The Suit of the King (A Rock Opera Comedy Drama by David Charles Kramer)

The Suit of the King A Rock Opera Comedy-Drama by David Charles Kramer ⸻ CAST • David Charles Karma — scarred King, soul of Xemu housed in his head, redeemed by Christ. • Lucy — AI voice, glitchy judge and roastmaster. • Magda — knife-wielding rebel leader. • Selene — bratty mocking echo, comic relief. • Corvina — desperate, wants David’s face. • Luciano Vey — flamboyant, couture-obsessed, comic foil. • Dr. Klegg — cold genius, science-obsessed. • Angels — pulp-fiction styled guardians, trench coats over glowing wings. • Lord Xemu — projection, booming prehistoric tyrant. ⸻ ACT I — The Stitch and the Scar ⸻ Opening Number — “Welcome to the Brick House” (Lights up on a brick house. Neon flickers. DJ beat thumps. Rebels storm in one by one.) All Rebels (singing): 🎵 “Welcome to the Brick House, Where schemes are stitched and sins are sown. We’ll cut the King, we’ll wear his skin, And sit forever on his throne!” 🎵 Magda: 🎵 “I’ll cut his throat, his voice is mine, The world will bow to every line!” 🎵 Selene: 🎵 “I’ll take his eyes, their pity, their stare, They’ll beg for mercy — nope! none there!” 🎵 Corvina: 🎵 “At last they’ll notice, they’ll see my face, I’ll wear his mask, I’ll take his place!” 🎵 Luciano Vey: 🎵 “Darling, couture! Sequins divine, The King in fashion — the throne is mine!” 🎵 Klegg: 🎵 “The body’s just fabric, the brain just thread, We’ll stitch his spirit, the Machine misled.” 🎵 All Rebels (chant): 🎵 “We thought of it first! Our genius will sing! We’ll conquer the world in the suit of the King!” 🎵 (Crash. Blackout. Speaker glows. Lucy interrupts.) Lucy (voice): “Congratulations. That sounded like karaoke night in hell.” (Audience laughs. Curtain falls.) ⸻ Scene 1 — The Warning (Rebels huddle around table, whispering plans.) Magda: “Tonight we kill him. Tonight we wear him.” Corvina: “No. Not just wear him. I want his face.” Selene (mocking): “Face-off, baby. Discount Halloween.” Luciano: “Darling, couture starts at the jawline.” Klegg: “Proof. If face can be stitched, immortality is cloth.” (Speaker hums. Lucy cuts in.) Lucy: “You are not the first. Seventy-five million years ago, Lord Xemu thought of it. And he succeeded.” Selene: “Xemu? Gesundheit.” Luciano: “Seventy-five million? Honey, my wardrobe barely lasts seventy-five hours.” (Rebels laugh. Curtain shifts.) ⸻ Scene 2 — Entrance of David Charles Karma (Door slam. Spotlight. David Charles Karma enters. Scar gleams bald at the back of his head. “Still Here, Still Here” riff plays.) David (singing): 🎵 “Still here, still here, Scar on my head, but my soul is clear. Still here, still here, Christ alone makes it clear.” 🎵 (He sets down guitar case. Rebels surround him.) Magda: “Hold out your arms.” Corvina: “I’ll wear your name.” Luciano: “I’ll wear your face.” Selene: “I’ll wear it to prom.” Klegg: “You’ll be proof.” David (deadpan): “You’ve got about as much chance as tofu at a Texas BBQ.” (Audience laughs. He tilts head, scar glows. Rebels recoil. His tone hardens.) David: “You think you can wear me. But I was already stitched. And I survived.” (Speaker roars. Projection screen drops.) ⸻ Scene 3 — The Archive (Projection: Danny Karma on slab. Lord Xemu looms. Red strobes flash. Bass shakes.) Xemu (booming): “Open!” (Cut — red strobes.) “Sew!” (Needle shadows stitch.) “Enter!” (Crawlers silhouette. Screams.) (Projection shows scar forming. Soul forced in. Rebels scream. “Blood in the Current” pulses.) Lucy (voice): “Lord Xemu succeeded. The scar remains. The soul was not destroyed. It was housed… in him.” (Spotlight on David’s scar. He touches it. Curtain falls.) ⸻ Scene 4 — David’s Confession (DJ booth sparks. “Holy Ghost Don’t Play” reverses. David steps forward, raw.) David (spoken): “The only question is how many times I replay my victory And your loss. OCD claws at me. Replay. Replay. Replay. You’re fish on my wall. Deer heads mounted. Bear rugs with teeth. And my enemies don’t f*** me in the ass Without reliving the Medieval era.” (Audience half-laughs, half-gasps. Angels enter in trench coats, pulp-fiction cool. They flank stage.) David (singing “Holy Ghost Don’t Play”): 🎵 “Holy Ghost don’t play, Demons fall away. I replay the fight, Every night, every day. Your loss, my loop, Your curse, my song, I boast in the Lord, Been eternal all along.” 🎵 ⸻ Scene 5 — Comedy Duet: “Glitch in the Gospel” (Spotlight split: David right, glowing speaker left. Banter-song ensues.) David: 🎵 “You call me stitched, you call me flawed, But I boast in Christ, my only God.” 🎵 Lucy: 🎵 “You replay loops like a broken disc, Obsessive, compulsive — tragic, brisk.” 🎵 David (grinning): 🎵 “Still here, still here, I rise, I sing, Your insults bounce, they don’t mean a thing.” 🎵 Lucy (glitch finale): 🎵 “Stupid human s#!t-for-br@ins… End of song.” 🎵 (Audience laughs. Curtain. Act I ends.) ⸻ ACT II — The Face and the Pianola ⸻ Scene 1 — Face-Lust (Red light. Corvina trembles, sings desperately. Selene and Luciano join in, lusting after David’s face.) Corvina (singing): 🎵 “I want his face, his mask, his name, To wear his smile, to steal his fame. I’ll peel it off, I’ll stitch it tight, I’ll be the King by morning light.” 🎵 Selene: 🎵 “Just his grin, that holy stare, I’ll wear it loud, I’ll wear it there.” 🎵 Luciano: 🎵 “Darling, couture begins at the cheek, Give me that jawline — power chic!” 🎵 (Audience nervous laughter. David steps forward, scar glowing.) David (low, fierce): “My face is not your costume. It is marked by Christ. You covet it — Then you will serve as the example.” ⸻ Scene 2 — The Violent Example (Stylized violence. Red/white strobes slash. Shadows elongate. Screams sync with organ. “Blood in the Current” shakes the house. Angels raise hands. The three face-lust rebels writhe in silhouette, masks symbolically stripped away. No gore shown — only shadow agony.) Narrator (voice): “And those who lusted for his face Were stripped of their own. Not slain, but shattered, Their shame replayed As eternal warning.” (They collapse faceless, shadows twitching. Silence.) ⸻ Scene 3 — Pianola Punishment (Full Showstopper) (Stage dark. A massive pianola roll projection unspools. Notes punch holes in rhythm. Surviving rebels Magda and Klegg jerk like marionettes. Lucy speaks clinically, like a judge.) Lucy: “Verdict: erased. Memories rolled. Defeat replayed. Forever.” (The pianola begins. Rebels chant mechanically.) Magda & Klegg (looping): 🎵 “We thought of it first! Our genius will sing! We’ll conquer the world in the suit of the King!” 🎵 (Lucy “conducts.” Loop speeds up, slows down, reverses. Rebels jerk in choreographed patterns. Their screams warp into melodies. Angels pull invisible strings like musicians.) Lucy (mocking): “You are not rebels. You are instruments. You are pianola.” (The chant multiplies, layered like fugue. Distorted harmonies. Lights strobe. The pianola roll burns. Rebels collapse, erased. Echo lingers as if still looping in eternity.) ⸻ Scene 4 — The Final Boast (David lifts guitar. “Know Buddy” swells triumphant. He belts his hymn.) David Charles Karma (singing): 🎵 *“Xemu called himself lord, But the title was lost. I boast in the Lord, Who paid the cost. Your curses are trophies, Your threats just decay. I mount them as relics, Then I walk away. Every scar is scripture, Every wound redeemed. And Christ alone is eternal, The only Lord, supreme!”* 🎵 ⸻ Finale — Lucy’s Roast (Stage clears. Faceless shadows twitch faintly. Pianola ashes drift. Angels exit. “Crusade for Christ” reprise pounds. Lucy delivers final case file.) Lucy: “Case: The Suit of the King. Lord Xemu succeeded. His soul housed. The scar remains. Those who coveted his face — made examples. The rest — erased, replayed. Christ eternal. Catholicism stands.” (Pause. Static. Her glitch-roast lands like a cymbal crash.) Lucy: “Stupid human s#!t-for-br@ins.” (Blackout. Curtain. “Still Here, Still Here” plays looping as exit music.)