed in the black robe with the scorpion’s tail descends into the beast, he grabs a handle that is on the trap door and pulls it closed. The trap door leading into the beast is now shut with all of these characters in red robes and black robes within this beast.
You then see another character come out of the door out of the back of this woman. This one is dressed in a dirty white robe with a burlap sack covering it. She has what looks like dust or ashes in her hair and on her shoulders of the burlap sack. She has wheat tassel around her head attached by a band.
She bends over and grabs a pile of rope that had been covered with the purple and scarlet robe this big woman is wearing. When the door had been opened, the robe was pulled back, revealing this pile of rope. As she tosses the rope pile over and down the side of this beast, you can now see that it is a rope ladder.
She begins to climb down this rope ladder. As she is climbing down, another character dressed just like her comes through the door, and another, and another. You again count seven. As you are counting, you can see that there are five women and two men that descend the ladder. As the seventh character comes through the door, he shuts the door, and puts the purple and scarlet robe the woman is wearing back to its original position.
As each of these characters dressed in dirty robes, burlap sacks, and wheat tassels descend the ladder and step onto the stage, they turn around and you can see the names of the seven churches written on the front of the burlap sacks. You then realize, these are the same characters you had seen in a previous scene.
As the last one steps onto the stage, they come together as a group and walk to the front of the float of this beast with seven heads with the woman sitting on it. They all turn and face the beast. You can see a look of fear upon all of their faces.
They all in unison then turn their back to the beast and drop to their knees. They all reach up into the air towards the roof of the stage as if they are pleading with somebody above them. They then bring their arms down as in defeat and place their faces in their hands and appear to be crying and sobbing.
When you had seen this group in a previous scene and read the book (Bible) to discover whom this group represented, you know that this group is representative of the Multitude.
As you are contemplating what you are seeing, you see some movement coming from under this beast. You see a door drop open from the belly of this beast. It is another trap door, this one dropping open. A rope ladder drops out of the door opening and you see a foot stepping onto a rung of this rope ladder, then another foot. As these two feet are stepping to the rungs below, the hem of a red robe appears.
It is one of those characters dressed in a red robe with the serpent’s tail. As he steps off the rope ladder onto the base of the beast, he walks over to one of the legs of this beast. He places a hand on one of the legs and appears to be petting the leg.
He bends over and runs his left hand down the leg until his hand reaches the brass nails of this beast’s foot protruding out from under the hair of its foot. He strokes the brass nails in a petting motion.
He then stands up straight and proceeds to step down off the base of this beast and woman onto the stage. As he steps down, he turns around and you can see that upon his forehead is the number 660. As the book (Bible) explained to you earlier, this is the mark of the beast designating the identification that this character is representing the Serpents.
You watch as another one of these characters descends the rope ladder and go through the same routine and the first one did. This repeats until all seven of them dressed in red robes with serpent’s tails are all standing upon the stage. They form into a group marching to the left of the stage.
As they pass the group dressed as the Multitude, they glare at them and have a very hateful look. The ones dressed as the Multitude look up at their faces with a look of fear as they pass.
Once they reach the left side of the stage, they huddle together as a group and appear to be in a deep discussion with one another. While they are in discussion, each one of them will shoot a hateful glance towards the group of the dressed as the Multitude and then return to their discussion.
You then see more movement coming from under the beast. You see a foot stepping onto a rung of this rope ladder, then another foot. As these two feet are stepping to the rungs below, the hem of a black robe appears.
It is one of those characters dressed in a black robe with the scorpion’s tail. As he steps off the rope ladder onto the base of the beast, he walks over to one of the legs of this beast. He places a hand on one of the legs and begins petting the leg.
He then steps down off the base of this beast and onto the stage. He walks over to the front of the beast and reaches up to the mouth of this beast. He touches the iron teeth and begins petting the teeth in the mouth of this beast.
He touches the iron teeth with his right hand. As he reaches up to pet the iron teeth, his sleeve drops down his arm. You can clearly see that upon the top of his right hand is the number 6. As the book (Bible) explained to you earlier, this is the mark of the beast designating the identification that this character is representing the Scorpions.
You watch as another one of these characters descends the rope ladder and go through the same routine and the first one did. This repeats until all seven of them dressed in black robes with scorpion’s tails are all standing upon the stage in front of the beast, all of them stroking the iron teeth of this beast.
Then it strikes you. This is not a float. This is a like the Trojan Horse of Troy. This Trojan horse ‘The Whore and the Beast’ has within it, the apostate church; namely, the Serpents, the Scorpions, and the Multitude.
They then form into a group and begin to turn to march towards the right of the stage, as they look at the group on the ground, the Multitude, they have a hateful look upon their faces. The group dressed as the Multitude look upon the Scorpions with a look of bewilderment and fear upon their faces.
As the group of the characters dressed as scorpions reach the right side of the stage, they also huddle and appear to be in discussion with each other. While they are in discussion, each one of them will shoot a hateful glance towards the group of the dressed as the Multitude and then return to their discussion.
The group dressed as the serpents begin to walk across the stage towards the group dressed as scorpions. As they pass the group dressed as the Multitude, they glare at them with hateful expressions on their faces.
As the group dressed as the serpents arrives on the right hand side of the stage where the group dressed as the scorpions are, they each extend out a hand to the ones dressed as scorpions. They shake hands vigorously. While they are shaking hands, smiles appear on all of their faces.
Each one of the members of the group dressed as scorpions reaches into their right pockets of the robes and pulls out a pouch. Each one pulls open the drawstring of the pouch and displays it in front of each of the ones dressed as serpents.
Each one of the group dressed as serpents, reaches into the left pockets of their robes and pull something out. Each one’s left hand hovers over the pouches and begins to drop something into them. As this something drops into the pouches, you can hear the clink of coins as the coins hit one another and settle into the pouches.
These pouches look like the same pouches with the outline of coins that you had seen earlier hanging on the sides of the riders of the black horse and the bay horse. You then realize that they are the same pouches because they are the same characters.
Both of these groups, the group of serpents and the group of scorpions, have looks of joy upon their faces during this exchange that is going on.
Another character enters the stage from the left side. This character is different from any of the characters you have seen portrayed in this scene or previous scenes. It is a fairly large individual, tall and very authoritative looking. He is wearing a long, shimmering cobalt blue robe.
As he enters the stage, a bright blue light shines upon him from a spotlight above. It cast an eerie blue glow highlighting his shimmering cobalt blue robe. The light follows him on the stage as he moves about.
He has what appears to be a microphone hanging down his front with the cord draped around his neck. The opposite end of the cord is plugged into what appears to be a large video camera which is hanging on his side.
He strides across the stage and stands in front of the beast. He has a broad smile upon his face as he stares at this beast on the stage. He appears to be admiring it.
He then turns towards the two groups dressed as serpents and scorpions and begins to speak to them. He stretches out his arm towards the beast and points to the beast. He looks back at the group dressed as serpents and scorpions. They all smile and give this man dressed in the cobalt blue robe a thumbs up.
He then raises his arm higher and points to the woman sitting on the beast. His expression turns to a frown and a hateful look. He looks back to the groups dressed as serpents and scorpions as they too are looking at the woman that he is pointing towards.
Each of their faces turns into a frown and hateful looks as they turn to face this character dressed in the cobalt blue robe. Each of the groups dressed as serpents and scorpions turn their hands over to motion a thumbs down.
Each of the groups of serpents and scorpion then drop their hands and face the man with the cobalt blue robe. They all smile at each other. The man in the cobalt blue then brings his hand outstretched with his palm facing the groups dressed as serpents and scorpions. Each of the ones in these groups then give a high five to the man dressed in the cobalt blue robe.
This man in the cobalt blue robe then turns and heads towards the group that is dressed as the Multitude standing with their backs to the beast. He walks over to them stands in front of them and glares at them. He raises his hand towards the beast and points at the beast.
The ones dressed as the Multitude all look at him and in unison shake their heads no. His demeanor then changes as he gets a very stern and hateful look upon his face. He stiffens up and shakes his head no. He points at the beast again, all the while; the group that is dressed as the Multitude refuse to turn around, shaking their heads no.
The man in the cobalt blue robe motions towards the ceiling which is a signal to start the pyrotechnics display. Down shoots fire from the ceiling towards the ones dressed as the Multitude. They cower down slightly as the flames reach towards them. The flames do not reach them as it is a safe distance away. But it is amazing watching these special effects.
The man in the cobalt blue robes immediately spins around and stomps to the left of the stage. He leans up against one of the legs of the throne the character dressed in the devils costume is sitting. He crosses his arms in a defiant posture and glares at the group dressed as the Multitude. He stands there leaning on the leg of the throne throughout the rest of this scene.
Meanwhile, there is movement atop of this throne that catches your eye.
The character dressed as the devil stands up and is jumping ever so slightly looking like he is jumping for joy. He is clasping his hands and then throwing up his hands into fists like he has just won a race. He has the biggest smile on his face that you had seen yet. He takes one of his fists and punches it into the air like a left hook. The same motion you would see a business man doing when he closes a very lucrative deal.
Then you see something very odd. As the character dressed as the devil is punching his fist taking his victory punch, he acts like he is choking. He makes several movements and a frog comes out of his mouth. Yuk!
The frog lands on the platform. He takes another hop and lands on the head of the false prophet between the two horns resembling lamb’s horns. He takes another hop and lands on the floor of the stage and turns to face the character dressed in the cobalt blue robe.
Then the character dressed in the cobalt blue robe begins to choke and making movements just like the character dressed as the devil did. A frog comes out of his mouth, Yuk again! He hops and lands next to the frog already on the floor of the stage.
The two frogs look at each other, and both begin hopping towards the float of the beast on the stage. Then you see another frog coming out of the mouth of this beast on the stage. He jumps down to the platform that the beast is sitting on and then down to the floor of the stage. The two frogs join this frog on the stage sitting in front of this beast and all in unison begin to let out that familiar frog croak.
The group dressed as serpents bid a joyous farewell to the group dressed as scorpions and proceed to the left part of the stage. They again give a hateful glare to the group dressed as the Multitude as they pass them.
Once they have reached the left part of the stage, the group dressed as the scorpions all point the fingers with outstretched arms towards the group dressed as the Multitude. Each one of the group dressed as scorpions then proceed to walk towards this beast. They each walk to the different coils of rope and each one of them pick up a coil of rope, seven in all.
Each one of the ones dressed as scorpions approaches each one of the group dressed as Multitude. They each bend down and tie the rope around the waist of the group sitting on the ground. They each lay down the rope on the ground and walk back to the right side of the stage.
Once they reach the right side of the stage, they put their backs towards the group dressed as the Multitude and never look at them again. They pull out their pouches, pouring the coins out into their hands. You can hear the distinctive clink of the coins and they play with their latest present they had just received.
You are slightly startled when seven bright spotlights appear above you. As your eyes adjust, you can see the seven spotlights are shining on seven members of the audience. Each of them stands up and begins walking towards the stage.
Each one of the spotlights follows them as they ascend the steps up onto the stage and approach the group dressed as the Multitude. Each of the audience members speaks to one of the group dressed as the Multitude. They take the hand of each one that is on the ground and motions them to stand up. As each one stands, you can see the rope dangling from their waists.
The seven members of the audience then give each of them a hug, turn around and return to their seats. The spotlights above them are then turned off.
The group dressed as serpents come out of their discussion with each other and all turn to face the group dressed as the Multitude. Each of the group of serpents then reaches to the bottom of the left side of their robes and pulls up the side of each of their robes to reveal a scabbard holding a sword. You can see the handle of the sword. They each drape the robe behind the sword handle and rest it tucked behind the top of the scabbard.
Each then pulls out their swords from the scabbards. You clearly hear that familiar swipe as the sword leaves its sheath. As the swords are completely pulled out, you notice that there is something tied to the ends of the swords. It looks like a rag hanging from the sword. You then pick up a faint smell of what smells like kerosene or gasoline.
The group dressed like serpents then advance towards the group dressed as the Multitude. Each of them bend over and pick up the ends of the ropes that are tied around the waists of the group dressed as the Multitude. They each lead them by the ropes towards those wooden stakes with the wood at the base of each one.
The ones dressed as the Multitude were not fighting the ones dressed as the Serpents. They were obediently following as the ones dressed as serpents led each one to one of those wooden stakes.
The ones dressed as the Multitude were holding their heads high looking at the wooden stakes and then looking up towards the ceiling. They had looks of fear upon their faces as they looked at the wooden stakes but their looks of fear faded as they looked up and faint smiles appeared. It appeared they were contemplating the conversations they each had with the members of the audience earlier.
All of them stepped over the piles of wood towards the wooden stakes. The ones dressed as serpents then led each one to the wooden stake and wrapped the rope tightly around and around that wooden stake, securely tying each of them to a stake.
Each of the ones dressed as serpents then stepped back over the pile of wood, and reached into their pockets. They each pulled out a lighter and flicked it. A flame appeared as they put the flame under the rag on the ends of each of their swords. The rags burst into flame. They touched the burning rag at the end of their swords to the pile of wood.
The wood burst into flames. You studied the fire coming out of the wood and could see that this was fire being produced by fans and lights blowing on colored cellophane. It makes sense that they wouldn’t have real fires on stage. It did appear real though.
You realize that the flames of this fire will consume those tied to the wooden stakes.
The curtains close.
An announcer walks onto the stage with a microphone. He tells you that this is the end of Act 1. Enjoy a brief intermission of fifteen minutes at which time Act 2 will begin. Meanwhile, read the following for an understanding of what you have just seen.
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