Copyright held by the Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop
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Written by Lakin Anderson, Josh Burmeister, Sophie Loschky, Havana Mahoney
Directed by Kevin Terry
Under the influence of Ntozake Shange
egyptians
here we stand/ golden river race/
and we haven’t started/ haven’t grown near as much/
as those Israelites/ who call themselves chosen/
who hold their heads/ up high/ high/ and that scares us/ so/
so/ we push/ uh-huh/ we push/
we tell ‘em no/ treat ‘em raw/
show ‘em whos gold/ and we stand along our shores/
treat ‘em like trash/
growin’ in numbers/ they prosper/
they move and live as one/
egyptians
they hold their heads up/ high/
and that scares us/ so/
so/ we push/ uh-huh/ we push ‘em into slavery
we push til we’ve got the rights/ our rights/
so we treat you like we should/
like slaves/ and you hold your heads up high/
and that scares us so/ so/
we push/
c’mon pharaoh/ tell us/
tell us how to feel/ how to act/
egyptian midwives
we help ‘em give birth/ we tell ‘em
breathe/ breathe/ breathe/
we tell ‘em
push/ push/ push
hands never busier/ busier wih new life/
gasping breath/ a shame/ they were gonna be slaves/
but the pharaoh/ yeah/ the pharaoh got anxious/
see/ racking his brain/
see/ day and night/
see/ mumbling in the street/ yeah/
like a godless prophet/
midwives 2
the pharaoh/ our king/ he told us/
if it is a boy/
kill him/
but if it is a girl/ she may live/
not our way/ not gods way/
but his way/ a man afraid of uprisings/
we couldn’t/ couldn’t/ couldn’t/
be it slave/ or master/
but whispers go far/ and high/
they reach powerful ears/ he came back/ the pharaoh/ asking/
why have you acted thus/ allowing the boys/ to live/
but/ the Hebrew women are robust/ they give birth/
before the midwives arrive//
we became untrusted/ instructed/
to throw into the river/ every boy/
Egypt
someones gotta rise up sometime
egyptians
mouths full of bread/ we keep to the shade/
makin/ joyous homes and fat children
pharaoh
might as well rise to the top/ yeah/
we’re the bossest in the whole damn desert
might as well be me
pharaoh
hell yes/ gotta serve us/
hell yes/ make the statue/
like hell yes/
like helllll yes/ tell me I’m the boss
ALL I GOTTA DO IS HOLD MY WHIP/
GOTTA PUT TOGETHER PIECES/
GOTTA CRACK MY BONES/ AND CHEW MY WHEAT/
SAY HELLO/ SAY HELLO TO SLAVERY
israelites
when I work/ I bleed/ but I know/
i/ do what you say/ so/
so/ I can move/ move in the morning
egyptians
you/ let your feet drag/ you
let your eyes glare/ do the talking you wont/
STRESS BUILT UP/ HE’S NEAR FOURTY/
HAS TO LEAVE/ CAUSE NOBODY WANTS HIM
MOSES! HEBREW CHILD! RAISED BY PHARAOHS DAUGHTER!
EXILED!
egyptians
royal boy cracked/
under stress/
couldn’t take it/ no sir/ couldn’t take it
MOSES! SON OF EGYPT OR CHILD OF ABRAHAM
isrealites
can’t set in his ways cuz he hasn’t found ‘em/
saw egyptians beating a kinsman with a whip/
crack/
saw blood of his own/
crack/
started seeing red
CRACK! MOSES! CUAGHT MURDERING HIS OWN! PHARAOH AFTER BLOOD!
chose a side/ looks like/
egyptians:
choked/ with the dust. that was ar land.
now/ land is destroyed/
dust/
can you/ choose god/
like you/ choose skin
can you/ swap gods/
swap day golds/ for blue hues/
night sky/
I got my god/ I made my choice
TRANSITION LINES
egyptians
he is returned/
yah
brave/ no/ not brave/
but ignorant/ no/ not ignorant
did pharaoh ever think to/
ask us/ to ask/
who is this gawd/ this gawd he brought
I mean/ what of this gawd
I mean/ what of our gods/
moses
GONNA FREE OUR OPPRESSED
PEOPLE FROM PAIN/ THAT I CAN ONLY IMAGINE/
that I can only remember from what I’ve seen/
GONNA PUNISH THEIR OPPRESSORS/ GONNA MAKE THEIR WATER LIKE BLOOD/ CAN’T DRINK THAT COPPER/ CANT SWALLOW THAT RIVER/
CAN’T WASH THOSE CLOTHES/
GONNA MAKE EM PAY/
gonna kill millions for enslavement/ FOR PUTTING US TO WORK/
a fate that one should only wish/ on their own people/
that I’m only gonna let my own people suffer/ NOT GONNA LET YOU DO THIS TO THEM/ cause I can do it myself
Israelites
gonna get free
from oppressors/ make ‘em pay/
yah/ and when that’s done/
gonna enslave ourselves/ make it work/
yeah gonna make it work for us
moses
OH DONTCHA WANNA BE FREE LIKE THE BIRDS ON THE BREEZE/ LIKE THE IND IN THE AIR/ LIKE BEFORE/ DONTCHA WANNA BE FREE
BUT GODS NOT TOO HAPPY/ NO/ GODS GONNA STRETCH HIMSELF
GONNA STRETCH OUT/ HIS GREAT HAND
nlc
ONE
egyptians
first/ water so thick/ couldn’t swim in rivers/
clung tight to our hands/
redder than any wine/
and women screamed as their wash was ruined
nlc
ONE/TWO
egyptians
in our food/ our beds/ our rivers/
you can’t step/ can’t take a step
without hearing bones/ small bones/
crushing small/ small/ tiny organs/
in our food/ our beds/ our rivers
nlc
ONE/TWO/THREE
egyptians
yah/ our lord’s gonna make it happy/
follow it up with gnats/ yah/
gonna send in gnats/ then flies
nlc
ONE/TWO/THREE/FOUR
egyptians
a storm of little bodies/
why is this/
no flies over there/ no flies for them/
why/ why/ why
Israelites
the lord is just/ the lord is just
nlc
FIVE
egyptians
let the livestock die/ let the camels go/ horses go/
gonna send a pestilence/ yah
gonna send something to kill/
gonna send a death/ that no ones gonna answer for
nlc
FIVE/SIX
egyptians
boils/ yeah/ boils/
fulla liquid/ yeah/ fulla sacrifice
nlc
FIVE/SIX/SEVEN
the hail got what was left/
frozen rain/ sharp as blades/
let ‘em go/ let ‘em go’/ please/ let ‘em go
nlc
FIVE/SIX/SEVEN/EIGHT
israelites
yah/ and then locusts/
gonna/take what the hail couldn’t/
gonna/
finish what the storm started/
aaron
FOR WE ARE ALL GODS PEOPLE
nlc
NINE
yeah/ the lights are out/
yeah/ the locusts are gone/
and blackness/ yeah/ still blackness
aaron
FOR WE ARE ALL GODS PEOPLE
nlc
NINE/TEN
nlc
moses send death/ killing your first born/
‘less you put paint on your doors/
keep yourself safe from the lords assassins/
aaron
FOR WE FEW ARE GODS PEOPLE! WE FEW ARE CHOSEN TO SERVE HIM!
egyptians
how do I feed my family/ pay taxes/
no dowries for daughters/
Israelites
you complain/
complain about dowries/ we worry/
you didn’t’ say a thing/
you didn’t say a thing/ when our boys were killed/
THEN MOSES/ AND THE ISREALIETS SANG THIS SONG TO THE LORD
I WILL SING TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GLORIOUSLY TRIUMPHANT
egyptians
can’tcha just move ‘em/ yah, just get ‘em
out/ just get ‘em to leave/
just/ take their plagues and go/ let ‘em make like a tree/
make like autumn
or an an unwanted guest and/ get out
yah/ let ‘em go where they wanna go
and stop before/ these plagues get
us killed/ before we/ lose everything/
to whatever their lord’s got us his next sleeve/
I cant move for fear/ of tripping on another
new affliction/ of fallin into bugs/ don’t wanna get out
of my house for fear of / I AM/
gonna let us know/
that he means it when he
says his are chosen/ and you cant
just let his people go
can’tcha just let ‘em move/ after they took my child
used paint
saved themselves/ to make an example out of you/ our leader/ out of
the man who became of puppet to their lord/ made
obstinate so as not to let them go/
their lord who hides behind a man who/ hides behind another
egyptians
after all the death/ all the darkness the darkness/
Israelites
how dare you/ how dare you/
letter by letter/ whip by whip/ word by word/ death by death/
we fight to move/ we cry out that our bodies might understand/
trapped in a rotation/ that has always been/
no way to break/ locked together/ with mouths open/
not in pain/ not pain/ we are numb/
egyptians
your numbness/ your numbness
letter by letter/ whip by whip/ word by word/ death by death/
you fear/ cuz you cant learn/
cant live on your own/ without an instructor/
without an instructor/ can see your people stumbling/
stumbling through the desert/ wondering where your god ran off to
Israelites:
once your brethren/ then your reluctant obedient/
now expected to be your savior/
gonna stay/ cause you cant hurt us/
gonna stay/ not to beat you/
gonna stay/ endulge in your disesase/ that was never ours/
Egyptians
hope they don’t come back/ hope/
we feel it now/ hope/ or regret/
fear of return/ fear of no return/ same thing/ (pause)/
least the frogs are gone
egyptians/
gonna pick up the pieces/
gonna make my life up again
gotta work my own fields/ gonna go out like a champ/
gonna go out with the plow in hand/
the grain on my back
they get along just fine/ yeah/ get along just fine
gotta work my own fields/ gonna go out like a champ/
but/ who can I whip to plow/
o/ who can I whip/ to plow/
gotta work my own goddamn field/ damn god/
I gotta work the the field/ ain’t no one here to do it for me/
and I’m tired/ so tired
asked my sister if her son would work for me
no/no/no/no/ I gotta keep him to work my field/
gotta whip him/ mothers intuition
Good lord/
hold your tongue/
got no backs to whip/ and my old slaves are/ celebratin’/
got a seven day fast/
CHASE SCENE
pharaoh
gonna save our backs/ gonna pick a place to put our whips/
give us slaves/ give us slaves/
give us the lord’s goddamned slaves.
egyptians
the sun behind the sand/ the black shapes/ take form on the vibrant orange/
vivid yellow/ and bloody red/ a mass/
on horses/
beat their sides/ like we beat our slaves/
only thing to do/
is close our fist
moses
and with this staff/ I will perform god’s wonders/
this water/ this great sea/ not meant to destroy god’s people/
it was meant to save gods people/ for the lord is just/
and his great arms shall split this water like an axe
egyptians
giant walls/ yeah/ giant walls of blue and green/
blinking hard/ yeah/
the world around us moved slow/ looking up/
the glory of god/
pharaoh is just/ pharaoh is just
walls of water
the egyptians put their faith/
in a pharaoh’s hands
egyptians
we can see their heels/
horses run the other way/
walls of water/
moses
THE POWER OF GOD/
THE POWER OF GOD IN A STAFF
walls of water
the lord is just/ the lord is just
aaron
on our heels/
please/
the lord is just
moses
THE LORD IS JUST
egyptians
what could be takin so long/ feels like years/
had to gather em up/ scared sheep/
dragging wrists on ropes/ moans and cries in the air/
a few plagues never killed anyone/
dusted off our whips/ arms raised/ at the ready/
been so long/ any second/ any second now/
a few plagues never killed anyone/
dontcha wanna be liberated/ a pair of outspread wings on the breeze/
dontcha wanna be like air/ breath of a child/ like wind
