 My dad, who is watching over the internet, before we start doing the Cupid every night, he kind of reminds us why we do theater, why we do this place specifically. He focuses us. Do you see what I did? Because of the... How's that? We'll just be later. There's been hundreds of volunteers for you to buy later. Sorry, shall we? Yeah. Mine, I introduced you. The very handsome and charming and talented and bearded Miss Rusty Cere. Thank you so much for your patience. I'll try and talk as fast as I can. Thanks for being comfortable and accommodating from some extra folks tonight, so you all can see our one night on the excision of the death of Cupid. My name is Rusty Cere, I'm here for C-direct. I'd like to propose a quick toast if you have a drink if you'll join me. If you don't, you should seriously direct that in a mission. It's a whiskey musical. Cheers to you for being here. Thank you so much for supporting local theater and for supporting what we do here at the later years. We quite literally could not do it without you. It certainly would not be as much fun. So here we are at the end of our third season, which has been an amazing ride this season. Thank you all of you who have supported the season. You're here for the death of Cupid. Everybody's over here. It's an original whiskey musical with an indirect high-pathy act. It's about an hour long. There is a 13-minute intermission. At that time, I would encourage you to please get a drink, or get rid of a drink on the mezzanine, and then return to your seats. I have to tell you guys, I'm a little nervous giving this curtain speech right now. The first time in my life, because this show, as some of you may know, is live-streaming. Tonight, hi everybody. This performance in New York, Chicago, L.A. Okibolji. Australia, Australia, US, Egypt, UK, everywhere. So enjoy, everyone. Enjoy. Welcome to the living room. Just a quick little audience interaction, guys. We're going to play a little game I like to call DORU in the show. The rules are simple. It's just if you have a cell phone or anything else that makes noise. I don't know what that might be. Maybe I don't want to know. But if you can do all of what you can to silence those things, this is a very intimate space. The actors will be surrounding you and coming from every aisle, every entrance. A cell phone is very distracting to the story that we're telling, even if it vibrates loud in a cell phone. It is distracting. So thank you for doing that. If you like the show tonight, I would normally say tell your friends to come back and see it, but this is the last shot, so thanks for being here. But if you're not on our mailing list, it's over there by the bar. I would encourage you to sign up for that. We'll be announcing our fourth season here very quickly in the next week. So I'll be blasting an email to everyone on our mailing list with a special deal for just those people who've been by a season of past, perhaps, students. So do that. There's also a bucket over there, you guys, that says... It says, please help people living and living. If you have $0.05, $0.15, $0.05, $25,000, and you want to drop it in there, we would be eternally grateful. We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization, so any generous donation that you might be willing to make can be tax-reducible. I greatly, greatly appreciate it. There's so many wonderful things we can do with even $5, really, and we were lucky for it. The role of Hercules tonight, in case any of you were wondering, it's been a cameo performance every now and then through this round, which I've got to say has been a lot of fun. Tonight it is the one and only Mr. Matt Rapport. Let's give it up one more time for Apollo and the Slow Death Band. If you have drinks, I would encourage you, unless you'd like them to be a little gritty, to keep them off the floor. You may have noticed we've got a little bit of sand in the shoes. Sit back and enjoy. There were the gods. One mortal questioned the nature of their men. Another god was born. And there was everything. Chaos, y'all. One, two! But let's just say that. After 20 years of persistent shield against shield, the war seems endless. Performing down with their husbands, now they're out of a step. Aside the master's strength, and I'm going to be different from other generals. Oh? I'm going to fight on the front lines with my men. The front lines, huh? I intend to lead by example, like a true and medium. The soldier couples with a touch, and there can't be enough to keep their husbands from going back to the war. Even in sex, the soldier still dreams of the battlefield. It's fine to save their husbands. I'm thirsty. What do you mean you're not thirsty? You're always... Am I so scary that you're trying to kill me? I'm trying to kill you. Do you have scarring as an egg? No! That'll you do! You gotta run if you're really from my departure. I love you. Ah! Niko! Niko! Kalanis. It's the knife. Niko! Niko! Niko! Niko! Niko! Niko! Niko! Niko! Niko! Niko! What? What's this? It's Mittant Pump. Oh my God, this Lori is motherfuckin' up! Oh no! I love you. I love ya. I really do. But you're scaring the shit out of me. Oh! Hark, let's end this. You don't wanna act? Well you'd be the prime wife of a valiant soldier. I'm a 협npah. What are you playing at? Oh, I'm not playing at anything dear, I have an axe! Aww, you're so kind of that axe. I cannot heal the harsh touch of the war's rough hands I said I ain't gonna tell the seven seas The sea of joy God only knows when their soldiers return home from the war God only knows if they return It's only a matter of time before they receive the black letter Telling them how bravely their husbands had fought How bravely they have died The goddess Athena, having witnessed the desperate efforts of the Athenian wives Was appalled The soldiers return home on shorely today Lives are becoming a problem for my war Not my morning with your whining I might as well start at the beginning to reject my war But you could do what your father does and just kill them I shouldn't have to interfere, they should respect their creators Honey, that's why we have Cupid, isn't it? Just have him, you know, shoot a few arrows into these women and voila, problem solved It's not that simple, of course it is Something is stirring in these women They're men, on the other hand, are fighting Proving themselves to be true Athenians Oh yes, brave little soldier boys all grown up to become what? Men, they're ghosts, darling, all of them How dare you speak of them as ghosts? Your war will call them ghosts My war is necessary for peace That's a good one You should never have come to me for help You know, Athena, you are simple These women are a disgrace to Athens And they should all be punished severely But I shouldn't have to interfere Cupid shouldn't have to regulate our reign I shouldn't have to strike down those that sin against me I don't understand a human being, Hera But I need to You are just like your father, all ego and no pause No wonder you were born out of his head Your idea was a mistake I am for days without rest or water or nourishment The bird is a different beast from the human Do you know why? No It is not afraid It does not complain It just moves until it finds a place to land Only then does it feed and water itself I suppose it never finds a place to land But it dies, my dear But it dies without ever having felt sorry for itself It does not rationalize so it cannot deduce that it is dying Or that it can die at all It merely lives to live The human being lives to die It lives in fear and respect again What is she doing? She's waiting for what? For his touch What is his touch if nothing more than a touch? Oh, my dear girl His touch is a promise A promise of love How long will she wait? As long as it takes I know Athenian Widow He fought like a true Athenian Now she will never know his touch again Oh, no, she's not Athenia! The Athenian Widow experiences the following initial gut reactions The first is revenge I am going to kill your war Bitch! She's still Athena This is what I'm talking about You said you wanted to understand the human being So lower your weapon And listen You've got nothing to say The reaction is despair Kill me Please Isn't that what you do? To those who are scorking Please Please go ahead Get on me Get on me The third reaction The most dangerous and the most common Is resignation Something different is stirring the silence of strife Something darker The universe What is she doing? To heal There is a bond This is what it began to do What the gods hate most She began to ask questions To kill To mobilize our men Yes, your tools are They're wise There is a flow She's not happy This is too She might She is human after all Athenia When was the last time you had any fun? My goddess of war Don't have fun Are you not also the goddess of wisdom? Was her father just being ironic? You make toys of my problems Your tyranny has gone on long enough And what of your tyranny, Athenia? You sing that girl's pain You still have no idea what it means to be human My dear girl They are looking for salvation From what? From fate You're wrong Athenia, dear, we are a dying breed Our creations are taking responsibility for themselves Or trying to, anyway And it is for this reason I have taken up the hooch So what can I do? Well, first, you should understand your subjects How do I do that? You can start by following her Trust me, you'll need one Who the hell is this Liz Estrada? Who the hell is this my dear about a sex strike? This morning Who is she? She's my responsibility Kill her, please, now, please Take her to your spirit Do whatever it is you're doing And take her life No, in fact, take her soul And divide it up And put it all over the world So she'll never be put back together again No, in fact, take her soul And rip it into a thousand pieces And oh my God, she's pretty Second thought, you better give some of her soul to me What? Okay, yes, fine, I'm getting wrinkles You're not, not getting any less More immortal hair of it Thank you, look nice, mom Thank you, Cupid All right, let's make this quick I gotta think it three, some ten Sorry girls, Liz Estrada lives What? Mother, I've decided to give the little girl a chance This is bullshit If you touch that girl down there The consequences will be severe We can't do this to me We're gonna wait with this, aren't we? I don't have a choice What the hell is going on? Okay, okay, fine I'm telling Daddy He's in his sun room It's about plotting him against me Besides, he'll say no And you know it Is there anything I can do to reverse your decision? Actually Now Bitch! Aphrodite, do not touch that woman I'll take that as a- What? Can anybody just- If I knew Aphrodite, she'll do anything to stop her Hey! Zeena Catch you later You're playing Hercules now? Yes, we got a lot of- And you've got a lot of stuff to work out with her So what if she fails? Then she fails But another one just like her will come along and try again Leave me, darling They're evolving And what of us? As I said We're a dying breed Alright, muscle man! Take Apollo Gonna fight with mom? This woman is planning a sex strike In protest of our war Who is she? Your kind of soldier Athena's rage is suppressed only by her curiosity Apollo, to a surprise, saw something new Dangerous in his sister's eyes Respect For a rebellious mortal Everyone knows me Who are you? You're fucking low Athena I wouldn't be worried about her as much Aphrodite, that's right, sister You've upset the gods Athens, devising a plot against your men And most abominably You're attempting to kill sex We make you love or hate And what will you make me do? Love or hate, country And you will hate your enemies We'll remain My dear, stay still My glorification to accommodate my very busy schedule Shit, shit, shit Here's Dawn, you twit No, this is a very important beauty sleep I'll say Watching you skinny little bitch I'm just saying, if beauty sleeps your carol You might want to think about hibernation Oh, palapinesia What? They were made of lies Anything about the spark I don't know what your intention was What's the matter? I'm not gonna bite Can you stay together? But she's the end I don't know that she's alone I've heard of Thany and Ignorance But it's a sad thing to see with my own eyes It appears she was wrong Are you joking? I'll show you some respect Take this quick list of straws And make sure she's here for a damn good reason She is A better woman A better wife I've sacrificed whatever it takes I saw right down the middle But only half Because obviously I need the other half I'm just supposed to say no It's as simple as that That's hard That's funny I want sex and I just, you know, I won't I'm suggesting there's no sex thing How effective do you really think you can be? No, very If we just sit in our bedrooms all made up As good as nude and our favorite slips With our privates nicely groomed Exactly It'll swell so full of blood We'll have none left in the brain To think about anything but pee But we will not listen near us All Menelaus had to do with C. Helen's tits And he threw it on his weapons If it worked then it can work now It's enjoying it Or at least having the common courtesy To fake it On board Ladies You say you're bound to this plan, Lampito? Yes Spartan can do it, so can I Count me in I'm in too, so am I Me too What's the key to continuing the funding of the board? All men's control of the acropolis What? Understand that Keep power And no matter what Keep your eyes Man, this has started to stand Against humanity Where are you going? See how she holds up again There are other ways, mother Like what do you smart ass? You could control those around Lysistrata Control those around Lysistrata Oh my God I can't believe you thought of it all on your own We're not regulating those that support Lysistrata Follow her followers And when they least expect it Shoot them down Shoot them down They can hate their choice To support the little activist And they can yearn for their husband's Hot Throbbing You are sweet Gigantic, juicy, junk Shit, mom You can And look With all your crying and moaning You men make me sick If age slows your advance On a woman advance with your prick Slow death, man They're just women Who's responsible for this? Political for this Playtime is over, sweetheart Men, secure the acropolis No, sir Man, this fucking heat Makes my privates itch Dick, I like it when my privates itch Dick Oh, did you mean me, sir? Sir, takes away my patience Isn't that right, dick? Yes, sir, that's correct The point is, Lysistrata When I get impatient When I get violent People lose their ability to walk I'm gonna breathe it out Just breathe it out Good, sir, that's very good, sir You, Lysistrata And these women, all Athenian women Are traitors to your country I like to think about Patriots This little girl You better be prepared to be treated this one That little traitor Dick How am I doing? Swimmingly, they're officially appalled Security, little girl My dear council magistrate That's a person who spoke to me in such a tone No longer Yes, sir He's got you there, sir Will you shut up? Do not question my service You served where you're... Ask me something, little girl Have you ever seen the face of war? Have any of... So I'm gonna say this very clearly Your act Is killing your men Don't say that Their weapons cost money, Lysistrata Would you have your husbands fight without them? Wait, rather than that Nothing more than terrorist All of you The Spartans draw closer by the day And your little movement here Is bombing Athenian soldiers of their weapons And it is you, Lysistrata You who is killing them Enough Think of your husband If it is you seek I suggest you look to the north For it was a Spartan Who took your husband's life Not... Not your government Not me The soldiers still fighting Still dying Still suffering their own scars Conquer the country That killed your soldiers You make it a huge mistake, sweet pea I mean, without the treasury The Spartans will invade Gathans, normal We take Sparta How can you be so sure of that? Manage The cost is a woman's loss State useless love A good Athenian war The cost is a woman's loss State useless love Not lost Good Athenian war The cost is a woman's loss State useless love Love The cost is a woman's loss State useless love Love State useless love I am done playing games with you little girl Men Kill these women Secure the acropolis My dearest magistrate Kill these women One thing you know Secure the acropolis My dearest magistrate When we fight Burn you to the ground, little girl That's what it takes Money and all Burn you I've done it Good morning, you are I'm sorry I'm so sorry There is a new little struggle Very well be my best work Are you crying? Holy shit, you are You're crying She's not Nothing is a comedian She's all alone How could she fight against Cupid? How could she fight against fate? By showing them joy He just robbed them of their choice Then she'll have to give it back to them, won't she? She's a mortal She's a soldier My spirit is so filthy Extinction Get everybody in there You can tell me Is that my dress you're wearing? I don't even pay attention anymore I've not been doing well This year, your parents I checked you as in second place I got the new dress for my birthday You did? To the coast Oh, yeah? Did we get it or did you get it? No Oh, god, I'm sure you would have picked it out all of the time Oh, you did Did he actually sign his name? No You know, he signed his name? That might be pork No, I'm not selling that on his account All right What was he like? Well, he So did you name your op-op? You didn't? No Well, he No, he He repressed your tractor on time He was like He must not have been very good He was talking about it He was like, yeah He was in high school Yeah That was pretty good And you do it in years about high school Yeah Oh, yeah, two Oh, yeah, yeah I did that I was just like Well, then did you know all of it? If I had any interest in your car ever I would be like I might have engaged them all Yeah, you know I mean, you know, the tractor seems to be good I know Yeah That's how it works Yeah, I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know I know Yeah, I know Yeah, I know I'm already part of the second half Already on Wait, what? But I'm just going to reshoot it And I'm just going to do one main shot And then all of this All of the variable So, yeah, yeah Definitely I know how hard it is to do that This side you have to push your buttons And I'm letting you guys Definitely I'm going to touch the light Yeah I'm going to touch the light Oh, yeah, definitely Yeah, sure 18- pon. That's their, you still want to do that? Absolutely I'm going to start the ultra-highlight I'm going to set it in You understand now Where there are 13-percings I think that's like 13-ing out Yeah But it's also not going to come I'm going to make this come home, you know, so we have to tell them. Come on, you damn it. I'm dead. Take a wolf and jump into the water. I'm going to take a very long video. Yeah, I've been doing this thing. You don't have enough. You end up waking up and being so cold. Why? They're after the house. They're after the house. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are they? Who are they? He signed a treaty of peace with Florida. Even the dangerous dark artist, Tarnanette. Yeah. Yes. The doze them and the man they quit this is silly protest. And if they refuse us, you have to do. Your country depends on it. You understand me, man? Yes, sir. All right, then, man, advance. The national cupids love and hate courses through their veins spreading viciously to every corner of their body, infecting them, changing them. The reaction between humans' choice and God's will makes monsters include them. From Mount Olympus, the goddess of love watches them horror. Be down there holding their hands. I just thought I'd drop by to say thank you. For what? Oh, for setting the human being beautiful sight up. Isn't it just marvelous? Good. Why'd you do it, Aphrodite? God, you're pathetic, Athena. Why did you do it? Because I can't have women outstanding from sex. All the sex on the goddess of love. You're a virginity. She's a human being in a God's world. She never had a chance. Why did you know that? Well, destroy another god without daddy's permission. You mean Susie's permission? I don't care what happens to me after I do it. Over my dead body. That's what it takes. And I'll see you in hell. We don't go to hell. Or have you been spending so much time with the humans you're actually starting to think like one? I sign for the gods who think they can do whatever they want and I would hate to see that happen than I would possibly know about their own. Far too smart to need us anymore. And you're far too dumb to know it. Oh, God, are you actually buying Hera's bullshit? They're taking responsibility for themselves. They fear us. They fear your son's arrows. It's called regulation, honey. It's called greed. I brought daddy's. We send Cupid down to keep them in fear and respect of us and all they want is their freedom. They just want to live their lives. Which we have given them. We've also given them death. Death defines life. So does choice. So what? You want us to give them their immortality. With a choice by killing. He's my son Athena. I don't care. Athena. Who are open to you? They used to be the strongest of us all. They realized their potential. Their human potential and human prevented them from seeing it. As he was always done since the beginning. Something has to be done. Don't you touch my son Athena. Don't you dare. And it will be by my hands. They gave their hearts back to them. They wandered. They strayed and I gave their hearts back to them. Beautiful girl. Corrinth. Or an Athens. Courage. To take that chance. Aphrodite. And soon we will see face to face with the humans. No. And then they will know fully, children. But their peace went by. It was a decision for the humans. That we could know. I give you sex and emotion, and this is how you behave. What you are. You. The gods. You are nothing but immortal. and dark and stirring inside the strata. Well, the gods are involved now. She looked around at her wounded soldiers, their bodies twitching, their breath deep, their hearts bleak, and their potential vanishing. So what should we do? We save the cards. Are you kidding me? Look at them. Look at what the gods will do to us if we continue. Cupid's arrows are winning them by the second. And what could Liz's strata possibly do to heal them? To save them from the gods. Liz's strata! Save something! She connected with the universe. You're not going to find any answers down there. I'm not looking for answers. Then what is it you're after? Athena, I'm just looking out for you. Look out for yourself. And death? I give up. Death, you can do alone. The wisdom has come to see me is for wise reasons. Unless, of course, to kill Cupid, you realize in doing so you are not only killing a god, you are also killing fate. Are you doing and what must be done? Must it? If it must, then you are answering to the very thing we aim to kill. If not, it is simply your choice to strike Cupid down. Our time is ending. The humans deserve a chance. You know no one ever listens to me. Then when you're among the dead all the time we can blame them. It's ironic of why you're here, lesbian or Jones. Take a god laugh. If you disagree, it's just, but now there we from a day in there. Cupid falls. Chaos, my dear. Joe remains the same. Chaos laughs. You make a plan. Tina ascended from the underworld, holding the arrow that would kill fate. Where's Cupid now? Hidden. Surely policy not completely failed. Two forces now. What's real and alert to get Cupid? But surely the Magistrate wouldn't progress due to the treasury? These are hard times in the history. Listening just to the right man to save our penises. One who will stop this female plan. The newly appointed general Cinesius! Oh yeah! The patient, Aphrodite captured her son hidden from Athena's hunt. Lots of thinking to do. Did you uh, did you have fun today? A fantastic day. Fucking peachy! Did you do something or ask, asked you to stop doing something? Would you obey? Of course! You surrender your bow and arrows. If they be the only way Athena will let this thing go. You have got to be kidding me! I think that humans should be able to choose their own passions. But in order to do that, they must kill fate. And over your arrows, Cupid. Why are you doing this? I'm trying to save you. Hand them over, sweetie. No! Cupid, when Hera orders your fall and she will, we will never see each other again. Do you understand? What would I be? Cymus trying to save her job. Save me, mother! Cupid, please don't do this. And it is you! Shame it has become fucking shame! Cupid! Cupid! What am I going to stop? What am I going to do? There's nothing you can do. It's beyond our control. For Ms. Mother Goddammit, there must be something I can do. Now, don't you listen to me. We have to get to Athena before she gets to Cupid. And do what? Convince her to give Cupid another chance. She'll never agree to it. Then we get the humans behind us and it has to be family. Maybe he will see. Maybe he will understand. God's of Olympus, we're learning that the nature of fate is to control us all. Those that it overcome fate's arrows, we're now about to overcome a different kind of shaft. Yes. Thank you. God, it is so good to see you. Maybe, darling, love of my life, I'm miserable. Oh, well maybe I can help. Yes, yes, you can. Only if you can. I am in so much pain. If you don't quit the silly protest, sweetie, I'm afraid I can hurt myself. I mean, this is not healthy. Well, what can I help you with? My erection! What do you think? From what I think, you don't notice it. I just, you know, attention. Right here in a public square, someone might see us. I don't care if they got us themselves or- Don't yell at me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. My desire, baby. Your touch. Your soft skin. All I think about is you. Your soft lips. The way your hair smells. Oh, I've been washed in days. I know what you're talking about. Yes. And our tongues feel together in the beds of our mouths. Making their own kind of love. Oh, that sounds nice. And how it feels to finally press into you. Oh, my. I like moving together. Our skin. Our sweat sticking together. Oh, it's a good fit. Oh, I like a good fit. My hands in your body as our speed gradually builds. Faster, deeper. Your hands on my body gripping. Togging each other's fingers. You don't want to deny me that. Do you? You don't want to deny yourself that. Do you? Sweating for you, beautiful. Oh, you are warm. Burning up, baby. Everything I need is right here. Take me right here, right now. But I made a choice to abstain. Yeah. But, you made a choice to honor and love your husband too. Just like I love and honor you. Now kiss me. Oh, fuck it. Oh, wow, Mary. You still want me right here right now. More than anything. You rambled, you just fought. I am swelling so bad, I am going to pop. Please hurry. Yes. I appreciate it. Will you give me peace? Whatever you want, I will give it to you. Fine, whatever you want. But first, I will you. What do you smell now, honey? Do you smell sex? She is who you snuggle up to and charm when you're not snuggling and charming me. She is who you go to whenever you leave me. We run the risk of appearing weak and not susceptible to attack regardless of what time did we take. It's condition. It's suffering. Same affliction. Yes, the ailment most commonly referred to as an uprising against the Spartan war efforts seized on treasuring. More than you could imagine. No, I... Horace was led by one named Mrs. Trot. Growing pains have run its way as far as Sparta and what accord do you hear to say if we won't? It's a man's decision. Must be discussed. Potential. Letting your bones. It destroys the autobiographical blueprints of your soul. Until its beams and supports come crashing down around your heart. It's so hard that it could rip through your chest and freeze so that we can have a choice between peace, race, life. It's beyond us. Cupid! Move! When we shake, she's inside. I'm not a necessity, Cupid. Without me, there is no passion and there can be no hope. Two things a world needs to survive. You know so little about the world you rule. It's after God's war today. We have come. You're kind would be nothing more than a thought. Flash in the past. A magic trap. From seeing our potential. But today we saw the tiniest part of it. Imagine what we will see tomorrow. Distraught. You, passion, into the arrow are dead because the arrows are used on them. Suffer. What did we all do? I can begin your own. As my initial spark of life, the human being was born out of divine benevolence. But from this origin it has evolved discovering its own beginning. So you were made, Cupid, to sustain the power of that love. A love that was as powerful and real as a mother's love my gift, Cupid, was to ensure the universe of the want and knowledge of love found and love lost. What is anything without balance? It is my passion without power. So you were forged by your father and I to control the wandering sheath. The apathetic, the blasphemers. You were a last line of defense until you became our first and now. It is necessary. I give you back. It is the day we finally remember this day all of you. It is the day we built a ladder and climbed beyond clouds and the stars and beyond. Here to challenge their creators perhaps they are here to push the limits of fate with choice. One thing is certain while you are here with potential. There's another. There's another.