|
Scene 1: Actors rise from the stage floor carrying masks of the dead relatives, about to enact fragmentary scenes in the poet's mind based on anecdotes, letters, and memories.
Scene 2: A silent film director dictates orders to a film crew that attempts to recreate the story of the poet's parents. The poet pleads for the film to rewind, so she can try to make the past real again.
Scene 3: The poet creates the completed silent film in her mind. The actors enact the hasty marriage of a young bride and groom in Poland, and the bride's sudden departure for America.
Scene 4: The mezzo soprano sings an aria about the bride, in the future, walking in the shadow of her husband.
Interlude: An imaginary glossary of possible meanings.
Scene 5: The groom, who has been left behind in Poland temporarily, is sleeping. In his dream, a young relative delivers a letter from the bride to her father (soprano aria). The dream melds images of the groom's anxiety and the bride's uncertainty as she sails to America.
Scene 6: The Nazis have invaded Poland and post signs demanding that all Jews assemble in the town square. Many rush to evacuate. The bride's father expresses sadness that his daughter left so soon after the wedding without saying goodbye. The groom escapes.
Scene 7: The groom bids his mother farewell as he boards the ship to America.
Scene 8: The poet is overwhelmed and moved by the postcards and photographs she has found. Thoughts of a peaceful life in Poland in the past are conjured up.
Scene 9: A darkly humorous imagining of the young couple's struggles and endurance in America. The bride works in a hat factory in New York. She recalls her trip on the boat in the form of a vaudeville sketch. The purpose of marriage is contemplated.
Scene 10: The bride and groom grapple with the darkness of cataclysmic world events. Their passion is mixed with lamentations.
Scene 11: The bride's father (tenor), who remains in Poland, sings an aria expressing concern that his son-in-law may not come to say goodbye. Indeed, the groom has already left.
Scene 12: A bass-baritone ruminates about the physical and spiritual afflictions of those who were trapped in Poland, persecuted, and ultimately annihilated in the aria “Cold in this Coat.” The entire cast performs with him.
Scene 13: The poet contrasts the optimism of 1939 New York City with the extermination of Jews that was soon to occur in Europe. Actors play both the Europeans and Americans, with one actor portraying both the legendary Mayor LaGuardia of New York City and a Nazi radio announcer who describes a mass killing as if it were a work of art.
Scene 14: The refrain of the traditional Passover song, “Dayenu” (“It would have been enough”) is presented in the context of the horrific events of the Holocaust.
Scene 15: The poet experiences a catharsis, accepting her losses, realizing she was unaware, but determined to live with her griefs, not to dwell on them. The stage darkens, smoke rises from the floor. When the lights begin to come up, all the performers are gone. Pairs of shoes are all that remain on the stage.
|