Friday, March 21, 2008
SECOND FIRST-DAY AT THE INTERFAITH
Preliminary Script- March 2008
RUBBER TREE: Kevin
GUITAR CASE: Delia
PIANO: Noah
HUGGERS STATUETTE: Marly
BUDDHA STATUETTE: Twyla
WALL CALENDAR: Gabe
KRSNA BOOK: Corey
ISLAM BOOK: Victor
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Eli
ACT ONE
BUDDHA STATUETTE: I am the Buddha. I am the Divine.
HUGGERS STATUETTE: You're just a statuette. You're just a rock. Somebody carved you out of a rock!
BUDDHA: People bring me flowers. I represent the path to enlighenment.
HUGGERS: There are many paths to enlightenment.
BUDDHA: What we think, we become. The mind is everything.
HUGGERS: You and your quotes! You're beginning to bug me!
(they leave)
GUITAR CASE (to audience): OK, here's the deal. You Eaters are in for a special treat today. I'm a guitar case, and I've been elected to show you around a little- give you a tour, and let you in on the secret world of inanimate objects. We call ourselves Noticers, because we notice everything. You (points at audience) are Eaters. I'm not sure why we call you that, maybe when you start eating, you stop noticing. Anyway we Noticers can talk- you just don't hear it usually. Only today we've made it possible for you to hear us. Today is music day at Quaker meeting. That's why I'm on the scene. Here we go!
(GUITAR CASE enters from left. PIANO is at left, playing the piano to himself with his fingers, imagining a song. WALL CALENDAR is in center near RUBBER TREE.)
PIANO: Well if it isn't Guitar case. What is it, music day?
WALL CALENDAR: Of course, second Sunday of the month! What's new, guitar case?
GUITAR CASE: Oh, nothing much. Same old same old. Tom H's kitchen, back of truck, here. At least I get out once in a while, better than some guitar cases. Here I stand in the lobby, and soon I'll go into the library. Then, it'll be back out here, and home.
PIANO: How's Shinto Gate?
GUITAR CASE: Same as usual, stands out there in front, eaters walk under him. They painted him a couple of years ago, did you know that?
PIANO: Oh yeah, I can see out the window, you know. I just can't talk to him. Every day I watch him out there, but I never say hello to him. Maybe on the day they move me out.
RUBBER TREE: Any word on the fate of the building?
GUITAR CASE: No, same as usual. They're going to tear it down, everyone is sure of it.
RUBBER TREE: Aaaaaahhhh! I can't take it!
PIANO: Ah, Rubber Tree, buck up. They'll find a home for you.
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, they'll find a home for me, in some university lobby somewhere. But it won't be the same. They'll probably cut off my upper branches, make me start over!
PIANO: Hey, at least you have a future. It's Shinto Gate that's in trouble. What are they going to do with Shinto Gate?
RUBBER TREE: I just can't take it! It seems so unfair, these eaters having so much control over our lives, over everything! And they don't even care about us!
WALL CALENDAR: Be glad you're not a book, like Krsna book or Islam book. You stand around for twenty, thirty years, your cover says "Look at me! Look at me!" Sometimes those eaters look at you, but usually they don't. Then it's off to the landfill for you!
PIANO: Yeah, or be glad you're not a glass figurine. Some eater kid drops you, it's all over!
WALL CALENDAR: I've heard stories about the landfill. I'll do anything to stay out of there!
PIANO: You'll be ok, Wall Calendar. They get a new building, they still need a wall calendar!
RUBBER TREE: Hey, speaking of books, what's going on in the library? Aren't you on your way in there?
GUITAR CASE: Yes, for music Sunday. Last week there was a huge fight between the Buddha statuette and the Huggers statuette.
PIANO: Oh yeah? I didn't hear about that.
GUITAR CASE: Oh yeah. Huggers claims that she's out on the table, because she represents all the religions, she represents the Interfaith itself. There's four of her, so she faces every direction, you know. But Buddha says, as a symbol of the divine, she deserves more respect.
PIANO: It's true, they usually put Huggers down there on the table, where everyone can see her.
WALL CALENDAR: But they only bring out Buddha for the special Buddhist events. Though they do bring her flowers.
RUBBER TREE: A Noticer is a Noticer. Why should anything an Eater do change anything? They're just statuettes. That's all. Eaters don't care about us. Yeah they move us around once in a while. You stand here for a few years, maybe they'll come by and water you once in a while. Eaters come and go, and it doesn't change anything.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah but it's what you represent that counts.
RUBBER TREE: Why?
GUITAR CASE: Well, you know, symbols are big for these eaters. You represent God, you end up in some holy place, you get stuff brought to you. Someone brought Buddha a flower, did you see that?
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, but when the Eaters go home, you're just a statuette. Same as all the rest. Eaters can come and go, I don't think they change anything.
WALL CALENDAR: What about Spike?
GUITAR CASE: Who's Spike?
WALL CALENDAR: Spike was a cat, lived around here for years. We used to argue about whether he was an eater or a noticer. Actually, he was kind of both. He was a little rough on the edges. This was back in the Karen era, before Hugh even.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah?
WALL CALENDAR: Didn't really have a family, Quakers were the closest he had. So one day, he caught a mole. Brought it in, and dropped it in Quaker meeting. Gave it to the Quakers.
PIANO: Bet they liked that!
WALL CALENDAR: Well, they were a little upset. But, in the end, he left here mellower than when he arrived. Point is, it did make a difference.
RUBBER TREE: And they made me a skylight- so my life would be better. But here I am, thirty feet high, all my leaves at the top, and now they'll have no place for me- I'm doomed!
PIANO: Yeah. Remember the Lights Parade? Every year, I watched the parade start outside this window. Floats from every church in town, marching bands from every school.
GUITAR CASE: What happened to the parade?
PIANO: They moved it! I guess Mill Street was more convenient, with its underpass and all. Now it starts on Mill Street.
RUBBER TREE: See, times change! We're obsolete! We're doomed!
PIANO: Those were the good old days, an interfaith place, a warm place to hang around, have a cup of hot cocoa, people aren't going to forget that.
RUBBER TREE: OK, so the place changed the people. But it didn't change the rest of us. Did anyone pick up a book? Did anyone organize the library? Was it all for nothing, or what?
WALL CALENDAR: You can't say it was all for nothing. Remember the Synergy? Remember the Hillel? Or the Environmentalists, mowing the lawn and hanging around all hours of the night? Look, this place has welcomed so many eaters, you can't imagine. And each one has had an influence. Vegetarian Thanksgivings, Big Muddy Films, you name it.
RUBBER TREE: All I'm saying is, eaters come and go. But they don't care about us. Money is what it is. They're tearing this place down- but why? They need a place that will pay the bills, that's all. This place is old; it's in bad shape, they can't heat it in the winter, can't keep it cool in the summer.
WALL CALENDAR: You're forgetting about history. Eaters shed blood keeping this place going. Pounds and pounds of old clothes, sold in the midnight rummage sales. Remember the time that guy broke Picture Window, down on the ground floor? Or the great Flood?
GUITAR CASE: This place has quite a history, doesn't it?
WALL CALENDAR: I'm not even telling half of it.
GUITAR CASE: I've got to get into the library now- it's time for singing.
RUBBER TREE: Say hello to the statuettes.
PIANO: And the books. We never see them.
(GUITAR CASE LEAVES)
PIANO: You know, your stories remind me.
RUBBER TREE (crying) Yeah?
PIANO: Once there was this little boy. Didn't have a piano at home, used to come by, bang on me once in a while.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Yeah. I used to get mad; I was waiting for someone who knew how to play. You know how it is.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Well, it turns out, you make a bigger difference, being there for a boy like that, than you do being there for a musician, you know what I mean? It's like, maybe the boy doesn't know a thing. And maybe I'm the first piano he ever saw, you know what I mean?
ACT TWO
(GANDHI WALL HANGING AT LEFT, STATUETTES AT RIGHT)
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Guitar case! How are you?
GUITAR CASE: I'm ok. Rubber tree is railing against the tyranny of injustice.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
GUITAR CASE: Excuse me?
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Oh sorry, Gandhi quote.
GUITAR CASE:I see the statuettes are on the shelf.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Old Roof leaked. Right during Quaker meeting. They moved Huggers over to the bookshelf. Now, the statuettes are a couple of bookends.
KRSHNA BOOK: Look at me! Look at me! I've got pictures!
ISLAM BOOK: Look at me! Look at me!
BUDDHA: You know, the guy that made me, he was really careful. He took hours and hours.
HUGGERS: Yeah, same with the woman who made me. You think all that work will go to waste?
BUDDHA: What do you mean?
HUGGERS: You know, if the building is torn down, and we have to move...
BUDDHA: Oh, we'll be ok....Even death is not to be feared by one who lives wisely!
HUGGERS: You and your quotes again!
GANDHI: Hey, quiet over there! It's time for the music!
CURTAIN CALL
Preliminary Script- March 2008
RUBBER TREE: Kevin
GUITAR CASE: Delia
PIANO: Noah
HUGGERS STATUETTE: Marly
BUDDHA STATUETTE: Twyla
WALL CALENDAR: Gabe
KRSNA BOOK: Corey
ISLAM BOOK: Victor
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Eli
ACT ONE
BUDDHA STATUETTE: I am the Buddha. I am the Divine.
HUGGERS STATUETTE: You're just a statuette. You're just a rock. Somebody carved you out of a rock!
BUDDHA: People bring me flowers. I represent the path to enlighenment.
HUGGERS: There are many paths to enlightenment.
BUDDHA: What we think, we become. The mind is everything.
HUGGERS: You and your quotes! You're beginning to bug me!
(they leave)
GUITAR CASE (to audience): OK, here's the deal. You Eaters are in for a special treat today. I'm a guitar case, and I've been elected to show you around a little- give you a tour, and let you in on the secret world of inanimate objects. We call ourselves Noticers, because we notice everything. You (points at audience) are Eaters. I'm not sure why we call you that, maybe when you start eating, you stop noticing. Anyway we Noticers can talk- you just don't hear it usually. Only today we've made it possible for you to hear us. Today is music day at Quaker meeting. That's why I'm on the scene. Here we go!
(GUITAR CASE enters from left. PIANO is at left, playing the piano to himself with his fingers, imagining a song. WALL CALENDAR is in center near RUBBER TREE.)
PIANO: Well if it isn't Guitar case. What is it, music day?
WALL CALENDAR: Of course, second Sunday of the month! What's new, guitar case?
GUITAR CASE: Oh, nothing much. Same old same old. Tom H's kitchen, back of truck, here. At least I get out once in a while, better than some guitar cases. Here I stand in the lobby, and soon I'll go into the library. Then, it'll be back out here, and home.
PIANO: How's Shinto Gate?
GUITAR CASE: Same as usual, stands out there in front, eaters walk under him. They painted him a couple of years ago, did you know that?
PIANO: Oh yeah, I can see out the window, you know. I just can't talk to him. Every day I watch him out there, but I never say hello to him. Maybe on the day they move me out.
RUBBER TREE: Any word on the fate of the building?
GUITAR CASE: No, same as usual. They're going to tear it down, everyone is sure of it.
RUBBER TREE: Aaaaaahhhh! I can't take it!
PIANO: Ah, Rubber Tree, buck up. They'll find a home for you.
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, they'll find a home for me, in some university lobby somewhere. But it won't be the same. They'll probably cut off my upper branches, make me start over!
PIANO: Hey, at least you have a future. It's Shinto Gate that's in trouble. What are they going to do with Shinto Gate?
RUBBER TREE: I just can't take it! It seems so unfair, these eaters having so much control over our lives, over everything! And they don't even care about us!
WALL CALENDAR: Be glad you're not a book, like Krsna book or Islam book. You stand around for twenty, thirty years, your cover says "Look at me! Look at me!" Sometimes those eaters look at you, but usually they don't. Then it's off to the landfill for you!
PIANO: Yeah, or be glad you're not a glass figurine. Some eater kid drops you, it's all over!
WALL CALENDAR: I've heard stories about the landfill. I'll do anything to stay out of there!
PIANO: You'll be ok, Wall Calendar. They get a new building, they still need a wall calendar!
RUBBER TREE: Hey, speaking of books, what's going on in the library? Aren't you on your way in there?
GUITAR CASE: Yes, for music Sunday. Last week there was a huge fight between the Buddha statuette and the Huggers statuette.
PIANO: Oh yeah? I didn't hear about that.
GUITAR CASE: Oh yeah. Huggers claims that she's out on the table, because she represents all the religions, she represents the Interfaith itself. There's four of her, so she faces every direction, you know. But Buddha says, as a symbol of the divine, she deserves more respect.
PIANO: It's true, they usually put Huggers down there on the table, where everyone can see her.
WALL CALENDAR: But they only bring out Buddha for the special Buddhist events. Though they do bring her flowers.
RUBBER TREE: A Noticer is a Noticer. Why should anything an Eater do change anything? They're just statuettes. That's all. Eaters don't care about us. Yeah they move us around once in a while. You stand here for a few years, maybe they'll come by and water you once in a while. Eaters come and go, and it doesn't change anything.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah but it's what you represent that counts.
RUBBER TREE: Why?
GUITAR CASE: Well, you know, symbols are big for these eaters. You represent God, you end up in some holy place, you get stuff brought to you. Someone brought Buddha a flower, did you see that?
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, but when the Eaters go home, you're just a statuette. Same as all the rest. Eaters can come and go, I don't think they change anything.
WALL CALENDAR: What about Spike?
GUITAR CASE: Who's Spike?
WALL CALENDAR: Spike was a cat, lived around here for years. We used to argue about whether he was an eater or a noticer. Actually, he was kind of both. He was a little rough on the edges. This was back in the Karen era, before Hugh even.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah?
WALL CALENDAR: Didn't really have a family, Quakers were the closest he had. So one day, he caught a mole. Brought it in, and dropped it in Quaker meeting. Gave it to the Quakers.
PIANO: Bet they liked that!
WALL CALENDAR: Well, they were a little upset. But, in the end, he left here mellower than when he arrived. Point is, it did make a difference.
RUBBER TREE: And they made me a skylight- so my life would be better. But here I am, thirty feet high, all my leaves at the top, and now they'll have no place for me- I'm doomed!
PIANO: Yeah. Remember the Lights Parade? Every year, I watched the parade start outside this window. Floats from every church in town, marching bands from every school.
GUITAR CASE: What happened to the parade?
PIANO: They moved it! I guess Mill Street was more convenient, with its underpass and all. Now it starts on Mill Street.
RUBBER TREE: See, times change! We're obsolete! We're doomed!
PIANO: Those were the good old days, an interfaith place, a warm place to hang around, have a cup of hot cocoa, people aren't going to forget that.
RUBBER TREE: OK, so the place changed the people. But it didn't change the rest of us. Did anyone pick up a book? Did anyone organize the library? Was it all for nothing, or what?
WALL CALENDAR: You can't say it was all for nothing. Remember the Synergy? Remember the Hillel? Or the Environmentalists, mowing the lawn and hanging around all hours of the night? Look, this place has welcomed so many eaters, you can't imagine. And each one has had an influence. Vegetarian Thanksgivings, Big Muddy Films, you name it.
RUBBER TREE: All I'm saying is, eaters come and go. But they don't care about us. Money is what it is. They're tearing this place down- but why? They need a place that will pay the bills, that's all. This place is old; it's in bad shape, they can't heat it in the winter, can't keep it cool in the summer.
WALL CALENDAR: You're forgetting about history. Eaters shed blood keeping this place going. Pounds and pounds of old clothes, sold in the midnight rummage sales. Remember the time that guy broke Picture Window, down on the ground floor? Or the great Flood?
GUITAR CASE: This place has quite a history, doesn't it?
WALL CALENDAR: I'm not even telling half of it.
GUITAR CASE: I've got to get into the library now- it's time for singing.
RUBBER TREE: Say hello to the statuettes.
PIANO: And the books. We never see them.
(GUITAR CASE LEAVES)
PIANO: You know, your stories remind me.
RUBBER TREE (crying) Yeah?
PIANO: Once there was this little boy. Didn't have a piano at home, used to come by, bang on me once in a while.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Yeah. I used to get mad; I was waiting for someone who knew how to play. You know how it is.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Well, it turns out, you make a bigger difference, being there for a boy like that, than you do being there for a musician, you know what I mean? It's like, maybe the boy doesn't know a thing. And maybe I'm the first piano he ever saw, you know what I mean?
ACT TWO
(GANDHI WALL HANGING AT LEFT, STATUETTES AT RIGHT)
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Guitar case! How are you?
GUITAR CASE: I'm ok. Rubber tree is railing against the tyranny of injustice.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
GUITAR CASE: Excuse me?
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Oh sorry, Gandhi quote.
GUITAR CASE:I see the statuettes are on the shelf.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Old Roof leaked. Right during Quaker meeting. They moved Huggers over to the bookshelf. Now, the statuettes are a couple of bookends.
KRSHNA BOOK: Look at me! Look at me! I've got pictures!
ISLAM BOOK: Look at me! Look at me!
BUDDHA: You know, the guy that made me, he was really careful. He took hours and hours.
HUGGERS: Yeah, same with the woman who made me. You think all that work will go to waste?
BUDDHA: What do you mean?
HUGGERS: You know, if the building is torn down, and we have to move...
BUDDHA: Oh, we'll be ok....Even death is not to be feared by one who lives wisely!
HUGGERS: You and your quotes again!
GANDHI: Hey, quiet over there! It's time for the music!
CURTAIN CALL
Thou Heardest My Voice (2005)
Original Introduction
SCENES ONE, TWO AND THREE
SCENE FOUR AND FIVE
SCENE SIX
was put out of order by reorganization of the weblog that it is in. It should appear in order
if you click on the scenes in order.
It was performed in 2005 at the Interfaith. It is based partly on the true story of a soldier
in Iraq; however, portions of the story were fictionalized.
Original Introduction
SCENES ONE, TWO AND THREE
SCENE FOUR AND FIVE
SCENE SIX
was put out of order by reorganization of the weblog that it is in. It should appear in order
if you click on the scenes in order.
It was performed in 2005 at the Interfaith. It is based partly on the true story of a soldier
in Iraq; however, portions of the story were fictionalized.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
GOOD TIDINGS OF YULE
CHARACTERS:
DEB: Delia
ALISON: Twyla
REBECCA: Marly
FRANK: Kevin
MUIR: Noah
OLONGO: Gabe
PILOT: Elias
SOUNDS OF THE FOREST: Corey, Vince
(DEB enters).
DEB: I was on a plane coming from Johannesburg one year, four days before Christmas, when the plane crashed in the jungle, somewhere along the equator. There were mostly women on the plane, from the World Council of Churches Convention- for example, I was there as a representative of the Quakers. On the plane there were women from all churches- Evangelical, Pentacostal, Episcopalian, you name it. Also Jewish, Muslim, Hindi, Pagan, and Zoroastrian- believe me we had a lively discussion about religion. But the plane crashed with almost no warning. Everyone survived, incredibly, but the pilot was in a coma, and two other people were badly injured. We didn't know where we were, but it was the middle of the jungle, on the top of a mountain. And it was raining, and foggy. It turned out it was rainy season in Congo, what used to be Zaire. What a way to spend the holidays!
(small group sits in a circle with blankets over their heads, etc. REBECCA, and DEB are sitting and talking; ALISON is lying down but beginning to wake up. Finally she sits and starts talking)..
REBECCA: Hey! She's moving!
DEB: Sure enough! Hey Alison!
ALISON: (waking up) Where are we?
REBECCA: The plane crashed. The pilot;s in a coma- so were you. We are in the Republic of Congo somewhere. We don't know where.
DEB: We've made a shelter out of parts of the plane and we put you here until you woke up. We would go for help but we don't know which way to go. That's what we were talking about when you woke up.
ALISON: What are the choices?
REBECCA (pointing in each of three ways): Down the mountain and into the jungle, down the mountain and into the jungle, and down the mountain and into the jungle.
ALISON: The plane crashed? Are you kidding me? You mean…we’re stuck here?
DEB: Well, yes, I guess you could say that.
ALISON: I'll miss Christmas!
DEB: You might miss more than that!
ALISON: Did anyone die? Is everyone all right?
DEB: Nobody died yet. People are working to find and take care of the ones who we know about. We were just taking a break, watching you.
(OLONGO arrives)
OLONGO: Hello. My name is Olongo. I am from the nearby town.
DEB: Boy is it good to see you!
OLONGO: We heard the crash and we saw the big flames on the mountain. They sent me up here to find you. We will begin to move some people back down to the town, if they want to go. It's a long way down the mountain. We will show you the way.
DEB: This is very nice of you.
OLONGO: Our problem is this. Are you a nurse?
DEB: Well, yes, in fact, I am a trained nurse, in my home country, the USA. But I have no equipment here.
ALISON: And I also.
OLONGO: Here is the problem. It is a long way down the mountain. There are three injured people, one is in a coma.
DEB: The pilot.
OLONGO: Yes. These people should not go down the mountain yet.
DEB: We who can take care of them, should stay up here…
OLONGO: That is right.
REBECCA: And what do we find if we go down the mountain?
OLONGO: It is not much, ma'am. There is a small village- about six kilometers. And then, a little farther, is a town. It is but a small town, the town of Yule. It has no clinic. But a doctor is on his way.
REBECCA: I will stay with these two, and the injured people.
OLONGO: We will bring more blankets. And food. My friends have brought water and blankets. (puts buckets near her)
ALISON: Does it ever stop raining around here?
OLONGO: Yes it does. We are grateful when the sun shines. But we are grateful for the rain also.
DEB: We will help you bring the blankets and put them in one place. Can you walk?
ALISON: Yes, I'm coming. I'll help also.
(DEB leaves, others follow. FRANK and MUIR enter, put map on floor, and begin to look at it).
(MUIR and FRANK enter)
MUIR: Hey, you have to help me with this Congo geography- I’m new to this Red Cross rescue business.
FRANK: By my figuring this plane must have crashed around here. (pointing to map)
MUIR: Near Mabendjaba, Egbunda, around there?
FRANK: Had to be. Not much there but jungle and little villages- Magba, Lingondo, Yule, Yoo-lay, or however you pronounce it- but that's where their radio messages put them.
MUIR: But the radio's dead now?
FRANK: Haven't had any messages in over an hour. But I know somebody in the town of Baliakondo- that's over here- and he has a jeep. Maybe he can take us out into the bush.
MUIR: Call him- we have to find them! Hey- you ever get lost out there, out in the jungle?
FRANK: Oh yes.
MUIR: How do you find your way out?
FRANK: Well, when I was a kid, I always looked for the North star. You ever heard of that?
MUIR: Oh yes. But we're on the equator! How do you find the North star if you’re on the equator?
FRANK: My point exactly. If you're north of the equator, you see the North star, over there, on the horizon, north.
MUIR: And if you're south?
FRANK: Then you see the Southern Cross. Over there, on the southern horizon.
(short silence, MUIR looks around)
MUIR: And if it keeps raining?
FRANK: If it keeps raining, you wait. (they leave)
(They fold up map and leave. ALISON and REBECCA enter. REBECCA is moving sticks and wood over to a small bed.. DEB ENTERS. They sit on different wood stumps.
ALISON: Hey, what day is it?
DEB: December 21. Why?
ALISON: My family was all getting together, at my mom's house! I won't make it! I have to call them! Where's a phone? You got a cell?
DEB: Rebecca has a cell, but we're in the middle of the jungle.
ALISON: Oh, no! The tree, the decorations, the stockings, the candy, the presents! Missing that will be terrible!
REBECCA: Listen, honey, we've all lost a lot. Hannah was going home for Hannukah. It's the holiday season in a lot of places.
ALISON: Yeah, but this is Christmas!
REBECCA: At my house it's Yule - we burn a big log and light candles. It is, after all. the solstice, the shortest day of the year! And that, I believe, is today.
DEB: Shortest day of the year? We're on the equator! What difference does that make?
ALISON: Yeah, and I don’t suppose we’ll see any snow, or make any snowmen.
REBECCA: Ouch! Something is hurting me!
ALISON: Are you ok?
REBECCA: I’d better sit a while.
DEB: Are you pregnant?
REBECCA: Yes, as a matter of fact. I thought I would be ok for the plane flight. But the crash kind of got things moving, I think.
DEB: We may have to make some emergency preparations here.
REBECCA: How's the pilot?
DEB: Still in a coma. The others are better though. They said we could take a rest.
ALISON: Right about now, my mother is making Christmas cookies and decorating the tree! It's probably snowing in my hometown (she sobs, she moves forward; she's complaining to audience)
REBECCA: Oh you poor thing!
DEB: Now now, you know, Olongo will bring the doctor soon, and we'll all get out of this.
ALISON: Yeah but there's no way I'll be home in time! I'll miss the presents! The stockings! The…
REBECCA: Shut up, will you? Ouch! I think I'm going into labor!
ALISON: You’re what?
REBECCA: Going into labor!
ALISON: Oh my God! We're in the middle of the jungle! What has God done to us? God, why have you left me in this rainy place? Republic of…what?
DEB: (tending to Rebecca): Listen Alison! This is not a time to lose it! We have to work together to get out of this alive! Will someone bring me a washcloth?
ALISON: I’ll do it… (Alison leaves))
REBECCA: I can't take it anymore. It's just that she goes on and on about this Christmas stuff, and, you know, it's a tough subject for me.
DEB: You said you celebrated Yule?
REBECCA: Well, yes.
DEB: Here, you come over this way and tell me about it…
REBECCA (stops walking for a minute) Did you hear that?
DEB: It's just the sounds of the forest.
(they exit).
FRANK and MUIR enter)
MUIR: What did that guy say back at that gas station?
FRANK: He said Yule was a ways up this road. Maybe about 80 miles
MUIR: And?
FRANK: And the road is washed out for a while. Heavy rains.
MUIR: And that's all?
FRANK: And it will rain for a while, then it will stop.
MUIR: And we'll be able to go again?
FRANK: We would hope.
MUIR: And did he say anything else?
FRANK: Yes. He said, kutandika kua Yesu kuibuwa.
MUIR: And what's that mean?
FRANK: Happy holidays. Or something like it.
MUIR: This town up here, it’s call Yule?
FRANK: That’s right.
MUIR: Like the holiday? Like Christmas Yule?
FRANK: That’s right.
MUIR: I lived in Iceland for a while, and in Iceland we have the Yuletide lads- Door Slammer, Bowl Licker, Sausage Snatcher, Candle Beggar- they're little imps, playful fellows from the mountains. The children place their shoes on the windowsill and the little guys put presents in them- or, a potato, if the children have been bad!
FRANK: Kind of like the sounds of the forest, I guess.
MUIR: Hey what kind of religion do they have around here, anyway?
FRANK: It’s hard to describe. You have your Christians. But most people are kind of, well, animist, you could say
MUIR: Animist? What's that?
FRANK: Well, God's in everything. Everywhere.
MUIR: The rain? The jungle?
FRANK: There are nature spirits. Nature is alive.
MUIR: I guess I could see that.
FRANK: And there's no accidents. You know how we call this plane crash an accident?
MUIR: No accidents, eh?
DEB: It rained and rained; the pilot stayed in his coma. I made sure Alison watched after him while I took care of Rebecca. Alison was very sorry to miss Christmas, but she was a good nurse; she helped, and she brought me what I needed. One night she found a bottle in the debris…a large whiskey bottle. It was with the pilot's things.
Rebecca was in labor. We talked about Yule, the holiday. She said that the original holiday was actually more Pagan than Christian- that the Christians didn't really take over the date and the holiday until later. Yule logs, mistletoe, they were all part of the Yule holiday- celebration of the winter solstice, shortest day of the year.
I knew a little about delivering babies, so I began to make preparations for the baby... She never once mentioned the father, and I never asked. The local villagers seemed to know what was happening, and sent us some things that we needed- they could also see that we had shelter, so they didn't try to move us. But every day food, washcloths, and fresh water arrived. The baby was born healthy and without incident, a boy.
I was happy with the midwiving; I was good at that. I was ok with the food mush that Olongo brought to us; it wasn't what I was used to, but it was ok, and I'll never forget it. But what ate me was the bottle. Was that pilot drinking when he crashed? Was I stuck up here on the mountain, in the rain, with plane crash debris all over, because he was drinking? I couldn't live with it. My anger boiled. Deep down, I was furious.
MUIR: We were stuck on that road for hours. It poured down rain, and we could do nothing, see nothing, go nowhere. They say you can use the stars to know where you are, but that's only when you can see stars. Yule is 2 degrees north- so, the stars we were looking for were barely on the horizon- but the real problem was, it kept raining! Finally we fell asleep. And when we awoke, the sky was clear- and we knew we were back in the North- there was the North Star! And soon after that, we figured out a way to go around, and get where we were going. It's the kind of situation where it looks like only about 80 miles on the map, but actually it takes all day, and that's if you're lucky. I finally figured out how to find the stars on the horizon, though. If it wasn’t for that, we’d probably still be lost.
OLONGO: Our town hadn't seen anything like this plane crash in a long time. People were alarmed that a huge metal thing came down and landed on the mountain…we were also amazed that nobody had died. We sent some blankets and food up the mountain. Usually it was me who went up the mountain, walking, because I was able to speak English. We were able to get most of the people down from the mountain, and deliver them to safety, through the town of Yule. The Red Cross promised to send people, but they got lost and we were on our own for a couple of days. I came to know the people up on the mountain, the nurses, the woman who had a baby. They were grateful for the supplies, and they were nice to me, though I could tell they didn't like our food so much. It is a difficult place, these mountains, and not much grows here, though we share what we have.
Back in the village of Yule, the two guys from the Red Cross came looking for the remaining survivors one day, to take them back. We told them how to find them. Everyone's ok now, we said. Pilot's ok. Baby's ok. Mother's ok. Take us to them, the two guys said. But they had jeeps, and only mules will get up the mountain and back. So I said to them, I’ll show you the way. I will come with you, I'm good with mules, I know what they eat and how to take care of them. And I did.
(he leaves. Rebecca, holding doll in blanket, enters. Deb is with her.)
REBECCA: (holding baby) Nice baby! You can sleep now.
DEB: You two should rest. Help will arrive.
(ALISON and PILOT enter)
ALISON: The pilot came out of his coma! Here he is!
PILOT: Hello!
ALISON: Who is this?
DEB: Mom and baby. Baby was born this morning, at 4 am.
ALISON: The baby was born?
PILOT: In the jungle?
DEB: That’s right.
ALISON I don’t believe it.
DEB: Believe it. Baby is here, healthy and happy. (to the pilot) You were the pilot? What do you remember about the crash?
PILOT: Nothing!.
DEB: You don’t remember anything? Where you were? How it happened?
PILOT: I was flying across Congo. It was cloudy and raining. I was flying low.
DEB: Were you drinking? We found this bottle!
PILOT: Oh, that! No, I picked that up for my nephew. He puts boats in bottles
DEB: Really! Well, uh, I…
PILOT: Actually I'll tell you what happened. I was flying. You in the back were talking about God. And I thought to myself, if there's a God, why isn't there a sign? Where is God? And then, out of the clouds, and rain, was this huge mountain. It was there so fast, I couldn't do anything. I am so sorry. I'm sure it was my fault.
DEB: Don't worry, it all worked out ok.
(OLONGO, FRANK and MUIR arrive)
FRANK: Hello! Are you the nurse?
DEB: Yes. Mother and baby are over here.
FRANK: Is everyone ok? We came to return you to town, and back to your families.
OLONGO: The others went back earlier. You are the only ones remaining.
MUIR: The baby is ok?
REBECCA: The baby is fine. Healthy, happy.
ALISON: Born on a mountain, in the middle of nowhere!
MUIR: Nowhere?
OLONGO: As a matter of fact, you are six kilometers from a village, ten kilometers from the town of Yule. In the Democratic Republic of Congo.
REBECCA: Yule, you said?
OLONGO: That’s right. By the way, I brought these gifts from the villagers (puts boxes in front of Rebecca).They send their good tidings. When they heard about the baby, they gave us these to give to you.
REBECCA: Oh thank you. I am touched by your kindness. You have been so good to us, all along.
OLONGO: It is the least we can do. We feel like you came to us from above.
DEB: Which we did, I guess.
FRANK: We must be leaving soon What's that sound?
OLONGO: The sounds of the forest, I'm sure.
CURTAIN CALLs
CHARACTERS:
DEB: Delia
ALISON: Twyla
REBECCA: Marly
FRANK: Kevin
MUIR: Noah
OLONGO: Gabe
PILOT: Elias
SOUNDS OF THE FOREST: Corey, Vince
(DEB enters).
DEB: I was on a plane coming from Johannesburg one year, four days before Christmas, when the plane crashed in the jungle, somewhere along the equator. There were mostly women on the plane, from the World Council of Churches Convention- for example, I was there as a representative of the Quakers. On the plane there were women from all churches- Evangelical, Pentacostal, Episcopalian, you name it. Also Jewish, Muslim, Hindi, Pagan, and Zoroastrian- believe me we had a lively discussion about religion. But the plane crashed with almost no warning. Everyone survived, incredibly, but the pilot was in a coma, and two other people were badly injured. We didn't know where we were, but it was the middle of the jungle, on the top of a mountain. And it was raining, and foggy. It turned out it was rainy season in Congo, what used to be Zaire. What a way to spend the holidays!
(small group sits in a circle with blankets over their heads, etc. REBECCA, and DEB are sitting and talking; ALISON is lying down but beginning to wake up. Finally she sits and starts talking)..
REBECCA: Hey! She's moving!
DEB: Sure enough! Hey Alison!
ALISON: (waking up) Where are we?
REBECCA: The plane crashed. The pilot;s in a coma- so were you. We are in the Republic of Congo somewhere. We don't know where.
DEB: We've made a shelter out of parts of the plane and we put you here until you woke up. We would go for help but we don't know which way to go. That's what we were talking about when you woke up.
ALISON: What are the choices?
REBECCA (pointing in each of three ways): Down the mountain and into the jungle, down the mountain and into the jungle, and down the mountain and into the jungle.
ALISON: The plane crashed? Are you kidding me? You mean…we’re stuck here?
DEB: Well, yes, I guess you could say that.
ALISON: I'll miss Christmas!
DEB: You might miss more than that!
ALISON: Did anyone die? Is everyone all right?
DEB: Nobody died yet. People are working to find and take care of the ones who we know about. We were just taking a break, watching you.
(OLONGO arrives)
OLONGO: Hello. My name is Olongo. I am from the nearby town.
DEB: Boy is it good to see you!
OLONGO: We heard the crash and we saw the big flames on the mountain. They sent me up here to find you. We will begin to move some people back down to the town, if they want to go. It's a long way down the mountain. We will show you the way.
DEB: This is very nice of you.
OLONGO: Our problem is this. Are you a nurse?
DEB: Well, yes, in fact, I am a trained nurse, in my home country, the USA. But I have no equipment here.
ALISON: And I also.
OLONGO: Here is the problem. It is a long way down the mountain. There are three injured people, one is in a coma.
DEB: The pilot.
OLONGO: Yes. These people should not go down the mountain yet.
DEB: We who can take care of them, should stay up here…
OLONGO: That is right.
REBECCA: And what do we find if we go down the mountain?
OLONGO: It is not much, ma'am. There is a small village- about six kilometers. And then, a little farther, is a town. It is but a small town, the town of Yule. It has no clinic. But a doctor is on his way.
REBECCA: I will stay with these two, and the injured people.
OLONGO: We will bring more blankets. And food. My friends have brought water and blankets. (puts buckets near her)
ALISON: Does it ever stop raining around here?
OLONGO: Yes it does. We are grateful when the sun shines. But we are grateful for the rain also.
DEB: We will help you bring the blankets and put them in one place. Can you walk?
ALISON: Yes, I'm coming. I'll help also.
(DEB leaves, others follow. FRANK and MUIR enter, put map on floor, and begin to look at it).
(MUIR and FRANK enter)
MUIR: Hey, you have to help me with this Congo geography- I’m new to this Red Cross rescue business.
FRANK: By my figuring this plane must have crashed around here. (pointing to map)
MUIR: Near Mabendjaba, Egbunda, around there?
FRANK: Had to be. Not much there but jungle and little villages- Magba, Lingondo, Yule, Yoo-lay, or however you pronounce it- but that's where their radio messages put them.
MUIR: But the radio's dead now?
FRANK: Haven't had any messages in over an hour. But I know somebody in the town of Baliakondo- that's over here- and he has a jeep. Maybe he can take us out into the bush.
MUIR: Call him- we have to find them! Hey- you ever get lost out there, out in the jungle?
FRANK: Oh yes.
MUIR: How do you find your way out?
FRANK: Well, when I was a kid, I always looked for the North star. You ever heard of that?
MUIR: Oh yes. But we're on the equator! How do you find the North star if you’re on the equator?
FRANK: My point exactly. If you're north of the equator, you see the North star, over there, on the horizon, north.
MUIR: And if you're south?
FRANK: Then you see the Southern Cross. Over there, on the southern horizon.
(short silence, MUIR looks around)
MUIR: And if it keeps raining?
FRANK: If it keeps raining, you wait. (they leave)
(They fold up map and leave. ALISON and REBECCA enter. REBECCA is moving sticks and wood over to a small bed.. DEB ENTERS. They sit on different wood stumps.
ALISON: Hey, what day is it?
DEB: December 21. Why?
ALISON: My family was all getting together, at my mom's house! I won't make it! I have to call them! Where's a phone? You got a cell?
DEB: Rebecca has a cell, but we're in the middle of the jungle.
ALISON: Oh, no! The tree, the decorations, the stockings, the candy, the presents! Missing that will be terrible!
REBECCA: Listen, honey, we've all lost a lot. Hannah was going home for Hannukah. It's the holiday season in a lot of places.
ALISON: Yeah, but this is Christmas!
REBECCA: At my house it's Yule - we burn a big log and light candles. It is, after all. the solstice, the shortest day of the year! And that, I believe, is today.
DEB: Shortest day of the year? We're on the equator! What difference does that make?
ALISON: Yeah, and I don’t suppose we’ll see any snow, or make any snowmen.
REBECCA: Ouch! Something is hurting me!
ALISON: Are you ok?
REBECCA: I’d better sit a while.
DEB: Are you pregnant?
REBECCA: Yes, as a matter of fact. I thought I would be ok for the plane flight. But the crash kind of got things moving, I think.
DEB: We may have to make some emergency preparations here.
REBECCA: How's the pilot?
DEB: Still in a coma. The others are better though. They said we could take a rest.
ALISON: Right about now, my mother is making Christmas cookies and decorating the tree! It's probably snowing in my hometown (she sobs, she moves forward; she's complaining to audience)
REBECCA: Oh you poor thing!
DEB: Now now, you know, Olongo will bring the doctor soon, and we'll all get out of this.
ALISON: Yeah but there's no way I'll be home in time! I'll miss the presents! The stockings! The…
REBECCA: Shut up, will you? Ouch! I think I'm going into labor!
ALISON: You’re what?
REBECCA: Going into labor!
ALISON: Oh my God! We're in the middle of the jungle! What has God done to us? God, why have you left me in this rainy place? Republic of…what?
DEB: (tending to Rebecca): Listen Alison! This is not a time to lose it! We have to work together to get out of this alive! Will someone bring me a washcloth?
ALISON: I’ll do it… (Alison leaves))
REBECCA: I can't take it anymore. It's just that she goes on and on about this Christmas stuff, and, you know, it's a tough subject for me.
DEB: You said you celebrated Yule?
REBECCA: Well, yes.
DEB: Here, you come over this way and tell me about it…
REBECCA (stops walking for a minute) Did you hear that?
DEB: It's just the sounds of the forest.
(they exit).
FRANK and MUIR enter)
MUIR: What did that guy say back at that gas station?
FRANK: He said Yule was a ways up this road. Maybe about 80 miles
MUIR: And?
FRANK: And the road is washed out for a while. Heavy rains.
MUIR: And that's all?
FRANK: And it will rain for a while, then it will stop.
MUIR: And we'll be able to go again?
FRANK: We would hope.
MUIR: And did he say anything else?
FRANK: Yes. He said, kutandika kua Yesu kuibuwa.
MUIR: And what's that mean?
FRANK: Happy holidays. Or something like it.
MUIR: This town up here, it’s call Yule?
FRANK: That’s right.
MUIR: Like the holiday? Like Christmas Yule?
FRANK: That’s right.
MUIR: I lived in Iceland for a while, and in Iceland we have the Yuletide lads- Door Slammer, Bowl Licker, Sausage Snatcher, Candle Beggar- they're little imps, playful fellows from the mountains. The children place their shoes on the windowsill and the little guys put presents in them- or, a potato, if the children have been bad!
FRANK: Kind of like the sounds of the forest, I guess.
MUIR: Hey what kind of religion do they have around here, anyway?
FRANK: It’s hard to describe. You have your Christians. But most people are kind of, well, animist, you could say
MUIR: Animist? What's that?
FRANK: Well, God's in everything. Everywhere.
MUIR: The rain? The jungle?
FRANK: There are nature spirits. Nature is alive.
MUIR: I guess I could see that.
FRANK: And there's no accidents. You know how we call this plane crash an accident?
MUIR: No accidents, eh?
DEB: It rained and rained; the pilot stayed in his coma. I made sure Alison watched after him while I took care of Rebecca. Alison was very sorry to miss Christmas, but she was a good nurse; she helped, and she brought me what I needed. One night she found a bottle in the debris…a large whiskey bottle. It was with the pilot's things.
Rebecca was in labor. We talked about Yule, the holiday. She said that the original holiday was actually more Pagan than Christian- that the Christians didn't really take over the date and the holiday until later. Yule logs, mistletoe, they were all part of the Yule holiday- celebration of the winter solstice, shortest day of the year.
I knew a little about delivering babies, so I began to make preparations for the baby... She never once mentioned the father, and I never asked. The local villagers seemed to know what was happening, and sent us some things that we needed- they could also see that we had shelter, so they didn't try to move us. But every day food, washcloths, and fresh water arrived. The baby was born healthy and without incident, a boy.
I was happy with the midwiving; I was good at that. I was ok with the food mush that Olongo brought to us; it wasn't what I was used to, but it was ok, and I'll never forget it. But what ate me was the bottle. Was that pilot drinking when he crashed? Was I stuck up here on the mountain, in the rain, with plane crash debris all over, because he was drinking? I couldn't live with it. My anger boiled. Deep down, I was furious.
MUIR: We were stuck on that road for hours. It poured down rain, and we could do nothing, see nothing, go nowhere. They say you can use the stars to know where you are, but that's only when you can see stars. Yule is 2 degrees north- so, the stars we were looking for were barely on the horizon- but the real problem was, it kept raining! Finally we fell asleep. And when we awoke, the sky was clear- and we knew we were back in the North- there was the North Star! And soon after that, we figured out a way to go around, and get where we were going. It's the kind of situation where it looks like only about 80 miles on the map, but actually it takes all day, and that's if you're lucky. I finally figured out how to find the stars on the horizon, though. If it wasn’t for that, we’d probably still be lost.
OLONGO: Our town hadn't seen anything like this plane crash in a long time. People were alarmed that a huge metal thing came down and landed on the mountain…we were also amazed that nobody had died. We sent some blankets and food up the mountain. Usually it was me who went up the mountain, walking, because I was able to speak English. We were able to get most of the people down from the mountain, and deliver them to safety, through the town of Yule. The Red Cross promised to send people, but they got lost and we were on our own for a couple of days. I came to know the people up on the mountain, the nurses, the woman who had a baby. They were grateful for the supplies, and they were nice to me, though I could tell they didn't like our food so much. It is a difficult place, these mountains, and not much grows here, though we share what we have.
Back in the village of Yule, the two guys from the Red Cross came looking for the remaining survivors one day, to take them back. We told them how to find them. Everyone's ok now, we said. Pilot's ok. Baby's ok. Mother's ok. Take us to them, the two guys said. But they had jeeps, and only mules will get up the mountain and back. So I said to them, I’ll show you the way. I will come with you, I'm good with mules, I know what they eat and how to take care of them. And I did.
(he leaves. Rebecca, holding doll in blanket, enters. Deb is with her.)
REBECCA: (holding baby) Nice baby! You can sleep now.
DEB: You two should rest. Help will arrive.
(ALISON and PILOT enter)
ALISON: The pilot came out of his coma! Here he is!
PILOT: Hello!
ALISON: Who is this?
DEB: Mom and baby. Baby was born this morning, at 4 am.
ALISON: The baby was born?
PILOT: In the jungle?
DEB: That’s right.
ALISON I don’t believe it.
DEB: Believe it. Baby is here, healthy and happy. (to the pilot) You were the pilot? What do you remember about the crash?
PILOT: Nothing!.
DEB: You don’t remember anything? Where you were? How it happened?
PILOT: I was flying across Congo. It was cloudy and raining. I was flying low.
DEB: Were you drinking? We found this bottle!
PILOT: Oh, that! No, I picked that up for my nephew. He puts boats in bottles
DEB: Really! Well, uh, I…
PILOT: Actually I'll tell you what happened. I was flying. You in the back were talking about God. And I thought to myself, if there's a God, why isn't there a sign? Where is God? And then, out of the clouds, and rain, was this huge mountain. It was there so fast, I couldn't do anything. I am so sorry. I'm sure it was my fault.
DEB: Don't worry, it all worked out ok.
(OLONGO, FRANK and MUIR arrive)
FRANK: Hello! Are you the nurse?
DEB: Yes. Mother and baby are over here.
FRANK: Is everyone ok? We came to return you to town, and back to your families.
OLONGO: The others went back earlier. You are the only ones remaining.
MUIR: The baby is ok?
REBECCA: The baby is fine. Healthy, happy.
ALISON: Born on a mountain, in the middle of nowhere!
MUIR: Nowhere?
OLONGO: As a matter of fact, you are six kilometers from a village, ten kilometers from the town of Yule. In the Democratic Republic of Congo.
REBECCA: Yule, you said?
OLONGO: That’s right. By the way, I brought these gifts from the villagers (puts boxes in front of Rebecca).They send their good tidings. When they heard about the baby, they gave us these to give to you.
REBECCA: Oh thank you. I am touched by your kindness. You have been so good to us, all along.
OLONGO: It is the least we can do. We feel like you came to us from above.
DEB: Which we did, I guess.
FRANK: We must be leaving soon What's that sound?
OLONGO: The sounds of the forest, I'm sure.
CURTAIN CALLs
Monday, March 10, 2008
Second First-Day at the Interfaith
RUBBER TREE: Kevin
GUITAR CASE: Delia
PIANO: Noah
HUGGERS STATUETTE: Marly
BUDDHA STATUETTE: Twyla
WALL CALENDAR: Gabe
KRSNA BOOK: Corey
ISLAM BOOK: Victor
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Eli
ACT ONE
BUDDHA STATUETTE: I am the Buddha. I am the Divine.
HUGGERS STATUETTE: You're just a statuette. You're just a rock. Somebody carved you out of a rock!
BUDDHA: People bring me flowers. I represent the path to enlighenment.
HUGGERS: There are many paths to enlightenment.
BUDDHA: What we think, we become. The mind is everything.
HUGGERS: You and your quotes! You're beginning to bug me!
(they leave)
GUITAR CASE (to audience): OK, here's the deal. You Eaters are in for a special treat today. I'm a guitar case, and I've been elected to show you around a little- give you a tour, and let you in on the secret world of inanimate objects. We call ourselves Noticers, because we notice everything. You (points at audience) are Eaters. I'm not sure why we call you that, maybe when you start eating, you stop noticing. Anyway we Noticers can talk- you just don't hear it usually. Only today we've made it possible for you to hear us. Today is music day at Quaker meeting. That's why I'm on the scene. Here we go!
(GUITAR CASE enters from left. PIANO is at left, playing the piano to himself with his fingers, imagining a song. WALL CALENDAR is in center near RUBBER TREE.)
PIANO: Well if it isn't Guitar case. What is it, music day?
WALL CALENDAR: Of course, second Sunday of the month! What's new, guitar case?
GUITAR CASE: Oh, nothing much. Same old same old. Tom H's kitchen, back of truck, here. At least I get out once in a while, better than some guitar cases. Here I stand in the lobby, and soon I'll go into the library. Then, it'll be back out here, and home.
PIANO: How's Shinto Gate?
GUITAR CASE: Same as usual, stands out there in front, eaters walk under him. They painted him a couple of years ago, did you know that?
PIANO: Oh yeah, I can see out the window, you know. I just can't talk to him. Every day I watch him out there, but I never say hello to him. Maybe on the day they move me out.
RUBBER TREE: Any word on the fate of the building?
GUITAR CASE: No, same as usual. They're going to tear it down, everyone is sure of it.
RUBBER TREE: Aaaaaahhhh! I can't take it!
PIANO: Ah, Rubber Tree, buck up. They'll find a home for you.
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, they'll find a home for me, in some university lobby somewhere. But it won't be the same. They'll probably cut off my upper branches, make me start over!
PIANO: Hey, at least you have a future. It's Shinto Gate that's in trouble. What are they going to do with Shinto Gate?
RUBBER TREE: I just can't take it! It seems so unfair, these eaters having so much control over our lives, over everything! And they don't even care about us!
WALL CALENDAR: Be glad you're not a book, like Krsna book or Islam book. You stand around for twenty, thirty years, your cover says "Look at me! Look at me!" Sometimes those eaters look at you, but usually they don't. Then it's off to the landfill for you!
PIANO: Yeah, or be glad you're not a glass figurine. Some eater kid drops you, it's all over!
WALL CALENDAR: I've heard stories about the landfill. I'll do anything to stay out of there!
PIANO: You'll be ok, Wall Calendar. They get a new building, they still need a wall calendar!
RUBBER TREE: Hey, speaking of books, what's going on in the library? Aren't you on your way in there?
GUITAR CASE: Yes, for music Sunday. Last week there was a huge fight between the Buddha statuette and the Huggers statuette.
PIANO: Oh yeah? I didn't hear about that.
GUITAR CASE: Oh yeah. Huggers claims that she's out on the table, because she represents all the religions, she represents the Interfaith itself. There's four of her, so she faces every direction, you know. But Buddha says, as a symbol of the divine, she deserves more respect.
PIANO: It's true, they usually put Huggers down there on the table, where everyone can see her.
WALL CALENDAR: But they only bring out Buddha for the special Buddhist events. Though they do bring her flowers.
RUBBER TREE: A Noticer is a Noticer. Why should anything an Eater do change anything? They're just statuettes. That's all. Eaters don't care about us. Yeah they move us around once in a while. You stand here for a few years, maybe they'll come by and water you once in a while. Eaters come and go, and it doesn't change anything.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah but it's what you represent that counts.
RUBBER TREE: Why?
GUITAR CASE: Well, you know, symbols are big for these eaters. You represent God, you end up in some holy place, you get stuff brought to you. Someone brought Buddha a flower, did you see that?
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, but when the Eaters go home, you're just a statuette. Same as all the rest. Eaters can come and go, I don't think they change anything.
WALL CALENDAR: What about Spike?
GUITAR CASE: Who's Spike?
WALL CALENDAR: Spike was a cat, lived around here for years. We used to argue about whether he was an eater or a noticer. Actually, he was kind of both. He was a little rough on the edges. This was back in the Karen era, before Hugh even.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah?
WALL CALENDAR: Didn't really have a family, Quakers were the closest he had. So one day, he caught a mole. Brought it in, and dropped it in Quaker meeting. Gave it to the Quakers.
PIANO: Bet they liked that!
WALL CALENDAR: Well, they were a little upset. But, in the end, he left here mellower than when he arrived. Point is, it did make a difference.
RUBBER TREE: And they made me a skylight- so my life would be better. But here I am, thirty feet high, all my leaves at the top, and now they'll have no place for me- I'm doomed!
PIANO: Yeah. Remember the Lights Parade? Every year, I watched the parade start outside this window. Floats from every church in town, marching bands from every school.
GUITAR CASE: What happened to the parade?
PIANO: They moved it! I guess Mill Street was more convenient, with its underpass and all. Now it starts on Mill Street.
RUBBER TREE: See, times change! We're obsolete! We're doomed!
PIANO: Those were the good old days, an interfaith place, a warm place to hang around, have a cup of hot cocoa, people aren't going to forget that.
RUBBER TREE: OK, so the place changed the people. But it didn't change the rest of us. Did anyone pick up a book? Did anyone organize the library? Was it all for nothing, or what?
WALL CALENDAR: You can't say it was all for nothing. Remember the Synergy? Remember the Hillel? Or the Environmentalists, mowing the lawn and hanging around all hours of the night? Look, this place has welcomed so many eaters, you can't imagine. And each one has had an influence. Vegetarian Thanksgivings, Big Muddy Films, you name it.
RUBBER TREE: All I'm saying is, eaters come and go. But they don't care about us. Money is what it is. They're tearing this place down- but why? They need a place that will pay the bills, that's all. This place is old; it's in bad shape, they can't heat it in the winter, can't keep it cool in the summer.
WALL CALENDAR: You're forgetting about history. Eaters shed blood keeping this place going. Pounds and pounds of old clothes, sold in the midnight rummage sales. Remember the time that guy broke Picture Window, down on the ground floor? Or the great Flood?
GUITAR CASE: This place has quite a history, doesn't it?
WALL CALENDAR: I'm not even telling half of it.
GUITAR CASE: I've got to get into the library now- it's time for singing.
RUBBER TREE: Say hello to the statuettes.
PIANO: And the books. We never see them.
(GUITAR CASE LEAVES)
PIANO: You know, your stories remind me.
RUBBER TREE (crying) Yeah?
PIANO: Once there was this little boy. Didn't have a piano at home, used to come by, bang on me once in a while.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Yeah. I used to get mad; I was waiting for someone who knew how to play. You know how it is.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Well, it turns out, you make a bigger difference, being there for a boy like that, than you do being there for a musician, you know what I mean? It's like, maybe the boy doesn't know a thing. And maybe I'm the first piano he ever saw, you know what I mean?
ACT TWO
(GANDHI WALL HANGING AT LEFT, STATUETTES AT RIGHT)
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Guitar case! How are you?
GUITAR CASE: I'm ok. Rubber tree is railing against the tyranny of injustice.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
GUITAR CASE: Excuse me?
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Oh sorry, Gandhi quote.
GUITAR CASE:I see the statuettes are on the shelf.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Old Roof leaked. Right during Quaker meeting. They moved Huggers over to the bookshelf. Now, the statuettes are a couple of bookends.
KRSHNA BOOK: Look at me! Look at me! I've got pictures!
ISLAM BOOK: Look at me! Look at me!
BUDDHA: You know, the guy that made me, he was really careful. He took hours and hours.
HUGGERS: Yeah, same with the woman who made me. You think all that work will go to waste?
BUDDHA: What do you mean?
HUGGERS: You know, if the building is torn down, and we have to move...
BUDDHA: Oh, we'll be ok....Even death is not to be feared by one who lives wisely!
HUGGERS: You and your quotes again!
GANDHI: Hey, quiet over there! It's time for the music!
RUBBER TREE: Kevin
GUITAR CASE: Delia
PIANO: Noah
HUGGERS STATUETTE: Marly
BUDDHA STATUETTE: Twyla
WALL CALENDAR: Gabe
KRSNA BOOK: Corey
ISLAM BOOK: Victor
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Eli
ACT ONE
BUDDHA STATUETTE: I am the Buddha. I am the Divine.
HUGGERS STATUETTE: You're just a statuette. You're just a rock. Somebody carved you out of a rock!
BUDDHA: People bring me flowers. I represent the path to enlighenment.
HUGGERS: There are many paths to enlightenment.
BUDDHA: What we think, we become. The mind is everything.
HUGGERS: You and your quotes! You're beginning to bug me!
(they leave)
GUITAR CASE (to audience): OK, here's the deal. You Eaters are in for a special treat today. I'm a guitar case, and I've been elected to show you around a little- give you a tour, and let you in on the secret world of inanimate objects. We call ourselves Noticers, because we notice everything. You (points at audience) are Eaters. I'm not sure why we call you that, maybe when you start eating, you stop noticing. Anyway we Noticers can talk- you just don't hear it usually. Only today we've made it possible for you to hear us. Today is music day at Quaker meeting. That's why I'm on the scene. Here we go!
(GUITAR CASE enters from left. PIANO is at left, playing the piano to himself with his fingers, imagining a song. WALL CALENDAR is in center near RUBBER TREE.)
PIANO: Well if it isn't Guitar case. What is it, music day?
WALL CALENDAR: Of course, second Sunday of the month! What's new, guitar case?
GUITAR CASE: Oh, nothing much. Same old same old. Tom H's kitchen, back of truck, here. At least I get out once in a while, better than some guitar cases. Here I stand in the lobby, and soon I'll go into the library. Then, it'll be back out here, and home.
PIANO: How's Shinto Gate?
GUITAR CASE: Same as usual, stands out there in front, eaters walk under him. They painted him a couple of years ago, did you know that?
PIANO: Oh yeah, I can see out the window, you know. I just can't talk to him. Every day I watch him out there, but I never say hello to him. Maybe on the day they move me out.
RUBBER TREE: Any word on the fate of the building?
GUITAR CASE: No, same as usual. They're going to tear it down, everyone is sure of it.
RUBBER TREE: Aaaaaahhhh! I can't take it!
PIANO: Ah, Rubber Tree, buck up. They'll find a home for you.
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, they'll find a home for me, in some university lobby somewhere. But it won't be the same. They'll probably cut off my upper branches, make me start over!
PIANO: Hey, at least you have a future. It's Shinto Gate that's in trouble. What are they going to do with Shinto Gate?
RUBBER TREE: I just can't take it! It seems so unfair, these eaters having so much control over our lives, over everything! And they don't even care about us!
WALL CALENDAR: Be glad you're not a book, like Krsna book or Islam book. You stand around for twenty, thirty years, your cover says "Look at me! Look at me!" Sometimes those eaters look at you, but usually they don't. Then it's off to the landfill for you!
PIANO: Yeah, or be glad you're not a glass figurine. Some eater kid drops you, it's all over!
WALL CALENDAR: I've heard stories about the landfill. I'll do anything to stay out of there!
PIANO: You'll be ok, Wall Calendar. They get a new building, they still need a wall calendar!
RUBBER TREE: Hey, speaking of books, what's going on in the library? Aren't you on your way in there?
GUITAR CASE: Yes, for music Sunday. Last week there was a huge fight between the Buddha statuette and the Huggers statuette.
PIANO: Oh yeah? I didn't hear about that.
GUITAR CASE: Oh yeah. Huggers claims that she's out on the table, because she represents all the religions, she represents the Interfaith itself. There's four of her, so she faces every direction, you know. But Buddha says, as a symbol of the divine, she deserves more respect.
PIANO: It's true, they usually put Huggers down there on the table, where everyone can see her.
WALL CALENDAR: But they only bring out Buddha for the special Buddhist events. Though they do bring her flowers.
RUBBER TREE: A Noticer is a Noticer. Why should anything an Eater do change anything? They're just statuettes. That's all. Eaters don't care about us. Yeah they move us around once in a while. You stand here for a few years, maybe they'll come by and water you once in a while. Eaters come and go, and it doesn't change anything.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah but it's what you represent that counts.
RUBBER TREE: Why?
GUITAR CASE: Well, you know, symbols are big for these eaters. You represent God, you end up in some holy place, you get stuff brought to you. Someone brought Buddha a flower, did you see that?
RUBBER TREE: Yeah, but when the Eaters go home, you're just a statuette. Same as all the rest. Eaters can come and go, I don't think they change anything.
WALL CALENDAR: What about Spike?
GUITAR CASE: Who's Spike?
WALL CALENDAR: Spike was a cat, lived around here for years. We used to argue about whether he was an eater or a noticer. Actually, he was kind of both. He was a little rough on the edges. This was back in the Karen era, before Hugh even.
GUITAR CASE: Yeah?
WALL CALENDAR: Didn't really have a family, Quakers were the closest he had. So one day, he caught a mole. Brought it in, and dropped it in Quaker meeting. Gave it to the Quakers.
PIANO: Bet they liked that!
WALL CALENDAR: Well, they were a little upset. But, in the end, he left here mellower than when he arrived. Point is, it did make a difference.
RUBBER TREE: And they made me a skylight- so my life would be better. But here I am, thirty feet high, all my leaves at the top, and now they'll have no place for me- I'm doomed!
PIANO: Yeah. Remember the Lights Parade? Every year, I watched the parade start outside this window. Floats from every church in town, marching bands from every school.
GUITAR CASE: What happened to the parade?
PIANO: They moved it! I guess Mill Street was more convenient, with its underpass and all. Now it starts on Mill Street.
RUBBER TREE: See, times change! We're obsolete! We're doomed!
PIANO: Those were the good old days, an interfaith place, a warm place to hang around, have a cup of hot cocoa, people aren't going to forget that.
RUBBER TREE: OK, so the place changed the people. But it didn't change the rest of us. Did anyone pick up a book? Did anyone organize the library? Was it all for nothing, or what?
WALL CALENDAR: You can't say it was all for nothing. Remember the Synergy? Remember the Hillel? Or the Environmentalists, mowing the lawn and hanging around all hours of the night? Look, this place has welcomed so many eaters, you can't imagine. And each one has had an influence. Vegetarian Thanksgivings, Big Muddy Films, you name it.
RUBBER TREE: All I'm saying is, eaters come and go. But they don't care about us. Money is what it is. They're tearing this place down- but why? They need a place that will pay the bills, that's all. This place is old; it's in bad shape, they can't heat it in the winter, can't keep it cool in the summer.
WALL CALENDAR: You're forgetting about history. Eaters shed blood keeping this place going. Pounds and pounds of old clothes, sold in the midnight rummage sales. Remember the time that guy broke Picture Window, down on the ground floor? Or the great Flood?
GUITAR CASE: This place has quite a history, doesn't it?
WALL CALENDAR: I'm not even telling half of it.
GUITAR CASE: I've got to get into the library now- it's time for singing.
RUBBER TREE: Say hello to the statuettes.
PIANO: And the books. We never see them.
(GUITAR CASE LEAVES)
PIANO: You know, your stories remind me.
RUBBER TREE (crying) Yeah?
PIANO: Once there was this little boy. Didn't have a piano at home, used to come by, bang on me once in a while.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Yeah. I used to get mad; I was waiting for someone who knew how to play. You know how it is.
WALL CALENDAR: Yeah?
PIANO: Well, it turns out, you make a bigger difference, being there for a boy like that, than you do being there for a musician, you know what I mean? It's like, maybe the boy doesn't know a thing. And maybe I'm the first piano he ever saw, you know what I mean?
ACT TWO
(GANDHI WALL HANGING AT LEFT, STATUETTES AT RIGHT)
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Guitar case! How are you?
GUITAR CASE: I'm ok. Rubber tree is railing against the tyranny of injustice.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
GUITAR CASE: Excuse me?
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Oh sorry, Gandhi quote.
GUITAR CASE:I see the statuettes are on the shelf.
GANDHI WALLHANGING: Old Roof leaked. Right during Quaker meeting. They moved Huggers over to the bookshelf. Now, the statuettes are a couple of bookends.
KRSHNA BOOK: Look at me! Look at me! I've got pictures!
ISLAM BOOK: Look at me! Look at me!
BUDDHA: You know, the guy that made me, he was really careful. He took hours and hours.
HUGGERS: Yeah, same with the woman who made me. You think all that work will go to waste?
BUDDHA: What do you mean?
HUGGERS: You know, if the building is torn down, and we have to move...
BUDDHA: Oh, we'll be ok....Even death is not to be feared by one who lives wisely!
HUGGERS: You and your quotes again!
GANDHI: Hey, quiet over there! It's time for the music!
