(NOTE: An ensemble of 10-12—or fewer—actors, including
musician(s) can play all the roles listed below many of which are no longer
than a few lines. So don’t panic at the cast breakdown below! Thanks.)
CAST
BREAKDOWN
REV.WILLIAM
HENRY SHEPPARD—ages 25-62, see description, p.2.
LUCY
GANTT SHEPPARD—his wife, ages 20—45,devoted, patient,loyal.
REV.
SAMUEL NORVELL LAPSLEY--white, 25, gentle spirit, pious.
KING
LEOPOLD II, pompous, hypocritical, fraud, sick, greedy.
KALAMBA—25-35,
BaLuba man, quick mind, devout, wise, sincere.
SENATOR
MORGAN—50, white, former Confederate, genteel racist.
BISHOP—50,
white.
ORATOR’S
VOICE—black, youngish.
DIEGO
GARCIA—30ish, Portuguese, trader, colonialist, hustler.
HENRY
MORTON STANLEY—40ish, white, insecure wannabe, explorer.
CAROLINE—white,
14-15, Leopold’s mistress, beautiful, no lines.
SLICK
LOOKING PIMP—white, young,Caroline’s pimp, no lines.
NTUMBA—woman,
youngish, traditional, (few lines)
CHITENGA—woman,
youngish, traditional, (few lines)
CHITOTO—woman,
youngish, traditional, (few lines)
CHIEF
ILLUNGA—40ish, heads a tiny village, always hungry.
CHIEF
NGOMA—40ish, heads a village, traditional, few lines.
CHIEF
MAKWALA—40ish, heads a village, traditional, few lines.
GEORGE
WASHINGTON WILLIAMS—30ish, blk., journalist, impassioned.
PERE
EMERI CAMBIER—Belgian, 30ish, clergy, King’s emissary.
TIPPU
TIP—Afro-Arab, slave dealer, 40ish, powerful tyrant, rich.
CHEMBAMBA—20ish,
cannibal warrior, nice smile, friendly face.
LUTETE—30ish,
Tippu’s vassal, a slave hunter, few lines.
MUTEBA—man,
30ish, traditional, few lines.
BULENGUNGA—woman,
20ish, traditional, few lines.
KONDOLO—man,
30ish, former soldier turned rebel against whites.
NKELA—30ish,
Shep’s mistress, attractive, devoted.
REV.
WILLIAM MORRISON—white, condescending, intelligent, a bit envious of Shep,
genteel racist.
CHIEF
KUETA—40ish, fearful for his life, traditional, few lines.
MISHAAM—Lukenga
Kot amBweeky’s son, a warrior, few lines.
ELDER
MUZAMBA—Elderly advisor to Lukenga Kot amBweeky,few lines.
ELDER
YAMBA YAMBA—same as above.
ELDER
KAYINDA—same as above
LUKENGA
KOT amBWEEKY—82, king of the BaKuba, old, weak.
LUKENGA
KOT aPE, 30ish, successor to amBweeky, treacherous.
MALUMBA
NKUSA—30ish, cannibal chief, repulsive, cruel,
strong.
GHOST
1—black, teenager, restless spirit, male.
GHOST
2—black, teenager, restless spirit, female.
SOLDIER—20ish,
cannibal, one line.
MESSENGER—20ish,
Kot aPe’s messenger, one line.
WHITE
WOMAN’S VOICE—recorded or backstage, few lines.
SLAVE—non-speaking,
no lines, brief appearan
PROLOGUE
(DRUMS
PLAY.IN DIM SPIRIT LIGHTS, A PROCESSION OF GRIOTS/PLAYERS ENTER SINGING A
KONGOLESE CALL AND RESPONSE SONG. THEY FORM THEMSELVES INTO A CIRCLE, CENTER,
DANCE TO THE SONG. THE SONG, IN A CONGOLESE LANGUAGE, DECLARES THAT THEY ARE AN
ENSEMBLE OF 10-12 GRIOTS, INCLUDING A DRUMMER/PERCUSSIONIST, WHO'VE COME TO
PERFORM THE STORY OF REV. WILLIAM H. SHEPPARD. PROJECTION: ENGLISH SUBTITLES OF
SONG. THEIR COSTUME CHANGES ARE ON NEARBY, APPROPRIATELY DESIGNED RACKS. THE ENSEMBLE REMAINS VISIBLE THROUGHOUT
IN THE SHADOWS. AT SOME POINT, DURING THE SINGING, SHEPPARD GOES TO THE
COSTUME RACK AND DONS A WHITE SAFARI SUIT AND WHITE PITH HELMET WHICH HE WEARS
FOR THE ENTIRE PLAY. THE "SET" IS AN ENVIRONMENT THAT--THROUGH THE
ACTORS' BODIES, THE AUDITORS' IMAGINATIONS, LIGHTS, SOUND, MUSIC, DANCE,
MINIMALISTIC ARTIFACTS, SLIDE PROJECTIONS, FILM FOOTAGE AND OTHER SUGGESTIVE
STAGE ELEMENTS--CAN CHANGE, IN AN INSTANT OF IMAGINATION, INTO ANY PLACE CALLED
FOR IN THE SCRIPT. THE CYCLORAMIC BACKGROUND IS EITHER A LARGE VIEWING SCREEN
OR SEVERAL PROMINENT SMALLER VIEWING SCREENS. OTHER SCREENS MAY BE PLACED
ADVANTAGEOUSLY ANYWHERE IN THE THEATRE, INCLUDING DOWNSTAGE AREAS OF THE
PLAYING SPACE. AS FOR THE ENSEMBLE, THINK OF A MIXTURE OF THE PERFORMATIVE
MODES OF THE TRADITIONAL CENTRAL AFRICAN GRIOT IN HIS/HER INDIGENOUS VILLAGE,
CLASSICAL GREEK CHORUS AND BRECHTIAN INNOVATIONS. THE PLAYERS WILL ASSUME MANY
ROLES AS THEY PERFORM/TELL THE STORY. THEY ARE CHARGED WITH TRANSFORMING THE
AUDITORS' IMAGINATIONS, TO REMOVE THEM FROM THE RESTRICTIVE PHYSICAL SPACE OF
THE THEATRE AND TO TRANSPORT THEM TO VARIOUS LOCATIONS AND TIMES IN THE KONGO
IN A PRESENTATIONAL STYLE LED BY A NARRATOR/GRIOT WHO IS THE MAIN CHARACTER,
THE ONE WHOSE JOURNEY WE WITNESS.)
ACT 1
(THE
MUSIC SEQUES INTO AN IMPASSIONED ORATOR'S VOICE. OTHERS SHOUT AFFIRMATIONS BACK, LIKE BLACK CHURCH.
LIGHTS CROSSFADE, RISE ON A SPACE IN WHICH WE HEAR SOUNDS OF A
"MEETING" OF GARVEYITE TYPE BLACK NATIONALISTS. THE LIGHTING HAS A
SURREAL, OTHER WORLDLY FEELING ABOUT IT; IT IS "ALIVE" WITH SLOW,
UNDULATING MOVEMENT. SHEPPARD THE OLD MAN ENTERS. HE SLOWLY AMBLES THROUGH THIS SUBCONSCIOUS DIMENSION TOWARD
DOWNCENTER. HE IS AILING A BIT FROM RHEUMATISM AND HAS A VERY SLIGHT TOUCH OF
MALARIAL FEVER. HE WIPES THE SWEAT FROM HIS BROW FREQUENTLY, COUGHS
PERIODICALLY. ONLY SHEPPARD "SEES" THE ORATOR. WE HEAR THE ORATOR'S
VOICE OVER THE AUDIO SYSTEM. PROJECTION: SMALL TOWN IN VIRGINIA, 1926. --NOTE:
AT ANY TIME, DURING ANY SCENE, THROUGHOUT THE PLAY SHEPPARD COULD APPEAR AS
PHYSICALLY DESCRIBED IMMEDIATELY ABOVE. BUT WHEN THE ACTOR SHIFTS INTO YOUNG
SHEPPARD, HE IS TALL, WELL BUILT, STRONG, HANDSOME, BOUYANT, RESTLESS, HAS A
SENSE OF HUMOR, IS OPTIMISTIC, SINCERE, DETERMINED--TO THE POINT OF OBSESSION.
HE IS INTELLIGENT, A GOOD ORATOR AND STORYTELLER, BUT HE IS ALSO NAIVE ABOUT
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES, SUBMISSIVE TOWARD WHITES, MILDLY CALVINIST, QUIETLY
DECEPTIVE. HE HARBORS A DEEP SEATED FEAR.)
ORATOR’S VOICE
Slavery,
then sharecropping. "Slave Codes," then Black codes. Tears on the auction
blocks, screams on the gallows. New slavery, same old hatred! Garvey’s right!
Africa for the Africans. Return to Africa!
SHEP
But
don't take the Negro back to Africa with you!
ORATOR’S VOICE (derisive laughter)
Wha...?
We are Negroes, man. Nobody can crush our dreams.
SHEP (desperately sincere)
Your
dreams could crush you. Listen...you see...you see...I..(drifting off)
(SHEP
STARES OFF AT SOMETHING ONLY HE CAN SEE: TWO SHROUDED GHOSTS, ONE MALE AND ONE
FEMALE, IN RAGGED, ROTTING FUNERAL SHROUDS, WEARING DEATH MASKS, DRIFTING
SILENTLY BY IN A SURREALLY FLAVORED MOBILE SPOTLIGHT. THEIR SHROUDS WERE MADE
FROM A ONCE WHITE, ELABORATE WEDDING GOWN. WE HEAR A SNATCH OF A THUNDERSTORM,
LIGHTNING. SHEP BEGINS TO WEEP SILENTLY.)
SHEP (snapping back)
I'm
sorry; I have fevers…fevers. You could die in Africa and not know it for years.
I know what will keep you alive! Leave
that Negro at home. Leave him home! I’m telling you! I remember...
SOUTHERN WHITE LADY'S VOICE OFF, AN
ECHO EFFECT
William
Sheppard, I pray that you go to Africa and plant the light of our Lord deep in
the hearts and minds of your African brethern.
SHEP
I
was seven; I had never heard of Africa. Ever. Many years later, in 1890...in
1890(drifts off distractedly)
(HYMNAL
ORGAN MUSIC. AS LIGHTS CROSSFADE, SHEPPARD WALKS INTO THE RISING LIGHT AND
KNEELS NEXT TO LAPSLY BEFORE THE BISHOP. SHEPPARD AND SAMUEL N. LAPSLEY ARE IN
THEIR MID TO LATE TWENTIES. BISHOP'S VOICE ECHOES THROUGHOUT THE SPACE. PROJECTION: A WHITE CHURCH IN ALABAMA, 1889.
OTHER VOICES REPEAT "PRAISE THE LORD" EVERYTIME THE BISHOP SAYS
IT.)
BISHOP (offering bread and wine to
both)
Eateth,
for it is the flesh of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who died for our sins.
Praise the Lord!
BISHOP
Drinketh,
for it is the blood of Jesus Christ who died on Calvary. May the consumation of
the sacred flesh and blood affirm and celebrate the humble devotion of our
first Presbyterian missionaries in the Congo Free State. Praise the Lord.
BISHOP
Rise,
Rev. William Henry Sheppard, and Rev. Samuel Norvel Lapsley. Rise and rejoice
in the grace of God. Praise the Lord!
(SHEP
AND LAPSLEY TURN TO FACE THE AUDIENCE. BELLS CLANG. ORGAN MUSIC AND A VERSE OF
A SACRED MARCHING HYMN LIKE “ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS. THE MUSIC FADES LOW AS
SHEP. STEPS FORWARD AND ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE.)
SHEP
Sam
Lapsley was my fellow missionary. Together we founded a mission. He was the
only white man in my entire life I learned to completely trust, even when I
disagreed with him. He came from a wealthy Virginia family; his father was a
judge.
(LAPSLEY
steps into light.)
LAPSLEY (LAP)
My
mother’s tears literally soaked my lapel the entire time I was packing.
SHEP
She
still disapproves?
LAP
Clearly
she wishes I’d accept a local pastorage.
SHEP
She’s
a good lady.
LAP
You’re
kind. I expect that eventually she’ll come to appreciate that I must go where
the Lord calls me to go. I counter her ferocious arguments with prayers. And
you? How is Lucy taking your sudden departure?
(LIGHTS
CROSSFADE, RISE ON LUCY, IN A WEDDING DRESS, AN ELABORATE WHITE GOWN, PACKING A
BAG. SHE’S CRYING. SHEP ENTERS, RUSHING THROUGH LAST MINUTE PACKING.)
SHEP
Thanks
for packing my steamer trunks and...Why…uh…that dress?
LUCY (tears)
I
wanted you to see me in my wedding dress in case you never come back to marry
me.
SHEP
Lucy!
Lucy! I'll love you for a thousand years! I’ll be back! Don't cry anymore.
Please.
LUCY
You
should have told me you were going to Africa first.
SHEP
I
was afraid you'd say no.
LUCY (long sigh, a deep hug)
I'm
strong, William. I know I could endure. I could help you. We could do it
together…I could…
SHEP
The
foundation comes first, Lucy. It’s going to be rough. I couldn’t stand to see
you sick or hurt.
LUCY
But
I don't want to be left alone. I don't like being left alone.
SHEP
You
won’t be for long, Lucy! God will give us the strength to endure. He calls me
to do His work, to bring the light of His gospel to the darkness of his Congo
vineyard. He loves us Lucy, but just as He sacrificed his son for us, so too
must we sacrifice for His sake. By the grace of God I’m gonna get that mission
started and then I’m gonna marry you and live happily ever after administering
the gospel and living in the everlasting light of our Lord and Saviour. My love
for you will thrive like a wild flower in the tropical forest.
LUCY
I
love you too, Will. I love you too much! (her voice echoing) Will! William! William!
(LIGHTS
CROSSFADE, RISE ON SHEP, THE OLD MAN, ALONE ENTERING INTO A SPOTLIGHT.)
SHEP (telling the story)
So
Lapsley and I set sail for the Congo Free State, King Leopold's Congo Free
State, in 1890. But first Lapsley and I had to meet King Leopold II, King of
the Belgians, the recognized “owner” of the entire Congo.
(SOUND:
PREVIOUS SOUNDS SEQUE INTO EUROPEAN CLASSICAL MUSIC UNDER THE VOICES. LIGHTS
CROSSFADE, RISE ON KING LEOPOLD II, KING OF BELGIUM. THE LIGHTING IS SURREAL;
THE VOICES IN THIS SCENE ECHO SOMETIMES. THE TWO SHROUDED GHOSTS AMBLE THROUGH
THE UPSTAGE SPACES. VERY NOBLE LOOKING IN HIS ROYAL UNIFORM, THE KING IS TALL,
WITH A LARGE NOSE, LONG BUSHY BEARD, AND AN EXPANDING GIRTH THAT LITERALLY
EXPANDS AS WE WATCH HIM THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE PLAY. HE IS WARM,
FRIENDLY, GRACIOUS EVEN TO LAPSLEY. SHEPPARD IS ISOLATED FROM THEM, IN A SPOT
OF LIGHT. LEOPOLD SPEAKS WITH A FRENCH ACCENT. ON A PROJECTION SCREEN IS AN
IMPENETRATABLY VAGUE SURREAL IMAGE OF A LYNCHING. THIS IMAGE WILL GROW
PROGRESSIVELY CLEARER AND REALISTIC EACH TIME IT IS SHOWN. A LIVE GARGOYLE IN A
TUXEDO AND A BROAD RED SASH, BEARING A POLE WITH A BELGIUM FLAG, FOLLOWS THEM
AS LEOPOLD LEADS LAPSLEY--AND PRESUMABLY SHEPPARD--ON A TOUR OF HIS CASTLE. THE
ACTOR MUST REMAIN IN THE SCENE AS SHEP THE OLD MAN, PERHAPS RECALLING THE EVENT
FROM THE DEPTH OF DEMENTIA.)
LEOPOLD
And
this item is from, I believe, the BaKuba tribe. They are an extremely artistic
people. (WITH INCREDULOUS, EXCITED, GREED) A pound of brass wire is all it
cost! Imagine!
LAPSLEY
This
is fantastic, your Majesty!
SHEP
Your
Majesty, this is the best I've ever...
LEOPOLD (dismissive)
Thank
you! One of my traders bought it for a pound of brass wire. Quite expensive by
bantu standards.
LAPSLEY
They
must have a great civilization, these B..B..BaKuba people?
LEOPOLD
Art
they have; civilization they lack. They hate foreigners merely because they are
different. How savage! A pound of brass wire!.
SHEP
A
pound of brass wire?
LEOPOLD
I
beg your pardon? A pound of brass wire!
SHEP
Why
do you keep saying a pound of brass wire?
LEOPOLD (DISMISSIVE)
Some
day the Congo natives will rule this world. It's not unthinkable. I want to
prepare them for their destiny; therefore, I grant you a site for your mission
in the Kasai Province, 800 miles inland, near a village called Luebo. Luebo is
strategically situated in a wild country with wild people in need of our
Christian charity. Imagine, a treasure for only a pound of brass wire!
SHEP (SCREAMS!)
You
said it again!
LEOPOLD (speaks to Lapsley,
oblivious of Shep)
American
Negroes who go to my Congo must not drink wine! A pound of brass wire!
SHEPPARD (sarcastic)
I
wonder who he's talking about?
(TIGHTSPOT
RISES ON CAROLINE, LEOPOLD'S CHIILD-LIKE,
NOT-SO-SECRET
,15 YEAR-OLD MISTRESS. SHE SITS, PRISTINE, SMILING SWEETLY, INNOCENTLY, FROZEN
IN PLACE, A CHILD DRESSED LIKE AN
ABUNDANTLY WEALTHY QUEEN, DOLL LIKE, SEDUCTIVE, ADMIRING HERSELF IN A HAND
MIRROR. STANDING IN THE VAGUE SHADOWS BEHIND HER IS A SLICK LOOKING PIMP. HE
WATCHES IN SILENCE. LEOPOLD NOTICES CAROLINE, IS TOTALLY DISTRACTED.)
LEOPOLD
Gentlemen,
it's been a pleasure. Bon voyage. Don’t forget! A pound of brass wire!
SHEP AND LAP (bowing)
Your
Majesty!
(LEOPOLD
CRAWLS ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES IN THE MANNER OF A FRIENDLY DOG—TAIL WAGGING,
TONGUE,HANGING OUT, WHIMPERING OR HAPPILY BARKING--TO CAROLINE WHO IS PLAYFULLY
BRANDISHING A BLACK LEATHER WHIP GIVEN HER BY THE PIMP. LIGHTS CROSSFADE; OUT
ON LEOPOLD, CAROLINE, SLICK PIMP AND LAP; REMAIN ON SHEP WHO NARRATES AS OLD
MAN SHEP.)
SHEP
King
Leopold was somewhat peculiar, but he seemed as determined as Lapsley and I to
shine the light of Christian civilization into the heart of darkness. On our
voyage along the West African coast I read a stack of books about the Congo,
especially books and articles by the preeminent “Africanist” of his day, Henry
Morton Stanley. This famous explorer, adventurer, writer, hero, left me ill at ease. He seemed to be driven
by some sort of ruthless fear. I often daydreamed about him.
(SOUND:
MAJESTIC CLASSICAL MUSIC POPULAR AMONG THE EUROPEAN ELITE IN THE 1880’S. LIGHTS
CROSSFADE, DOWN HALF ON SHEP, RISE TO FULL ON STANLEY, SOMEWHERE IN SHEP’S
DEMENTIA, PRACTICING A SPEECH BEFORE A MIRROR, SLIGHTLY TIPSY, BOASTFUL,
DELIBERATELY CHARISMATIC, HOLDING A LARGE BLACKFACE MINSTREL HEAD BRANDY
SNIFTER. AROUND HIS NECK A LARGE GOLD MEDAL. THIS IS THE STANLEY OF SHEP’S
PERCEPTION. THE MONOLOGUE IS SURREALISTICALLY LIGHTED. SOUND: MUSIC REMAINS
UNDER.)
STANLEY
Thank
you, my King. I am profoundly honored by your kindness. No, I shall say: Your
Majesty, I am magnificently honored. Yes, that’s better. I am magnificently
honored by this award and by the kindness of all the distinquished ladies and
gentlemen attending your court. The natives call me Bula Matari. Bula Matari
means breaker of rocks. It's a simple—no no, simplistic is better. It is a
simplistic perception, of course. I am the journalist that found Dr.
Livingstone east of Lake Tanganyika in Ujiji. I discovered much of the Congo
and negotiated 450 sovereignty treaties with some of the fiercest looking
savages you can imagine. The natives named me Bula Matari when His Majesty
asked me to build a road 250 miles long to bypass the utterly treacherous
cataracts of the mighty Congo River. Imagine what we faced, ladies and
gentlemen: A large variety of deadly venomous snakes, enormous pythons big
enough to swallow an entire cow; thousands of leopards that feasted on my men
sometimes; soldier ants the size of hornets that could eat a man in two hours;
deadly spiders the size of dinner plates; heat that slowly turned your clothes
into an oven; thick clouds of voracious mosquitoes that could suck a pint of
blood from a man in a few minutes; incessant, burning fevers that left you
helpless for days. Jungles so dense that we needed torchlights to make our way
through them. And the total silence of those jungles was, ironically,
deafening. With dynamite I leveled highlands, blasted my way through mountains
and thousands of wild savages; I ripped from the earth ancient trees that were
tall enough to be the pillars of Heaven, trees that were old by the time
Columbus made his first voyage to the new world. I shattered granite cliffs as
big as ocean liners; I changed the course of rivers; I forcibly taught savages
how to do an honest day's work for His Majesty's generous wage offer. Yes, I am
Bula Matari, the breaker of rocks, the bringer of civilization. (TEARS COMING)
I'll wager..I..I'll wager that my parents would've been proud of me. They
would’ve regreted having given me away. They would’ve been ashamed that they
abandoned me to that hellish workhouse. If they could see me now! Bula Matari,
the breaker of rocks, making business deals with exalted kings and captains of
international commerce and industry, admired by world leaders! Me, the one my
uncles called the bastard son of a whore!
(DISTANT
TALKING DRUMS AS THE LIGHTS CROSSFADE, RISE ON A CAMPFIRE AROUND WHICH HUDDLE
SHEP AND LAP, SLAPPING AT MOSQUITOES, SCRATCHING. LAP HOLDS A BLANKET ABOUT
HIM. SOUND: DRUMS SEQUE INTO MANY SOUNDS OF ANIMALS, BIRDS, INSECTS FROM THE
SURROUNDING NIGHT FORESTS. THESE SOUNDS COULD BE SIMULATED BY THE ENSEMBLE OR
RECORDED RAINFOREST SOUNDS. PROJECTION: LUEBO MISSION SITE, NIGHT, LATE 1890.)
SHEP
We
need a bigger fire, Lap; add more wood.
LAP
But,
we have to make the wood last all night, Shep.
SHEP (not convinced)
Yes.
(A
BLOOD CURDLING LEOPARD'S NEARBY ROAR PETRIFIES THEM. THEY PILE A TON OF WOOD ON
THE FIRE.)
SHEP (grabbing rifle)
God's
work is a noble struggle.
LAP
When
is the riverboat coming back?
SHEP
Nine
months.
LAP (resolute sounding, but not
quite convinced)
The
Lord will provide.
SHEP (unconvinced)
Yes.
LAP
I
never hunted. I hope your pa taught you well.
SHEP
He
did. I can hit anything with this Marteni Henry that walks, runs, flies, or
crawls within fifty yards. I can tell ya one thing: we will be supplied with
plenty of bush meat.
LAP
Praise
God! I feel so useless, like a burden. I’ve failed you; I failed the church.
This fever, it’s…
SHEP
Please,
Lap, give it time; the fever will pass. And failure!? We’ve only been here a
week. Another day or two our house’ll be finished. Then we go find some local
people and get on with the Lord’s work.
LAP
People!
Oh to see some people!
SHEP
They’re
around here. You hear their roosters crow every morning. They’re watching us,
I’m sure.
LAP
I
wish I could end this fever!
SHEP
Maybe
you should take some more calomel and another purge.
(KALAMBA,
A BaKETE MAN, ENTERS FROM THE ENSEMBLE. LAPSLEY, ELATED, LEAPS TO HIS FEET,
BLANKET FLAPPING FROM HIS SHOULDERS, FRANTICALLY SLAPPING MOSQUITOS; HE BOUNDS
TOWARD THE MAN.)
LAP
Look
a man! Praise Jesus!
(KALAMBA
SEES A GHOST DEMON, SCREAMS IN TERROR, AND FAINTS.)
LAP
Is
he dead?
SHEP
No.
Give me that water.
(KALAMBA
COMES TO.)
KALAMBA (looking at Shep)
Asante
sana! Asante sana, bwana!
LAP
Are
you alright, lad?
(KALAMBA
LOOKS AT LAP, SCREAMS AGAIN, JUMPS UP AND RUNS OFF. SHEP AND LAP ARE
PERPLEXED.)
LAP
I'm
certain I did something wrong.
SHEP
Lap,
I, ah.., you know, I think he thinks you're a ghost. Your white skin. It scared
him!
LAP (Amazed)
Why,
I can't imagine!
SHEP
I
read where White is the color of death among many central African people.
LAP
We'll
simply have to alter their perception of death.
SHEP
Oh
yeah?
LAP
I
mean..I..I've never quite thought about being ah..wh..white.
SHEP
And
I've never worried less about being colored.
(THEY
LAUGH. SOUND: THUNDERSTORM UP AS LIGHTS CROSSFADE, OUT ON LAPSLEY, REMAIN ON
SHEP THUNDERSTORM UNDER.)
SHEP (praying)
My
Lord Father in Heaven, grant us the strength to once more overcome the ravages
of these accursed African fevers. (talking to audience as OLD MAN SHEP) The
fevers were impossible to avoid. All the white people endured fevers. Many died
from them. But the fevers came and went. The stubbornness of the people
persisted. They seemed unwilling to accept Jesus into their hearts. Their idols
and superstitions were as attached to their souls as their arms and legs were
attached to their magnificent bodies.
(LIGHTS
CROSSFADE. SOUND: DRUMMING/CHANTING. TWO GHOST FIGURES FROM THE ENSEMBLE MOVE
IN DANCE ACROSS THE SPACE. LIGHTS CROSSFADE: RISE ON A CATECHISM CLASS AT LUEBO
MISSION. SHEP AND LAP, IMPASSIONED, TRYING TO TEACH THE BIRTH AND RESURRECTION
TO KALAMBA AND NTUMBA, A SKEPTICAL baKETE WOMAN; BOTH ARE POTENTIAL CONVERTS.
THEY HAVE STEPPED FROM THE ENSEMBLE. SHEP GETS PROGRESSIVELY “PREACHERLY.”
PROJECTION: A CATECHISM CLASS AT LUEBO MISSION.)
NTUMBA
Dina
diyeye kabidi? (DEENA DIE-YAY-YAY
KAH-BEAD-DEE: What is his name again?)
KALAMBA
Jesus
was his name,...
LAP
Good,
KALAMBA. Jesus is the son of Njambi, your great spirit whom we call God.
(N-JAM-BEE) Let the Lord into your heart!
SHEP
Whatever
your life has been,
LAP
Whatever
tribulation you've suffered,
SHEP (black fundamentalist singsong
preacherly)
When
you are choked with poverty and ignorance,
LAP (softly, intensely intellectual,
sincere)
When
pride in wealth rots your soul,
SHEP
When
everyone despises you,
LAP
When
they persecute you,
SHEP
And
when they scorn you,
LAP
When
family and friends cast you out,
SHEP (very preacherly, overboard)
When
you are alone in a dark world with no one to ease your suffering, Jesus is
there to love you. He sacrificed himself to save us. He died for our sins and
He rose from the dead,
LAP
To
walk among men.
NTUMBA
Were
there no women?
KALAMBA
Why
would a man come all the way back from death to live among women?
LAP
Wait.
Wait, KALAMBA. Ntumba, yes, yes, there were women, but...
KALAMBA
Of
course, Jesus had many wives.
SHEP
Oh
no! Jesus never had a wife.
NTUMBA
Eh?
So he hated women?
LAP
Jesus
never hated. His heart was filled with love.
KALAMBA (preaching to Ntumba)
But
he did not love women. Praise Jesus!
SHEP
Jesus
loved everyone!
LAP
He
fed the poor, he healed the sick, he performed miracles.
NTUMBA
What
is a "miracles?"
LAP
Like..ah...magic
NTUMBA
Like
the nganga?
KALAMBA
Of
course, Jesus was the village nganga!
LAP (confidentially to Shep)
What's
nganga?
SHEP
A
witchdoctor.
NTUMBA
We
do not send our witches to doctors; we kill them.
KALAMBA
Jesus
was not a witch! Why do you wish to kill him?
SHEP
Wait,
let me explain. Jesus suffered for us so that we wouldn't have to suffer. Some
of his own people hated him because he broke ancient traditions, so they asked
their Roman masters to kill him. Then Jesus did what no man ever did: He rose
from his grave. He was special, you see?
NTUMBA
Everyday
the ancestors travel the road between life and death. What is so special about
Jesus?
KALAMBA (sharply, impatiently)
Because
he is the first white man who did it, woman!
SHEP
Wait!
Let me explain...
(SOUNDS:
LOUD THUNDER, LIGHTNING, RAINSTORM. SHEP, LAP, KALAMBA AND NTUMBA LOOK UP, RUN
FOR COVER. LIGHTS CROSSFADE, RISE ON A BaKETE VILLAGE CHIEF, SLIGHTLY TIPSY,
IMBIBING LOCAL PALM WINE, WEAK WITH LAUGHTER. STORM SOUNDS FADE UNDER HIS
VOICE. OFFSTAGE VOICES LAUGH WITH HIM. MUSIC: STRINGED INSTRUMENT SOFTLY UNDER
HIS VOICE.)
CHIEF ILLUNGA
Imagine,
this Rev. Shepete, this black white man foreigner, tells us to follow a god who
has no penis. This god never had a wife! I am chief of this small village and
even I have three wives and 14 children. A god who has no wife is not fit to
rule the world. This foolish god made another man's wife pregnant just by
looking under her dress. Her husband Joseph was so angry that he made her give
birth to the son of this god on a bed of animal dung. And then the son grew up
and became a worthless nomad; he never married. A man who does not marry a
woman is worthless. And when others came and put Jesus on a stick and roasted
him in the hot sun, this god did nothing to protect his only son. And Shepete
tells us to join this dysfunctional family? These foreigners are strange.
Remember Bula Matari who came and destroyed? These foreigners are like buffalo
dung; they are dry on the surface but soft underneath. If you step on it, you
will slip and fall. Watch them! Perhaps
they are evil ghost demons who are
hiding behind an idiot's tale. (SHOUTING OFF) More palm wine, and is there no
more food?
(LIGHTS
CROSSFADE: OUT ON ILLUNGA, UP ON OLD MAN SHEP.SOUND: MUSIC FADES OUT.)
SHEP
The
hours, days, weeks, months—these notions about time dissolved in the liquid
heat of the central Congo. I learned to measure time not by a clock, but rather
by events, events like slave raids by
Arabs and Afro-Arabs and native Africans; events like the permanent gold rush
and ivory trade and the gathering of wild rubber, rubber that had suddenly
become more valuable than gold. And intertribal warfare! What a waste of blood!
I began to realize that the social gospel was as important as the spiritual
gospel. The people needed a leader to arouse them from their backward ways, to
bring the modern world to them, to unite them against their enslavers, all of
their enslavers, native and foreign.
(LIGHTS
CROSSFADE, TIGHTSPOT RISES ON SAMUEL N. LAPSLEY, READING MAIL. SHEP ENTERS,
GIVES A WATER GOURD TO LAP AND GETS PREOCCUPIED WITH A BOOK HE CARRIES.)
SHEP
How’s
your fever?
LAP
Subsiding
at last. How long was I under this time?
SHEP
Five
days and you lost ten pounds. Maybe you spend too much time preaching in the
bush. You always come back with a fever. You should visit the doctor at Boma
just to...
LAP
Nonsense,
that’s 800 miles away. A little rest
and I’ll be just fine. Ah, here's a package and a letter from your mother.
SHEP
Well,
open them. And listen to this. Stanley
wrote...
LAP
Who?
SHEP
Henry
Morton Stanley, the explorer, the journalist guy; “Mr. Livingstone, I presume.”
That guy.
LAP (preoccupied)
Oh,
that Stanley.
SHEP
Listen.
"The International Congo Association..." That's Leopold's invention.
"...were in possession of treaties made with...independent African
chiefs...for substantial considerations..." Ha! A trunkload of beads and
brass wire. "...for substantial considerations...[the chiefs] had
transferred their rights of sovereignty and of ownership to the
Association." Chiefs don't own villages!
You know what this means, Lap?
LAP (drolly)
That
Stanley composes severely awkward sentences.
SHEP (irritated)
Europe
is tearing at the flanks of a crippled Africa like a thieving pack of ravenous
dogs! Colonialism!
LAP
Your
mother sent us 3 jars of peach preserves! Praise God!
SHEP
The
1885 Berlin Conference was a Nietzschean glutfest that to this day perpetuates
an utterly cyclopean hubris!
LAP
Shep!
(THEY both chuckle)
SHEP
Beats
cursing.
LAP
Not
by much.
SHEP (attempt at humor)
I
was trying to be evangelical.
LAP (dismissively)
Fine.
Meanwhile, we should tear into these peach preserves, and, look! Two pounds of
salted peanuts.
SHEP (snapping)
Lap,
I'm trying to make a point here!
LAP (snapping back)
Why
don't you say this to Leopold's face? To the U.S. Senate. To the Secretary of
State? To the Executive Committee on Foreign Missions?
(SHEP
PUTS HIS HEAD DOWN.)
LAP
You
preach everything but the gospel to the natives. You tell them to form a
government, have elections, demand, higher wages,...
SHEP
They
pay them pennies to carry 60 pound loads 250 miles by foot!
LAP
Yes,
but our faith in God will prevail against exploitation. We were sent to teach
the three “R’s” of the gospel: sin
through ruin, redemption by Jesus and
rebirth by the Holy Spirit. Form a government? We're here to form a church.
SHEP
That's
shortsighted.
LAP
Oh,
God is now shortsighted?
SHEP
You
know what I mean!
LAP
Do
you?
SHEP (very seriously distressed,
angry)
Let's
have an epiphanic moment, Lap. We haven't had an epiphanic moment in awhile.
LAP (somber, snappish)
Fine
with me. You begin.
SHEP
The
Church sent you here to supervise me, didn't they?
LAP
It's
a Southern church. They want a white man in charge. True.
SHEP
Then
why do you let me run things at Luebo?
LAP
I
don't "let" you do anything. I came to preach the gospel in the
wilderness, not to be the "white man." I leave that to you.
SHEP
What
do...are you...
LAP
Shep,
my brother, you are deeply afraid of the "white man." You growl at
his back and cower to his face.
SHEP
So,
I'm a coward, is it?
LAP (genuinely hurt)
I'm
saying that white men are just as fearful. They grin in your face and sneer at
your back; they are afraid of you. They are afraid of each other, afraid of the
universe, afraid of their God like all men! They want to be powerful so they
can feel safe. God forgive them, but it's true.
SHEP (lying)
I
am not afraid of them!
LAP
Fine,
perhaps not, but listen a moment, please. This time, while I was preaching in
the outlying villages in the bush, I kept seeing my mama's face in all the
faces of the women. I heard her calling me like she used to.
SHEP
Mrs.
Lapsley?
LAP
No,
not my blood mother; it was Mama Gussie who nursed me and raised me until I was
eight; I call her mama. She was a Negro. I never told you about her, Shep,
because I..well,..she was my family's slave before the Civil War and our house
maid and nanny after the war. I was ashamed to tell you.
SHEP
No
need for shame between us.
LAP
I
know. I know. Well, I was always torn between my mother and Mama Gussie. Gussie
loved me like her own child. She fed me; she bathed me. Took me to church,
taught me how to pray, told me stories, taught me how to sing, made me get my
school lessons, put me to bed at night, everything. She even spanked me when I
acted bad. And then she would put me on her lap and hold me while I cried. Mama
Gussie taught me how to be civilized. I came to Africa because of Gussie. My
mother didn't want me to come because she was afraid for my health. But when
Mama Gussie died, I was at her bedside. Just before she died, I held her hand and
promised her that I would do something to help uplift her people. I chose to
preach the gospel. I could think of nothing more uplifting.
SHEP
Amen,
but their earthly selves have needs which…
LAP
Shep,
I'm trying to say: either save souls for the Lord or build a nation for Ceasar.
Trying to do both is like going in opposite directions at the same time. I say
the people are uplifted in all ways when you enlighten their souls with the
gospel.
SHEP
And
allow them to be self-governing, to form a republic of their own, to not be a
colony, to not be subject to...
LAP (irritated pedagogue)
Shep,
listen! For generations the Greeks and the Etruscans were continually at war
for dominance in the Mediterranean. The Romans were colonized by the Etruscans
until 509 B.C. when the Romans finally overthrew their preoccupied Etruscan
king and became the Republic of Rome. The Romans then immediately set out to
conquer and colonize other lands, and eventually replaced the Greeks as the
dominant power. By the 3rd centry A.D. Rome fell to others who in turn fell to
yet others. When you sow the seeds of discord upon the waters of history, like
those Greeks and Romans did, the ripples, the waves, the storms never cease
pounding the shores of humanity.
SHEP (resenting condescension)
There’s
your infernal Greek and Latin again! This is Africa!
LAP
I’m
vaguely aware.
SHEP
Look,
I…
LAP
Shep,
please. Please let me finish. Struggle. That’s my point. Ceasar’s world is one
perpetual war for power. Enlightenment is not about power at all; it brings
peace that endures and peace conjures infinite possibilities for human progress
toward the Kingdom of God.
SHEP
They
didn’t give me Greek and Latin at Hampton Normal School, but they showed me how
to build a house, how to hunt and shoot game, how to grow and harvest what you need to live, how to bake bread, how to
swim and fish. At the seminary in Tuscaloosa they just taught me how to visit
and pray with the sick, how to feed the hungry and find clothes for the needy,
how to uplift their spirits in song and good preaching. The soul and the body
are one thing, not two. We have to take care of the whole thing, not just half.
These people in black Africa need to unite and form a nation. That’s the brave
thing to do!
LAP
It’s
always braver to trust in the Lord.
SHEP
I
do.
LAP
But
maybe not enough!
SHEP
What
do you mean?
LAP
You’re
pulling one way and I’m pulling another. Maybe if we both put our hearts and
minds only on saving souls, we could get converts. But,look at us; we’ve been
here a year and only converted one person, KALAMBA.
SHEP
True,
but we’ve made a lot of friends; we’ve helped a lot of people.
LAP
People
who persist in their heathenish ways.
SHEP
They
have their own cultures.
LAP
Christ
is the only acceptable culture.
SHEP
Christ
is love, and that’s the Christian culture. We have to love them no matter what.
LAP
Amen,
but, William, the Board of Missions wants numbers!
SHEP
They’ll
have to make do with love for the time being.
LA