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The Occult Southwest
The basic set is the same for all three dramas, with only minor changes required. The Occult Southwest set requires the simplistic interior decor of a small adobe home near the Rio Grande river, New Mexico. However, complex costuming, lighting, colors and the projection of images on the backdrop, stage and three platforms are required. This drama elaborates on the content of the book Intuitive Meetings (TC Pubs, 2005), and the relationship of the central character, Joanna Matthews, with her Spiritual Guide, Brunnen von Christ (Rudolf Steiner), is fully revealed. The themes of the American occult southwest that will be carried throughout the entire trilogy are introduced. Spiritual Beings appear and express themselves in the dialogue and verse. Brunnen is revealed as a threefold being: bodily, as he appeared in his lifetime; in soul, in his confrontation with Lucifer and Ahriman; in spirit, as Luminous Hummingbird, the ruby-throated hummingbird who has undertaken a specific spiritual work that can only be accomplished in America. There are 26 stanzas of verse, with nine lines or three tercets each, in the style of Dante's Divine Comedy. The cast size is 16.
The Descent
Joanna is led by Brunnen through the nine sub-earthly realms of the Underworld, or Inferno. They enter the underworld from the Malpais - "bad lands" or lava grounds - located in New Mexico near the Jornada del Muerto desert and the Trinity site. In the descent through the nine spheres they encounter dark spirits and fallen human beings. At the First Circle the two encounter Three Dark Angels: Religion, Science and Art. Two Demons are encountered at the Second Circle; a Representative of a fallen arche at the Third Circle; Three Dark Cult Leaders at the Fourth Circle; an Ahrimanic Being at the Fifth Circle; a Nurse at the Sixth Circle. It is at the Fifth and Sixth Circles that Brunnen reveals that knowledge for the technology of the future must be wrested from the dark inhabitants: the spinning of excess fire and passion into certain kinds of UFOs, the secrets of cold fusion from excess cold, and the fusion of fire and ice. An Aztec Death Dancer is encountered at the Seventh Circle, a Nuclear Scientist at the Eighth Circle, and The Three Faces of Evil - Lucifer, Ahriman and an image of the Asuras - at the Ninth Circle. Finally, in Earth's Inner Core, they meet The Mother, who speaks in three stanzas of verse. The cast size is 25, however, if actors perform multiple roles, the cast size is 16. The drama includes 21 stanzas of verse.
The Resurrection
From deep winter through Eastertide, 2006, The Ascent occurs. Brunnen and Joanna together experience the "Borderlands" and - with the assistance of Angels - the spheres of Moon, Mercury and Venus, the sphere of the Sun in the lengthy "Sun Temple" scene, and the spheres of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Two Beings in Soul appear in the Sun Temple scene, and together with Brunnen and Joanna, reveal essential components of the deepest mystery of the trilogy, the work on the transformation of the sentient soul. Also, the Representative of Michael appears in the Sun Temple scene. In the penultimate scene, Joanna and her friend, Danny (from The Occult Southwest), have a difficult confrontation with one another that threatens their mutual work on a book they are co-authoring. The Representative of Man then appears and asks Danny to accompany Him to his mother's people, the Hopi. In the final scene Joanna has a vision of the Trinity, leading her back to Dante's Paradiso, Canto 33, from which she reads. The cast size is 21, but if actors perform multiple roles, the cast size is 16. The drama includes a Eurythmy performance and 20 stanzas of verse.
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