The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Directed by Lyceum Artistic Director Mark Thomson.
ACT ONE Everything is rationed, including talking. It’s my job to entertain, and your job to draw conclusions. How best can I describe him? Let’s say he lead a pleasant life. And what about the war? The town is silent. Michael is the world. The world is Michael. How blind are the powerful? Standing like giants. This is the people’s hope. Times change. You’ll not be needing architects anymore. The slutting beasts of burden. I know that for a fact. Can somebody please tell me what just happened? Is it true the palace guard mutinied? A good quarrel takes time. Simon, I will wait for you. Go calmly in to battle. I will wait for you under the green elm. I will wait for you until the last man returns. The pillow next to mine will remain untouched. Will the women be assaulted? Why is this happening to us? My lady, there’s been a lynching. I’m not leaving on horseback. The town’s on fire. The left the baby behind. Oh Jesus, half the town must be burning. I love the bolt from the blue. Woman, please help me. Not whimpering like a child. But calling out clearly. | ACT TWO & THREE A man in dark clothes cries like a baby. Eyes in the heaven. You’re insubordinate. That’s what you are. The path I walked to war I did not choose. The girl I left behind I could lose. In the cornfields, rosy dawn has icy fingers. I did my best. Because I’m free and single, I’m sad. And the helpless adapted the helpless. You’ll have to make do with me. Deep is the abyss my son. I’ve been waiting for so long. Those in the middle come back home. She heard his voice in the rustling maples. I don’t understand. So many words unspoken. Someone has to be the one who helps. As the shepherd sleeps. ACT FOUR The day of the great rebellion. Stand still. I don’t have a good heart; I’m an intellectual. There’s nothing more seductive than a question. So old, and still so scared. The accused is accusing himself. A new age is born and a terrible storm is breaking. They hanged them all. The law is a very delicate thing. The law demands gravity. The time of confusion and disorder is over. And the workers’ quarters are burning. |
ACT FIVE The test of the chalk circle. The spiritual agony of a childless mother. A saint in a stained glass window. Draw a circle on the ground. I’m not going to be anyone’s hero. | The golden age of justice. Well, almost… Everything belongs by right to those who care for it. |