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.