MIDWIFE & WITCH’S FATHER

WICKED

Act 1

SCENE 1

(We see a gigantic peaked black hat being used as a symbol to celebrate the Wicked Witch’s demise. Suddenly CITIZENS OF OZ spill out, cheering and celebrating. The hat disappears and we are outside the Wizard’s Palace, in the Emerald City, capital of the Land of Oz)

ALL

GOOD NEWS!

SHE’S DEAD!

THE WITCH OF THE WEST IS DEAD!

THE WICKEDEST WITCH THERE EVER WAS

THE ENEMY OF ALL US HERE IN OZ

IS DEAD!

GOOD NEWS!

GOOD NEWS!

SOMEONE IN THE CROWD

Look! It’s Glinda!

(GLINDA, resplendent and beautiful in her gown and tiara, descends from the sky on a mechanical device that spews soap bubbles as the CELEBRANTS point and cheer.)

VARIOUS FANATICS

Is it really her? It is, it’s her! Glinda! We love yeeew, Glindaaaaa!

GLINDA

It’s good to see me, isn’t it?

FANATICS

(Shrieks)

Yes!

GLINDA

No need to respond—that was rhetorical.

(She smiles down on them)

Fellow Ozians—

(Sings)

LET US BE GLAD

LET US BE GRATEFUL

LET US REJOICIFY THAT GOODNESS COULD SUBDUE

THE WICKED WORKINGS OF YOU-KNOW-WHO

ISN’T IT NICE TO KNOW

THAT GOOD WILL CONQUER EVIL?

THE TRUTH WE ALL BELIEVE’LL BY AND BY

OUTLIVE A LIE

FOR YOU AND—

SOMEONE IN THE CROWD

Glinda! Exactly how dead is she?

GLINDA

Because there has been so much rumor and speculation—innuendo, outuendo—let me set the record straight: According to the Time Dragon Clock, The Melting occurred at the thirteenth hour, the direct result of a bucket of water thrown by a female child. Yes, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead.

SOMEONE IN THE CROWD

NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKED

ANOTHER PERSON

NO ONE CRIES: “THEY WON’T RETURN!”

ALL

NO ONE LAYS A LILY ON THEIR GRAVE

MAN

THE GOOD MAN SCORNS THE WICKED!

WOMEN

THROUGH THEIR LIVES, OUR CHILDREN LEARN:

ALL

WHAT WE MISS

WHEN WE MISBEHAVE…

GLINDA

AND GOODNESS KNOWS

THE WICKED’S LIVES ARE LONELY

GOODNESS KNOWS

THE WICKED DIE ALONE

IT JUST SHOWS WHEN YOU’RE WICKED

YOU’RE LEFT ONLY

ON YOUR OWN…

ALL

YES, GOODNESS KNOWS

THE WICKED’S LIVES ARE LONELY

GOODNESS KNOWS

THE WICKED CRY ALONE

NOTHING GROWS FOR THE WICKED

THEY REAP ONLY

WHAT THEY’VE SOWN…

GIRL IN THE CROWD

Glinda, why does Wickedness happen?

GLINDA

That’s a good question. One that many people find confusifying: Are people born Wicked? Or do they have Wickedness thrust upon them? After all, she had a childhood. She had a father… who just happened to be the Governor of Munchkinland…

(From out of the past appears a somber-looking man: the WITCH’S FATHER)

WITCH’S FATHER

I’m off to the Assembly, dear!

GLINDA

And she had a mother. As so many do…

(A hauntingly beautiful woman rushes to the SOMBER MAN’S side: the WITCH’S MOTHER)

WITCH’S FATHER

OH… HOW I HATE TO GO AND LEAVE YOU LONELY

WITCH’S MOTHER

THAT’S ALRIGHT—IT’S ONLY JUST ONE NIGHT

WITCH’S FATHER

BUT KNOW THAT YOU’RE HERE IN MY HEART

WHILE I’M OUT OF YOUR SIGHT…

(The FATHER leaves, and instantly, the MOTHER wipes his kiss from her cheek. She opens a door…)

GLINDA

And like every family—they had their secrets.

(And her LOVER, a mysterious man whose face remains in the shadows, appears.)

LOVER

HAVE ANOTHER DRINK, MY DARK-EYED BEAUTY

I’VE GOT ONE MORE NIGHT LEFT HERE IN TOWN

SO HAVE ANOTHER DRINK OF GREEN ELIXIR

AND WE’LL HAVE OURSELVES A LITTLE MIXER

HAVE ANOTHER LITTLE SWALLOW, LITTLE LADY,

AND FOLLOW ME DOWN…

(THEY kiss; sink to the floor. The LOVER disappears. The MOTHER struggles back to her feet, now hugely pregnant—)

GLINDA

But from the moment she was born she was… well, different.

(Suddenly the WITCH’S MOTHER clutches herself, in pain…)

WITCH’S MOTHER

Agghhh!!

(The WITCH’S FATHER rushes in, along with a MIDWIFE, who happens to be an Antelope. THEY hold her—)

MIDWIFE

It’s coming…

WITCH’S FATHER

Now?

MIDWIFE

The baby’s coming…

WITCH’S FATHER

And how!

MIDWIFE

I SEE A NOSE…

WITCH’S FATHER

I SEE A CURL…

MIDWIFE & WITCH’S FATHER

IT’S A HEALTHY PERFECT LOVELY LITTLE…

MIDWIFE

Ohhhhh!

WITCH’S FATHER

Sweet Oz!

WITCH’S MOTHER

What is it? What’s wrong?

MIDWIFE

HOW CAN IT BE?

WITCH’S FATHER

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

MIDWIFE

IT’S ATROCIOUS!

WITCH’S FATHER

IT’S OBSCENE!

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 993