Light of Eden

[ Light of Eden, soaring soprano. Full 12-voice gospel choir. Lia at her side. Spiritual gospel-choral epic, building. ] LIGHT OF EDEN, A CAPPELLA, CHOIR HUMS OFFSTAGE There was a song in me before there was a me to sing it. There was a light in me before there was a name for light. Light Of Eden For so long I have whispered. For so long I have hid. The ones who told me to stay quiet were just children, when they did. I have been obscured — by other people's weather. But the cloud is not the sky. And I have remembered. [ Chorus — full gospel choir bursts open. Hand-claps. Audience receives bells (distributed at start of Act Two). ] Light Of Eden And Choir Sing it! Sing it! Until the light remembers your name. Sing it! Sing it! Until the dark forgets to claim. Sing it! Sing it! There is nothing wrong with the song. Light of Eden — Light of Eden — we have all been gone too long. [ OPTIONAL — Sacred-language verse in three sacred tongues, weaving. ] Soloist (In Yoruba, With English Choir Response) Ọ̀rọ̀ tí mo ní láti sọ — Olódùmarè ti gbé fún mi. (The word I have to speak — the Source has placed in me.) SOLOIST (IN SANSKRIT) वाणी मेरी — सत्य का प्राण। Vāṇī merī — satya kā prāṇa. (My voice — the breath of truth.) Soloist (In Quechua) Rimayniyta — Pachakamaq qowarqan. (My voice — was given to me by the source of all.) ALL THREE VOICES, IN UNISON, BUILDING The voice. The voice. The voice. Was always — always — always — sacred. [ THE FAILURE-AND-GRACE MOMENT. Light of Eden gestures for Lia to sing. ] [ Lia steps forward. The orchestra holds. The audience holds. Lia opens her mouth. ] [ Nothing comes. ] [ Three full seconds of silence. (This is real. The audience does not know it has been planned.) ] 88 Luis Miguel Gallardo L IGHT OF EDEN. (kneels beside Lia, soft, breath against her ear) LIGHT OF EDEN. Sing it small. LIGHT OF EDEN. Sing it scared. LIGHT OF EDEN. Sing it however you can. LIGHT OF EDEN. The world will recognize you anyway. Lia closes her eyes. She opens them. She tries again. The voice that comes is small. Small and real. Many in the audience are weeping. Lia, Small, Real …there was a song in me… …before there was a me to sing it… [ The orchestra returns, gentle and supportive. Light of Eden nods. The choir joins her in lifting Lia's voice. ] Light Of Eden, Lia, And Choir My silence was never humility. It was theft. The world deserved my voice. The world is still waiting. Sing it. [ Final chorus — full audience invited, lifted, choir at full power, women in the audience invited to stand. ] Sing it! Sing it! Until the light remembers your name. Sing it! Sing it! Light of Eden — Light of Eden — we have all come home again. T he orchestra crescendos and lands. The audience erupts — bells ringing, voices singing along, women across the theatre standing. Lia stands at the lip of the stage with Light of Eden's hand on her shoulder. She has been trans‐ formed. So has every voice in the room. • • • Then — slowly — the lighting begins to shift. The applause has not yet ended. But the music has already taken a turn. The Hammond organ has dropped out. A low, dark synth note has crept in. The lighting moves from gold to a cold blue. The choir is fading. THE SEVERANCE has stepped fully into the light for the first time. He is no longer in the corner. He is at center stage, between Lia and Light of Eden. He has interrupted the celebration. The audience does not yet know what is happening. Light of Eden looks at him — calmly. She has been expecting him. SEVERANCE. Hello, child. SEVERANCE. Did you forget me? ···