ACT 2: Eden
Scene 3: The Independence of the Species
(JORGE works with his fellow CAMPESINOS, young and old, on the newly formed coffee cooperative, slowly rejuvenating the wilted and neglected plants. Unnoticed by the CAMPESINOS, ARMANDO and his ARMY don white, faceless masks at the far side of the stage.)
ARMANDO: Move out! Forward march!
(The ARMY marches to the edge of the coffee.)
ARMANDO: Halt! Stand tall!
(The CAMPESINOS continue with their work, confused by the military exercises but not threatened. ARMANDO enters into the coffee, however, and begins to grab the younger CAMPESINOS from their work and propel them into his waiting ARMY. There, ARMANDO's men leap up onto the strong young shoulders of the young recruits, making them into human stilts.)
CHEPE: What are you doing?
ARMANDO: I'M DOING MY DUTY.
YOUR SON'S IN THE ARMY.
HE'S TOO YOUNG TO BE FARMING
AND YOU'RE TOO OLD TO ARGUE.
(ARMANDO continues to pick out the young. One tries to resist.)
ARMANDO: I SAID DON'T TRY TO ARGUE!
YOU'RE IN THE ARMY!
DO WHAT I SAY
OR YOU'LL PAY!
CHEPE: Do something, Jorge.
JORGE: IT'S THEIR RIGHT.
WE'RE AT WAR.
IT'S NOT OUR PLACE TO QUESTION
WHAT THEY DO IT FOR.
CHEPE: Where's the war?
JORGE: AS ALWAYS IT LURKS
JUST AN INCH FROM OUR DOOR.
CHEPE: You can't take them!
(ARMANDO exits with the newly inflated ARMY. The CAMPESINOS can do nothing. There is a stunned silence.)
CAMPESINOS: GONE ARE THE SONS.
GONE ARE THE ONES
WE MAY NOT SEE AGAIN.
(The CAMPESINOS continue to sing this repetitive strain, with soloists entering overtop.)
JORGE: THEY ONLY DO // CAMPESINOS: GONE ARE THE SONS.
WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO. // GONE ARE THE ONES
LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE. // WE MAY NOT SEE AGAIN.
AND EVERYTHING'S JUST. // (etc.)
CHEPE: THERE WAS A TIME //
WHEN THEY WANTED US. //
WE'RE NO LONGER YOUNG //
BUT WE'LL FIGHT IF WE MUST... //
YOU'RE RIGHT, JORGE, //
WE'RE AT WAR //
BUT THERE'S NO ONE //
TO TRUST ANYMORE. //
THEY TAKE OUR SONS, //
AND GIVE THEM GUNS //
JUST LIKE THE ONES //
WE'VE USED BEFORE. //
CHEPE &
CAMPESINOS: GONE ARE THE SONS.
NOW GO THE MEN.
GONE ARE THE ONES
WE ONCE FOUGHT TO DEFEND.
GONE ARE THE ONES
WE MAY NOT SEE AGAIN.
(CHEPE and the remaining CAMPESINOS put aside their work and begin to exit mournfully into the jungle, towards the CONTRA encampment.)
JORGE: Where are you going?
CHEPE: Where else can we go? Into the jungle.
JORGE: But–
CHEPE: They're our sons, Jorge. How could we not fight?
JORGE: What about the cooperative? What about the coffee?
(He is answered by an empty stage. There is a silence. JORGE ages.)
♩♫ ♬ MUSIC ♬ ♫♩
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montepío - the musical
General FictionThe libretto for a 2-act Broadway-style musical about a revolution that plays out on a fictional Latin American coffee plantation. And Diego, the revolutionary leader, is in love with the Dictator's daughter... Love, politics, violence, and conseque...
