Stories From Home
(a two act folk journey)
Writing Sample:
"Lion's Mane" -- Ethiopia
(African drums will follow characters' movement. SEGAB enters quickly)
SEGAB
The African highlands, full of forests and cliffs...
GUDINA
(Entering)
Overlooking the far-off lowlands where the elan and zebra run in great herds...
BIZUNESH
...and the lions hunt and kill for their food.
WISEMAN
In the African highlands, this place, at the top of the world, is where Bizunesh was born.
BIZUNESH
And Bizunesh grew up and moved from the age to marry into the age of being lonely for all her life.
GUDINA
Until one day, Gudina, a merchant from the lowlands came by and saw her and took her for his wife.
WISEMAN
(BIZUNESH and GUDINA move below boxes)
And she moved into the lowlands, the land she had watched from far above, the land of the lions and the plains, the land of her new life.
(GUDINA leads BIZUNESH to SEGAB)
BIZUNESH
It is here that Bizunesh first met Gudina's son, Segab. He was a boy not quite grown and not quite a man.
WISEMAN
A lonely boy that lost his mother to the fever.
(BIZUNESH tries to embrace SEGAB. He rejects her)
WISEMAN
And this was sad news that the boy had no mother.
BIZUNESH
Oh, but glad news to Bizunesh's heart that she had a new son that would fit the age she had become.
SEGAB
(Going down stage to sit alone)
She's old.
(GUDINA follows him, angry and mimes hitting him.)
GUDINA
And for all the beatings Gudina gave his son for not loving his wife...
(SEGAB runs from GUDINA to hide)
BIZUNESH
And for all the presents Bizunesh gave her new son to gain his love... There was no winning Segab's heart. He would run into the brush and hide until long after the moon had gone to sleep.
(GUDINA exits)
GUDINA
Then the day came when Gudina left on a caravan to buy and sell, leaving his son and new wife to find their own way together.
BIZUNESH
(She forces the tunic over SEGAB's shoulders)
She made him a new tunic.
SEGAB
(He runs and rips it)
He'd run through the thorns and tear it to shreds.
BIZUNESH
(She forces a pair of sandals on him)
She mended his shoes.
SEGAB
(He throws them down)
He threw them away.
BIZUNESH
(She pushes food at him)
She cooked for him, cleaned for him, pleaded with him to love her.
SEGAB
(He runs and hides in a private spot)
But he hated her more and more and more and more.
(She crosses to WISEMAN)
WISEMAN
Until one day, Bizunesh went to see the wise man who lived on the edge of the village.
BIZUNESH
Make me a magic potion so my son will love me.
WISEMAN
Will you be willing to get what I need to make the magic potion?
BIZUNESH
I'll get anything. Tell me what you need to make the magic potion.
WISEMAN
And the old wise man looked at her very closely and he thought. And he said.
(As WISEMAN)
I'll need three hairs from the mane of an old lion.
BIZUNESH
The lion will kill me.
WISEMAN
I know about magic potions. Lions I know little about. You must find a way.
BIZUNESH
Determined to get the three hairs from the mane of the old lion...,
(BIZUNESH crosses up stage and gradually works her way down center)
Bizunesh crossed the river and went to the edge of black rock desert.
(Looks straight out into the audience)
And through the weeds, in the distance, she saw the lion... And the lion saw her.
(Percussion follows BIZUNESH's heartbeat from here to the end)
WISEMAN
And she ran away as fast as the wind in the grass.
(She returns to her "home." SEGAB moves out of her way and is somewhat surprised she isn't forcing anything on him. He watches her from now on whenever she returns from the plains)
BIZUNESH
But the next day, even more determined, Bizunesh returned to the black rock desert.
(Returns to center)
This time with a bowl full of food and placed it one mile away from the lion.
(She backs away)
WISEMAN
And the old lion smelled the food and came and ate it.
BIZUNESH
(Pushes the bowl closer to down stage)
The next day, she placed the food a half mile away.
(She backs away)
WISEMAN
And the old lion came and again ate it.
BIZUNESH
(Pushes bowl yet closer)
The next day, a quarter mile.
(She backs away, but not as far)
WISEMAN
He came and ate it.
BIZUNESH
(Closer, etc...)
A hundred yards. Fifty. Twenty. Ten. And the old lion came every day. And every day Bizunesh sat closer and closer as he ate the food.
(PERCUSSION sounds BIZUNESH heartbeat)
Finally, Bizunesh could sit right next to the lion while he ate. She could feel his hot breath on her face. She could smell the dust on his mane. See the gold in his eyes.
(She slowly reaches out toward the audience and grabs "hairs." Slowly pulls back in fright, eyes closed. Nothing. Opens her eyes, looks at her hand and sees hairs, and slowly backs away from down center.)
WISEMAN
And like the mouse that reaches out to take a seed from a snake, she reached out and touched his head, she touched the soft mane and she gently pulled out three hairs.
(Percussion heartbeat, maybe chewing sounds also, double rhythm.)
The old lion hardly noticed three hairs being pulled from his mane. He was eating the food that came every day. What did he care about three hairs.
BIZUNESH
(She goes back to WISEMAN)
Bizunesh backed away. And ran to the village. And brought her prize to the wise man.
(Holding out the hairs to WISEMAN)
Make me a magic potion so my son will love me.
WISEMAN
And the wise man. He laughed at the woman.
(Laughs at her)
I can't make a magic potion to make your son love you!
BIZUNESH
You said you could!
WISEMAN
Woman, if you can tame an old lion with your patience, you can tame a young boy. Now go home!
BIZUNESH
Bizunesh returned to her home and she found Segab who was not quite a boy and not quite a man....
(Segab has been trying to mend his tunic)
SEGAB
(Frustrated. Throws it on floor.)
... trying to mend his torn tunic!
(BIZUNESH [like feeding the lion] slowly picks up the tunic, patiently holds it and looks toward WISEMAN)
"Mixed Marriages" -- Young Character Man
(YOUNG CHARACTER MAN enters ringing his "church" bell. He places it on the stage as PERCUSSIONIST quietly continues ringing "church bells.")
YOUNG CHARACTER MAN
I'm black and my wife is white. There aren't many places in this country we can live without people pointing at us. Or saying something hurtful to our sons. There's really not that much difference between my wife and myself. We were both raised in middle class families. Church going.
(Bells stop)
Hard working parents, brothers and sisters. Both celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas. Went to similar public schools. Found good jobs after college. Not much difference. Until we got married. Now most people look at us as being wrong. Not normal. I wonder sometimes if those people do the same things that we do. Love their children like we do. Celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas like we do. Not that much difference.
(YOUNG CHARACTER MAN exits taking his "church" bell)
"Canyon of Abandonment" -- Japan
(NARRATOR/JUVENILE enters ringing oriental chimes)
NARRATOR
There was a time in ancient Japan when a great famine swept across the islands and caused one of the lesser lords in the shogun's domain to take actions that we have now come to believe are barbaric.
(Gong)
LORD/LEADING MAN
(Enters and seats himself on raised platform)
Don't speak to me of precautions now! The damage is done! Draught ruined the crops. Storehouses burned in the last earthquake. There are too many people to feed this winter!
NARRATOR
And the great lord decreed.
LORD
So that the young will survive, all villagers over sixty years old are to be taken to the Canyon of Abandonment and left there to die.
(Gong)
NARRATOR
And that became the law.
(Enter DAUGHTER/INGENUE and MOTHER/LEADING LADY)
My mother and grandmother at the time lived in one of those small villages near the Canyon of Abandonment. Every day they watched old friends pass by on their way up the mountain.
(Watch two VILLAGERS pass by)
DAUGHTER
Oh, mother. We live like a tea cup on the edge of a well. If the law doesn't kill us, the famine surely will.
MOTHER
Our spirits are like water. They flow through the smallest holes and can mold to any vessel. We'll find a way to survive.
DAUGHTER
We barely have food to last to the next full moon.
MOTHER
We'll put the chickens and the goat in the house with all the straw we can gather. They won't freeze. That will give us fresh eggs and milk.
DAUGHTER
We can dig up the bamboo roots and gather all the mushrooms.
MOTHER
We'll dry them and store them in the basket I made last summer. And I'll salt the eels the way my mother did.
NARRATOR
As the harsh winter began, flooding rains washed away the draught, and the crops, and the hope of any relief and the great Lord decreed...
LORD
My advisors have informed me that some families are hiding their elders from the law. This is intolerable, a dishonor to me as your lord, and a disgrace to your entire village. I will behead each and every family member, if this transgression is discovered.
(Gong)
NARRATOR
And that became the law.
(DAUGHTER gives MOTHER a present)
... on the very day that my grandmother became...
DAUGHTER
Fifty nine!
MOTHER
I am sixty. The law must be obeyed.
MOTHER
It's the law now. I will not bring dishonor on our village or death to you. We must prepare.
(MOTHER kneels and prays to "ancestors". Palms together, bows to alter, sits on knees)
NARRATOR
While Grandmother said her prayers, Mother made a sling for her back to carry Grandmother up the mountain to the Canyon of Abandonment.
(DAUGHTER puts shawl around waist)
(PERCUSSION Monk bell during prayers. MOTHER gets up and gets in DAUGHTER'S sling)
MOTHER
Wouldn't it be faster and easier if I walked?
(DAUGHTER simply puts the shawl around the MOTHER and starts walking. PERCUSSION processional bells)
NARRATOR
Slowly my elders climbed the mountain. One step after another, through fields, then tall forests.
DAUGHTER
I think it's this way.
NARRATOR
Over rocks, and finally through a scrub pine forest that was as dense as a moonless night sky. Mother cautiously picked her way through the pine forest as Grandmother carefully broke off the tops of the trees as they passed through.
DAUGHTER
Why are do you doing that?
MOTHER
So you can find your way home. There!
(Pointing to edge of canyon)
NARRATOR
Mother stopped at the edge of the Canyon of Abandonment. She took Grandmother out of the sling and sat down to think.
MOTHER
You must leave me.
NARRATOR
Mother sat and said nothing.
MOTHER
If you do not leave now, the wolves will find you and both of us will cross the River of Three Ways.
NARRATOR
Still Mother sat.
MOTHER
If you die, you will never marry and have children to burn the incense and pray for our spirits!
DAUGHTER
(Not moving)
I must leave now.
MOTHER
The law must be obeyed! There is no choice.
DAUGHTER
The law is wrong.
MOTHER
It makes no difference.
DAUGHTER
Would you abandon me because a law says you must?
MOTHER
(Gently)
No.
DAUGHTER
Then what should we do?
MOTHER
(Defeated)
If you sit here all night, we'll both die. So we might as well go home and try to think of something.
NARRATOR
And they went home and cleared a space under the porch for Grandmother to hide during the day from the hour of the Tiger to the hour of the Monkey. There she wove baskets to dry and store food for the coming year and embroidered blessings on my mother's wedding robe. And at night, during the hour of the Dog, they whispered in the dark and made plans on how to make the food last through the winter.
(LORD enters)
To make matters worse, the snow storms were fierce in the year of the famine. That was when the great lord decreed.
LORD
I have been advised that there is still not enough food for everyone. Therefore, I will behead one family from each village, unless someone can bring me a rope made from ashes. This will let fate decide.
(Gong)
NARRATOR
And that was the law.
MOTHER
(Weaving a basket)
Do you remember when you were a little girl and I made you a straw doll?
DAUGHTER
The doll burned up in the chicken shed.
MOTHER
And after the fire, you went to look for it.
DAUGHTER
And found it still lying on the charred shelf. It looked as if the fire had never touched it.
MOTHER
But...?
DAUGHTER
When I touched it, it fell to ashes!
NARRATOR
And Mother made a straw rope and placed it on a tray, burned it, and carried it to the great lord.
LORD
Extraordinary! Tell me, young woman, where is your husband to claim his reward?
DAUGHTER
I have not yet been given the name of my future husband. I humbly confess that I made the rope of ashes.
LORD
Fate has made the choice. I hope everyone will not suffer overly much because of this.
DAUGHTER
Fate is fate.
LORD
And hunger is hunger.
NARRATOR
The great lord gave my mother a small gold coin, which Grandmother put away for Mother's dowry.
(DAUGHTER goes to MOTHER)
But the famine worsened.
LORD
I must behead two families from each village to make the food last.
NARRATOR
And the great lord decreed.
LORD
If someone can string a thread through a conch shell, I will allow the villagers to live. Again, let fate decide.
(Gong)
NARRATOR
And that was the law.
DAUGHTER
Two families.
MOTHER
If memory serves, only ten or so years ago as I was sewing, I saw an ant...
NARRATOR
And Grandmother explained how to take a piece of thread and stick rice on the end of it...
MOTHER
The ant took a hold of a grain of rice and went right into his hole...
NARRATOR
So my mother put an ant and the thread with a grain of rice attached at the mouth of the conch shell...
MOTHER
Now if there's light...
NARRATOR
Mother put the small end of the shell to the light...
MOTHER
Watch the ant carry the thread all the way to the other end.
NARRATOR
And once again, with a tray, Mother went to the great lord and....
LORD
You come before me again?
DAUGHTER
Yes, my lord.
NARRATOR
She showed him the conch shell.
LORD
Perhaps I could have used such wisdom before this famine started.
DAUGHTER
I have heard, my lord, that a journey is over when the first step is taken.
LORD
Wisely put. But insolent nonetheless.
(Silence from DAUGHTER)
For your insolence....
(Thinks)
Or perhaps for your honesty, I shall give you a reward. Chose.
DAUGHTER
A reward... This humble woman requests the night to think of an appropriate reward to best serve my family and my village.
LORD
Tomorrow. The hour of the Tiger.
NARRATOR
So Mother went home...
DAUGHTER
What reward should I request?
MOTHER
Request to be his adviser and teach him wisdom.
DAUGHTER
Mother, I am a woman.
MOTHER
So how can a woman rule a great lord?
NARRATOR
And they were married. And that is how I came to be born. And the Canyon of Abandonment was never again used in the civilized world. And that was the law. And I got to keep the small gold coin.
(Gong)
"Survival Spoon" -- Leading Lady
(LEADING LADY crosses to the center ringing her bell which she strikes like a "ships bell." She puts the bell down and pulls out a silver teaspoon)
LEADING LADY
I have a teaspoon that belonged to my grandmother. During World War Two, she and several hundred Jews were on a ship that was refused entrance to the United States and returned to Eastern Europe. Upon returning, she asked a dear friend to hold onto the teaspoon. Then she was taken to a concentration camp. My grandmother lived to come back to the States with that spoon. It was the little things, she used to tell me, the little things that give you a reason to survive.
(She takes her bell and exits)
(The chimes ring in a steady rhythm as CHRIS enters. Projections from the Third & Fourth Slide Series of Japanese- American neighborhoods, gates to Interment camps, and a drawing of a funeral. Chimes stop)
CHRIS
I'm third-generation American-born. My grandparents came from Japan. In 1942 my mother's family was forced into an assembly center. Executive Order 9066.
Mom doesn't have bitter feelings, but she doesn't talk about it. Never talked about it. Never even told me about it, until one day I asked her and she showed me a drawing of my grandmother's funeral. No photographs were allowed to be taken. That's the only memory of the assembly center she holds onto, or wants.
Through my mother, I've learned to leave the past alone. Forgive. And just move on.
(Fourth Slide Series of Ellis Island)
GRACE
(From drum set)
My family came through Ellis Island. It was the starting point. And that's all they wanted to remember. And that's all they told me.
(KEVIN and SANDRA enter. Fourth Slide Series of maps, slave ships, and auction)
KEVIN
My great-great-grandfather came from the Yoruba Tribe on the west coast of Africa.
SANDRA
My grandmother told me about her mother's spirit dream. She saw horsemen coming and women and children crying. She belonged to the Ashanti Tribe--also on the west coast of Africa.
(SANDRA starts to exit but is grabbed and spun around by HUSBAND/ROBERT)
"Harriet"
Note: Slides can be projected throughout HARRIET. They may be headlines for the Fugitive Slave Act, Dred Scott decision, fliers announcing rewards for runaways, rewards for Harriet, the Underground Railroad, locations and the Emancipation Proclamation.
The boxes are upstage. The CAST crouches behind them as the alarm bell rings. MASTER/ PATRICK stands apart as HUSBAND/ROBERT throws HARRIET/SANDRA to the floor)
HUSBAND/ROBERT
Here she is!
SLAVE MAN #1/CHRIS
She's back!
SLAVE MAN #2/KEVIN
The runaway's back! Harriet's back!
SLAVE WOMAN #1/FAY
Her husband done bring her back.
(HUSBAND crosses to MASTER)
HUSBAND
I wants my ten dollars you promised me.
MASTER
Ten dollars is more than she's worth.
HUSBAND
I'm a free black and I got to make my way. You promised me ten dollars.
MASTER
(Gives HUSBAND the money)
Take it!
(Stands over HARRIET)
...I'm gonna see to it you never run away from this plantation again, woman. Tomorrow morning I'm selling you. I am selling you off to the chain gang.
(Turning to others)
You there! Load that cotton on to the wagon! Pick it up, I said!
(He strides away. CAST mimes loading cotton. No one helps HARRIET)
HUSBAND
Ain't you sorry you run off now?!
HARRIET
No! I seen that Mason-Dixon line in my dreams.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
(Picks up bale of cotton and darts to HARRIET)
The vision make you run.
HUSBAND
Dammit! I tole you I come after you...
HARRIET
My faith is in God and I saw...
SLAVE WOMAN #1
The vision! She went for her vision!
HARRIET
Green grass, the sun risin’ and arms stretched out welcoming me.
HUSBAND
You lucky Master didn't kill you.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
It's like my mama used to tell me 'bout Africa.
HUSBAND
You lucky he didn't lame you...
SLAVE WOMAN #1
(Puts bale down)
You wait for the spirit dream to call...
HUSBAND
Are you listnin' to me, woman?!
SLAVE WOMAN #1
...then you know what to follow.
HARRIET
I hear the horsemen comin'. The women and the children runnin' and screamin' for help.
HUSBAND
(Pleading with her)
Hush up! You don't know 'bout nothing past this plantation! You die out there. I saved your life!
SLAVE WOMAN #1
(Leaves HARRIET. Goes back to group)
They say the vision stay with you, till you do something ‘bout it.
HARRIET
I know something worse than slavery is on the way. I see the horsemen comin'.
HUSBAND
The chain gang what's comin'.
(MASTER grabs HARRIET by the hair and pulls her head back)
MASTER
You'll wish the sun would never rise.
(Throws HARRIET to floor and crosses upstage right)
HUSBAND
They drag you along the chain till you die.
HARRIET
I see the horsemen comin'.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
You got that callin' sure nuf, Harriet.
HUSBAND
Harriet!
MASTER
(Steps up on box and yells)
Harriet!
HUSBAND
(Crosses to MASTER to plead for HARRIET)
Touched in the haid.
MASTER
The wagon gets here afore noon.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
You got that callin'!
ALL
(Echoing over and over)
Harriet...
SLAVE WOMAN #1
Harriet Tubman!
(SILENCE)
HARRIET
This time I'll say no goodbyes.
(Picks up water bucket, and goes upstage to CAST, exhausted from picking cotton)
HARRIET
(Ladles water as she sings)
WADE IN THE WATER,
GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATER.
(SINGERS/KEVIN, ROBERT, ALISON, FAY pick up song, eventually humming the tune under dialogue)
'MEMBER ONE THING AN IT'S CERTAINLY SHO',
WADE IN THE WATER,
JUDGEMENT'S COMIN' AN' I DON'T KNOW,
WADE IN THE WATER.
(CAST sees HARRIET is determined to run again)
SINGERS
WADE IN THE WATER,
WADE IN THE WATER, CHILDREN,
WADE IN THE WATER,
GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATER.
SLAVE MAN #1
There's danger. Law says thirty-six lashes right there if you don't have a pass.
HARRIET
You gotta know I ain't scared.
SLAVE MAN #1
There's danger they'd give one or two hundred with the bullwhip.
HARRIET
(Continuing to comfort the exhausted SLAVES)
I gotta keep that look outta my eyes, so the master don't know as I pass him by.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
Tol' me they'd sell off my family, if I tried to run again. They do that anyway. If only I could run with my children, but they're too small.
SLAVE WOMAN #2/ALISON
I'd gladly lay down and die for my children if they could only know what it's like to own their own self.
HARRIET
(To SLAVE WOMAN #1 at the end of the line, handing her the water bucket)
I touched my mama's arm on the way outta the gate. Her skin was warm and strong.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
If you keep to the riverbed, Harriet, the hounds won't catch your scent. There people out there that'll help, but you don't know who to trust.
HARRIET
I trust in God.
SLAVE WOMAN #2
You ain't got shoes. Your feet'll get cut up real bad on them river rocks. Take this cloth to bind them.
SLAVE MAN #1
There's danger. They catch you, sometimes they cut the back of your foot so you cain't run no more.
HARRIET
I headed out to the river. I seen the waters ran right into that north star.
(SONG ENDS. She pounds on door. PASTOR/ROBERT puts on hat)
HARRIET
You the pastor of this free black church? God told me to talk to you. I need a job and some clothes to make my way through.
PASTOR/ROBERT
We can't give out to your kind.
HARRIET
I am your kind, Pastor.
PASTOR
Go on! Please. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
(Turns away, embarrassed. HARRIET turns toward LUCRETIA/ALISON who is standing in front of the box representing her tavern)
LUCRETIA/ALISON
If you need a place to stay, I can help.
MAN ON ROAD/CHRIS
(Stops HARRIET from going to LUCRETIA)
Don't go near that tavern. She's a bad woman. She got a room upstairs she use to torture and cripple fugitives.
LUCRETIA
It's a lie.
MAN ON ROAD
Her name's Patty Cannon, but we call her Lucretia Borgia, after that woman who poisons people.
LUCRETIA
I feed and clothe fugitives, even arrange their passage North. And in spite of the costs, sometimes forge papers to get them across the Delaware Bay by boat.
MAN ON ROAD
She got a gang of blacks that takes them back down to the South and collects the bounties.
LUCRETIA
They all make it through. I haven't heard one complain so far.
MAN ON ROAD
Their own people. Our own people.
LUCRETIA
I haven't heard one complain so far.
(HARRIET listens to MAN ON ROAD and crosses to box representing THOMAS GARRETT's/PATRICK house. She pounds it)
THOMAS GARRETT/PATRICK
Who's that at my door!
HARRIET
You Thomas Garrett, the Quaker?
THOMAS GARRETT
I am.
HARRIET
God sent me. Said you could help me through to the promised land.
THOMAS GARRETT
Well, the promised land doesn't look any different than Delaware. Looks like thee could use a pair of sturdy shoes. Take some food. I'll help thee and thy kind whenever I can. The Mason-Dixon line is beyond the river. Safe journey.
HARRIET
Thank you.
(Moves away from GARRETT)
I kept my eye on that north star. When I crossed the Mason-Dixon I imagined welcoming arms, but I was a stranger in a strange land. Well, hard work was no stranger to me, so I set out working for two dollars a week, cleaning hotels, doing folk's laundry, cookin', choppin' wood, anything to make enough money to bring my family to freedom. Sometimes, I could make as much as two dollars a week. I wasn't goin to be a stranger no more.
PERCUSSIONIST
Fifty dollars reward for a runaway slave.
SINGER/KEVIN
WHEN ISRAEL WAS IN EGYPT LAND
LET MY PEOPLE GO
(PASTOR puts on hat. HARRIET goes to him)
HARRIET
Pastor.
PASTOR
I told you to leave me alone.
HARRIET
You got to help me set up a chain of underground stations, to bring our people on through to safety.
PASTOR
The whites would burn my church. I have to protect what we have.
HARRIET
You might as well be choppin' cotton under the whip!
PASTOR
I got more rights than you. You are just a runaway slave!
HARRIET
You're wrong, Pastor. Dere's two things I got a right to, and dese are Death and Liberty. One or t’other I mean to have. No one will take me back alive; I shall fight for my liberty, and when de time has come for me to go, de Lord will let dem kill me. What do you have a right to, pastor?
PASTOR
(Pauses. Quietly)
I'll keep food and clothes stored out in the storm shelter. But don't come knockin' on my door again! I'll make sure the shelter is always ready.
PERCUSSIONIST
One hundred dollars reward for runaway, Harriet Tubman.
(SLAVE WOMAN #1 crosses to box. SLAVE MAN #1 follows. HARRIET begins a large circle representing her journey back to the South)
SLAVE WOMAN #1
Each night when we come in from the fields, I'd wait for that song from across the plantation that said...
HARRIET
It's safe to come out.
SLAVE MAN #1
Or that song that said.
HARRIET
There's danger. I'll come get you another night.
SLAVE MAN #1
This one evenin' as we was coming in from the fields...
SLAVE WOMAN #1
I was headed on back to the cabin when...
SLAVE MAN #1
I hear...
HARRIET
(Crouching down right)
WHEN ISRAEL WAS IN EGYPT LAND
SINGER
LET MY PEOPLE GO
SLAVE WOMAN #1
Harriet was making her call from the edge of the forest, asking if we was ready to go tonight.
SLAVE MAN #1
And we sing to answer her, so's she'd know we was ready.
SINGER
OPPRESSED SO HARD THEY COULD NOT STAND
HARRIET
LET MY PEOPLE GO
SLAVE WOMAN #1
I put my food and clothes in a traveling bundle and waited for Harriet to sing that it was safe to come out.
SLAVE MAN #1
Or the song that said not tonight.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
I prayed for both. I was so scared.
HARRIET
GO DOWN MOSES,
WAY DOWN IN EGYPT LAND
TELL OL' PHARAOH
TO LET MY PEOPLE GO
SLAVE WOMAN #1
And there it was, all clear to come on out.
(CAST forms line and follows HARRIET on the trail. They climb over the boxes as they describe their journey)
SLAVE MAN #1
And we came out of our cabins and followed Miss Tubman through the dark. She brought us out on roads.
SLAVE MAN #2
Through forests.
PASTOR
Up rivers.
SLAVE MAN #4/PATRICK
She hid us.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
In storm shelters. Attics.
SLAVE WOMAN #2
Caves.
(ALL FUGITIVES freeze)
PERCUSSIONIST
Five-hundred-dollar reward!
(FUGITIVES continue to move)
SLAVE MAN #1
We rode on...
SLAVE MAN 2
Railroads.
PASTOR
Wagons.
SLAVE MAN 4
Mules.
(FUGITIVES freeze)
PERCUSSIONIST
One-thousand-dollar reward!
(FUGITIVES continue to move)
SLAVE WOMAN #1
Somehow we never got caught. We always got over the Mason-Dixon line.
(FUGITIVES rest from their journey. They sit by the side of the road)
PERCUSSIONIST
Twelve thousand dollars for the woman who entices slaves away from their masters.
SLAVE MAN #1
Twelve thousand dollars! I could make a new life with that money.
SLAVE WOMAN #1
Twelve thousand dollars! I could buy my family and bring them North. I could...
PASTOR
You could. You could. You could collect thirty pieces of silver! Or you could throw them at the Pharisees' feet and say no!
HARRIET
(Soothes the fugitives and gives them water)
I kept strict rules on the trail.
SLAVE MAN 2
My feets are swole. I can't walk no more! You leadin' us deeper and deeper into the woods, ain't nobody gonna find us here.
HARRIET
(Sharply)
Quiet! Keep the caution.
SLAVE MAN #2
I wanna go back. My master's a fair man. Sometimes a fair man. He take me back. He wouldn't hurt me much. I'm a strong worker. Worth a lot of money.
HARRIET
(Calmly, she pulls a gun on him)
Daid niggers (men/women) tell no tales. Go on or die.
SLAVE MAN #2
Well, my feet've begun to feel a might better. Why don't I lead the way for a piece. General Tubman.
(Sings)
TELL OLE PHARAOH,
TO LET MY PEOPLE GO
HARRIET
In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed.
PERCUSSIONIST
Any fugitive caught over the Mason-Dixon line is to be brought back to slavery.
FUGITIVE WOMAN #2/ALISON
I was a light-skinned woman. I got a hundred dollars, I won't say how, and bought passage on a steamer to Saint Louis.
FUGITIVE MAN #4/PATRICK
They sent marshals to the restaurant I was workin’. The other waiters fought to keep them from taking me.
FUGITIVE WOMAN #1/FAY
I crossed the river with my baby girl safe in my arms. We made it all the way to the other side, when they spotted us.
FUGITIVE WOMAN #2
This black man, one of my friends, for three hundred dollars, told where I was hiding. They sent me back. I got the scars to show for it.
(Crosses up)
FUGITIVE MAN #4
The marshals carried me back to Savannah. As I passed the plantations, I could hear the whippings. One after another. My turn coming up.
(Crosses up)
FUGITIVE WOMAN #1/FAY
While they was taking us back across the river to slavery, I drowned my baby girl. I don't want no more children while I live as a slave. But my little girl is free.
(Crosses upstage and joins the CAST)
HARRIET
(Sings)
AMAZING GRACE, HOW SWEET THE SOUND
THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME
CHARLES NALLE/KEVIN
(Joins her in song and sits next to her)
I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND,
WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE.
(ALL humming harmony under dialogue)
CHARLES NALLE/KEVIN
Name's Charles Nalle. I was a runaway slave. I had to leave my wife behind. Made it all the way to Troy, New York, when I was arrested. They had me in shackles ready to go back down to Virginia. A big crowd of people had gathered as I was being taken to the ferry.
Suddenly, their arms commenced to come round me, holding me, protecting me. One person after t’other built a circle pushing the police away. And I looked down and Miss Tubman had her arm twined through my shackles for a good hold. She was taking blows to her head and arms and body and not flinching a'tall. She was shouting for all them people to come help get me away. But the police got a hold of me again and throwed me into the Judge's house.
But not one heartbeat passed when that door came tumbling down, piled high with bodies. And walking over those people, came Miss Tubman and them other women to take me out. They pushed me up on this wagon headed west on the wings of angels.
(He rises)
I'll never know how Miss Tubman knew to be in that place at that time. How she knew to gather all those peoples. Some say God told her. She talked to him regular enough, I hear.
(Picks up lyrics and sings. while crossing upstage to join CAST)
I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW I'M FOUND
WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE.
(Humming stops)
HARRIET
(Rising, crossing down-stage)
After they passed the Fugitive Slave Act, I didn't trust Uncle Sam no more. That's when I brought my people clar off to Canada. I recall someone saying maybe nineteen times I went down to bring 'em home. Mr. Thomas Garrett added it up, says maybe 'bout three hundred fugitives. I never lost one soul along the railroad in all them years. Not one.
(Starts to exit)
KEVIN
(sings)
THROUGH MANY DANGERS, TOILS, AND SNARES,
I HAVE ALREADY COME;
(HARRIET stops and looks at Audience)
KEVIN/ALISON
'TIS GRACE HATH BROUGHT ME SAFE THUS FAR,
AND GRACE WILL LEAD ME HOME.
HARRIET
But I do regret them two orphan children of my sister. For the price of a new dress, I could've brung them up, too.
(CAST, walks downstage to join HARRIET, as State of the Union Projection: “"...our history, our heritage and even today’s headlines--all of those things tell us we can and we will overcome any challenge.")
ALL
I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND,
WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE.
(Join hands on the word "See." Lights cross fade into bows.
