The East-West Quartet
Page 4
The following passage is projected on the wall:
PROJECTION: IN THE NAME OF GOD
IN THE NAME OF GOD AND OF PROFIT
In 1598 five ships:
Love,
Hope,
Faith,
Trust
and Annunciation,
left the Netherlands to trade
in spices with the official
destination as the East Indies.
The actual destination was
China and the “silverland” Japan,
via the Strait of Magellan.
Only one ship managed to arrived,
Love,
off the coast of Kyushu, the
southern most island of Japan.
(The sound of a quiet stream is heard. Lights fade up to reveal a woman in a Japanese tub, bathing, singing to herself. Her back is to the audience. She hears something strange and looks for the source of the sound. Alarmed, she calls out:)
WOMAN IN TUB: Ojisan, ojisan, funeda!! Ojisan, ojisan, funeda! Grandfather, Grandfather, a ship!
(As she says her last two lines, two stagehands enter and push her and the tub offstage.)
Scene 1
East Meets West
Noon. We hear the sound of chimes and water. The Dutch Trader enters from stage right and exits stage left. As he exits, the Daimyo glides across the stage, from stage right to stage left. As he reaches center stage, the Narrator, lit in silhouette, enters upstage left, crosses quickly and exits upstage right. He then reenters and slowly walks backward to center and stands. He carries a contract and a ballpoint pen. As the Narrator walks backward, the Daimyo exits stage left. A stagehand enters and sets a platform onstage, then exits. Lights up on the platform as the Daimyo reenters stage left and crosses to it. He sits.
The Dutch Trader crawls from upstage right on his hands and knees. He bows to the Daimyo and sits up.
DUTCH TRADER (Sings):Piet Hein, Piet Hein, Piet Hein:
Zyn naam is klein (His name is small)
Zijn daden benne groot (His deeds are big)
Hy heeft gewonnen de—Zilvervloot. (He won the famous
treasure ships)
(The Narrator, as the Servant, addresses him curtly:)
NARRATOR: Stand up, don’t slouch, smile
(Dutch Trader stands up and flashes his teeth.)
Turn around.
(Dutch Trader turns around twice, watching his back.)
Sit down.
DAIMYO: What are you doing here, barbarian?
NARRATOR: Take off your hat.
(Dutch Trader bows with a flourish.)
DAIMYO: Why do you hide your private parts while bathing?
NARRATOR: Stand up! Dance!
(Dutch Trader does a little minuet.)
DAIMYO: What is the distance between Nagasaki and New Amsterdam? And where is New Spain? Who is more important: the Director General of the Dutch East Indies or the Prince of Holland?
NARRATOR: Stop. Sit. Write your name.
(He hands the paper and ballpoint pen to the Dutch Trader, who leans forward and writes his name.)
Time passes.
(The Dutch Trader crawls slowly toward the Daimyo and hands the contract and pen to him. He inspects it, clicking the pen in and out. Assuming the pen’s a gift, he tucks it into his sleeve. He tosses down the contract.)
Pick it up! Hand it to me!
DAIMYO: Why do you write from left to right? It must be written from the top of the page down, as we do. The head of a man is at the top and his feet are at the bottom, so too should a man write. From top to bottom. From top to bottom. As we do. (Pause) You are a Christian. What is a Christian?
DUTCH TRADER: Ik ben een lid van de hervormde kerk het enige ware geloof. (I am a member of the Reformed Church which is the one true faith)
DAIMYO: What tributes have you brought me?
DUTCH TRADER: Twee prachtige kakatoes, twaalfhonoerd voet van de fijnste zijde, porcelein uit Tonkin . . . (Two beautiful cockatoos, twelve hundred feet of the finest silks, porcelain from Tonkin . . .)
NARRATOR (Continuing the long list in translation): . . . Colored glass, two gray Persian horses, a caged cassowary.
DUTCH TRADER : . . . Twee en zeventig Edammer kazen, een grote spiegel, twaalf flessen Franse wijn . . . (Seventy-two cheeses from Edam, one large mirror, twelve bottles French wine . . .)
NARRATOR (Continuing the translation): . . . A dozen amber necklaces, a civet cat . . . (Aside) the poor cat. It died the next day, but was salted and presented just the same. As were manuscripts on several subjects, books on astronomy, mathematics and physics, spices from India, wild mountain donkeys from Abyssinia, and an ostrich, which the Daimyo came every day to watch. One evil day the creature ran into a tree at full gallop and died before the Daimyo’s very eyes. Among the most cherished gifts were black people, whom the Japanese were particularly fond of.
Once again, time passes.
(The Daimyo and the Dutch Trader speak simultaneously:)
DUTCH TRADER: This foreigner looks like a cannibalistic monster.
DAIMYO: This foreigner looks like a man-eating beast.
DUTCH TRADER: He has no nose,
DAIMYO: He has a huge nose,
DUTCH TRADER: slanted eyes,
DAIMYO: eyes like a fish,
DUTCH TRADER: black greasy hair
DAIMYO: red hair that flies everywhere
DAIMYO AND DUTCH TRADER:—he doesn’t smell human.
DUTCH TRADER: It is no pleasure drinking beer in his company.
DAIMYO: There is no pleasure in offering him sake. (To Dutch Trader) What did you come for?
DUTCH TRADER: Voor de handel.
DAIMYO: To trade? . . . (Aside) I neither need the foreigner nor his trade, but let’s have some fun. I shall make it difficult for him . . . (To Dutch Trader) Two thousand.
NARRATOR: Two thousand. My lord opens with an excellent offer.
(Throughout this next exchange, the Narrator will lean sharply from speaker to speaker, as though watching a tennis match. He resumes his formal posture on the Daimyo’s line: “Very well.”)
DUTCH TRADER: Four thousand, nothing less.
NARRATOR: Four thousand, nothing less.
DAIMYO: Two thousand.
DUTCH TRADER: Two thousand . . . Three.
DAIMYO: Three?
NARRATOR: Three?
DUTCH TRADER: Yes. Three.
NARRATOR (Aside): Gridlock.
DAIMYO: Twenty-five hundred.
NARRATOR: Twenty-five hundred.
DUTCH TRADER: Twenty-five hundred?
DAIMYO: Twenty-five hundred. Nothing more and nothing less.
DUTCH TRADER: Twenty-five hundred. Huh . . . It’s a deal!
DAIMYO: Good.
NARRATOR (Whispering): Well played, my lord.
DAIMYO: Very well played.
(The Daimyo and Dutch Trader laugh loudly, recognizing that they are both businessmen—birds of a feather. The Narrator, as the Servant, also laughs. Suddenly the Daimyo stops laughing and reverts to his formal demeanor. So does the Narrator.)
NARRATOR: You may leave.
(Dutch Trader stands up, dons his hat and exits right.)
DAIMYO: We shall quarantine the Dutch. We shall build an island for them off the coast of Nagasaki.
NARRATOR: Hai. What shape shall the island have, my lord?
(The Daimyo opens a fan.)
DAIMYO: It shall be called Deshima.
NARRATOR: Hai. (Bows)
(The Daimyo snaps the fan shut. He stands, then turns to leave.)
DAIMYO (Aside): They are not nearly as troublesome as the Americans will be two hundred years from now.
(The cast sings “Dies irae.”)
(Aside) Very soon I’ll have to do something about that.
(The Daimyo glides offstage left.
Narrator backs up to upstage right and points to projection:)
PROJECTION: Meanwhile
the Portuguese,
&nb
sp; rivals of the Dutch.
(The Narrator walks downstage center.)
Scene 2
In God We Trust
Night. The “Dies irae” is sung offstage. Church bells begin to ring. The Narrator looks at the audience.
NARRATOR: The Portuguese had no shame in telling of their pillage. They destroyed the rich ports of Africa, America and Asia on the slightest of pretexts, burning houses and slaughtering their inhabitants, butchering the crews of captured Muslim ships, cutting off the hands of their captains and sending them to the local dignitaries to be curried and eaten as desserts. Trade routes became blood routes. And the children of Christ? The children of Christ followed the trade of blood, setting up churches and missions, for, after all, their crusade was a rapine.
(During the above, the Japanese Brothers 1 through 5 enter from upstage right, singing the “Dies irae.” They are dressed in black robes and carry tall white candles. They are led by the Portuguese Priest, who is dressed in saffron-colored robes. The Narrator exits downstage left.)
JAPANESE BROTHERS 1–5:Dies irae, dies illa,
Solvet saeclum in favilla,
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus.
(They cross to upstage left.)
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
Per sepulcra regionum
Coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
Cum resurget creatura,
Judicanti responsura.
(They turn and walk downstage.)
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
(They return upstage.)
Lacrymosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla
Judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Pie Jesu Domine:
Dona eis requiem. Amen.
PROJECTION: Yasokai
(Red Japanese characters for the word “yasokai,” meaning “Society of Jesus,” are projected.)
PORTUGUESE PRIEST: In nomine patris, filii, et spiritus sanctus.
ALL: Amen.
(As each Brother is named, he steps forward to receive his name, then steps back into line. Throughout this scene, after each Brother moves forward to speak, he returns to the line backward, so that he is facing forward throughout.)
PRIEST: Thou shall be called Luke Abe.
BROTHER 1: Hai, Watashi wa Luke Abe desu.
PRIEST: Thou shall be called John Oshima.
BROTHER 2: Hai, Watashi wa John Oshima desu.
PRIEST: Thou shall be called Peter Hakamura.
BROTHER 3: Hai, Watashi wa Peter Hakamura desu.
PRIEST: Thou shall be called Matthew Sakamoto.
BROTHER 4: Hai, Watashi wa Matthew Sakamoto desu.
PRIEST: Thou shall be called Louis Yabara.
BROTHER 5: Hai, Watashi wa Louis Yabara desu.
PRIEST: Today is a day of thanksgiving, for you are now a child of Jesus and your salvation is assured.
ALL: Amen.
PRIEST: Brethren, are there any questions?
BROTHER 3: 1592. Padre Juan Alvares arrives in Manila en route to Japan.
PRIEST: Yes, my son?
BROTHER 4: One Jesuit, two Franciscans and two Augustinians.
PRIEST: Yes, my son?
BROTHER 1: Gregorio Cespedes in Korea en route to Japan.
PRIEST: Yes, my son?
BROTHER 2: Six Jesuits, five Franciscans and seventeen lay brothers.
PRIEST: Yes, my son?
BROTHER 3: Mass conversions at Hirado.
ALL: Hallelujah.
BROTHER 5: 1598—there are three hundred thousand converted Christians.
ALL: Hallelujah.
BROTHER 1: Two sons of Maeda Munehisa, the governor of Kyoto (Oda, Hidenobu), a grandson of Lord Nobunaga, have been converted.
BROTHERS 1-5: Hallelujah. (Whispering) Padre, we are afraid.
(They turn sharply in profile and crouch slightly, as if in fear, then turn back and face out)
(Priest crosses downstage right.)
PROJECTION: A portrait of a Japanese schoolgirl
(The portrait is projected alongside “Yosokai.”)
PRIEST: These Japanese are better deposed to embrace our Holy Faith than any other people in the world.
ALL: Hai.
PRIEST: They are as prudent as could be desired. Just as much as, or even more than, Spaniards.
ALL: Hai.
BROTHER 4 (Dash ing forward): Padre, is it true that we should obey the Holy Church above our Shogun? (Returning to line)
PRIEST: They are more inquisitive than any other people I have met.
ALL: Hai.
PRIEST: They are intelligent and, most important of all, they are almost white.
ALL: Hai.
PRIEST: Brethren, have you any questions?
(They turn right, sharply in profile, and crouch again as if in fear.)
ALL (Whispering): Padre, we are afraid.
(Priest turns and slowly crosses stage left. Crickets are heard. The Brothers present their questions:)
PRIEST: Yes, my son?
BROTHER 1: Why do the Portuguese buy so many Japanese and export them as slaves?
PRIEST: Yes, my son?
BROTHER 2: Why do you eat useful and valuable animals like horses?
PRIEST: Yes my son?
BROTHER 5: Why do you destroy Shinto and Buddhist temples, and persecute the monks, instead of living in peace with them?
PRIEST: Those are good questions! What other questions do you have? Yes, my son?
(The Narrator enters from upstage right, walks across the stage to center and crosses to the Priest.)
BROTHER 1 (Walking forward slowly): Very soon, we will be asked to die for Jesus Christ. Torture will be inflicted on our mortal flesh, we will be thrown naked in pits of writhing snakes, scalded with boiling water. We will be threatened with worse and asked to recant. (Pause) What must we do? (Pause) We will be forced to put out the eyes of our parents. Our children will be roasted on open flames. Once again we will be asked to recant.
ALL: What must we do?
PRIEST: And you will reply: “NO I WILL NOT RECANT.” You will resist these tortures. Your bodies will endure untold horrors and fail. However, you will die as martyrs and most important of all . . . as Christians.
ALL: Amen.
(Brother 1 returns backward to the line.)
PRIEST: Their resolution is admirable. For they know so little of God’s work and will. We had to convert them quickly. Sometimes hundreds in a day. Sometimes even by force. But we are in the business of saving souls, not men.
NARRATOR (Imitating John Wayne): And what happened to you, Padre?
PRIEST: I was martyred on June 26, 1632. There were three thousand of us. It was a glorious day . . . to die.
(The Brothers turn and exit upstage left. The Priest exits downstage left. The Narrator exits downstage right.)
Scene 3
Let’s Dance
A silver disco ball begins turning above.
PROJECTION: 1941
4:30 post meridian
The Top of the World
U.S.A.
(The Narrator is at a 1940s microphone stand. He acts as a radio show host throughout this scene. During his first announcement, Dancers enter, upstage left, doing a version of the jitterbug.)
PROJECTION: Montage of details from Japanese and American flags, and nineteenth century Japanese woodcuts depicting European dress and customs
NARRATOR: Welcome to another night at the Top of the World, ladies and gents. It looks like a hotsy-totsy night at the Top of the World. Lester has leapt in and put on his dancing shoes. All the stars are out tonight. I don’t know if it’s shining or bright. ’Cause I’ve only got eyes for you. So turn up your radios out there. Roll up the carpet. Put on your dancing shoes. Ge
t dancing with Live from The Top of the World. Man, it’s just too darn hot! Live at the Top of the World with our first solo dancer, Anita.
(We hear the refrain of “Caledonia.” Anita solos. Again, the refrain of “Caledonia.”)
And here are Bobby and Biff, two of our favorites.
(They solo. Again, the refrain of “Caledonia.”)
And here comes Freddy, one of our local boys.
(He solos.)
OK, folks. Let’s run down the Top 10 for all you cats and kitties out there in radioland: down three places at Number 10: “I’m Gonna Find a Fellow Who’s Yellow and Beat Him Red, White and Blue.” Number 9: “We’re Going to Wipe Those Japs off the Maps.” At Number 8: “Let’s Make Saps Out of Them Japs.” Number 7: “Limey’s Lindy.” Number 6: “Dykes on the Battlefield.” Number 4: “Nip Dem Nips.”
At Number 3: Bing Crosby’s “Going My Way.” And still at Number 1, after ten smash weeks: “To Be Specific, It’s Our Pacific.” Take it away dancers! Make like planes.
(The Dancers extend arms and move in an airplane motion.)