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The
Play of Mary A co-creative
play based on
Mary by Hector Sabelli
Act II Playing with my child. |
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Presentation
to the temple Two Roman guards, with their
spears, watch the Jews in the courtyard in front of the Temple. Some men pray. Women talk. The children play hopscotch.
Miriam and Joseph enter, she carrying the Child in her arms, and he with a pack of clothing.] MIRIAM: What a crowd!
Look at
the new temple! We live in caves down in Galilee and this is..a Greek city.* JOSEPH: Herod constructed all these
wonderful palaces, these walls... Let us sit on this ledge, and we shall see better. [Trumpet blast] MIRIAM: What is happening? JOSEPH: [standing on tiptoes] I see a great ceremonial procession of citizens and pilgrims up the slopes of Mount Zion,
shouting joy and blasting trumpets, the singers in front, the musicians behind, in between the girls beating the
tambourines.
Present
view of ancient Jerusalem.
Vista
actual de la antigua Jerusalén. BOY 1: [a big and quarrelsome bully, stands in the middle of the other children and shouts playfully]
I am God.
I am who I am. BOY 2: It is dark. BOY 1: Let there be light! What
a good light.. I will separate the waters from the land. Let the earth bring grass! BOY 2: And oranges. BOY 1:
No.
This is
my part. I must say what comes next. BOY 2: Oh just get to Eden, will
you. BOY 3: I am Adam [lies down]. GIRL 1: I am Eve! [she lies down next to Adam.
Some adults
turn around and pay attention to the children playing, including Miriam and an older lady who will turn out to
be Anna]. GIRL 2:
I want
to be Eve. I did not get to be Eve last time! GIRL 1:
You can
be the snake. BOY 1: Adam and Eve, I create you
in my own image [he
"models" Adam and Eve with his hands, and blows into their nostrils. "Adam" and "Eve"
rise] BOY 2: You can eat all the fruits
of paradise, but beware of the tree of knowledge. GIRL 2: Look at this beautiful apple.
It looks
better than any other [offering
a fantasy apple to Eve, who takes it, bites it, and gives it to Adam]. GIRL 1:
It tastes
great! Here, have some, Adam. BOY 2: [he eats it, then looks at Eve and sings] "You are naked, you are naked." CHORUS OF GIRLS AND BOYS: [all sing song] "You are naked, you are naked", [laughing, and pointing at each other]. BOY 1: Stop laughing.
You are
in big trouble. Out you go. No more garden of Eden for you. BOY 2: [a real intellectual] This is the part that I never understand. How can a good God kicked us out of paradise for
eating an apple? [The
other children stop playing, looking puzzled.] BOY 1: Oh, I know. Like my dad,
he told me we could eat any fruit in his orchard, but none from our neighbor's garden. My cousin gave me to taste some of the neighbor's apples, and they were delicious, but my
dad found out and he was really mad, and did not let us play even in our own garden for a whole week! ANNA: [an 84 year old lady who has been listening] I will explain it to you my children. Come here. [The children come to sit around her] You know that our people think learning is best. It is true, knowledge makes men, and women, more like God*. God, Who knows it all, planted the tree of knowledge because he wanted Adam and Eve to eat its fruit. With knowledge, men learned to plant trees and fruits, to
raise sheep and goats, to work. We became richer, but it was easier before, when we did not know, when we just
gathered plants, and hunted animals. Now that men work, they earn their bread with the sweat of their brow. And as men, and women,
learned more, their heads grew bigger, and so now the babies have such big heads that it hurts for a mother to
deliver her child. GIRL 1: It is true.
My baby
brother has an enormous head. ANNA: So you see, as in every cloud
there is a silver lining, every good thing has also a dark side. Just like in the story of Cain and Abel. BOYS AND GIRLS: I know it! I know it! BOY 3:
I am Abel,
and I bring in my goats from the desert. [A number of children get in all fours and follow Abel]. I will give one goat to God. BOY 2:
I am Cain,
and I farm the land, and protect my property with fences. I build. I am progress. I work. My ethic is to work. I will not share with my lazy brother. [Cain comes to Abel from behind and knifes him]. BOY 1: [in a God-like demanding tone] Cain, where is your brother Abel? BOY 2: [first surprised into fear] I do not know. [Recovers, and adds, between defiant and hypocritical] Am I my brother's keeper? ANNA: So you see, progress is good,
but it also has its dark side, when the richer people take the land away from the poor. ANTONIO:
Even today
I saw in Israel the poor bedouin children bringing in their goats, and the rich farmers fencing in their land. ANNA: Yes, creation is not complete, there is as yet much to do. God did not end it, just rested
on the seventh day, so we all learn to rest... GIRL 1: and to play... ANNA: ...and to play, that is also
necessary. But the world needs God to start working again... MALE CHORUS: The seventh day God rested,
and thus, the world suffers. GIRL: Perhaps we should make a
lot of noise so God wakes up. [all the children start jumping around and shouting] ANNA: [quieting them down with a gesture] Perhaps we should work along with God... MIRIAM: [talking to herself] What a wise woman this old lady is! She knows how to teach the children. O my God! How will I teach Joshua? If only I had Anna's wisdom! [approaches Anna] Good Morning Grandma Anna. I was listening to your explanations. I wish I would be as wise
as you are, and teach my son a good way of understanding our stories. Look at him. I called Him Joshua because
it was Joshua, the son of Nun, who lead the people into the promised land of Canaan. ANNA:
What a
beautiful child. Thank you God for giving us such strong sons, because they will redeem Jerusalem from the Romans.
MALE CHORUS: The Romans hold empire over
our whole world! Woe the wrath of God over our land! Pompey, the Roman general who they call the Great, seized Jerusalem, slaughtered our sons,
raped our daughters, and stepped inside the Holy of Hollies. SIMEON: [an old man who was also listening] These children, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel. MIRIAM: And so the old widow, Anna,
and the elderly Simeon, make me think again that my son will be the Messiah. LYDIA: Dad, what is a Messiah? ANTONIO: For the Jews, a Messiah is
a leader who guides his people to victory. Joshua who led the Jews into Canaan was the first Messiah. King David
was another Messiah. People expected a new Messiah to come from the family of David. The Greek word for Messiah
is Christ, which means anointed with holy oil.
The father MALE CHORUS:
Some men
thought Joshua was Joseph's son, and other did not, but at the temple, Joseph saluted Joshua as his own son.
What a
wonderful feast! The adoption of a child is always a sacrament. We dream a new sacrament to consecrate the spiritual fathering and mothering of the adopted
child! JOSEPH: [sings with a deep voice,
in the style of Paul Robeson]
Song of
Joseph Miriam gives me this child, I welcome the Son of God. Miracle, hope, smile. Mary gave me this new love. ANTONIO: [aside] It is always a miracle to become a father. For me, my two children are children of God... MIRIAM: [hugging Joseph] You are such a loving father... Joshua will love you so much... ANTONIO:
Joshua
loved his father. Joshua loved Joseph so much that he called God "Daddy". LYDIA: But we do not call God "Daddy",
do we?
Isn't
it ..bad? God is the Lord, isn't He? ANTONIO: Joshua did not want to call
God the Lord because kings and lords often exploit and oppress the weak and poor. So Joshua called God Abba. Abba
means daddy. Much later, when Christianity became the religion of kingdoms and empires, God was again
called the Lord. BOY 2: [to Anna] Tell us the story of Abraham and Isaac. ANNA: Abraham was a great man,
but when he became old, his mind wandered, and he began hearing voices. He thought that God wanted him to kill his son, but fortunately he realized in time that
God can never want to sacrifice children, our sons, his sons. Wars and kings kill children.
The temple
stands in Mount Moriah, where God told Abraham not to sacrifice his son.
The Flight [A woman and a man enter this
grouping, rushing, out of breath] FEMALE: There is a rumor that a Messiah
has been born. King Herod has ordered all the newborn children to be killed! You must flee! MALE:
The Romans
are always afraid that the news of a Messiah will rekindle the revolution. King Herod, their puppet king, wants
to put an end to these messianic hopes, because hope itself is dangerous to him. You must flee, at once! JOSEPH: Thank you for your warning!
[He
holds the man at arm's length, and then hugs him]. MIRIAM: Where to go? JOSEPH: [resolutely] To Egypt. Let's go. A CHORUS WOMAN: To Egypt?
The land
of our enemies? They are Black... JOSEPH: Our enemy is Herod, not people
- no matter what color their skin may be. MIRIAM: [saying goodbye to the women
who cluster about her, and holding her newborn child. She talks inspirationally, and without fear, as she embraces
one and the other] Good bye friends, take care. We are poor, but we are fearless. It is Herod who fears us. LYDIA:
Did they
really kill the children? ERNEST:
It happens
in our times too with gas chambers, and with bombs. LYDIA: That is not true!
It couldn't
be, daddy tell him so. ANTONIO:
Don't
be afraid, Lydia. Come here [Lydia snuggles close] I'm am afraid it is true as Ernest tells it, but we must not let anything like this happen,
ever again. Herod did order his soldiers to kill all the Jewish children, but the Holy family escaped
to Egypt, the land of their ancient enemies, and years later they came back safe and sound.
As they
walked to Egypt, and as they came back, Mary and Joseph asked themselves:
Learning
dreams [Mary and Joseph walk across
the stage, each immersed in her/his own thoughts] JOSEPH: [to the audience, beginning
in a comically exasperated tone] Just imagine, she comes to me and says that her son will be the Messiah.. It is maddening.
They told me this Miriam is a unique girl.. but this is too much. [turning serious] It is an extraordinary thing, this child Miriam has given me, that God has given me.
What a
wonderful thing, to have a child, it is a miracle. It's not something I
did. Every father I talked to told me the same thing, it's just a great gift from God that your wife gives you.
Miriam
says that He is the Messiah, but, how could I
be the father of God? What could I teach Him? What could I do? So poor we are that we live in this cave. We are so poor because every time we make any money,
the Romans come and take it away. When it was not the Romans, it was Herod. All governments are like this. So, if He is the Messiah, He should make us free. Raise a Jewish army and make us independent from the Romans, but... is that what I want to
teach Him, to be a fighter, a revolutionary? I'm not so sure... [in a political tone] When our heroes created a commune in the desert, I believed that finally the workers were
constructing a world where social justice rather than profit governed life. They failed, and now many of our own people celebrate their failure as a triumph of a superior
civilization. I see its end not as a triumph, but as a calamity, as the destruction of a dream for a New
Jerusalem. It was a noble dream! Like many noble dreams, it brought pain and injustice, but shallow is the life of those who
never dream! [with
great sorrow]
Oh perhaps we should die, die once, so we need not have to die a thousand times, with each building torn down,
each dream torn down, each friend that dies. Revolutions often fail... [returning to the political stance] ..the liberators take over the government, and become just like the czars they replace... Liberators
tend to become dictators themselves.. Freedom is not enough, it is necessary to belong to the human family, to become the Son of
Man, to share communion with all. To re-link with strangers and with enemies, this is what re-ligion is. This is what I will
teach Him, no more Holy wars. [in a philosophical tone] Maybe I have nothing to teach Him... except to know that we know nothing, and that to pretend
that we do is dangerous. So each of us has to think for himself, and be respectful of others.
MIRIAM: I feel in my shoulders the
enormous pain of all the innocent children who died. If this child will be the Messiah, what a task lies ahead
of Him! What shall I teach Him to be?! What shall I teach Him to do! JOSEPH: Are you praying? MIRIAM: No, you know that I seldom
pray. I find repititions irksome. JOSEPH: [doubting and concerned about Mary's soundness] Did God speak to you? MIRIAM: No, not really. I tried to
imagine what if I were God. [pause] The angel came back. JOSEPH: Another dream? MIRIAM: [ignoring the question, she continues her narration] I asked him if Joshua will have some special power. [the angel of the annunciation appears again] RAPHAEL:
He will
have the same power that all human beings have. He will truly be your son, no powers, no knowledge, other than the one you are going to teach
Him.
MIRIAM: [addressing the heavens] God, this is not reasonable for! [to Raphael] At least my Messiah should bring back the innocent children that Herod ordered killed. RAPHAEL:
No, He
does not come to change the universe. The world will stay as it is. The Messiah will teach people how to live in it, such as it is. What will you teach your
child, so that He becomes the Messiah? MIRIAM:
[apart] It seems that I will have
to teach God what needs to be done. [to Raphael] At one point, will He know what His mission is ? RAPHAEL:
Yes, He
will know because you will tell Him. You will help Him. You have to tell Him. In that manner, you will help Him. If you don't believe in Him, who will? MIRIAM:
I have
my doubts... Before I have faith in Him, I have to have faith in myself. RAPHAEL:
Truly,
you must have faith in yourself to become the Mother of God. You owe it to the world, you owe it to your Child. MIRIAM:
I guess
I owe it to myself. Not everyone has the opportunity to co-create with God. RAPHAEL:
Everybody
has an opportunity of co-creating with God. Some accept it, and some don't. I am glad you do. I am going back to
heaven now...[exits] MIRIAM: [to Joseph] So, you see, I have to teach Him will make Him the Messiah, or there will be no Messiah. JOSEPH: I will begin by teaching
Him to love His neighbor. [At this point, they arrive at the other end of the stage. Joseph exits, and Miriam sits
down]
The neighbor [a street in Nazareth] MIRIAM: [sitting in the front of her house] He may be a God, but to me he looks very much like a two year old, and he has dirtied himself
again!! How does one teach a God?! How does one potty-train the Messiah? He keeps me so busy that I did not have time even to
get milk. [Eli
walks in, greeting Miriam with her head, and gives Miriam milk]. Thank you Eli. I always can count on you. ELI: [teasingly, ironically but friendly] You know, we Samaritans are good people... MIRIAM: [laughing] I know... our neighbors have been talking against the Samaritans again?
They are
so .. small... ELI: Most Jews hate us as their
worst enemies. All our neighbors, except you, Miriam, hate us more than they hate the Palestinians. MIRIAM: It feel so badly when my friends talk against Samaritans
and Palestinians. We have lived together in this land since the time of Moses, when we came and took a part of
what was solely theirs, and yet we have not learned to live in peace. MIRIAM & ELI: [turning to face audience full front, they say in unison] How many more centuries will it be until Jew and Palestinian learn to live together in peace?
[As Eli exits and Miriam goes
to sit among the children, simultaneously] MIRIAM: Shalom. ELI: Salaam.
Learning MIRIAM: [as she walks, to herself] We all are children of God. This is the first thing I will teach Joshua. [Her determination surprises
her, and her tone changes to one of doubt] But what else should I teach Him? Is he ... God? How can I raise my child if indeed He is God? How am I to be the mother of God? MALE CHORUS: The Messiah will eat in the
kitchen, and walk serene He will drink goat's milk in the hills. He will rest lives from the
waves. He will play like a merry
brother. He will eat in the kitchen
of His people. He will read the ancient books. He will console with words
and deeds. He will open his heart, and carry his forehead high.
He will walk serene, face
smiling, love as his shield and blazon, His mind in the future, armed with gentleness and
example. This is how you will teach
Him to be. FEMALE CHORUS: [one half of the chorus reads each part] - Miriam behaves like a typical
Jewish mother, always expecting the best from her son. -She puts up with a lot. -This Joshua boy sits for
hours doing nothing but contemplating the universe. His behavior is very strange. -She encourages him to think
by himself. What is the value in all that? -He just rediscovers what
the rabbi can teach you. -[ironically] He is just reinventing the wheel. MIRIAM:
To reinvent
the wheel is not simple, and has a great educational value. It makes you think by yourself. FEMALE CHORUS: Think by yourself?!
Miriam,
Miriam, remember our traditions.. ...our faith ...our elders.. MIRIAM: [ignoring them, talking to
herself] He is so bright... God has done his part. Now it is my turn. I have to encourage him. I have
to inspire him to nobility. I have to teach him. [Suddenly taken aback by her own words] But how? [reflects] Ah! I will tell him stories
...
CHILDREN CHORUS:
Miriam,
Miriam, tell us a story, tell us a story! Joshua says you tell them best...[they sit around Miriam at one end of the stage] MIRIAM:
One upon
a time there was a learned princess, a daughter of a great king, Akhenaton*, the ugliest man, and of queen Nefertiti,
the most beautiful woman. Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and
daughter adoring the One God. Akenaton, Nefertiti, y su hija, adorando al Dios que es uno. FEMALE CHORUS: -Naked they walked, the ugly
king and the beautiful queen; they showed their beauty and their ugliness to live in truth.
-This truth Akhenaton discovered:
there is only one God. -This truth he discovered: we all, lords and slaves, Egyptians and foreigners, are brothers
and sisters. -Fraternity and truth challenged
the power of the priests of the God Ammon. -When Akhenaton died, the
priests destroyed all his teachings. MIRIAM: So the princess fell sad
and alone*. One afternoon, walking along the river, she found a small boat with a child. His parents had put him
there to save him. A bad Pharaoh had ordered his soldiers to kill all the Jewish children. BOY 2: Like king Herod.. MIRIAM: The princess adopted as her
own, this child this child of another race, because she no longer cared for the men of her own, the enemies of
her father. She called him Moses, [Children react to familiarity of name], that was to say son, and she taught him all the new ideas of her father Akhenaton. When
he grew up, Moses thought that perhaps he could do for the Jewish workers what Akhenaton could not do for all the
Egyptians. [variations
on Stravinsky's Fire Bird start here again; while Miriam and the children remain seated at one extreme of the stage,
the other presents Pharaoh's court.] But Pharaoh would not grant the Jews their freedom, and he used the priests of Ammon to
scare them. PRIESTS OF AMMON (MALE CHORUS): -Ammon is the most powerful
of all Gods. -He is the Father and the
Lord. -Woe those who oppose Ammon,
and his son the Pharaoh! -Feel the fear of God turn
your blood into ice, and your legs into sand. MIRIAM:
The magic
tricks of the priests did not make the Jews afraid. JEWISH CHORUS: [women and men unison] We are not afraid of your Gods, Pharaoh! [one voice at a time] -You claim God Ammon made
you, Pharaoh, the king of all men. But we know that your priests invented your religion. -Our faith is the dignity
of men who have not found yet themselves. -Our religion is the expression
of our agony, and also a protest against this agony. -Our religion is the sight
of oppressed creatures, the heart of a heartless world, the spirit in a spiritless condition.
[all at unison] We are the salt of the earth. MIRIAM:
To gain
Jewish freedom, Moses pitted his white magic against the black magic of the priests of Ammon.
Moses
had learned the hypnotic magic of the priests*. Without fear, he faced Pharaoh's entire court, his ministers and
his guards, his priests and his soldiers. Moses stared at them, with his bright black eyes, and held them on his
hypnotic power. [lights:
moving computer images]
With strong voice he commanded: MOSES: [with hypnotic quality in his voice] The waters of the Nile will become blood. CHORUS: Ohhh! They look red and dark!
MOSES: The land will be covered
with frogs.. CHORUS: Ohhh! Look at them, jumping
all over! MOSES: You will be covered with
lice... CHORUS:
I itch!
I itch! Scratch me! MOSES: Swarms of flies will cover
you and your servants.. CHORUS: Ahch! Yech!
[Batting
at the swarms, helplessly].. MOSES: [with hypnotic build] Pestilence will fall on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the
camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep. Boils will break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land. Hail will rain down as
Egypt has not seen. Locusts shall cover the face of the earth. Darkness will cover the skies. And the firstborn
shall die. [Chorus
responds at each of these maledictions with gestures and sounds] CHORUS: We fear all this may come to pass. Let them go! Pharaoh, let them go! MIRIAM: Thus Moses overwhelmed the
power of Pharaoh, and he let them go.
Homeland
MIRIAM: [continuing her narration to the children] Moses led the people through deserts and mountains. [Lights: color work as used
during the Magi trek] MALE AND FEMALE CHORUS [alternating]: -We followed the stars...
-We travelled through hot
deserts and cold mountains... -We almost drowned in the
torrential waters of a river ... -We shivered with fear in
the dark nights of Sinai, where the birds of prey circle over our heads, waiting for our bodies to drop. -We arrived at cities where
they close their gates... -...and at cities where our
fame has reached... -The fame of our wisdom and
justice.. -...they had legends of Jews
travelling for a thousand years... -..so sometimes we were well
fed and sometimes we go hungry... -We trekked our way through
valleys where we are surrounded by armies.... [end of music]
Temple
of the nomadic Hebrews.
Templo
de los hebreos nómades. MIRIAM: His people were noble but
simple and ignorant. Moses taught them simple laws, the laws of God. You shall not kill. MALE CHORUS: We fought wars. MIRIAM: You shall rest. MALE CHORUS: We kept our women and our
servants working every day. MIRIAM: You shall not steal. MALE CHORUS: We took their land, and called
it our own. ERNEST: Just as Europeans took the
land from the American natives... MIRIAM: Joshua led them to the land
of Canaan, that we call Israel, and the Romans named Palestine. We call it the land of milk and honey, but the land that we share with the Palestinians is
poor, mountains and rocky hills. MALE CHORUS: To make it worse, it is where
three great kingdoms meet, Asia, Africa and Europe. [begins the variation of the
military Polonaise by Chopin, that continues as background music] MIRIAM: From Asia the Assyrian armies
poured into our land, time and again. From Africa came our former masters, the Egyptians. Time and again our rocky hills and our hard-tilled fields saw the armies of one
empire confront those of another... CHILD: Like the Romans and the Persians
now? ERNEST: Like the Europeans and the
Arabs in our times? MIRIAM:
The armies
marched, north and south, to victory or defeat, and no matter what, they made our people their victims.
No matter
what, each of those powerful victors would have been forgotten, had it not been for the greatness of their victims.
FEMALE CHORUS: We watched their victories,
and we watched their defeats, and wrote them in our book, which we call Bible, because it is in the Phoenician
city of Biblos that the best books are made. MIRIAM: The more thoughtful among
us realized that God could not be for one nation against the other. Lands can be divided among kings, but the heavens above them cannot be divided, giving each
nation's God rulership over those stars that shine above a particular peace of soil. FEMALE AND MALE CHORUS: Slowly we became a different
people, one whose destiny could not be decided on the field of battle. We became a cradle to nurture God.
Slowly
we realized that it was insane to pray to God who is One for victory over other people. [end of the music]
Templo
de Salomón
Solomon's
Temple. MIRIAM: I will not teach Joshua the
songs of war, but only the sayings of the women sages, the psalms of our forefather David, and the love poems of
Solomon. FEMALE AND MALE CHORUS: King
Solomon, the wise, made friends with Egypt and Arabia, and made the Palestinians part of our country. From them
we learned the alphabet with which we write. They invented it. Solomon loved them...particularly their women. WOMAN FROM THE CHORUS: Miriam, should you read Solomon's
love poems to children? MIRIAM: [answering indirectly] When my son read Solomon's song, and learned that the king's beloved was an African woman,
He asked me if, in this manner, the scriptures showed that the love between men and women can overcome the distrust
between races. [apart] He amazes me sometimes, with
the things that He says. MALE CHORUS:
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, said Solomon. MIRIAM: [explaining to the children] Make them your friends. When you fight against tyrants, do not starve his people, who are
also his victims. [pause] Yet, Solomon was not always
so wise. Exploitation and usury grew among the money-lenders who flocked about Solomon's temple. He wanted riches
and power. Since wealth is created by poverty, and power by slavery, Solomon's fortune created class war, and his
pleasure meant that seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines, were imprisoned in his harem. MIRIAM:
When King
Solomon died, the land was divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north, with its great capital, Samaria, and
Judah on the south, where our cherished Jerusalem is. FEMALE CHORUS: These were hard times.
Our heroes,
our teachers, our leaders, they lived hard lives, and made many sacrifices, so we, their descendants, could have
a fund of wisdom for inspiration. Their lives would be wasted if they were forgotten. So we kept their history.
MIRIAM: Job questioned God's wisdom,
God's goodness, God's power. How could an all powerful, all-good and all-wise God allow these sufferings? [The Military Polonaise starts
again and continues as background music] MALE CHORUS: [marching in one direction, with goose-step] We are the invincible warriors of Assyria. We have captured Samaria and her whole kingdom
of Israel. MIRIAM: That is how the ten tribes
of Israel were lost. We even forgot that the Samaritans were our own, and we hated them the most. ANTONIO:
Like some
Christians hated the Jews, forgetting that Jesus was Joshua. MALE CHORUS: [turning on a different direction, and marching again] We are the Babylonian warriors, we have captured Judah, and destroyed the Temple that Solomon
had built in Jerusalem. As hostages we shall take their princes, their sages, their artisans, and their wealthy
merchants, and bring them to Babylon. Without them, the people would never raise their heads again.
MIRIAM: They were wrong. The Jews
who remained, and the Jews in exile, they all taught the children to keep our language, our books, just as you
must learn them now, in the time of the Romans. VOICES FROM THE MALE AND FEMALE
CHORUS: -To keep our nation alive,
we shall keep our own language. -To keep our nation alive,
we shall read time and again our old books. -To keep our nation alive,
we shall create anew. -To keep our nation alive,
we shall become different, cook differently, cook kosher. ISAIAH: Symbols are important, but
I, Isaiah, tell you that neither ritual nor cult suffice. Justice is the very essence of holiness. Every believer
is personally responsible for his own actions. I cannot answer Job's questions, but more important than doubts
are duties. We must be like a Suffering Servant who performs his duty under all circumstances.. [end of background music] MIRIAM: We make friends with the
Babylonians, who are cruel conquerors but accommodating masters. VOICES FROM THE MALE AND FEMALE
CHORUS: -The great palaces of Babylon
lured many Jews. -In the streets of Babylon,
the Mistress of the World, women and men of every nation, race and color could be seen, donning gorgeous garments,
selling exotic wares, purchasing bewitching perfumes.. -There is no point in fighting
with such mighty power. -We want our children to be
Babylonians, and forget our humble origins.. -We Jews of Babylon live better
than those in Judah. -The Glorious King of Babylon
has appointed one of our great men to be the king of Judah. -Oh! Oh what a misfortune!
The jealous
descendants of the House of David have killed the Jewish king the Babylonians had given us! -The House of David! -Some said a great warrior,
a Messiah, will some day be born from the House of David, and make us free... MAN:
I Isaiah,
say unto you: A young woman will conceive a child named Immanuel, who will be a prince of peace and forgiveness.
Then "the wolf will live with the sheep, and the leopard lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion
shall grow up together". There will be a harmony of opposites. CHORUS VOICES: -These ideas are not new.
This man, Isaiah, took them from the Palestinians. -We shall defend ourselves:
an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. -We shall love our neighbors
as ourselves. -Who are our neighbors?
Are the
Babylonians our neighbors too? -We all belong to a single
world, not just one nation under its own God, but one world under one God. MIRIAM: A Jewish woman* heard the
stories that the Babylonian elders told their children, and she composed our story of how God created the world
in seven days. We forgot the name of the author --the names of women are often forgotten--, but we remember that
she called the Holy Spirit of God "Rooach", which means air, wind, breath. It is a feminine name. God is also a woman... BOY CHORUS:
NO! NO!
God is a man! [they
leave the stage angrily while the chorus of women and men face each other]
A picaresque
dialogue MAN:
Woman,
what you teach the child is different from what the rabbis teach. MIRIAM: Yes, history looks different
through a woman's eyes... MALE CHORUS: Every woman of Israel is
chaste and Godfearing... FEMALE CHORUS: ... and every husband is
kind to her, and faithful. MALE CHORUS: What is there to say then
of the daughters of Israel? FEMALE CHORUS: Gossip and frivolous talk
does not become the mouth of our men.. MALE CHORUS: Women must cook and clean,
take care of their husbands, of the children, and of the old. They do not study the law... FEMALE CHORUS: ..except for Miriam.. She
learned the tradition like the best student. MALE CHORUS: Her humor is irreverent and
fresh.
We do
not altogether approve of her. A learned woman, and a beautiful one, what a contradiction in terms! It is improper! [the chorus leaves except
for Eli]
A child
Messiah MIRIAM: [to Eli]
There
are many contradictions! My son has a certain tendency to behave.. like the Messiah, if you know what I mean.
ELI: You let him stay until late,
and talk back to the adults. Those are bad manners. MIRIAM: My father thought otherwise
.. Yet, manners of a Messiah... The day he became eight years old, I told Him how to be His mother has made me really happy:
"You've
taught me a lot, you've taught me to look at things, and to seek life. I have to say though, that sometimes I get
really angry with you, because.. the way you behave ... Oh! I don't know what to do with you!
I get
angry just like everybody else". Do you know what he answered me? He told me, I understand, you're human.. ELI: [after short laugh] Yeah, I guess so. Did He have any questions for you? MIRIAM: Why Joseph wants Him to be
carpenter. I said, you have to be something, to have a trade, and be able to make money. He asked me "Why
couldn't I be a soldier?" ELI: I guess He is only eight... MIRIAM:
When I
tried to explain to Him that being a soldier perhaps was not the best for other things He had to do, He complained
that I say strange things, and never explain. I promised to explain, some other time. ELI:
When will
you do it? MIRIAM: [evasively] Oh, let's say on His next birthday....
I know
more than the teacher MALE: [approaching Miriam ironically] I am a Greek, and used to long speeches, but none is too long for you Jews. I would become
a Jew if you could explain to me your beliefs while I stand on one leg without getting tired. [He stands on one leg] MIRIAM:
It is
easier than you think. All our beliefs are contained in one verse which reads: You shall love your neighbor like yourself. CHILDREN CHORUS: [dancing on one leg, holding the other up with their hand]: I know this verse. It is in Leviticus. I know it all! I know it all! MIRIAM: I teach Joshua all I learned
from abba, and he learns well. Today he is twelve..... ERNEST:
Like me! MIRIAM:...and has confused the doctors
and the teachers. FEMALE CHORUS: Every year Miriam and Joseph take their family to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
This year, on their way home, they suddenly realize Joshua has stayed behind. [Stage: the temple, in front of which people converse, astounded by Joshua's questions and
answers. Adult and child chorus members walk, agitated, in constant and somewhat chaotic motion.] MALE CHORUS: [very rapidly, two persons at a time] -We are the holy doctors of
the law -We can read God's own thoughts
in the ancient scriptures -This boy asks questions that
we have never answered. -This boy asks questions that
we have never asked. CHILDREN CHORUS: [also rapidly] -Is God the God of the Hebrews...? -...or is God the God of the
universe? -If God is omnipotent, how
can there be evil, and suffering? -Are we responsible for ourselves?
-Or are we to pay for our
parent's sins? FEMALE CHORUS: [also very rapidly] -What a child! He knows so
much! -Who taught him? -Who is this child that speaks
like an elder? CHILDREN: We know more than the teacher!
BOYS' CHORUS: I know more than the teacher!
"I
know more than the teacher" [chant] I know more than the teacher. When the teacher asks: what have you learned in school
today I say ...... [prolonging the word "say",
then pausing, and then in rapid staccato, precipitously] I learn of Moses, and I learn of Rachel, I learn the story of Jezebel. I learn that David overcame
Goliath, I learn... [pause, and then at normal
rate] What did I really learn today? To think for myself. [again at rapid pace] I ask the rabbi why God created evil. I ask the teacher why the stars don't fall to earth. I ask, the earth, is it flat
or round? The sun, is it as big as a
coin, or bigger than the land of
Israel? Does the soul beat in my heart, or does it live in my head? I ask and ask and ask, and the teacher sends me to
read old books. The teacher does not know how to think by himself. I know more than the teacher. ELI: How proud you must have been
Miriam.. MIRIAM:
Yes, but
also angry. I was so afraid. I asked him: Why have you done this to us. See how worried your father and I have
been looking for you? He told us, nonchalantly, that he was doing what I had taught him to do; to think for himself,
and to talk about God, our Father. ELI:
The same
one for you and me, I heard Him say. I would be very proud to have a son like Him.... You teach Him. That is why
I think, without wanting to offend Joseph, who is so good and affectionate, that God and you are the parents of
Joshua. MIRIAM: I
taught Him. Our wisdom, our traditions.. all the good teachings my father taught me. I say, you have wings. Fly.
FEMALE AND MALE CHORUS: -Your son is swayed by dreams
of grandeur. -He will be teased by the
children . -Miriam, you must teach him
to be more respectful of the elders. -You must cut off the wings
of his grandiosity. -Teach him humility. MIRIAM: [at once deferential and defiant] I will encourage Him to be all He can be. [apart, clearly determined] I will help him to expand his mind, to be a great soul. BOY: Miriam, Eli, we made a song.
Would you listen to it? We sing in two languages, one for you and one for Eli. MIRIAM AND ELI: [delighted, at unison] Oh yes. CHILDREN CHORUS: [alternating one strophe in English and one in Spanish]
God, my
mom In school they taught me that God is my daddy. I love my daddy very much, but God is also a mom. Mom was an ocean in which I lived happily. When first my eyes I opened, it was to see my mom.
Mom takes care of me, mom
loves me, mom has no love that does
not include me. Wherever she is, with whomever
she is, she keeps me in her happy
heart. Mom smiles, with mom I play, mom pets me, mom makes me
sing. There is only one thing I
do not tell her: I know that God is also a
mom. MIRIAM:
That was
wonderful! But to me my child is God.. FEMALE CHORUS:
"God, my Child" My child is a blossomed tree His sweet mouth feels me with
love My child is a rising sun My child is a beautiful God. When I hear Christmas carols, I know well what they sing. The happy feast of Christmas
eve celebrates that God is my
child. My God blossoms and grows beautiful, filling me with
love. My God is a rising sun. My God is a beautiful child. Optional scene: ELI:
Yes.
Your child
is your God, but how do you teach Him to grow up into as a God, a Creator? MIRIAM: We play a game. We call it co-creation. He begins, or I do, enacting a story, without saying
what, or who, we are. The other plays along, guessing what is all about, letting the imagination run wild, but
always obeying two rules: Do not negate the other. Do something yourself, without asking for instructions. Playing
this game Joshua learns to be inventive, and to work along with others, because one needs two logs to make a fire.
We have a lot of fun. [addressing
the audience]
Does anyone of you want to play it with me?. If the actress is trained
in this psychodramatic technique, an actual brief performance with a member of the audience may be done at this
point. The performance may be ended here, with separate presentation of the 3rd and 4th acts.
End of
Act II |
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