Vincent Vernerie SOLA

1 - THE GURU - PROLOGUE

(The guru gestures in a precise, exaggerated and rather ridiculous way - sometimes striking poses, other times drawing images in the air.
During the scene he reveals signs marked with “FUTURE”, “PAST”, “REAL” and “NOT REAL” in the space.)

THE GURU
The Human is a creature of the present, who undulates with calm in the Unknown - like a fish.

Ever since Human is Human, ever since Human left the monkey far behind, they have done nothing but - collecting things. Such as bones for tools, clothing, objects, weapons, pieces of art. The human have developed themselves quite impressively - with ideas, sounds, signs, movements, words, and languages…

The Human has developed thousands of concepts including Time, the Good and the Bad, stories of ghosts, stories of gods. Stories of monkeys.

With all of these concepts humans has built shelters, cabins, farms, castles and houses - they have built cities all around, with paths, roads connecting them together, bridges crossing rivers and lakes

With the idea of the Past, the Human could turn back towards it and learn from it.
With the idea of the Future the Human could project itself into it and start to imagine things.
Loss, regrets, nostalgia, trauma, childhood.
Projections, expectations, ambitions, the image of myself, the one I want to be, things that I want, desire, -

So this becomes Human kind’s eternal struggle - to stay in the present

Here is an example : I’m walking in a park, I’m going home where a hot coffee is waiting for me - coffee (which is in the future) and while I’m walking (which is in the present) I find this can lying on the ground. First I think oh, that’s ugly. But then I remember that I’ve passed a trash can - in the past.

So here is the situation, and it’s very simple. IF, as a Human, I take the can, in the present, and then throw it in the trash, in the present, everything is fine.

BUT IF as a Human, I take the can, in the present, and then when I’m about to throw it in the trash I start to think about my coffee which is in the future - things won’t work.

And you might think that this is all, but there’s another dimension to it. Real.
Are we real? Am I real? What’s real? Sometimes the human can be sucked-in by the tangible reality of daily life to a point where they just forget about themselves. Bills? E-mails? Obligations? Routine? Habits? Traffic jam? Phone ringing? Shopping list? Toilet paper? Are we real like toilet paper? Here is the place for all of the things that need to be done.

Wasn’t it a real cat? Alive… dead… both maybe.
Fiction ! TV shows, fake news, irrational thoughts, lies, madness… here is the place where the human can easily escape from themselves

Real, not real, past, projection, expectations, time ticking, ah..

With all of this, what do we get ?

Despite our greatest achievements - sometimes, the Humans could find themselves struggling with…

Monkies !