An Opera in One Act and Four Scenes
Look around the world and you see religious fundamentalists vying for power. When they get it, they force everyone else to obey their rules. They are hard to stop. Today it is happening in the Middle East; a few centuries ago it was in Europe. This opera tells the horrifying story of fundamentalists gaining total power in the USA. It’s fiction. Let’s hope it stays that way.
The story:
A young farm girl, Vera, is looking for a cave she used to play in as a child.
The story:
A young farm girl, Vera, is looking for a cave she used to play in as a child.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 1. (798KB, 51s)
I loved my cave; it was quiet. The walls were kind, over here and over there. Strong and quiet. The sweet smell that stands still and never changes and it will still be there next time. My friend. My cave. If I ever had to hide from someone, that would be the place! |
She finds the cave occupied by Dudar, a boy who has been running from the police for almost a year. He found a mysterious scroll in a farmhouse, which the authorities had declared Top Secret. She persuades her father to let him hide in their cellar.
Scene 2:
Dudar is helping with farm work, as the farmers sing a hymn.
Scene 2:
Dudar is helping with farm work, as the farmers sing a hymn.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 2. (1.04MB, 1m6s)
CHORUS: Blessed we that blessed be By our God most Heavenly Reap and sow; here below Doth our Father goods bestow. Thank we here our Father dear As His bounty doth appear. |
A strange figure enters, dressed all in black. Amhras, a government official secretly against the Fundamentalists, is looking for Dudar.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 2. (939KB, 1.0m)
AMHRAS: No light penetrates where the sightless have no use for it, in their simple, satisfying, demented and frivolous pursuit of earthly certainty. Before you were born, Vera, there was a “Great Ushering”. Have you heard of it? VERA: No. AMHRAS: I thought not. They tell you what they want you to know. Control the schools and you control everyone…. |
Amhras tells how the First Amendment was circumvented.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 2. (1.4 MB, 1m29s)
There was a law, making Fundamentalism the official religion. Protests! One would think the Devil was fighting with himself! There was a rule against the “establishment” of a state religion. But lawyers convinced the High Court it was okay. They were easy to convince! Their religion was already established centuries ago, and all they did was to recognize it. No rule against that! So it became law. When they did that, the rest of the judges resigned in protest, and the President appointed replacements – all Fundamentalists. |
Amhras has worked his way into the highest places and can influence the True Believers with cleverness.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 3. (723 KB, 46s)
Sometimes I even lead their prayers. I have a special black collar I got from a costume store, and as long as I wear it, they believe anything I say. Fools! I can make them do anything I want. |
Scene 3:
A local farmer’s market. Tro enters. He is a hired hand and has been after Vera, once trying to rape her.
A local farmer’s market. Tro enters. He is a hired hand and has been after Vera, once trying to rape her.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 3. (939 KB, 1m)
TRO: …. You are asking for trouble. I can get you in a lot of trouble – or get you out of it. What if I turned him in? I would be rewarded for that. I don’t get much reward here at the farm. And even less from you! VERA: You won’t do that! You like me, and I would be hurt if you turned him in. You don’t hurt people you like, do you? If you turn him in, they will kill him. TRO: And they should! All this chattering. |
Tro approaches an official with the intent of betraying Dudar. Vera begs him not to, and whispers that she will agree to his advances if he keeps quiet.
Scene 4:
Vera and Tro emerge from the cave, putting on their clothes. Vera gives Tro a piece of her mind.
Scene 4:
Vera and Tro emerge from the cave, putting on their clothes. Vera gives Tro a piece of her mind.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 4. (1.62 MB, 1m43s)
VERA: …. What will God say about you now? TRO: He will reward me. I follow His will. He tells me what to do, and I do it. The Children of Israel were commanded to rape the Midianite girls, and they did. Why not me? I am as faithful as they. I am more devout than anyone you know. So don’t criticize me. You know so little. VERA: You worm! TRO: And now God commands me to purify myself with his blood. VERA: Whose blood? TRO: Dudar’s, of course. He was arrested yesterday, after I turned him in. |
But Amhras saves the day. He has hoodwinked the Inquisition and freed Dudar. He hands the scroll to Vera, who reads.
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Click to hear an MP3 file containing a short excerpt from Scene 4. (838 KB, 52s)
VERA: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union….” It’s beautiful. What’s wrong with it? AMHRAS: Reading it will get you a death sentence. (Takes the scroll and puts it on the fire.) Now you are safe. |