Ride The Cyclone

## Plotline

### Pre-Show

In *Ride The Cyclone,* The Southlands' Chamber Choir performs at a fairground, where their futures are read by The Watcher, who learns of their destiny to die on The Cyclone rollercoaster that day. Unable to do anything to stop this, The Watcher, appearing as the player 'Grian', advises they ride the rollercoaster. Inevitably, the front axle of the rollercoaster breaks, sending the choir members to their death and decapitating one.

### During Show

The Watcher, feeling bad for the unfortunate demise the members, decides to give them another chance at life, but can only bring one back. So, in a purgatory-like state, the choir members "compete" to see who gets to go home. Through this, we learn about each members' life, the good and bad.

### Post-Show

We are not told who stays dead and who gets to go back. There is no prologue.

## Characters

### The Watcher

Taking place of *Karnak* from the original play; The Watcher, played by Grian (Alter), is the only Watcher at this point in the story. He is highly empathetic towards the players and, to a certain extent, still views himself as one of them. He has small, silly dialogues between himself and the players (most notably Mumbo) and set up the games, seemingly, out of no malice.

### Mumbo

Taking place of *Ocean O'Connell-Rosenberg* is Mumbo, played by Mumbo (Alter). He shows multiple times throughout the show to have hard stances and truly believe that he should go back because he's the best person out of them all. He's generally quite a goody-two shoes and fails to see any other perspectives but his own.

### Jimmy

Taking place of *Constance Blackwood;* Jimmy, played by Kimmy (Alter), is very emotional about the whole ordeal. Jimmy takes a support role for most of the show until his monologue and song at the very end where he reflects on not wanting to go back because he's happy with the life he lived.

### Doc

Taking place of *Mischa Bachinski;* Doc, played by Doc (Alter), attempts to play himself up as a tough guy, claiming his reason for going back is simply "he's awesome" but later reveals himself as being overwhelmed with the need to go back to see his most revered platonic soulmate Tango.

### Scott

Taking place of *Noel Gruber;* Scott, played by Scott (Alter), behaves as a quite stereotypically gay man. He gives us very little about his life, but we get glimpses of it, just enough to know that he doesn't share his life with them because he really doesn't see much of a reason to go back to it simply because he found it just so depressing. Instead, he lives in daydreams of being a prince/prostitute.

### Martyn

Finally, taking place of *Jane Doe* is Martyn, played by Martyn (Alter). Martyn's character is the least similar to the original *Jane Doe* character. Martyn remembers his past, but still feels he lacks any sense of self because without Rendog there to be his 'King' and tell him what to do and who to be, he doesn't know. Nearly Martyn's whole soul is overrun with grief and loss and confusion and frustration as the inability to move on from Ren's Red Winter.

## Songs

### Grian's Dream of Life

Lyrics:

> MARTYN
>
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> *I know this dream of life is never ending*
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> *It goes around and round and round again*
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> *You know the sun is rising while descending*
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>
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> *It goes on and on and never ends*
>
>

Most of these lines relate back to the idea that no many how many times one might die in the life series, they'll never actually be gone because they'll be brought back for the next one. Martyn is the only player who understands what The Watchers are and what they're doing, but also, these lines sung by him could also allude to a false hope that Ren will come back to him and he won't have to move on.

### Welcome...

> The Watcher (Spoken)
>
>
> *Hello, I am The Watcher. I was designed to predict the exact time and place of someone's death- so you already know you're in for a good time, and welcome to the Ride The Cyclone album, where through my years of prognostication, I've realised that the only thing that makes less money than theatre, is releasing an album on a streaming service.*
>
>
> *Yes, this is the talking part of the album that you will remove from the playlist in future rotations- or perhaps you are listening to this on a vinyl record and have to go through the painstaking process of skipping this track manually, all because of your absurd insistence that sound technology has not progressed since the year 1877. Eventually, you will resign yourself to sitting through this talking part multiple times, weeping openly in the foetal position, one step closer to the realisation that free will is just a fridge magnet, and we live briefly in a cold unfeeling deterministic universe in an abandoned warehouse called time…*
>
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> *Ah! Musicals!*
>
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> *And now, without further ado: ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Southlandish Chamber Choir, from everyone’s favourite death games.*
>
>

The Watcher is very straight-forward, and we get that right away here. We learn right away The Watcher's main function as of this show: To predict the exact time and place of someone's death. He may have other powers, but that's why he was decided on to become a Watcher.

The Watcher also expresses the existentialism that he's come to know with knowing how his friends will die with no ability to do anything to stop it.