ISAAC – A weary, middle-aged researcher.
THE VOICE – An unseen cosmic presence. Shifting, ancient, yet intimate.
THE STAR – A silent, humanoid figure who never moves.
ECHO – Isaac's own voice, distorted and inhuman.
---
SETTING
A small underground research chamber. Minimalist. Metal walls. Flickering overhead light.
At center stage is a sealed viewing window overlooking a bottomless shaft—the titular "well."
Far down in the blackness is a faint glimmering light—The Star.
A desk cluttered with papers, ancient maps, and a blinking recording device.
The feeling is claustrophobic, damp, and very still.
---
ACT I
[The stage is dim. ISAAC sits alone at the desk, staring into the well. He speaks aloud into the recorder.]
ISAAC
Day… I don't know.
The calendar ended weeks ago. The others are gone. No one answers the uplink.
But the light… the light is still there.
(He gestures to the well behind him.)
It hasn't flickered once. Not in sixty-three days.
No star behaves like that.
No star waits.
(He stands, approaches the glass slowly.)
I thought it was beautiful, at first.
A miracle buried under rock and silence.
But now… I think it's watching me.
---
ACT II
[A low hum. The light in the well pulses. The VOICE speaks for the first time, though no mouth is seen.]
VOICE (offstage, soft, eternal)
You are still looking.
ISAAC (sharply)
What are you?
VOICE
A question.
A wound in the shape of a star.
And you are the answer.
ISAAC
I came here to study a phenomenon.
Not… this.
VOICE
But you knew.
Even when you descended.
You knew it was not science waiting for you.
You knew it was despair.
---
ISAAC
Then why did I come?
VOICE
Because despair is honest.
Because no god ever spoke back.
Because your prayers tasted of loneliness, and I heard them echo.
---
ACT III
[Enter THE STAR: A tall, pale, featureless figure. It stands at the edge of the glass, unmoving. It glows softly but gives no warmth.]
ISAAC (backs away, stunned)
That… that wasn't there before.
VOICE
It has always been there.
ISAAC
What is it?
VOICE
It is you, without illusions.
ISAAC
I'm not like that.
VOICE
No.
You are still clothed in hope.
But hope is a parasite.
ISAAC
That's not true!
VOICE
Then why does it rot when left alone?
---
ISAAC (angrily)
Why me?
VOICE
You descended into the earth searching for light.
But you brought the darkness with you.
ISAAC (breathless)
I wanted meaning.
VOICE
You wanted confirmation.
That something watched.
That someone would forgive.
But there is no forgiveness here.
Only witnessing.
---
ACT IV
[A sound begins to echo—ISAAC'S own voice, distorted: ECHO.]
ECHO (offstage, garbled)
Isaac. Isaac. You left them.
You left them above. You left her.
ISAAC (clutching his head)
No. No, that's not—
ECHO
You ran from the grief.
You ran from the tombstone.
You ran down, down, down—
ISAAC (screaming)
I came here to escape it!
VOICE
You came to find a grief older than yours.
You came to kneel before something so vast it could erase you.
But it does not erase.
ECHO (gently)
It only remembers.
---
[The STAR begins to pulse in sync with Isaac's breathing. He staggers, collapses.]
ISAAC
I thought… I thought if I found something greater…
It would make the loss bearable.
That meaning would make her death… smaller.
VOICE
Meaning is a mirror.
It shows only what you bring to it.
ISAAC (whispers)
Then there is no purpose?
VOICE
There is only awareness.
That you are seen.
That your despair is witnessed.
---
ACT V
[ISAAC stands slowly, trembling. He faces the STAR. It glows brighter now.]
ISAAC
What do you want from me?
VOICE
Nothing.
You came seeking a god.
But you found something worse.
ISAAC (almost pleading)
What's worse than no god?
VOICE
A god who only listens.
Who does not act.
Who does not judge.
Who does not save.
Only remembers.
---
ISAAC (quietly)
So you… remember me?
VOICE
Yes.
Every moment.
Every tear.
Every time you wanted to end it.
Every prayer you never said out loud.
I was there.
ISAAC
Why didn't you stop me?
VOICE
Because that is not despair's mercy.
Despair does not end.
It only accumulates.
---
ACT VI
[ISAAC walks toward the viewing glass. The STAR is brighter than ever. The light bathes the chamber.]
ISAAC
Then let me go.
VOICE
Where would you go?
There is only this chamber.
Only this witness.
Only this stillness.
ISAAC (resolute)
Then let me join it.
If this thing is me without illusions…
Then I'm ready.
---
[The glass slides open. A sudden gust of ancient air. The STAR extends a hand—not in welcome, but in reflection. ISAAC reaches for it.]
VOICE
You were always here, Isaac.
You have only now arrived.
[ISAAC steps into the well. The STAR touches his forehead.]
---
FINAL BEAT
[The lights dim. The STAR disappears. The well closes. Only the empty chamber remains.]
VOICE (softly, as if fading into the audience)
There is no salvation here.
Only the comfort of being known.
Even in your most silent sorrow.
You are not alone.
You are simply… seen.
---
BLACKOUT.
[END.]