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2010-06-11T10:16:00.001-05:00

Bartram's Flower

A play by Young Friends of Southern Illinois Quaker Meeting
Gaia House, Interfaith Center
Sun. June 13 11:30 AM
all welcome

2010-04-02T20:18:00.000-05:00

2009-12-30T22:40:00.005-06:00

Bartram's Flower: The life and times of John Bartram, colonial botanist (first draft)

A play by young Friends of So. Illinois Quaker Meeting

(parts are negotiable)
JOHN BARTRAM: Noah
BEN FRANKLIN: Gabe
MARY MARIS: Twyla
ANN MENDENHALL: Delia
JANE: Marley
ELIAS HICKS: Keagan
REDCOAT #1: Corey
REDCOAT #2: Victor

BEN comes to front, speaks to audience)
BEN: I am Ben, as I'm sure you know, and I've got a story to tell you. I was living in Philadelphia, well, I guess you know that, the key, the electricity, and all that, but that's not my story. No, this is the story of the public life of John Bartram, a Quaker and a botanist. We were pretty good friends, Bartram, and I. He was born in 1699, in Darby. That was near Philadelphia, farm country, but these days, I suppose it's all part of the city.
(BEN exits; ANN comes to front, speaks to audience)
ANN: My name is Ann. I grew up in Darby, near Philadelphia. As a young girl, a Quaker farmer caught my eye; his name was John Bartram, and I'm here to tell you his story. He became famous, but his personal story is just as interesting as his public story. Now, as a girl, I kept my eye on him, because he was honest, straightforward, strong of character. I was disappointed, though, because another woman, Mary Maris, found him and married him first. They were both members of our Quaker meeting, and so was Jane, the wife of the clerk. Jane was quite a sharp lady; I liked her and admired her, but, she didn't care for John, I think.
(JANE enters)
JANE: Good first-day, Ann.
ANN: Good day, Jane. How are thee?
JANE: I am fine, thank thee. Say, I know a young Quaker lad whom I would like thee to meet. He is like John Bartram, but he has two advantages. One, he's single, unlike Bartram. Also, he's quite humble.
ANN: I am not interested.
JANE: Not interested? Do you have another?
ANN: Well, no. Listen, Jane, I'll take care of myself. I appreciate your interest, and your concern. Really I do. Thank you. Good day.

(ANN and JANE exit; JOHN comes to front, speaks to audience)
JOHN (to audience) My name is John. One day I was very busy in holding my plough (for thee seest that I am but a ploughman) and being weary I ran under the shade of a tree to repose myself. I cast my eyes upon a daisy. I plucked it mechanically and viewed it with more curiosity than common country farmers are wont to do; and observed therein many distinct parts, some perpendicular, some horizontal. What a shame, said my mind, or something that inspired my mind, that thee shouldest have employed so many flowers and plants, without being acquainted with their structures and uses! (exits)
(BEN comes to front, speaks to audience).
BEN: So this Bartram guy, we were good friends and all, he was a farmer, you see, quite prosperous also. His farm was quite well organized; a place for everything, and everything in its place, as I like to say. He was married, and a good and faithful husband, but he gets interested in botany and wild plants, you see, not the usual stuff, like wheat and flax, but the wild stuff they got around here, in the new world, like pawpaw, winterberry, inkberry, that kind of thing. He starts with a daisy, but he finds other stuff; he studies it; he grows it; he understands it. But his wife doesn't like it, you see.
(BEN leaves, JOHN comes back to front; he is digging and putting dirt in pots)
JOHN: I mentioned it to my wife, who greatly discouraged me from prosecuting my new scheme, as she called it. I was not opulent enough, she said, to dedicate much of my time to studies and labors which might rob me of that portion of it which is the only wealth of the American farmer. (MARY enters)
MARY: John, what are you doing?
JOHN: I'm planting daisies. I saw one in the field one day, and wanted to know more about it. So, I now have seeds here, and some young daisies.
MARY: John, you're a farmer, and a Quaker. Why aren't you working with more useful things, like, say, wheat? Or flax?
JOHN: I've already done that. Don't you have wheat on the table? This is my free time. The crops are in.
MARY: Yes, but my point is, these flowers are wild. They are of no use that we know of. Why are you doing this with your time?
JOHN: No use that we know of, indeed! It may be, that it's because we don't know about them, that we don't know all of their uses!
MARY: John, please remember. We are but farmers. We are not herbalists. We do not need the kind of trouble like those people in Massachusetts. They were killed for their trouble, you know.
JOHN: In Salem?
MARY: Yes. When you use those plants too much, then you know too much; it's like you've made a pact with the devil. And when people sense that, you end up on the outside of the social community. And that would be bad for all of us.
JOHN: (leaning on his shovel) Mary, I am an honest farmer; I work day in and day out. I put wheat and flax on our table, and I grow Indian corn for the market. I find myself interested in the natural order of our plants, their place in the natural system of God's living beings on earth. I see no devil at work here. This is a daisy. It is beautiful as part of God's work. It is not evil.

(they leave; ANN enters and speaks to audience)
ANN: So his wife, Mary Maris, becomes sick. You see, at that time, we had these epidemics that passed through; this was one of them. There were no hospitals. There were no known cures.
(JANE enters)
JANE: Hello Anne!
ANN: Hello Jane!
JANE: Have you heard, Mary Maris is now sick? It seems many people are getting sick!
ANN: Yes, in fact, I have heard that.
JANE: I wonder what it is?
ANN: I have no idea.
JANE: I have heard that her husband, John Bartram, studies the wild plants, rather than sticking with wheat and flax, as good farmers do.
ANN: What are you suggesting?
JANE: Well, my point is, if he knows these plants, perhaps he can find a cure for his wife! Or, perhaps he knows better than we what ails her!
ANN: I hadn't thought of that.
(they exit; BEN comes to front)
BEN: So he learns a bit about the wild plants, the daisy, the St. Johnswort, the jimson weed. But it's obviously not enough. He doesn't know the ones that cure the influenza, which was common at that time. (JOHN enters)
JOHN: Ben, I need your help.
BEN: Yes?
JOHN: My wife; she's deathly ill.
BEN: And there are none of your wild plants that will help?
JOHN: None, Ben. It's a flu. I know nothing that will help it. Do you know of a hospital that will take her?
BEN: John, this is Philadelphia. There are no hospitals. (JOHN exits, crying; ANNE enters)
ANN: I have to say, men and women lived quite separately in those days. In other words, we women knew of Mary Maris' ailments, as we were in the same Meeting, and I'm sure John was familiar with them, as he was her husband. When she died, he grieved, I'm sure. He was quite upset. But it was difficult for us to see this, as women; we women worshipped separately; we had a separate social life. (she exits, BEN enters)
BEN: So his first wife dies, and right around that time, he buys some land out on the Schuykill (SKOOKUL) River up there, and starts rebuilding the house, so that he can study his wild plants and all. Like I said, we were pretty good friends and all, and did things together. (JOHN enters)
JOHN: Ben! Ben Franklin! It's good to see you again!
BEN: Indeed, John Bartram. How have you been?
JOHN: I've been set back a bit. My wife died, about a year ago. But I have a new house; my farm prospers. And you are still a printer?
BEN: Yes, indeed I am. I've just finished the almanac, and am working on another. You know, it is not a very good age, for us thinkers. I am hoping to do things to get people to think about the issues of the day.
JOHN: There is a general lack of things to read. I have been to Philadelphia many times, looking for books on Latin and such.
BEN: Latin? Why do you want to learn Latin?
JOHN: Have you ever heard of Linnaeus? He has developed a system of classifying plants, and I am quite interested in this system; but, one must know Latin to understand it, or to read his writing. And, I would also like any reading material on natural sciences. But we have so little!
BEN: I have an idea. Maybe we should make a collection of reading material, that the public can share. We could call it, a library.
JOHN: Splendid idea. In fact, I know of a place near my home in Darby that we could use. This is what I like about you, Ben. When we get together, we have ideas, we do things. Let's make this library; this would be good for the colonies. (they exit; ANN comes to front)
ANN: Well, so John was single now, and one day I caught his eye, and, well, to make a long story short, we were married. And, eventually, I had nine children, five boys and four girls, and one boy, William, was quite an artist. So it happened, that they would find these plants, and John would study them, and categorize them, but William would draw them. But my story is not really about William, who also became famous, but about John himself, who continued to study plants, even though the community was somewhat set against him.
(JANE enters)
JANE: Ann! I haven't seen you in some time! How is the farm doing at your place?
ANN: We're doing quite well; we have wheat, and oats, and Indian corn, as usual.
JANE: At our house we had more wheat than ever before. Did you?
ANN: We had about the same as last year.
JANE: But didn't your husband plant part of your land in wild flowers and grasses? And make a little greenhouse to keep them in?
ANN: Yes, in fact he did. Altogether two acres were given over to wild plants.
JANE: Two acres! With that you could have grown quite a bit of wheat! What does he plan to do with these wild flowers and plants?
ANN: Study them, I suppose. He fancies himself a botanist. He has little education or training, yet he grows and studies them very carefully.
JANE: No good will come of this, my friend, I guarantee you.
ANN: It is what he wishes.
JANE: Then maybe you can change what he wishes.
ANN: I'll not try that; it can't be done. It is taking unusually long upstairs at the Meeting; what do you think is happening?
JANE: My husband is calling for a minute, as we speak, asking every member Friend to proclaim allegiance to Christ our Savior.
ANN: You will ask every member of the Darby meeting to make such a declaration?
JANE: Yes, is that a problem?
ANNE: No, no, I suppose not.
JANE: Listen to me, Ann Mendenhall. Your husband is in dangerous territory. He is out there studying the wild grasses, the wild herbs. Those young women in Salem were killed; do you know why they were killed? It is not our place as Quaker farmers to learn too much about these things. Now you listen to me. I would like you to get your husband to proclaim his allegiance to Christ our Savior. Then, I would like you to get him to give up on studying these wild plants, do you understand me?
ANN: Yes, ma'am! (they leave)

(BEN enters)
BEN: It was a turbulent time in the colonies. The British were setting taxes, the Stamp Act and all, and the colonists didn't like them. All my friends, Tom Paine, John Adams, Tom Jefferson, they were talking independence. The redcoats were on everyone, trying to get us to pay our taxes and all.
(REDCOATS ENTER)
R1: Pay your taxes! Pay your taxes! In the name of King George!
BEN: Be off with you!
R2: In the name of King George! Pay your taxes or you'll hang!
BEN: Get along now! Go home! Get out of here! (to audience) So you have to understand, in these days I was going back and forth a bit, from the colonies to England; I knew people. This Carl Linnaeus? I'd met him. I had friends, you could say. (JOHN enters). John! How are you?
JOHN: Fine, and you?
BEN: Very well, very well. Are you still studying the wild plants?
JOHN: Yes, in fact, when I am not farming, I often walk into the wild territory (sweeps his arm to indicate far horizon) and collect wild plants and their seeds. I have a collection of wild plants behind my barn, and I have labeled them. If among the many plants I am acquainted with, there are any thee wantest to send abroad, I will cheerfully procure the, and give thee moreover whatever directions thee mayest want.
BEN: The reason I mention it, is that I have met a man in England. His name is Peter Collinson. He believes that these specimens might be of interest in England. England is quite a crowded place, you know. Less wildlife and wildflowers there, than here. Yet people are quite interested in them. I should make you acquainted with him. I do believe you two will have a fruitful acquaintance.
JOHN: I would appreciate that. In fact, I find that here in the colonies, people are busy, and don't appreciate wildflowers; they are eager to plow them over, and are not even interested in knowing their various uses. I have talked to people in this area about the wildflowers, and have gathered some information about them, but I have found no one to tell about them.
BEN: As I like to say, if passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. I mention this, because you are quite passionate about this botany business. I will tell Mr. Collinson about you forthwith, and you shall be able to write to him. And about our library, I will be in touch with you about some books that we can put there, in Darby. This shall be a place where the average man can read edifying material. As I like to say, an investment in knowledge pays the best interest! (BEN leaves; ANN enters)
ANN: John, I've been looking for you.
JOHN: Really, why?
ANN: There is bad news from the meeting. Jane and her husband, the clerk, have gathered a group of Friends who, as you know, feel that the meeting should unite behind its belief in Jesus as Son of God and Savior. This will not be easy for you, will it, John?
JOHN: You know, Ann, I spend my days farming. And I spend my weekends studying the infinite and glorious patterns of wild plants.
ANN: Yes?
JOHN: I see the work of God everywhere. I see God in the wildflowers, in the branches, the bark, the roots, the leaves.
ANNE: Yes?
JOHN: But I do not see Jesus in these things.
ANNE: John, they will call you a Deist. They already call you a Deist.
JOHN: I do not care what they call me. I have been in this meeting for many years, and I do not plan to leave it. Do you see this?
ANNE: Yes, what is it?
JOHN: It's a bush which I call rhododendron. It was found in the mountains, down by North Carolina.
ANNE: Where do you get such a name?
JOHN: I am influenced by the Linnean system of naming. I have named many of the wild plants I have found, but I have yet to really explore. In North Carolina, for example, there are dozens of new ones, and I barely know them, since I I have never been there; I got this from my brother, who picked it up merely because he knew I was interested.
ANNE: John, this is causing trouble for us in our Darby Meeting!
JOHN: What kind of trouble?
ANNE: First, many people feel that botany is a frivolous occupation. It is also said that the wild plants carry powerful spirits…well, you know what I mean. You have heard of Salem, and of the witch trials.
JOHN: And, would the Quakers persecute someone who bothered to learn the uses and purposes of God's plants?
ANNE: No, but they would disown you, if you don't declare allegiance to Christ our Savior!
JOHN: (puts shovel down): Anne, if the good people of the Darby Meeting choose to disown me, they shall have to tell me that to my face. I shall not disown them; I do not plan to change my activities. Do you see this flower?
ANN: Yes.
JOHN: This one is called the Venus flytrap. You see, it is quite sweet and alluring to the fly, like doctrine to the believer. But the plant actually swallows the fly.
ANN: Swallows the fly?
JOHN: Yes, you generally think of insects using plants, eating them, and taking what they need. But in fact, it is sometimes the other way around. I shall be back; I must tend to the horses.
(JOHN exits)

ANN: You have to understand something. In this day, 1740, meetings were all different, yet this kind of thing, what the Darby meeting did to John, and thus to me, was not especially unusual. First, men and women were separated; what we women felt, had to go through our husbands, or said indirectly. Second, if a meeting felt strongly about an issue, it would discuss it until it had some unity, and if a member really didn't agree, he had little choice but to leave the meeting, or they would disown him. My husband, however, was quite stubborn. He had no intention of leaving. And so it was, that in 1758, they disowned him. He could still attend, and he did. But he was no longer a member. And so also with me. As his wife, I also was disowned. (ANN leaves, BEN enters)

BEN: To get back to my story. Where was I? Oh yes. Bartram and I were friends; we started the American Philosophical Society together, as well as that library I mentioned. I travel a lot, you see; in England, this John Bartram is a big hit. He sends these boxes, Bartram's boxes, they are called, to England. Mr. Collinson distributes them, to Linnaeus, to others, around Europe. They become quite popular. Bartram becomes reknowned as a botanist; the best in the new world, according to Linnaeus himself, who becomes an avid follower of his work. (pauses) Now I know he has had some problem with his Darby meeting; I am, after all, his friend. But what should he do, quit botany? I think not. As I like to say, Hide not your talents; they for use were made; what's a sundial in the shade? Let me tell you something: on his greenhouse, above the door, he has carved in stone: "slave to no sect, who takes no private road, but looks through Nature, up to Nature's God." It's how he is. He's an independent thinker, like myself. I admire the guy. (BEN leaves)

(JOHN is working on plant as ELIAS enters. ELIAS is helping).
ELIAS: John Bartram, I am Elias Hicks. I have come from New York State.
JOHN: Welcome, young man. Will you hold this plant for a minute?
ELIAS: Yes, sure. (holding the plant) What is this one called?
JOHN: Toxicodendron, also known as poison ivy. Be careful where you touch it! It will give you a rash. You see, I study them, know them; learn how to handle them. You know, it's a shame we Quakers can't do the same for our own members.
ELIAS: As I understand it, this meeting disowned you. Why was that?
JOHN: Well, young man, I guess they felt that everyone in their meeting has to agree to certain things.
ELIAS: But it would be impossible for everyone to agree on everything, wouldn't it?
JOHN: Indeed it would.
ELIAS: Well, I think Quaker Meeting should change its idea!
JOHN: Thank you, young man; I'm with you on that.
(JOHN and ELIAS leave; ANN enters)
ANN: That young man, Elias Hicks, went on to start, many years later, a branch of Friends that stressed the prominence of one's conscience. That is to say, nowadays it's entirely reasonable that some friends take Jesus as a savior, while others, like Bartram, do not. That is because of Hicks, who did not agree with the way Darby Meeting treated John Bartram. But I will tell you one thing. John Bartram continued to attend that meeting. That meeting disowned John Bartram, but Bartram did not disown the meeting.
(JANE enters)
JANE: Good day, Anne.
ANN: Good day, Jane.
JANE: I saw your John at Meeting again.
ANN: Yes, what of it?
JANE: He is still working with those wild plants, isn't he?
ANN: Jane, it is clear to me that you are not at peace with the idea of his work as a botanist.
JANE: I do not think his working with powerful herbs is Quakerly. Yes, I think that is accurate. I am not at peace at all.
ANN: Please understand, Jane. I have known him for many years now. There is not one bone in his body that is not Quakerly.
JANE: This meeting tried to get him to merely profess his allegiance to Jesus Christ, our Savior.
ANN: I did not mean that he was devoted to Jesus. I meant that he was devoted to truth, and to service. And to peace.
JANE: Ann, it was more than thirty years ago that his first wife died. Even back then, I cursed those wild plants that he was studying. I said, if he knew those wild plants well, why did she die? What did he do?
ANN: You don't think he killed her with those wild plants, do you? Jane, I know him well. I know he did nothing of the sort.
JANE: You think I suspect him of killing her? No, that is only partly right. I do not suspect only him. I suspect you also.
ANN: I am shocked. Jane, I have known you were not at peace. But I did not imagine.
JANE: I must admit this, Ann. In my mind, I thought that if we could get you to fill yourself with the love of Jesus Christ, that would drive away the evil spirit of the devil's weeds and bushes.
ANN: There is that of God in every plant, Jane.
JANE: When he did not agree, we were convinced he was in the hands of the devil.
ANN: And you still feel this way?
JANE: No, I must admit. He continues to come to this meeting. I feel now, that he is as honest a man as there is, in this land.
(ANN and JANE exit; BEN enters. JOHN enters also, and works on plants back on stage right).

BEN: Bartram's fame increased in Europe; in 1765, he became the King's botanist. This offered him a salary, which he was now able to use to travel, particularly to Florida, and Georgia, and the Carolinas. All in all, he identified almost 200 species. One in particular, he named Franklinia, after yours truly, by the way. After he removed it, it was destroyed, in the rush to colonize Georgia, so his careful removal and preservation served to save this species forever. But I must mention to you, time was catching up to him. He was now quite old. The redcoats kept infringing on him; they would break in, trampling his garden.
(REDCOATS enter, swarm both BEN and JOHN)
R#1 Pay your taxes! Pay your taxes or you'll hang! In the name of King George!
R#2 (to JOHN) Pay your taxes! Why do you grow these plants?
JOHN: Get out! Leave me alone!
BEN: Be off with you! Out of here! Go home!
(BEN and redcoats exit; ANN enters)
ANN: On that fateful day, Jane had told me that she suspected me, or us, in the death of Mary Maris. I was not guilty; I had not killed her or even dreamed of it. But you can see how the fear of the wild plants had clouded people's judgment, not only in Salem, but all over the colonies. John did more than anyone to dispel these ideas; he kept at work until he knew, and understood, the plants of the new colonies. In addition, he kept faith with his meeting. He was buried there, at Darby Meeting, after he died, in 1777. (ANN exits. BEN enters).
BEN: Did I tell you how he died? The redcoats were trampling his garden, his beloved botanical garden. He was quite upset. But let me tell you something about those redcoats: their days were numbered too! We pretty much sent them back to England! As I like to say, of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived!

CURTAIN CALL
12-09

2009-09-12T21:29:00.003-05:00

Links for Bartram play

timeline of W. Bartram
John Bartram
Early life of Wm.

2009-08-24T15:38:00.000-05:00

2009-03-08T14:22:00.000-05:00

2008-11-02T22:27:00.002-06:00

Ordinarily this is a pretty sleepy site; I don't talk much about my religion, in fact, have made it a practice not to. I put my plays here; some Quaker pop art; some other stuff, but it has only 22 posts since its inception and that was many years ago.

Today was the performance of Second First-day at the Interfaith Center, so I'm actually breaking the habit above. I want to make several points about the play.

For the record, the play was earlier today (Sun. Nov. 2, 2008); it was generally a success; it was attended mostly by people who came to meeting and potluck anyway, since it was not heavily advertised or publicized. Actors did great, I thought.

It was different from others in that it seemed like many of the actors had grown a lot since the last ones; new crowd, both on-stage and in the audience. Second, it was about the Interfaith itself, and came at a time when that's a hot issue (moving); I tried actually not to take too strong a stand, but, with it being all about appreciation of the place, it was hard not to at least appear that way.

Finally, I don't have much to say about use of the Buddha to represent one religion in the one religion vs. many debate. Perhaps Buddha was inappropriate for this role; I chose Buddha mostly because the two statuettes were in proximity, so much of the time, for so much of the meeting. It seemed to me like all religions have this conflict; they pressure their members to give more of themselves, and not be a wanderer of many paths. Quakerism is perhaps unusually tolerant in this regard, thus likely to side with the huggers statuette in the play. But seriously I chose only to represent the disagreement, not to post a winner. I don't consider myself one to answer that question, even though I've very clearly sided with the huggers on it, both with my family & publicly.

But I'll admit, I did very little research into the Buddha, the Buddha's role in this debate, etc. I didn't know for example that use of Buddha with "the Divine" was probably inappropriate. I just wrote it for the situation. It was kind of for this group, this building, this moment; nothing else.

I don't intend to change minds with these plays. I'm as accurate as I can be with limited time, limited knowledge and the need to do something productive with First-day school. I'm happy if people use the plays to discuss issues; in this case I'm truly torn about the issue of Interfaith vs. moving anyway, one could say I feel strongly both ways. Thought I'd get at least a few of my feelings down in print.

Pop art: what can I say? It's original, putting Quakers in pop art (see below; it may be buried in the archives of this blog). But again, I don't have any particular message. I use pop art to bring things I notice and feel up to the surface. To me it's not a contradiction to put Quakers & pop art in the same sentence, because, though pop art is surface, shallow, all on top, Quakerism can have a certain surface attraction also, an image, a powerful essence, color and shape working together to say what Quakerism is. So I play with that, all in the context of a developing, computer-based graphic pop-art medium. I also don't find Quakerism & the web, or e-mail, or even Second Life to be necessarily contradictory; I try to do everything with a genuine hope, simplicity, spirit. If I separate Quakerism from pop art, what would that say? or from my writing? It's not separate; I'm just me. And, if it offended you, I apologize. Keep in mind, unlike Andy Warhol, I'm not going out and printing a million of these "Oat Quakers;" unlike the Obama Hope posters, I don't think they'll be plastered on the walls of Denver, sell on eBay for thousands, or be the seed for blogs of viral parody. But who knows. If they do, I'll stand behind them, see above; Quakerism is, to me, important, personal, a kind of support for keeping me on the good side with where I'm going with all of this. Which means, I probably won't start selling it. Not the art, not the plays, none of it. Even if I could make it better, I probably won't; I'll leave this site for me, let people use the plays & the art, and keep adding to it, as time passes, and Quakerism gets a richer texture, more meaning, in my own life.

2008-10-05T00:52:00.007-05:00

SECOND FIRST-DAY AT THE INTERFAITH
Script- October 2008

RUBBER TREE: Noah
GUITAR CASE: Gabe
PIANO: Delia
HUGGERS STATUETTE: Marly
BUDDHA STATUETTE: Twyla
CHURCH OF CHRIST BROCHURE, PRESBYTERIAN BROCHURE, LUTHERAN BROCHURE: Eli, Corey, Victor
YIN-YANG FLAG, EARTH FLAG, UN FLAG: Eli, Corey, Victor
KRSNA BOOK, ISLAM BOOK, JUDAISM BOOK: Eli, Corey, Victor

ACT ONE

BUDDHA STATUETTE: I am the Buddha. I am the Enlightened one. Om.
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. The one path. Om!
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 the 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. Second First-Day at the Interfaith. That's why I'm on the scene. Here we go! come with me? walks off stage & around for a minute; meanwhile PIANO & RUBBER TREE set up on stage). GUITAR CASE reenters stage. PIANO is at left, playing the piano to himself with his fingers, imagining a song. RUBBER TREE is at center with arms up.)
PIANO: Well if it isn't Guitar case. What is it, music day?
RUBBER TREE: 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. They're going to put some new building up right here where this one used to be. They've got plans, oh yes. But, they're having trouble keeping it going as it is. The Quakers were thinking of moving across the road. The building is in bad repair, bad airconditioning, that kind of stuff.
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!
GUITAR CASE: 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! Or remember the brochures? There were brochures for each of the Christian denominations that funded this place. But they kept getting spilled and going out to the landfill!

(BROCHURES ENTER)
CHURCH OF CHRIST BROCHURE, PRESBYTERIAN BROCHURE, LUTHERAN BROCHURE: Pick us up! Read us! Pick us up! Read us!
(BROCHURES LEAVE)

GUITAR CASE: I've heard stories about the landfill. I'll do anything to stay out of there!
PIANO: You'll be ok, guitar case. They get a new building, they still need a guitar!
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...

(FLASHBACK INTERLUDE- CHARACTERS BACK UP, HUGGERS & BUDDHA COME TO FRONT- after sheet is brought out)

BUDDHA: OK, I get it. You're a huggers statuette. You like to pay attention to all religions. Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, you like 'em all. But what you forget is, when you believe in all of them, you dilute each one. You can't know the true path if you're spending time on every different path!
HUGGERS: You don't get it, do you? When you respect every path, you learn from each one, and you notice that God respects each one; God doesn't care what you call your path. When you get all involved in your one religion, you think that everyone else is wrong, and you've got the only way!
BUDDHA: You can't be two religions at once! Either you're one, or you're the other! You've got to choose!
HUGGERS: I choose to respect them all!
PIANO: It's true, they usually put Huggers down there on the table, where everyone can see her.
GUITAR: 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? I don't represent anything but a rubber tree.

(FLAGS ENTER)
YIN-YANG FLAG, EARTH FLAG, UN FLAG: Notice me! Notice me! Notice me!
(FLAGS LEAVE)

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.
PIANO: What about Spike?
GUITAR CASE: Who's Spike?
PIANO: 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?
PIANO: 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.
GUITAR CASE: Bet they liked that!
PIANO: Well, they were a little upset. But they heard him. They tried to understand where he was coming from. And, 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?
PIANO: 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.
PIANO: You're forgetting about history. Eaters shed blood keeping this place going. Pounds and pounds of old clothes, sold in the midnight rummage sales. You talk about the landfill; this place kept that stuff OUT of the landfill! Remember the time that guy broke Picture Window, down on the ground floor? Or the great Flood?
GUITAR CASE: You know, what you're saying is this: This place did influence people. So, don't you think people influenced the place, too? This building has quite a history, doesn't it?
PIANO: I'm not even telling half of it. You know, these 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.
RUBBER TREE: Yeah?
PIANO: Yeah. I used to get mad; I was waiting for someone who knew how to play, of course. Rubinstein or someone. You know how it is.
GUITAR CASE: 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, maybe he's never seen a piano. And maybe I'm the first piano he ever played, you know what I mean?
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)

ACT TWO

(STATUETTES AT RIGHT, GUITAR CASE ENTERS)
BUDDHA: Guitar case! How are you?
GUITAR CASE: I'm ok. Rubber tree is railing against the tyranny of injustice.
HUGGERS: The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
GUITAR CASE: Excuse me?
HUGGERS: Oh sorry, Gandhi quote. Got it from the wallhanging.
GUITAR CASE:I see you statuettes are on the shelf again.
BUDDHA: Old Roof leaked. Right during Quaker meeting. They even moved Huggers over to the bookshelf! Now, we statuettes are a couple of bookends.

(BOOKS ENTER, WAVING BOOKS AND SINGING)
KRSHNA BOOK, ISLAM BOOK, JUDAISM BOOK: Look at me! Look at me! I've got pictures!
(BOOKS LEAVE)

HUGGERS: Hey, what do you hear about the building?
GUITAR CASE: Same as usual. They're going to take it down. But you two have nothing to worry about. You're small; you're portable, you're beautiful. They'll probably take you with them!
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...or go someplace where they don't appreciate us?
BUDDHA: Oh, we'll be ok....Even death is not to be feared by one who lives wisely!
HUGGERS: You and your quotes again!
BUDDHA: Om!
GUITAR CASE: Hey, quiet over there! It's time for the music!

CURTAIN CALL

2008-09-27T02:00:00.004-05:00

2008-08-29T23:43:00.004-05:00

2008-08-29T23:08:00.001-05:00

2008-08-01T08:20:00.005-05:00

2008-07-21T00:33:00.001-05:00

2008-07-21T00:16:00.000-05:00

2008-07-21T00:14:00.000-05:00

2008-07-19T15:29:00.001-05:00

2008-07-19T15:16:00.005-05:00

2008-03-21T10:12:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-21T10:05:00.002-05:00

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.

2008-03-20T09:25:00.001-05:00

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

2008-03-10T22:01:00.002-05:00

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!

2006-12-06T13:17:00.000-06:00

THE MONSTER OF KANIFLORIA (adapted from a fable by Aaron Piper: The Giant who was more than a match)
Performed in Carbondale IL on Dec. 3, 2006 with the following cast:

GRAD. STUDENT- Delia A.
PROFESSOR- Noah L.
WISE ONE- Delia A.
MONSTER- Marly A.
MASTER OF CLUBS- Gabe S.
MASTER OF SWORDS- Nate A.
MASTER OF FIRE- Twyla S.
CART DRIVER- Kevin H.-S.
CART DRIVER #2- Eli L.

GS: (chewing gum) I was about to get a PhD from the University of Kanifloria Department of Sociology, Anthropology and American Studies, but I was having trouble with my thesis advisor. He was this academic guy, big glasses. Wanted me to read blah blah blah. It kept me up all night, wondering if I'd ever get past him!
PROFESSOR: You really ought to read Motown and its impact on Race, Class, Gender, and Black Identity , you know! And here's another one! Motown, Music, Sex and Power. You shall not enter the academy in this department, unless you do the prerequisite reading!
GS: Yeah, yeah, if I have time. I really wanted to graduate in December you know!
PROFESSOR: It is most essential, that you read everything relevant in your field!
GS: (comes forward) So I said to myself, "He's a monster!" and then it hit me! When I was a kid, we used to always read this story, about the monster of Kanifloria. Nobody could get past him. Every time a cart driver came by, he couldn't get past the monster.
CART DRIVER (approaches from right).
MONSTER: You shall not pass without fighting me. Choose any weapon you like, and I will more than match you! (CART DRIVER LEAVES IN FEAR)
GS: When the president heard of this, he called for the Master of Clubs to battle the giant.
MASTER OF CLUBS (approaches from right)(to audience) I am the Master of Clubs! I can beat anyone! I use force! I use power! I am strong! I am not afraid of the monster!
MONSTER: You shall not pass without fighting me. Choose any weapon you like!
MASTER OF CLUBS: I choose clubs! (lifts club).(GIANT pulls out huge club and beats him softly until he leaves stage) Ha ha ha!
GS: The monster beat the Master of Clubs so badly that he spent five months in the Kanifloria General hospital. The president was forced to call in the Master of Swords.
MASTER OF SWORDS: (approaches from right) I am the master of swords! I can cut anyone! I slice! I cut! I shred! I am not afraid of the monster!
MONSTER: You shall not pass without fighting me! Choose any weapon you like!
MASTER OF SWORDS: I choose swords! (Pulls out his sword, but Monster pulls out larger sword and beats him softly until he leaves)
GS: Again, the monster cut up the Master of Swords so badly, that he was forced to be repaired by a seamstress. The president had to call in the Master of Fire.
MASTER OF FIRE: (approaching from right) I am the master of fire! I throw fire at everyone! Flames! E-mails! I can beat any monster!
MONSTER: You shall not pass without fighting me! Choose any weapon you like!
MASTER OF FIRE: I choose fire! I will throw this fire at you! (but monster throws fire back, and Master of Fire must leave)
GS: The monster threw huge balls of fire and just about burned down the forest! The president was at his wits' end, so he sent the cart driver to ask the Wise One to help. (LEAVES STAGE, DRESSES AS WISE ONE)

(CART DRIVER, WISE ONE ENTER)
CART DRIVER: Oh Wise One, you must help us! We cannot get past the monster. He is blocking the road to the capital city!
WISE ONE: What would you like me to do?
CART DRIVER: Take my cart, and some of my cow's milk. Take what you wish!
(WISE ONE takes cart and leaves; MONSTER enters; CART DRIVER comes back, approaches MONSTER).
MONSTER: You shall not pass without fighting me! Choose any weapon you wish!
WISE ONE: (takes long sip of milk…MONSTER looks on longingly). Could it be that you are thirsty?
MONSTER: I admit that I am! For I have just destroyed three Masters!
WISE ONE: Please accept this small gift from your humble friend!
MONSTER: Aha! Now I see your trick! You seek to conquer me with kindness! But now I will more than match you! (runs off stage, returns with piles of food and lays it in the cart) (proudly) You see you cannot defeat me so easily!
WISE ONE: Yes, so I see! I should like you to know something of me. Though I make no such claim for myself, others call me the Wise One. I live in this same forest, not far from the Capital City!
MONSTER: Another of your tricks! Very well, you shall know even more of me than I know of you! I have no name, for I was born of the union of the wind and a curved mirror. And I have no power or skill but what my opponent chooses for me!
WISE ONE: I thought as much! But now the sun is nearly down, and I must reach the City of Trade before dark…May I offer you a ride to a place of rest?
MONSTER: Yet again you try to trick me! Will you never have done with it? But this time I will defeat you once and for all! (puts WISE ONE in cart, runs around room and back to stage). I hope you have learned your lesson!
WISE ONE: Oh, I have! (MONSTER LEAVES)(WISE ONE turns into GS)

GS: (to Audience) When I thought of that story, I decided that I should take a different approach to the professor.
PROFESSOR: The University of Kanifloria has certain requirements that are necessary for doctoral candidates. It must ensure that all scholars are learned in the field. Have you done any reading since I last saw you?
GS: Yes, in fact, I found this article The Queen of Soul and the Dynamics of Respect - and it turns out that you wrote it!
PROFESSOR: Yes, indeed I did! It's about Aretha Franklin!
GS: And, it's on the exact subject I was looking for!
PROFESSOR: Indeed it is! I hope it's useful to you. I'll help you use it in your paper! And I can show you some other sources too!

(THEY LEAVE)

CURTAIN CALL

2005-08-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

Branavan G and the Shutdowns

Andrew, Adam, Kevin, Justin

AND Former Shutdown star, now moved on...

Luke

Go Shutdowns!
Pictures in this and next post taken by Tom Alexander. Thanks, Tom!

2005-07-15T23:53:00.000-05:00

Scroll down for the full script of "Quakers Rock the 17th Century"...

These days, the main actors with a friend have a band called:

the Shutdowns

2004-05-12T23:13:00.000-05:00

still working on the template....will try to join the quaker web ring soon enough...to find the Quaker web-ring, go here, scroll down to "Quakers", find it and get started. They do plenty of drama in Britain, and Quaker drama too, if you read into the members much...hope they don't mind the pro-'colonies' slant of the play...

2004-05-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

this blog is about a fantastic play that was well-performed by the young Friends of Southern Illinois Friends' Meeting. A short history of the performance appears on the right along with some comments and some links. Enjoy!

2004-04-22T22:35:00.000-05:00

Play by Thomas Leverett, April 2004. Reprintable by permission.

Quakers Rock the 17th Century

2004-04-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

Quakers Rock the 17th Century
(Presented by Young Friends of So. Illinois Friends’ Meeting)
Margaret Fell-Miranda A.
Admiral Penn-Nate A.
George Fox- Justin L.
King Charles II-Kevin H.-S.
William Penn- Adam A.
John Locke-Luke H.-T.
Nathaniel Stephens, Priest- Gabe S.
Soldier-Delia A.
George Fell- Noah L.
Neighbors: Rose-Twyla S.
Mary-Marley A.
Thug-Eli L.

SCENE ONE: INTRODUCTIONS

CHARLES (to audience): I was born in 1630, son of King Charles I. It was a time when religion and politics were mixed up together...people took them both very seriously. We royalists are Anglican, you see, while Oliver Cromwell, that dastardly scoundrel, was a Puritan. There were also the Catholics, or the Papists, you could call them, and they were OK, but then, on the other side, you had all the dissenters, the Shakers, the Quakers, the Baptists, the Anabaptists, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Diggers, the Ranters, the Muggletonians, the Bidellians, the Levellers, and the 5th Monarchy men.

Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans thought they were better than us. They thought they had the key to heaven. To make a long story short, they got control of Parliament, and we fought a war. I was Prince of Wales during the Civil War, but we lost. The good Admiral Penn offered to help my father in that difficult time, so you can see why he was always considered a loyal friend in our house. We were in exile, in the Isles of Scilly, for a few years, until we had the chance to come back.

JOHN LOCKE (to audience): I was born in Wrington, Somerset, in 1632. I’ll tell you my problem, and that’s authority. You have this King…why is he King? Because his father was a King. Does that make him good? Does that make him right? And do you think this Cromwell character is any better? I look forward to the day when we have legitimate authority…when we only have the government that we elect. Perhaps in the colonies, maybe, do you think? Ah, I’ll be ok. I’m going to Oxford, to be a doctor, but I can’t help thinking about it, you know?

MARGARET (to audience) : I was born in 1614, in Marsh Grange, at Fournis in Lancashire. I was keenly interested in religion. But in those days, women weren’t respected. We didn’t speak; we weren’t allowed to preach. In matters of religion, one would think that what a woman feels is important; that a woman has in her, that of God, just like a man. But, I got no sense of this, listening to the local priest. It was a dangerous time; religion and politics were mixed together, and everyone had something to say. But they didn’t listen to the women, and that really bothered me .

FOX (to audience): I was born in 1624 in Drayton-in-the-Clay in Leicestershire (Lest-a-sher). My father was a weaver; an honest man; and there was a Seed of God in him. My mother was an upright woman also. In my very young years I had a gravity and stayedness of mind and spirit not usual in children; insomuch that, when I have seen old men carry themselves lightly and wantonly towards each other, I have had a dislike thereof risen in my heart; and have said within myself, “If ever I come to be a man, surely I should not do so nor be so wanton.”

As a lad I left my home, and I went unto Barnet, and from there to London, but when I came back to Leicestershire, the priest of Drayton, the town of my birth, whose name was Nathaniel Stephens, would come to me, and we would talk, and what I said to him in discourse on week-days, that he would preach of on the First-days, for which I did not like him. And this priest afterwards became my great persecutor…

NATHANIEL (to audience) : I am the priest, in Drayton, Leicestershire (Lest-a-sher), where young George Fox grew up. Let me tell you, that guy kind of made me mad. Oh, he knew his scripture, all right, but he was trouble from the start. He had no respect, that was his problem. Respect is important. A person should respect his local priest. Take off your hat! Use the terms of respect!

(enter ROSE, MARY, THUG)
ROSE: Take off your hat!
MARY: Take off your hat!
THUG: Take off your hat!

ADMIRAL PENN (to audience): England was a dangerous place when my son was born. I was away at sea, but weighed anchor in Ireland briefly, and Ireland was dangerous too. There was a little disagreement between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell; I offered the King safe haven, and then I paid for my trouble. I’m an admiral; the sea is my life. I defend England with my life, out at sea. It seems Oliver Cromwell would respect this, but, let’s just say, everyone took themselves very seriously.

SOLDIER (to audience): I’m just a common soldier…a policeman. They break the law, I throw them in jail. But it’s 1600…so they spell it G-A-O-L. It’s a nasty place!

SCENE TWO: FOX COMES TO SWARTHMOOR

FOX (to audience): One day I was going to Coventry, and entering towards the gate, a consideration rose in me, how it was said that all Christians are believers, both Protestants and Papists, and the Lord opened to me that, if all were believers, then they were all born of God. And another time, as I was walking in a field on a First-day morning, the Lord opened unto me that being bred at Oxford or Cambridge was not enough to fit and qualify men to be ministers of Christ, and I stranged at it, because it was the common belief of people. But I saw clearly, as the Lord opened it to me, and was satisfied. Priest Stephens wasof course troubled with me.

At another time it was opened in me that God, who made the world, did not dwell in temples made with hands. This, at first, seemed a strange word, but the Lord showed me, so that I did see clearly, that he did not dwell in these temples, but in people’s hearts.

After this I met with a sort of people that held that women have no souls, but I
reproved them, and told them that was not right.

MARGARET (to audience): I married at 18; there was nothing unusual about that. My husband was 34; sixteen years older than me; there was nothing unusual about that either. I had nine children; nothing unusual about that. I was in the habit of providing for itinerant preachers, and the day George Fox came through, now that was unusual.....I'll never forget the day in 1652...Judge Fell was out of town; he was on the Welsh circuit.
FOX (to audience): "You will say Chirst saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light, and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest, is it inwardly from God?"
MARGARET (to audience): This opened me so, that it cut me to the heart, and then I saw clearly we were all wrong. So I sat down in my pew again and cried bitterly: and I cried in my spirit to the Lord, 'We are all thieves; we have taken the Scripture in words, and know nothing of them in ourselves.'!
(GEORGE FELL enters)
GEORGE FELL(to audience): My story is an untold story. I am the son of Margaret Fell. My father, Judge Fell, was a respected Judge in Lancastershire (Lanc-a-sher), but he was away on the Welsh circuit when this preacher, George Fox, passed through. My mother was moved by his words. She converted on the spot, it seemed. So did all my sisters, all eight of them, and three servants. Everyone in the house became a follower of this George Fox! My father, the judge, was never a Quaker, of course, but he protected my mother…and from then on, it was George Fox this, George Fox that. George Fox beaten at Ulverston. George Fox thrown in jail….from then on, we were always helping George Fox and these Quakers. The first thing that bothered me was, his name was George, like me. And, he was kind of a fanatic. I got used to that, though, I guess.
FOX (to audience): I and Friends were in the custom of having meetings; the priest scoffed at us and called us Quakers. Friends were very much abused by the priest and his people. One day as we went I spied a great hill called Pendle Hill, and I went on the top of it with much ado; it was so steep; but I was moved of the Lord to go atop of it; and I was moved to sound the day of the Lord; and as I went down, on the hillside, I found a spring of water and refreshed myself. And from then I came to Ulverston and so to Swarthmoor and Judge Fell’s. At each steeplehouse I would speak the truth, and people would be in a rage and an uproar. I was beaten severely; I was thrown in jail.
NATHANIEL (to audience): We’re having services in the church, like we should. It’s my job. And this wild man comes along, shaggy locks, leather britches, and he says to the people, everything you’re doing is wrong. You’re paying tithes to the church, and it’s wrong. You’re respecting the priest, and it’s wrong. Well, I’m not so crazy about that, you know! And neither are the other priests. He wonders why people would be in a rage. Why shouldn’t they be?

2004-04-22T22:32:00.000-05:00

SCENE THREE: PENN’S CHILDHOOD
ADMIRAL(to audience): I spent a good amount of time at sea those days, and my son, poor William, grew up alone with his mother. We were well-bred people; we wore swords, we had parties; we moved in the best circles. We expected much of Young William. Little did I know that it would be a tough time when he was young, all this business with Oliver Cromwell, and the King. It just got worse and worse; at one point I was in prison for a month. When the King came back, of course, my fortunes improved, but it was too late for poor William.
WILLIAM PENN (to audience):: I was born in 1644. My father was an admiral at sea, and I didn't see him much. He got caught up in some trouble with Cromwell and the King, and things were looking bad for him, right around the time I was about eleven. The boys at my private school teased me; I was all alone. I had a religious experience, and I was awakened. My parents had tried to train me as a proper aristocrat, but it didn't work. I resisted it.
ADMIRAL (to audience): At this time, people were hungry for God, and I imagine William was too. You must understand; they read the Bible, they considered themselves responsible for the state of their souls. It was, well, religion was important then. I was at sea, the only religion I knew was the high seas, a bottle of wine, a good time. But young William, he cared much about God. Eventually, we sent him off to Oxford, but it was for naught, I’m afraid.
WILLIAM: (to audience): They sent me to Oxford, hoping I would see reason. I saw reason, all right. It was the age of reason. They applied reason to everything!
(JOHN LOCKE ENTERS)
JOHN LOCKE: Penn, from Anatomy! How are you?
WILLIAM: I’m flunking anatomy. And yourself?
JOHN: Ah, it’s easy. I study anatomy, I study philosophy. I study, therefore I am. I study, I pass, I move on! I find Oxford exhilarating!
WILLIAM: I wish I could say the same.
JOHN: Reason, my boy! Pure, natural, reason, uncontaminated. Through reason, the divine wishes will be interpreted and put into practice!
WILLIAM: That’s the whole problem! This age of reason! Natural science! You apply it to everything, even God! Enough, I say!
JOHN: And you don’t believe in God?
WILLIAM: On the contrary, I do, it’s just that, that…
JOHN: Yes?
WILLIAM: I had a religious experience once; I was about twelve. I never had any religion but what I feel. And now, to come here, and to here these debates, this philosophizing; I don’t like it.
JOHN: Well, I’ll agree with you on certain matters. The King took this idea of religion, and he used it to justify what he did. He pushed his power around a bit. The power of a government comes not from divine right, but from the will of the people. So now Oliver Cromwell is in, and the King is out. But does he have the consent of the people?
WILLIAM: You know, if you speak against the King, you could have the King’s power come upon you!
JOHN: I am concerned about legitimate authority! Where does the King get his authority? All day, they are up there, with their wine, their parties, their excess…
WILLIAM: I’ll tell you what strikes me, is the vanity of this world. The religious intolerance. The irreligiousness of the religious.
JOHN: Again I’ll agree with you! This country is in a terrible state! Through tolerance, we can find the right way. The best ideas will naturally come out on top!

SCENE FOUR: QUAKERS GATHER A FOLLOWING
MARGARET (to audience): We lived at a fine old place called Swarthmoor, and it was there that we developed what you could call a Quaker community. Eight of my nine children became Quaker, and all three servants also. One year after George Fox came through, he was beaten severely in Ulverston. Later he was thrown in jail. My good husband Judge Fell defended him, and me, until he died; he was not jealous, as he knew I was pure at heart.
FOX (to audience): I fasted much and walked abroad in solitary places many days, and often took my Bible and sat in hollow trees and lonesome places till night came on. I durst not stay long in any place, being afraid both of professor and profane, lest I should be hurt by conversing much with either, and was brought off from outward things to rely wholly on the Lord alone. And I remembered these words: Walk cheerfully over the earth, answering that of God in everyone.

When the Lord sent me forth into the world, he forbade me to put off my hat to any, high or low, and I was required to “thee” and “thou” all men and women, without respect to rich or poor, great or small. But oh, the rage that was in the priests, the magistrates, the professors, but especially the priests and the professors! Because I could not put off my hat to them, it set them all into a rage!

And then I went to a steeplehouse, where was a high priest, that did much oppress the people with tithes, for if the people went a hundred miles off a-fishing, he would make them pay the tithe money, though they catched the fish at such a distance, and carried it to Yarmouth to sell. But I spoke the Truth of God, and it was received.

GEORGE FELL (to audience): My father, Judge Fell, protected my mother, and George Fox, until he died. When he died, she got Swarthmoor; I got the rest of the estate. Oh, I got along with everyone ok, it’s just that they got caught up with these Quakers. The Quakers were very threatening to the priests, the government, everyone. They wouldn't pay the tithes; they called everyone "thee and thou", which are common terms; they wouldn’t take off their hats, that kind of stuff. They didn’t believe in tithes. They felt that if you were forced to give, that wasn’t religion. You shouldn’t be forced to give, forced to speak, forced to do anything when it comes to God. I could understand that.
NATHANIEL (to audience): Here’s the story with the tithes. You’re in the community, you pay your church. It’s that simple. We never had all these dissenting religions before, I don’t see why we should allow them now. I’m a priest. I have authority in this area. I need respect. You don’t respect me, fine. Do what you want. But when the rough guys come around, you think I’m going to help you?
WILLIAM (to audience): You have to understand, it was a terrible time in England. I was sorry to see such sharpness from English to English, as well as Protestants to Protestants.
(CHARLES, NATHANIEL and SOLDIER enter)
CHARLES: Cromwell is dead, and I am back! These people who have been disloyal to the crown, where are they?
NATHANIEL: These dissenters, they’re all over the place!
SOLDIER: We’ll get them all! Throw them in jail!
CHARLES: We’ll have a law! It shall be illegal to worship another religion! Especially Puritanism!
NATHANIEL: And the other ones too! Dissenters! Nonconformists! We’ll get them all! Revenge shall be ours! (to audience): There’s only one true religion, and that’s the King’s religion, Anglicanism! These others are rubbish!

FOX (to audience): Now all of England was suffering in these times of Oliver Protector and the Commonwealth, as those who had been loyal to Cromwell were often jailed and
put to death upon the King’s return. We received account from New England that
they had banished Quakers out of their colonies, upon pain of death… . Finally they made a law against 5 or more Quakers getting together and meeting. They threw us in jail for not saying the oaths. They broke up meetings.
(FOX exits, WILLIAM, ADMIRAL enter)
ADMIRAL: Son! Welcome home!
WILLIAM: I see that John Locke has been thrown in jail!
ADMIRAL: What of it? Disobedience to the King! He says that a King has no right to power…no wonder he fell out of favor!
WILLIAM: He was a friend of mine, at Oxford. A good man.
ADMIRAL: Listen, I’ll speak to the King, I’ll get him a pardon. Let me deal with it. Listen, William, I’m sending you to France. You need to get away from here.
WILLIAM: Why?
ADMIRAL: It’s too dangerous here. Go along, pack your bags.
(CHARLES enters, ADMIRAL approaches him. WILLIAM exits)
ADMIRAL: Your highness, I seek a pardon.
CHARLES: For whom?
ADMIRAL: John Locke. He spoke against you, but, he meant no harm.
CHARLES: It shall be granted. (to SOLDIER) Let him free!
(SOLDIER lets JOHN out of jail)
ADMIRAL (to audience): After William was expelled from Oxford, I sent him to France, thinking he would get his philosophy in order, but that didn't work. So then I sent him to Ireland to manage the estates. About that time, there was a group of Quakers that came to travel about. They were dirty, they went around “theeing” and “thouing” everyone. You have to understand, these are common terms…we use them for equals, not for people we respect. People ridiculed them “Thou me, thou my dog,” the people would say, “if thou thou'st me, I'll thou thy teeth, down thy throat!”
(ROSE, MARY, and THUG enter)
ROSE: Thou me, thou my dog!
MARY: If thou thou’st me, I’ll thou thy teeth, down thy throat!
THUG: Down thy throat!
(they exit)
ADMIRAL: Each time he came back, it was worse.
(WILLIAM enters)
ADMIRAL: So what’s with this “thee and thou” business?
WILLIAM: We use these to show that all people are equal under God.
ADMIRAL: What “we”?
WILLIAM: the Quakers.
ADMIRAL: And what is it you like about these Quakers?
WILLIAM:. They tell the truth; they love their enemies; they practice faith and patience, rather than fighting; they refuse to pay tithes; they use no titles, but only "thee" and "thou" to everyone; they recommend silence, by their example; they consider drinking unnecessary…
ADMIRAL: Say what?
WILLIAM: Drinking, unnecessary. They have an unusual way of marrying; their parents name their own children; they practice simplicity in births and burials, no rites, no ceremonies. You shouldn't be fooled by their rough and disagreeable appearance, as people are ignorant of the Divine gift which causes vanity, that vulgar and mischievous mistake.
ADMIRAL: Let’s get one thing straight. You may call anyone thee and thou, except me, the King, and the Duke of York. Is that agreed?
WILLIAM: No, I won’t agree to that.
(ADMIRAL, disgusted, leaves)
WILLIAM: (to audience): In the world I came from, people were easily impressed. I had a sword; I had a title; yet I had done nothing. The Quakers were not easily impressed, and that impressed me. I wanted to be pure of heart. I wanted to do the right thing. I tried to help the Quakers… one day, I threw a drunken soldier out of meeting.
SOLDIER (to audience): You have to understand, every day, throwing these people in jail…it was a rough life. I needed a drink once in a while. So one day, I went to one of those Quaker meetings, where everyone was silent. Tried to wake ‘em up a little!
Thou me, thou my dog! If thou thou’st me, I’ll thou thy teeth down thy throat!
WILLIAM: Out of here, you laggard!
SOLDIER: I’ll do as I wish! I’m a soldier of the King!
WILLIAM: I don’t care if you’re the King yourself! You won’t break up this meeting!
SOLDIER: Get your hands off of me, you brute!
(drags him by collar across room)(FOX enters)
FOX: What’s going on here?
WILLIAM: This soldier disrupted our meeting!
FOX: This kind of behavior certainly won’t solve the problem! Let him go!
(SOLDIER leaves, brushing pants)
FOX: So, you’re William Penn, son of Admiral Penn?
WILLIAM: That I am.
FOX: And, you’re helping this meeting?
WILLIAM: That I am. I want to join the Friends. Fox, canst thou tell me, if I should join the Friends, what shall I do about my sword?
FOX: Wear thy sword as long as thee are able.
WILLIAM: What do you mean?
FOX: As long as there is a sword in thy heart, thee will find one for thy hand. Thee may remove the sword at thy side, when thee knowest that thee would use neither…
GEORGE FELL (to audience):Around this time, meetings got larger. People were more brazen. All the other dissenters, they had their worship in private, hidden, away from the King and his eyes. But not the Quakers. They’d have these big, silent meetings, right in public. Right in front of everyone. No surprise that the King got a little mad.
(enter NATHANIEL and CHARLES):
NATHANIEL: Right in public, your Highness!
CHARLES: And what is the point?
NATHANIEL: Well, I know, you have your dissenters, your non-conformists. The Diggers, the Ranters, the Levellers. But at least they go off in the corner. These Quakers, they sit out in public, in public! They have no respect!
CHARLES: But what are they DOING?
NATHANIEL: Nothing! They’re silent! It’s an abomination!
CHARLES (waving his hand): It’s nothing. Leave them alone.
(they exit)(FOX enters)
FOX (to audience): The priests and professors were against Friends’ silent meetings, and when they saw a hundred or two hundred people all silent, waiting upon the Lord, they
would break out into wondering and despising, and some of them would say: Look
how these people sit mumming and dumming. What edification is here where there
are no words? Didst thou never see the like in thy life?
(FOX leaves)(enter ROSE, MARY, and THUG)
ROSE: : Mumming and dumming!
MARY: Mumming and dumming!
THUG: Mumming and dumming!
(they exit)
ADMIRAL (to audience): Well, William had renounced the world, and he came home, clothed in drab, and not carrying a sword. You must understand, the sword was a custom, a symbol of a well-bred gentleman. Finally I renounced him, and told him he'd get not a penny of my estate if he carried on so. But that didn’t work either. Confound it! (exits)
WILLIAM (to audience): It was a time of much arguing, about religion, about politics. I joined in, and wrote at every opportunity; after all, I was a lawyer, and able to put pen to paper. I wrote A Treatise of Oaths, to explain why Quakers would not take the Oath; you see, in those days, people had a public truth, and a private truth, so that they didn't mind lying in public. Such was the system that the Quakers rebelled against. (exits)
GEORGE FELL (to audience): My mother was suspicious of Penn; he was born of a high family. He studied law. He lived at Oxford. He was always meddling in worldly matters; he was a little fond of his honor and dignity. He’d taken a little too much of the world upon himself. This matter of oaths, for example. (exits)
MARGARET (to audience): This Penn…he wrote his pamphlet, A Treatise of Oaths; I can’t even read it! It’s very complicated, very hard to read. But the truth is simple. We tell the truth. . There is only one truth. We don’t need a pamphlet! (exits)
NATHANIEL (to audience): Let me explain about the oaths. You live under the King, you swear allegiance to the King. It’s that simple. You can think what you want. If they ask the Quakers, are you loyal to the King, and they say no, then they’re not. And they belong in jail, as far as I’m concerned.
(CHARLES enters)
NATHANIEL: Your majesty, some of these dissenters are not willing to say the oath!
CHARLES: Do you mean, they are disloyal to the King?
NATHANIEL: If they are not saying the oath, what else could that mean? I’ve had enough, I say. Would you have another Cromwell, another revolution? If they aren’t loyal to the King, who are they loyal to?
CHARLES: I see your point. Have them thrown in jail!
(SOLDIER grabs WILLIAM, leads him to jail)
SOLDIER: You look familiar.
WILLIAM: Indeed, so do you.
SOLDIER: Not saying the oath, eh? I’ll throw you in jail!
WILLIAM: Yes, I see that.
SOLDIER: This’ll teach you a lesson! (appears to boot him, without actually kicking him)

FOX MARRIES MARGARET
***************************
GEORGE FELL: My mother was dead set against the Pauline strictures, which forbade women to preach. She believed that men and women were equal under God, and George Fox agreed with her on that. And, they were in love.
FOX: I had seen from the Lord a considerable time before that I should take Margaret Fell to be my wife. And when I first mentioned it to her, she felt the answer of life from God thereunto…
GEORGE FELL: One thing I’ll say for this George Fox, when he wanted to marry my mother, he called all of us children together, and we had a long meeting on it. It went on and on. He wanted to be sure that we wouldn’t think he was doing it for his personal gain. He wanted to be sure that it was all right with each of us. Well, everyone knew that I was the only one that wasn’t Quaker. I was the only one that wasn’t all for this thee and thou stuff, and keeping the hat on, and all that. But I didn’t have anything against George Fox. He was always ok with me. My mother was in love with him too, I knew that. So I said, ok, go ahead. And they had one of those Quaker weddings. Simple, plain.

PENN DREAMS OF FREEDOM
************
(enter CHARLES and JOHN)
JOHN: Your Highness, I have come to seek a pardon.
CHARLES: For whom?
JOHN: For William Penn.
CHARLES: And what was his crime?
JOHN: Not saying the oath.
CHARLES: So who does he profess allegiance to?
JOHN: To God and God only. He is a Quaker.
CHARLES: Release him!
(SOLDIER releases WILLIAM)(CHARLES exits)
JOHN: William, my influence has released you.
WILLIAM: Why thank you. As you know, I couldn’t ask my father to help me this time. We haven’t been speaking.
JOHN: Ah, but he helped me once, and I didn’t forget.
WILLIAM: It’s a rough place, this England, isn’t it?
JOHN: Yes, I look forward to a time when man can be free of this tyranny.
WILLIAM: Perhaps in the colonies. You know, in the colonies there is a place they call New Jersey. Some Quakers there were trying to establish a government, and I helped them. No capital punishment, trial by jury, that kind of thing.
JOHN: I also was involved in the writing of the constitution of the Carolinas. You should look into it, my boy! It’s a new world, a world of hope, and freedom…(he exits)
WILLIAM (to audience) It got me thinking. Perhaps part of the new world could be considered a holy experiment. I'm not talking about the kind the Puritans had, you know, where they imprison Quakers and those who have different beliefs. I mean, a tolerant place, a just and fair place. A place where natives are respected. Then, one day, by coincidence, I encountered George Fox, as he was coming back from the colonies.
(FOX enters)
WILLIAM: I understand you have just returned from the colonies.
FOX: Yes, in fact I have.
WILLIAM: I am curious about the colonies. I understand that they have become a haven for persecuted Christians.
FOX: That they have, though I should say, they do some persecuting there also. Beware of a place they call Providence, for example.
WILLIAM: And the Indians? Didn’t you feel some danger?
FOX: Danger? No, not danger. We had a glorious meeting, at on old house at the head of the Delaware Bay, and some Indians were in the area, and…
WILLIAM: But how did you speak?
FOX: Through an interpreter, of course. Let me tell you. Here in England, Friends are being persecuted, going to jail, losing their houses. Why? They are sold out by common informers, for not paying their tithes, not saying oaths…I think that, in truth, the colonies are safer. William, I see that thee no longer carries a sword.
WILLIAM: I wore it as long as I was able. I am now a Friend, George. (George exits)
(to the audience) I became more interested in the colonies. With some friends, I bought part of East New Jersey...has a ring to it, eh? I gave it back, as it was part of a joint venture. The whole thing was complicated, but as time went on, I became more interested in a Holy Experiment...one of tolerance...
(WILLIAM exits, ADMIRAL and CHARLES enter)
ADMIRAL: Your highness, we have a long history.
CHARLES: Indeed, I owe you many a favor, and much money.
ADMIRAL: I have come to collect.
CHARLES: And what is it I can do for you?
ADMIRAL: My son William, I haven’t spoken to him in twenty years.
CHARLES: The Quaker?
ADMIRAL: Yes. I understand that he has petitioned you for some land.
CHARLES: Indeed he has.
ADMIRAL: Give it to him. I’d be much obliged.
CHARLES: It’s all woods! It’s nothing but trees and Indians!
ADMIRAL: My son gets along fine with trees and Indians.
CHARLES: You still love this son?
ADMIRAL: Yes, I do. We’ve had a falling out. But he’s still my son.
CHARLES: The deal is done. It shall be called “Penn’s Woods”.
WILLIAM (to audience): I received the land from the King, and went to see about the Holy Experiment. I didn't like the name Pennsylvania (Penn's woods) because it sounded vain. That happened behind my back, you could say. I signed a treaty with the Leni Lenape at Shackamaxon; I planned Philadelphia, on a hill, High Street, Broad Street, Chestnut Street; and refused to fortify it, in the Quaker fashion. Oh, yes, there were problems, a border dispute with Lord Baltimore, a little politics here and there…I guess you could say, the rest is history.

SOME QUAKERS HAVE BIG TROUBLE
(enter SOLDIER, ROSE, MARY, and THUG)
SOLDIER: Did you hear, you can make some money?
ROSE: How is that?
SOLDIER: You turn in the Quakers. Everyone is doing it.
MARY: Turn them in? What for?
SOLDIER: Not saying the oath! They get fined, they lose their property, you make some money!
MARY: You don’t say!
THUG: You don’t say!
(they exit, SOLDIER and MARGARET enter)
SOLDIER: And will you not say the oath?
MARGARET (to audience): …this I shall say, as for my allegiance, I love, own, and honor the King and desire his peace and welfare; and that we may live a peaceable, a quiet and a godly life under his government, according to the Scriptures; and this is my allegiance to the King. And as for the oath itself, Christ Jesus, the King of Kings, hath commanded me not to swear at all, neither by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other Oath.
SOLDIER: Then in jail you go! (MARGARET goes to jail, then comes forward)
MARGARET (to audience): I then spent 6 months in Lancaster Gaol (jail) after which there was a trial 21 September 1664 at which I was committed to life in prison and forfeiture of my property. My answer to this sentence was, "Although I am out of the King's protection, yet I am not out of the protection of the Almighty God."
GEORGE FELL (to audience): While she was in jail, my mother wrote “Women’s Speaking Justified,” which put her beliefs into writing. They used to say to her, stop preaching, you’re a woman, and she’d say, women are equal, under God. They’d say, stop using your house to start a revolution against the King. And she’d say, as long as the Lord blessed me with a home, I’ll worship him in it. They took her home, but that didn’t stop her. (GEORGE FELL exits)
(enter NATHANIEL and CHARLES)
NATHANIEL: These Quakers must be jailed! They don’t say the oath!
CHARLES: They’re harmless, they don’t even carry weapons. I keep pardoning them.
NATHANIEL: Harmless my foot! This Fox, he’s ruined my life!
CHARLES: Ruined your life?
NATHANIEL: Respect! He has no respect! And he’s not loyal to the King!
CHARLES: Then throw him in jail! After he repents, and says the oath, I’ll pardon him.
MARGARET (to audience): George was also committed and moved to Scarborough prison. My daughters tried to get the King to intercede, but he did not have the power to overturn acts of Parliament. He offered George a pardon, but George would not take it.
FOX (to audience): I was in jail, and I had a fit of sickness. Endeavors were used to get me released, but the King was not willing to release me in any way except a pardon, being told that he could not legally do it. And I was not willing to be released by a pardon, which he would readily have given me, because I did not look upon that way agreeable with the innocence of my cause; my wife went to London, and spoke to the King, and the King spoke kindly to her, but only that I need not scruple being released by pardon, yet I could not consent to have one. For I had rather have lain in prison all my days, than have come out in any way dishonourable to truth.
GEORGE (to audience): So George Fox refused to accept the pardon. He stayed in prison a little too long, and he died of sickness that he got there. William Penn wrote the letter that informed my mother of his death. My mother lived to see the 1700’s; she saw the time when the Quakers became fixed on plain clothing, and she was a little disappointed in that. They called her the “nursing mother of Quakerism,” but I like to think of her as “the nursing mother of me and my eight sisters,” if you know what I mean. She was my mother, after all.
SOLDIER (to audience): And some soldiers like me, seeing the example of Margaret Fell and George Fox suffering for their faith, gave up our weapons and became Friends ourselves.
JOHN LOCKE (to audience): Penn’s Holy Experiment was a success, you could say; he never fortified Philadelphia, and the Leni Lenape never attacked it. Quakers started going there and doing well, then, of course, others started going there too. Some of those things, that were once a dream- tolerance, freedom, equality, got their start over there in the colonies.
WILLIAM (to audience): Upon my father’s death, I received this gold chain (shows it). It’s somewhat vain, not very Quakerly. You know, sometimes I look upon this new land, this Pennsylvania, and I think, tolerance, freedom, equality, the Holy Experiment; it’s really something, it’s really a new world. But other times I just remember my father, and all he did for me, and I say, I’m keeping this chain, Quakerly or not. Thank you, dad!
GEORGE FELL (to audience): My mother eased her suspicion of Penn in the end; he was a genuine friend, and ally to the Quakers. You know, if you have a lot, you have a lot more to lose. And, here’s the amazing thing. Though she too lost everything, she was not bitter. Her last words were, “I am in Peace.”

CURTAIN CALL