Introductory Note:
This play was written at Yasnaya Polyana, the ancestral home and now museum of Leo Tolstoy near Tula, Russia, in 1994. My stay there was made possible by an internship provided by the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Human Resources Development Program, Eastern Europe, Volunteer Cooperant Project. I am also especially indebted to my wife at the time, Dr. Galina Alexeeva, Head of Academic Research, Yasnaya Polyana, Estate Museum of Leo Tolstoy, who paved the way for all of the essential research which had to be done, both at the Museum of Leo Tolstoy, and other sources in Russia. I am also grateful to the Doukhobor Unity Committee which was the facilitator for the 100th commemoration of the Doukhobor Arms Burning, of which I was a member and through which I received a substantial contribution towards this project through the generosity of my brother Alex Ewashen. This play is intended to dramatize events surrounding the Arms Burning which led to the Doukhobor migration to Canada in 1899 and was part of the 100th commemoration.
This play was written at Yasnaya Polyana, the ancestral home and now museum of Leo Tolstoy near Tula, Russia, in 1994. My stay there was made possible by an internship provided by the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Human Resources Development Program, Eastern Europe, Volunteer Cooperant Project. I am also especially indebted to my wife at the time, Dr. Galina Alexeeva, Head of Academic Research, Yasnaya Polyana, Estate Museum of Leo Tolstoy, who paved the way for all of the essential research which had to be done, both at the Museum of Leo Tolstoy, and other sources in Russia. I am also grateful to the Doukhobor Unity Committee which was the facilitator for the 100th commemoration of the Doukhobor Arms Burning, of which I was a member and through which I received a substantial contribution towards this project through the generosity of my brother Alex Ewashen. This play is intended to dramatize events surrounding the Arms Burning which led to the Doukhobor migration to Canada in 1899 and was part of the 100th commemoration.
The Spirit of 99
[When They Burned Their Arms]
An Historical Drama Of The Doukhobors
And Their Safe Deliverance
To The Shores Of Canada
by
Larry A. Ewashen
#7 1506 Northwest Boulevard
Creston BC
V0B 1G6
[1-250-428-3395]
[[email protected]]
ISBN 1-896031-16-1
[When They Burned Their Arms]
An Historical Drama Of The Doukhobors
And Their Safe Deliverance
To The Shores Of Canada
by
Larry A. Ewashen
#7 1506 Northwest Boulevard
Creston BC
V0B 1G6
[1-250-428-3395]
[[email protected]]
ISBN 1-896031-16-1
Program Note:
It happened a long time ago. A group of peasants, Christians they called themselves, had seen a lot of killing and violence all around them.
They believed in Christ's commandment: "Thou shalt not kill."
The solution seemed simple. Why not just destroy all of their weapons that could be used for hurting fellow man? They did just that.
It happened in Russia, at Easter time, in the year of our Lord 1895.
However, the Church and State, who had many weapons of their own, and saw no reason to burn them, moved against them. The Church felt that they were heretics, the State felt that they should join the army and ‘learn well how to kill.' Together, they sought to maim and abuse them, and hopefully, to eradicate them.
The Christians did not agree with the state interpretation of these teachings, and endured much hardship and persecution before they found refuge in a distant land called Canada.
This is their story.
It happened a long time ago. A group of peasants, Christians they called themselves, had seen a lot of killing and violence all around them.
They believed in Christ's commandment: "Thou shalt not kill."
The solution seemed simple. Why not just destroy all of their weapons that could be used for hurting fellow man? They did just that.
It happened in Russia, at Easter time, in the year of our Lord 1895.
However, the Church and State, who had many weapons of their own, and saw no reason to burn them, moved against them. The Church felt that they were heretics, the State felt that they should join the army and ‘learn well how to kill.' Together, they sought to maim and abuse them, and hopefully, to eradicate them.
The Christians did not agree with the state interpretation of these teachings, and endured much hardship and persecution before they found refuge in a distant land called Canada.
This is their story.
Cast of Characters:
Matriarch - Quintessential Doukhobor grandmother, knows all, sees all, is wise.
Zibarov - Doukhobor elder and organizer
Peter Verigin - Doukhobor leader
Vasili Verigin & Vasili Vereschagin - members of the Doukhobor commune and messengers to Peter Verigin
Nicholas II - Czar of Russia
Alexandra - His wife
Pobyedonostzev - Minister in charge of ecclesiastical affairs
General - Army leader
Lev Tolstoy - Writer and humanitarian
Sonya - His wife and greatest fan
Chertkov - Publisher and activist
Sulerzhitsky - Dramaturge
Bulmer - Labour leader
Additional Characters:
Children [in Canada, later become villagers in Russia], Tanya [Doukhobor maiden and singer], Sergeant & Praga [Soldiers persecuting the Doukhobors], Rascallion [Unconventional Priest at court], Empress Dowager [Lady at Court], Evans [Sea Captain], Makhortov [Sea Captain, Retired], James Smart [Minister of Immigration], Khilkov [Prince, humanitarian & translator], Doukhobors and officials, Yasnaya Polyana Peasant Choir, Village People, Court Attendants etc. When not otherwise engaged, all members of the company must be prepared to act as one of the above; they must also be able to sing as required.
Matriarch - Quintessential Doukhobor grandmother, knows all, sees all, is wise.
Zibarov - Doukhobor elder and organizer
Peter Verigin - Doukhobor leader
Vasili Verigin & Vasili Vereschagin - members of the Doukhobor commune and messengers to Peter Verigin
Nicholas II - Czar of Russia
Alexandra - His wife
Pobyedonostzev - Minister in charge of ecclesiastical affairs
General - Army leader
Lev Tolstoy - Writer and humanitarian
Sonya - His wife and greatest fan
Chertkov - Publisher and activist
Sulerzhitsky - Dramaturge
Bulmer - Labour leader
Additional Characters:
Children [in Canada, later become villagers in Russia], Tanya [Doukhobor maiden and singer], Sergeant & Praga [Soldiers persecuting the Doukhobors], Rascallion [Unconventional Priest at court], Empress Dowager [Lady at Court], Evans [Sea Captain], Makhortov [Sea Captain, Retired], James Smart [Minister of Immigration], Khilkov [Prince, humanitarian & translator], Doukhobors and officials, Yasnaya Polyana Peasant Choir, Village People, Court Attendants etc. When not otherwise engaged, all members of the company must be prepared to act as one of the above; they must also be able to sing as required.
Introduction to the Play
The play is written in the classic form of a Greek tragedy - the Matriarch is the Chorus, occasionally aided by additional women from the cast.
As she tells her story, she is also free to participate as a member, or even leader of the choir; however, she may also step out of the scene to narrate a particular event, the rest of the choir may help her when it is suitable.
The children, of course, also represent the audience; we are, in effect, all children, being told the story, and presumably, able to profit by the telling.
The protagonist and antagonist are forces that are clearly drawn - on the one hand the entire Doukhobor social movement and their valiant effort at survival; on the other hand; the ruthless, tyrannical oppression of the Orthodox Church and the complacent monarchy and their combined effort at stamping out the idolatrous trouble makers.
The Deus Ex Machina that materializes at the moment of crisis is Leo Tolstoy and his colleagues; through their efforts, they manage to find safe haven for the Doukhobors by the fortuitous immigration to Canada.
In the ancient Greek tragedy, it was not unusual for horses and chariots, and even elephants to appear on the stage.
Our modern equivalent in terms of spectacle is technical aid in lighting, sound, film, video, stage revolve, trolley and wagon staging as well as flies. All of these technical marvels of modern staging should be used freely to enhance the drama, and the play is written to take advantage of whatever facilities are available.
On the other hand, the drama is rooted in the character of the people, and such devices as slides etc. will serve to indicate location and so on in a simple way, so the play will flow without being hampered by the necessity of having elaborate sets for each scene.
The play, being constructed in a series of scenes, also allows one scene to be readied while the other is being played - costume changes can also be done at this time for multiple casting, and simple scenic elements can be put in place for the next scene - a revolve or mobile platform would be very helpful. There should be a smooth, uninterrupted flow of action from one scene to another.
The noise of scene changes should also be covered by appropriate action on stage, as well as appropriate lighting and sound effects.
The drama must be consistently larger than life - this is a documentary of Homeric proportions, and an appropriate style of presentation must be attained; this is a tale of adventure in the travel of the human psyche - at no time must we be content with simple sentiment or descend to the trivia of romance or melodrama. We are dealing here with the elemental sum totals of the exigencies of the human spirit; which at the moment of trial and profound spiritual strength, become greater than the sum total of the people involved.
We must pursue a relentless attack upon the sensibilities of the audience, sweep them away with us; so they will be pleased and relieved when the haven is found, the play is completed, and the Aristotelian catharsis has been experienced.
I envision a production lasting approximately one and a half to two hours in length without an intermission.
Before the play, a live Doukhobor choir should be informally singing in the foyer, perhaps the choir from the cast, if not, a local guest choir where available.
The play is written in the classic form of a Greek tragedy - the Matriarch is the Chorus, occasionally aided by additional women from the cast.
As she tells her story, she is also free to participate as a member, or even leader of the choir; however, she may also step out of the scene to narrate a particular event, the rest of the choir may help her when it is suitable.
The children, of course, also represent the audience; we are, in effect, all children, being told the story, and presumably, able to profit by the telling.
The protagonist and antagonist are forces that are clearly drawn - on the one hand the entire Doukhobor social movement and their valiant effort at survival; on the other hand; the ruthless, tyrannical oppression of the Orthodox Church and the complacent monarchy and their combined effort at stamping out the idolatrous trouble makers.
The Deus Ex Machina that materializes at the moment of crisis is Leo Tolstoy and his colleagues; through their efforts, they manage to find safe haven for the Doukhobors by the fortuitous immigration to Canada.
In the ancient Greek tragedy, it was not unusual for horses and chariots, and even elephants to appear on the stage.
Our modern equivalent in terms of spectacle is technical aid in lighting, sound, film, video, stage revolve, trolley and wagon staging as well as flies. All of these technical marvels of modern staging should be used freely to enhance the drama, and the play is written to take advantage of whatever facilities are available.
On the other hand, the drama is rooted in the character of the people, and such devices as slides etc. will serve to indicate location and so on in a simple way, so the play will flow without being hampered by the necessity of having elaborate sets for each scene.
The play, being constructed in a series of scenes, also allows one scene to be readied while the other is being played - costume changes can also be done at this time for multiple casting, and simple scenic elements can be put in place for the next scene - a revolve or mobile platform would be very helpful. There should be a smooth, uninterrupted flow of action from one scene to another.
The noise of scene changes should also be covered by appropriate action on stage, as well as appropriate lighting and sound effects.
The drama must be consistently larger than life - this is a documentary of Homeric proportions, and an appropriate style of presentation must be attained; this is a tale of adventure in the travel of the human psyche - at no time must we be content with simple sentiment or descend to the trivia of romance or melodrama. We are dealing here with the elemental sum totals of the exigencies of the human spirit; which at the moment of trial and profound spiritual strength, become greater than the sum total of the people involved.
We must pursue a relentless attack upon the sensibilities of the audience, sweep them away with us; so they will be pleased and relieved when the haven is found, the play is completed, and the Aristotelian catharsis has been experienced.
I envision a production lasting approximately one and a half to two hours in length without an intermission.
Before the play, a live Doukhobor choir should be informally singing in the foyer, perhaps the choir from the cast, if not, a local guest choir where available.
Scene One:
Lights dim, silence, then darkness - From the dark, on stage, we hear the sound of children playing, they speak in English, with a few simple Russian words thrown in now and then. They are running around the floor behind the stage curtain or in the darkness if open staging is used. We hear a child cry.
Voice: Bang, bang! I got you - you're dead!
More shouting, laughter and running, more aggressive shouts in English. The lights come up slowly, we see the children playing, they are dressed as cowboys and Indians, also some army GI Joe type of clothes, carrying bows and arrows, toy guns and rifles and some army type weapons made of plastic or wood. As they continue playing, somewhat more quietly, an old woman is coming through the back of the theatre through the audience. As she advances, the children become quieter and focus on her as she approaches the stage. Perhaps she is carrying a broom or a pail, as though coming from some work, perhaps a basket filled with garden vegetables or fruit. She is singing an old hymn to herself, IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS. She then notices the children [she may be a bit hard of hearing, and thus speaks a bit louder than normal.] As she approaches the children, she stops singing and pauses to look at them. She shakes her head in sorrow and comes forward. She is dressed in typical work day Doukhobor costume.
Matriarch:[She speaks in Russian]
Children, children, what are you doing?
Children: [Approaching her and speaking in Russian and English]
We are playing, Babushka!
Matriarch: [Switches to English] But why are you playing with guns, playing at hurting each other?
Children:[All at once and variously]
We saw it on television, war is important - yes, war is important to defend our country, we're just playing a game - just pretending.
During this time, the children speak a mixture of English and Russian, there must be enough English to get the ideas across, but enough Russian to retain the flavour.
Matriarch: You are Canadians now, of course, but do you not know who you are? Do you not know who your forefathers were and where they came from?
Children: [To her and to each other] No, no, we heard that maybe we were Doukhobors - Spirit Wrestlers, but what is that? Someone said we came from Russia many years ago. But what is that? So-called friends at school tease us about that. We don't know what these words are -
Matriarch: Come gather around me, children, it is time I told you an important story, you know I have told you many bed time stories; but this is a far greater one than that - this one tells you about your forefathers; let's listen to this tale, then we will have some nice milk and cookies. I will tell you all of what happened, so many years ago.
The children sit together in the front row seats which have been reserved for them; she comes to front and sits comfortably on the edge of the stage; perhaps peeling potatoes for dinner, as she begins the following dialogue, she gradually includes the audience.
A long time ago, before your mothers and fathers
Were even born, I lived in a distant land
I was just a very little child when all of this happened,
As you are now -
But I remember it well . . .
A group of people, they called themselves Christians
Your very grandparents, they were there
They had seen a lot of killing
All around them
They knew that Jesus had said:
'Thou shalt not kill.'
But how to stop the killing?
There was a simple solution
Why not just destroy all of the weapons
That are used to kill?
And they did just that -
They gathered all of their swords and guns
And lit them in three huge bonfires
This was in Russia
A hundred years ago -
I've heard that things are different there
Now
But then -
There was one Church and only one way to
Worship
The authorities did not like this new
Teaching
Actually, it was an old teaching That came from another distant
country
But now the authorities claimed it
As their own
This old teaching was rediscovered
By your forefathers
They did not want to be soldiers
To learn how to kill
They suffered much
Before they came to this country Listen and watch closely
And I will take you there
You too, are part of this story
As the lights are dimming, a cross fade comes up on the scrim and we see an impressionistic outline of the Caucasus Mountains. The Matriarch moves off the side physically indicating the scrim as she begins singing the hymn; IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS. As the portraiture becomes apparent, we see a young, beautiful Doukhobor maiden. She walks across the stage carrying some wild flowers, she then appears to be placing them at a grave side. We hear her singing the song: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE, as the Matriarch disappears into the shadows with her song. The young maiden's song should be sung simply, sincerely in a plaintive, quizzical way, with minimum accompaniment, if at all. Perhaps she is a new generation Doukhobor in Canada, perhaps she is a daughter of the persecution that went on. As she completes the song and walks off, a film screen is being lowered.
SONG: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone, picked by young girls everyone
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone? long time ago?
Where have all the young girls gone? Gone to soldiers everyone
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone? - Long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone? - Long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone? - Gone to grave yards everyone When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone? Gone to flowers everyone
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
[written by Pete Seeger]
Lights dim, silence, then darkness - From the dark, on stage, we hear the sound of children playing, they speak in English, with a few simple Russian words thrown in now and then. They are running around the floor behind the stage curtain or in the darkness if open staging is used. We hear a child cry.
Voice: Bang, bang! I got you - you're dead!
More shouting, laughter and running, more aggressive shouts in English. The lights come up slowly, we see the children playing, they are dressed as cowboys and Indians, also some army GI Joe type of clothes, carrying bows and arrows, toy guns and rifles and some army type weapons made of plastic or wood. As they continue playing, somewhat more quietly, an old woman is coming through the back of the theatre through the audience. As she advances, the children become quieter and focus on her as she approaches the stage. Perhaps she is carrying a broom or a pail, as though coming from some work, perhaps a basket filled with garden vegetables or fruit. She is singing an old hymn to herself, IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS. She then notices the children [she may be a bit hard of hearing, and thus speaks a bit louder than normal.] As she approaches the children, she stops singing and pauses to look at them. She shakes her head in sorrow and comes forward. She is dressed in typical work day Doukhobor costume.
Matriarch:[She speaks in Russian]
Children, children, what are you doing?
Children: [Approaching her and speaking in Russian and English]
We are playing, Babushka!
Matriarch: [Switches to English] But why are you playing with guns, playing at hurting each other?
Children:[All at once and variously]
We saw it on television, war is important - yes, war is important to defend our country, we're just playing a game - just pretending.
During this time, the children speak a mixture of English and Russian, there must be enough English to get the ideas across, but enough Russian to retain the flavour.
Matriarch: You are Canadians now, of course, but do you not know who you are? Do you not know who your forefathers were and where they came from?
Children: [To her and to each other] No, no, we heard that maybe we were Doukhobors - Spirit Wrestlers, but what is that? Someone said we came from Russia many years ago. But what is that? So-called friends at school tease us about that. We don't know what these words are -
Matriarch: Come gather around me, children, it is time I told you an important story, you know I have told you many bed time stories; but this is a far greater one than that - this one tells you about your forefathers; let's listen to this tale, then we will have some nice milk and cookies. I will tell you all of what happened, so many years ago.
The children sit together in the front row seats which have been reserved for them; she comes to front and sits comfortably on the edge of the stage; perhaps peeling potatoes for dinner, as she begins the following dialogue, she gradually includes the audience.
A long time ago, before your mothers and fathers
Were even born, I lived in a distant land
I was just a very little child when all of this happened,
As you are now -
But I remember it well . . .
A group of people, they called themselves Christians
Your very grandparents, they were there
They had seen a lot of killing
All around them
They knew that Jesus had said:
'Thou shalt not kill.'
But how to stop the killing?
There was a simple solution
Why not just destroy all of the weapons
That are used to kill?
And they did just that -
They gathered all of their swords and guns
And lit them in three huge bonfires
This was in Russia
A hundred years ago -
I've heard that things are different there
Now
But then -
There was one Church and only one way to
Worship
The authorities did not like this new
Teaching
Actually, it was an old teaching That came from another distant
country
But now the authorities claimed it
As their own
This old teaching was rediscovered
By your forefathers
They did not want to be soldiers
To learn how to kill
They suffered much
Before they came to this country Listen and watch closely
And I will take you there
You too, are part of this story
As the lights are dimming, a cross fade comes up on the scrim and we see an impressionistic outline of the Caucasus Mountains. The Matriarch moves off the side physically indicating the scrim as she begins singing the hymn; IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS. As the portraiture becomes apparent, we see a young, beautiful Doukhobor maiden. She walks across the stage carrying some wild flowers, she then appears to be placing them at a grave side. We hear her singing the song: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE, as the Matriarch disappears into the shadows with her song. The young maiden's song should be sung simply, sincerely in a plaintive, quizzical way, with minimum accompaniment, if at all. Perhaps she is a new generation Doukhobor in Canada, perhaps she is a daughter of the persecution that went on. As she completes the song and walks off, a film screen is being lowered.
SONG: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone, picked by young girls everyone
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone? long time ago?
Where have all the young girls gone? Gone to soldiers everyone
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone? - Long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone? - Long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone? - Gone to grave yards everyone When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone? Gone to flowers everyone
When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?
[written by Pete Seeger]
Scene Two:
Film Montage: As the screen is being lowered, there is an explosion as in war and a play of search lights as during an air raid, then the sound of anti-aircraft guns and air raid siren.
This sound should come from all around the theatre and should be quite startling. As the actual sound from the film montage takes over, the previous sound recedes.
The film montage consists of brief, dramatic film clips of identifiable scenes from past wars, beginning with the current ones: Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Panama, Argentina, Israel, Vietnam, Korea, Leningrad, Hiroshima, back to famous footage from films of War and Peace. The length of these scenes must be determined by experimentation.
When it ends, the montage should 'run down' in the sound, and end with a crackling, blank screen, as though the whole system has broken down.
In the silence we see the images of the Peacemakers: Jesus, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Peter Verigin.[Hold for a few seconds on Verigin and Tolstoy.]
Lights fade down and we hear the transitional hymn once again; IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS, the singing grows stronger.
IN THE CAUCASUS IT HAPPENED
In the Caucasus it happened;
This historical event:
Our forefathers burnt their weapons,
And to war no longer went.
Our distinguished, noble leader,
Long may live his memory -
Facing prisons, persecutions,
Served his people faithfully.
He achieved in struggle glory;
Evil powers overcame.
Forward brothers! Forward sisters!
In his footsteps we will reach our sacred aim.
Our forefathers' noble purpose
May our youth preserve and live:
Toil and peace and love unselfish,
All offenses to forgive.
From our Saviour in heaven
We will gain our true reward
For our triumph over evil
In the kingdom of the Lord.
[Trans. Tim Samorodin]
The screen is raised to reveal the following scene:
Film Montage: As the screen is being lowered, there is an explosion as in war and a play of search lights as during an air raid, then the sound of anti-aircraft guns and air raid siren.
This sound should come from all around the theatre and should be quite startling. As the actual sound from the film montage takes over, the previous sound recedes.
The film montage consists of brief, dramatic film clips of identifiable scenes from past wars, beginning with the current ones: Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Panama, Argentina, Israel, Vietnam, Korea, Leningrad, Hiroshima, back to famous footage from films of War and Peace. The length of these scenes must be determined by experimentation.
When it ends, the montage should 'run down' in the sound, and end with a crackling, blank screen, as though the whole system has broken down.
In the silence we see the images of the Peacemakers: Jesus, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Peter Verigin.[Hold for a few seconds on Verigin and Tolstoy.]
Lights fade down and we hear the transitional hymn once again; IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS, the singing grows stronger.
IN THE CAUCASUS IT HAPPENED
In the Caucasus it happened;
This historical event:
Our forefathers burnt their weapons,
And to war no longer went.
Our distinguished, noble leader,
Long may live his memory -
Facing prisons, persecutions,
Served his people faithfully.
He achieved in struggle glory;
Evil powers overcame.
Forward brothers! Forward sisters!
In his footsteps we will reach our sacred aim.
Our forefathers' noble purpose
May our youth preserve and live:
Toil and peace and love unselfish,
All offenses to forgive.
From our Saviour in heaven
We will gain our true reward
For our triumph over evil
In the kingdom of the Lord.
[Trans. Tim Samorodin]
The screen is raised to reveal the following scene:
Scene Three:
The sound of the transitional hymn cross fades into a new and powerful hymn led by the Matriarch, who at this time is part of the scene on stage. The choir is singing beside the actual 'Arms Burning' fire; there is the effect of a huge bonfire off stage; we see the flashes of fire playing on the faces and scenes of the action on stage.
In the centre is a wagon filled with hay, and from underneath the hay, guns and swords are being brought out and passed from hand to hand to end up being thrown into the fire off stage. Sometimes there is an occasional burst of a shell exploding within the fire.
The Matriarch, still singing, separates herself from the choir and comes forward to address the children and the audience. As she does so, the choir diminishes in volume and the action on stage recedes in activity so we can focus on her.
Matriarch:
1895 - June 28
Midnight, the feast day of Peter and Paul
A traditional day of gathering
The birthday of Peter V. Verigin Our exiled leader
This was our call to action -
According to him -
According to the Great One
According to our hearts
And not just here in the Wet Mountains of
Transcaucasia
Did we burn all of our weapons
Our swords and our guns
All the weapons that we had gathered over the years
As we fell away from our creed of non-violence
And found some accommodation for a deadly weapon
In the name of self-protection
From beasts, both human and of the animal kingdom
And in Kars, and in Elizavetpol
Did the Spirit Wrestlers send their spirits in song
Towards the heavens
As all of our weapons cast their shadows into the
Night sky
To be seen no more
To smite fellow creatures no more
Just one more weapon that wouldn't kill
Again . . .
Come children, come with me, let me show you what happened -
She comes off the stage to the children and leads them into the scene; they leave their toy weapons and outward uniform type garments on their seats. From this time on, they participate in all of the group scenes as children of the villagers. The choir behind her follows the dialogue in an appropriate chant. The vigorous village elder, Nicholas Zibarov, brings forth a beautiful ceremonial sword.
Zibarov: And guess what this is?
Various villagers rush forward, Tanya, the girl of the song who appeared earlier, comes to the front.
Tanya: Oh, that is so beautiful - where did that come from?
Zibarov: This came from Slavanka, and you know what it is!
Several: No, no - whose is it? Where did it come from? It's so beautiful, must we burn it?
Zibarov: This is the specific ceremonial sword that belongs to our esteemed leader, Peter V. Verigin!
Villagers: Let us not burn it - let us keep it as a memento, a memory for this historic day!
Zibarov: The greatest keepsake is what is written in your hearts and your memories! Know, for now and all time, that our esteemed leader specifically instructed me to be sure to burn this for all to see! [With great flourish, he throws the sword into the fire.]
Matriarch: [Stepping forward towards audience.]
Our great, historic demonstration was not to go unnoticed.
There is a sound effect of horses galloping, then stopping, a drum roll and harsh military commands off stage.
Sergeant: You are commanded to stop this activity - this rebellion must stop!
Zibarov: You see what our rebellion is.
Sergeant: What are you burning? Are you burning government property?
Zibarov: You see what we burn - our own guns and swords.
Sergeant: But you people are the Spirit Wrestlers, you wrestle with the Spirit - why do you have guns? Where did these guns come from?
Zibarov: We collected them all, we thought we needed them, as we started to fall away from our faith, to hunt, to kill meat, to protect ourselves. But now we show once again, that we are through with such violence forever.
Sergeant: But your brethren of the Small Party told us; you are planning a rebellion.
Zibarov: You can see our rebellion; we only rebel against violence to our fellow creatures.
Sergeant: Nevertheless, you are summoned for a meeting with Governor Nakashidze! You can explain all to him.
Zibarov: We are now praying, and before our prayer is finished, no one will go. But if the Governor wants to see us, let him come to us. There are two thousand of us, and only one of him.
Sergeant: You must come now, the Governor is very impatient.
Zibarov: We are now completing our sobranie, and after this, we shall go to the Governor.
There is a drum roll, and a sound of a bugle. Sound of horses being readied for an attack. It is Captain Praga with a battalion of 200 Cassocks. He strides foreword.
Praga: If you are not stubborn and cooperate with us, we will not attack - why do you not obey?
Zibarov: Let us suppose that you attend your church and you are suddenly interrupted by a man who calls for you. Do you suddenly leave the church before finishing your prayers?
Praga: No, I would not go out; I must finish what I came for, fulfil what I began. [Hesitates] Of course, it depends on who calls; perhaps some peasant, then why should I go? But if a colonel, governor, or a minister calls, then I must go at once, drop everything.
Zibarov: For us, all people are equal, the Governor is the same, even the simple peasant, all are equal. The only difference is that one puts on himself different and extra clothes and ornaments, like silver and gold buttons. But when this uniform is taken off and put on the simple peasant, the peasant is just as fearful as the other one.
Praga: [In a fury] You are trying to deceive the Czar!
Strikes Zibarov across the face with his baton so hard that blood gushes forth. Drum roll and bugle call again, the attack begins. By this time, some of the villagers may have gone off and changed into uniform to bolster the Cossack's numbers. The attack should be done in a stylized dramatic movement, the Matriarch sings a plaintive hymn aided by some villagers, the Cossacks advance with sabres and whips and strike the villagers; there are sound effects of horses charging with drum rolls. This could be done in slow motion to heighten the dramatic effect, the children should be seen to suffer. Possible use of strobe light to heighten the effect, screams. The following hymn is sung behind the monologue:
'For the sake of Thee Lord,
I loved the narrow gate
I left the material life;
I left father and mother;
I left brother and sister;
I left my whole race and tribe;
I bear hardness and persecution; I bear scorn and slander;
I am hungry and thirsty,
I am walking naked;
For the sake of Thee, Lord.'
Matriarch: [Comes forward]
And so they sorely abused us
Abused us till the ground ran red with our blood
Each strike of their whips cut through our flesh
Our eyes filled with blood and tears
Till our flesh dried black
Those too weak to walk
Stayed behind to come with our wagons and horses
The rest limped eight miles to Bogdonovka
We didn't know then that the soldiers
Would occupy our villages
And the greatest abuses were to follow
Our young women to suffer scars
In private places
That would never heal
Our elders to lose the dignity and reverence
That comes with age and wisdom
The wagon brought one who no
longer walked
No longer breathed
Trampled to death
By the cruel hooves of the charging force
But then - we did not know
That fully one fourth of us would change over
To a different space
Black broken bodies left for the carrion crow
Before the deliverance of the rest
To a strange land
And as we walked, or rather, were driven
We sang
And as we approached the Governor Nakashidze
Sorely bruised and beaten
Some barely crawling
Now suffering the effects of the hail of sharp
Whips - and boots and horse shoes
We were ordered to halt - and remove our caps
To which our elder said:
'When the Governor comes and greets us,
Then we will greet him too
As brothers, in the regular manner.'
At this, the blows rained on us once more
And then - in reply - when our young men handed in
Their papers
Of reserve conscription -
His rage was awesome fierce
And only Prince Ospinsky
Saved the many from being shot in a rage
Still - some received 300 lashes
And the sore abuse went on -
Some were imprisoned
Others sent to resettlement and exile
To what everyone thought would be a certain death
Our chattels disposed of - sold for a pittance
We didn't want possessions -
But we wanted to be able to live
Of course, that was the plan
To disperse us all till no life was left -
The scenes of torture and privation have been going on behind this monologue - through the stylized march, the stage is cleared, the fire dies down, the Cassocks offer taunts as they herd the Doukhobors on. Sound and lighting effects should be employed to heighten the numbers. The sound of the hymn fades with the lights.
The sound of the transitional hymn cross fades into a new and powerful hymn led by the Matriarch, who at this time is part of the scene on stage. The choir is singing beside the actual 'Arms Burning' fire; there is the effect of a huge bonfire off stage; we see the flashes of fire playing on the faces and scenes of the action on stage.
In the centre is a wagon filled with hay, and from underneath the hay, guns and swords are being brought out and passed from hand to hand to end up being thrown into the fire off stage. Sometimes there is an occasional burst of a shell exploding within the fire.
The Matriarch, still singing, separates herself from the choir and comes forward to address the children and the audience. As she does so, the choir diminishes in volume and the action on stage recedes in activity so we can focus on her.
Matriarch:
1895 - June 28
Midnight, the feast day of Peter and Paul
A traditional day of gathering
The birthday of Peter V. Verigin Our exiled leader
This was our call to action -
According to him -
According to the Great One
According to our hearts
And not just here in the Wet Mountains of
Transcaucasia
Did we burn all of our weapons
Our swords and our guns
All the weapons that we had gathered over the years
As we fell away from our creed of non-violence
And found some accommodation for a deadly weapon
In the name of self-protection
From beasts, both human and of the animal kingdom
And in Kars, and in Elizavetpol
Did the Spirit Wrestlers send their spirits in song
Towards the heavens
As all of our weapons cast their shadows into the
Night sky
To be seen no more
To smite fellow creatures no more
Just one more weapon that wouldn't kill
Again . . .
Come children, come with me, let me show you what happened -
She comes off the stage to the children and leads them into the scene; they leave their toy weapons and outward uniform type garments on their seats. From this time on, they participate in all of the group scenes as children of the villagers. The choir behind her follows the dialogue in an appropriate chant. The vigorous village elder, Nicholas Zibarov, brings forth a beautiful ceremonial sword.
Zibarov: And guess what this is?
Various villagers rush forward, Tanya, the girl of the song who appeared earlier, comes to the front.
Tanya: Oh, that is so beautiful - where did that come from?
Zibarov: This came from Slavanka, and you know what it is!
Several: No, no - whose is it? Where did it come from? It's so beautiful, must we burn it?
Zibarov: This is the specific ceremonial sword that belongs to our esteemed leader, Peter V. Verigin!
Villagers: Let us not burn it - let us keep it as a memento, a memory for this historic day!
Zibarov: The greatest keepsake is what is written in your hearts and your memories! Know, for now and all time, that our esteemed leader specifically instructed me to be sure to burn this for all to see! [With great flourish, he throws the sword into the fire.]
Matriarch: [Stepping forward towards audience.]
Our great, historic demonstration was not to go unnoticed.
There is a sound effect of horses galloping, then stopping, a drum roll and harsh military commands off stage.
Sergeant: You are commanded to stop this activity - this rebellion must stop!
Zibarov: You see what our rebellion is.
Sergeant: What are you burning? Are you burning government property?
Zibarov: You see what we burn - our own guns and swords.
Sergeant: But you people are the Spirit Wrestlers, you wrestle with the Spirit - why do you have guns? Where did these guns come from?
Zibarov: We collected them all, we thought we needed them, as we started to fall away from our faith, to hunt, to kill meat, to protect ourselves. But now we show once again, that we are through with such violence forever.
Sergeant: But your brethren of the Small Party told us; you are planning a rebellion.
Zibarov: You can see our rebellion; we only rebel against violence to our fellow creatures.
Sergeant: Nevertheless, you are summoned for a meeting with Governor Nakashidze! You can explain all to him.
Zibarov: We are now praying, and before our prayer is finished, no one will go. But if the Governor wants to see us, let him come to us. There are two thousand of us, and only one of him.
Sergeant: You must come now, the Governor is very impatient.
Zibarov: We are now completing our sobranie, and after this, we shall go to the Governor.
There is a drum roll, and a sound of a bugle. Sound of horses being readied for an attack. It is Captain Praga with a battalion of 200 Cassocks. He strides foreword.
Praga: If you are not stubborn and cooperate with us, we will not attack - why do you not obey?
Zibarov: Let us suppose that you attend your church and you are suddenly interrupted by a man who calls for you. Do you suddenly leave the church before finishing your prayers?
Praga: No, I would not go out; I must finish what I came for, fulfil what I began. [Hesitates] Of course, it depends on who calls; perhaps some peasant, then why should I go? But if a colonel, governor, or a minister calls, then I must go at once, drop everything.
Zibarov: For us, all people are equal, the Governor is the same, even the simple peasant, all are equal. The only difference is that one puts on himself different and extra clothes and ornaments, like silver and gold buttons. But when this uniform is taken off and put on the simple peasant, the peasant is just as fearful as the other one.
Praga: [In a fury] You are trying to deceive the Czar!
Strikes Zibarov across the face with his baton so hard that blood gushes forth. Drum roll and bugle call again, the attack begins. By this time, some of the villagers may have gone off and changed into uniform to bolster the Cossack's numbers. The attack should be done in a stylized dramatic movement, the Matriarch sings a plaintive hymn aided by some villagers, the Cossacks advance with sabres and whips and strike the villagers; there are sound effects of horses charging with drum rolls. This could be done in slow motion to heighten the dramatic effect, the children should be seen to suffer. Possible use of strobe light to heighten the effect, screams. The following hymn is sung behind the monologue:
'For the sake of Thee Lord,
I loved the narrow gate
I left the material life;
I left father and mother;
I left brother and sister;
I left my whole race and tribe;
I bear hardness and persecution; I bear scorn and slander;
I am hungry and thirsty,
I am walking naked;
For the sake of Thee, Lord.'
Matriarch: [Comes forward]
And so they sorely abused us
Abused us till the ground ran red with our blood
Each strike of their whips cut through our flesh
Our eyes filled with blood and tears
Till our flesh dried black
Those too weak to walk
Stayed behind to come with our wagons and horses
The rest limped eight miles to Bogdonovka
We didn't know then that the soldiers
Would occupy our villages
And the greatest abuses were to follow
Our young women to suffer scars
In private places
That would never heal
Our elders to lose the dignity and reverence
That comes with age and wisdom
The wagon brought one who no
longer walked
No longer breathed
Trampled to death
By the cruel hooves of the charging force
But then - we did not know
That fully one fourth of us would change over
To a different space
Black broken bodies left for the carrion crow
Before the deliverance of the rest
To a strange land
And as we walked, or rather, were driven
We sang
And as we approached the Governor Nakashidze
Sorely bruised and beaten
Some barely crawling
Now suffering the effects of the hail of sharp
Whips - and boots and horse shoes
We were ordered to halt - and remove our caps
To which our elder said:
'When the Governor comes and greets us,
Then we will greet him too
As brothers, in the regular manner.'
At this, the blows rained on us once more
And then - in reply - when our young men handed in
Their papers
Of reserve conscription -
His rage was awesome fierce
And only Prince Ospinsky
Saved the many from being shot in a rage
Still - some received 300 lashes
And the sore abuse went on -
Some were imprisoned
Others sent to resettlement and exile
To what everyone thought would be a certain death
Our chattels disposed of - sold for a pittance
We didn't want possessions -
But we wanted to be able to live
Of course, that was the plan
To disperse us all till no life was left -
The scenes of torture and privation have been going on behind this monologue - through the stylized march, the stage is cleared, the fire dies down, the Cassocks offer taunts as they herd the Doukhobors on. Sound and lighting effects should be employed to heighten the numbers. The sound of the hymn fades with the lights.
Scene Four:
The Matriarch steps forward.
Matriarch:
People have asked
What possessed sane people
To do such a deed
A deed that would bring on us the wrath
Of Church and State
And how could it be
That all of a sudden
At three different places
Across the vast steppes of Russia
At the same time
At midnight
The three fires shone out into the night
With our voices
Know then
That our leader
Banished already for
Eight years -
On false charges
Without trial
Eight years more to come
The greatest privation
The isolation from friends, family and people
Strange reward for being chosen as our inspiration
After his years of apprenticeship
With our great leader Lushichka
First in suffering and example
Our beloved Peter Verigin
Captured and guided our wishes of fulfillment
And know that - through great privation
Torment and danger
Petushka knew all that went on
And we knew his thoughts and wishes
Now know the strength of the partners and soul mates
Those who braved the Siberian steppes
In peril of their own lives
At risk of perpetual oblivion banished to the icy wastes
Those who risked and dared all
So that all might live -
And our prophetic adviser would know our daily lives
As the Matriarch says these last lines, she is joined by two younger women; they are the wives of Vasili Verigin and Vasili Vereschagin. When they are together, they begin singing a soulful but tuneful psalm, which forms the background for the following scene which was being prepared during her narration.
The scrim is white, and we see the dance of the Northern Lights; there is the howling of wind, the effect of snow blown across the stage, the lighting is a cold moonlight night, the twinkle of stars. There is the sound of a dog barking. We hear the effect of boots crunching through hard snow, then we see two figures emerging from the edge of the stage, a dog with them leads the way. As they come nearer centre stage, lights are coming up and reveal the inside of Peter V. Verigin's cottage in exile. As they enter through the imaginary door, the dog is left outside, and wanders off to stage side.
Verigin: Enter, enter, Christ is arisen.
Both Vasilis: In the righteous, Christ has arisen.
They bow to each other and embrace.
Verigin: You are safely here, God has granted you safe passage; but tell me, what journeys did you travel on, and what troubles did you overcome to arrive here safely?
Throughout this scene, the two Vasilis share the dialogue as seems appropriate.
Vasili: For the last few days, we had much to overcome - they tried to follow us, to discover us, but through our various disguises, we eluded them. All is safe.
Vasili: What a time we had; we traveled by train, boat, many miles walked, and finally, even by reindeer.
Verigin: Then you know that you are here, entrusted to take back the greatest, most decisive message that I have yet sent?
Vasili: We tremble in anticipation of what it might be, dear Petushka.
Vasili: The other messages were decisive enough, but what next can it be?
Verigin: The wandering heart and the tortured soul cannot stand still, Spirit Wrestlers do not rest on their laurels; that would be pride in contentment and accomplishment - there is always more that one can do, still, that one must do. [Evasively] We do not live in a perfect world, far from it!
Vasili: Nearly all of our brethren have stopped eating meat.
Vasili: And smoking tobacco.
Vasili: And drinking alcohol.
Both: As you suggested.
Verigin: [Confronting them] What next, my brothers?
Vasili: Indeed, what next?
Verigin: Suppose that a man becomes, almost becomes the perfect being, what is lacking, what more can be done?
Verigin: We don't know, dear leader, what more - to teach others?
Verigin: To teach others, yes, but how?
Vasili: Through good deeds, through example?
Verigin: Precisely, Doukhobors teach by example, by suffering if need be. Our life here is very simple; really - and why? It only becomes unbearable when you think only of yourself. As soon as you start helping those around you, life becomes very simple.
Vasili: We are all ready, Petushka.
Verigin: What good is our perfect body, with no alcohol and no meat, if we do not take a stand against the greatest evil?
Vasili: You mean the priests?
Verigin: The priests are the tail that wags the dog. Where will they be if the dog disappears?
[He is greeted by silence as the Vasilis look at each other.]
There are some who have been more than ready for years now. [Abruptly] Tell me, how are things in the army? With those who were the first to resist the call to militarism; to resist learning the ways which kill?
Vasili: They flog the brothers; but the brothers reply: 'Resist not him who is evil.'
Verigin: And how is it with the lads, the resistors? It has been sometime now that they began this heroic trial and test.
Vasili: They are towers of strength, Petushka; after much suffering and torture, at a later trial, they testified thus: 'I will not kill anyone, either during the time of war or during the time of peace, even if I have to face the firing squad. For my belief, I am ready to endure all kinds of suffering of the body.' The commanders tried all kinds of tricks, threats, torture - they did not give in.
Vasili: [With dramatic flourish, partially acting the scene out.] After many lashings and beatings, they erected the gallows, dressed them in death clothes, and told them they would be hung. Still, they showed no fear.
Verigin: All steadfast, firm in the spirit?
Vasili: All?
Verigin: All?
Vasili: All but Sherbinin.
Verigin: And him?
Vasili: He was flogged; then in a rage, still refusing the offered gun, he was seized, thrown against the gymnasium horse; this broke his chest and killed him.
Verigin: Then there was our brave Matvey Lebedov, the first in line.
Verigin: Yes . . . ?
Vasili: He and eleven others, how sore it makes my heart just to repeat such heinous crimes against all that is good; when they stepped out of the line of drill; they were all laid out, and on either side of them were placed drunken men who began to flay them with thorny rods, five or six in a bundle. They flayed them like ferocious wild beasts that tear apart meek and gentle sheep. The prickles of the rods entered into the flesh, bits of flesh scattered with blood in all directions. Then they were put into a cold cell into solitary.
Verigin: [Almost to himself] Some hate without reason, some hate witness to the truth.
Vasili: The next day they were led out to drill and guns were given to them; they said: 'We cannot fulfil what is against God's commandment.' At this they were beaten once again and removed.
Vasili: At dinner, while others ate meat, our brethren, holding fast to their beliefs even on the point of starvation, only had a bit of bread; when they asked for more, they received more beatings and not more bread - all this accompanied by horrible laughter at the so-called jest.
Verigin: And then . . .
Vasili: These tortures were repeated until Lebedov, Fofonov and Kalmikov, under great physical exhaustion and weakened by the torture, held their guns. The others were then transferred to Siberia, but the three were left in the Ekaterinograd penal battalion as soldiers, with continued punishment.
Vasili: Now, they sorely reproach themselves and feel their position keenly and show much tenderness of spirit. At the same time, they suffer greater torment than their comrades gone into exile.
Vasili: Dear Petushka, if you could but see the horror that manifests itself in the spirit of the commander.
Vasili: Letters were sent to Lebedov and his comrades, exhorting them to fortify the brethren within the battalion, to encourage them to continue the resistance to service. The brutish colonel reads all; at this he repeatedly flogs Lebedov, and abuses the three of them for any and no reason, since they are the ones visibly left, symbolic of the resistance.
Vasili: We saw him, and managed to secret him some bread. He was much touched, and said: 'I thought you had forgotten all about us, that we had forfeited your affection by want of our fortitude; I am very grieved about it, my heart is sore, but Pray God, I shall recover.'
Vasili: He begged us to tell this message to all the brethren, and to his mother.
Verigin: [Near tears, he brings forth a loaf of bread and offers it to the Vasilis, which they share.] What makes us perfectly human is the manner of our imperfections - although Lebedov has missed this step, he has now posed himself an even greater challenge.
Vasili: It is true; his life will be much harder now, but for all that, he will be stronger.
Verigin: Suffering becomes all mankind, but it finds its most perfect expression in the faces of the young. It is important to bear, without complaint, scorn for the truth, but it is still more important, when suffering for truth's sake, to bear such suffering patiently. But they are few, though they stand for many. How can we help them, those of us who are not called?
Vasili: Petushka?
Verigin: We must show them, those who are in the front line of the struggle; that all of us are behind them; those of us who are not called for the conscription; we too must be daring. We must take the supreme risk, all of us.
Vasili: We are ready, Petushka, but how?
Verigin: A sign, a symbol, a simple act which will unify all of the Christians, and will show our persecuted brethren how we stand behind them. [Somewhat mysteriously.] Where your treasure lies, there also lies your heart.
He reaches into his boot and brings forth a letter.
And this is how it will be done!
The Vasilis read the instructions, the singing is a bit louder.
Vasili: This is a wonderful plan, Petushka!
Vasili: To burn all of our weapons, at once, in all three settlements; to do so secretly so the local army does not know our plans until it is too late, yes, that will show the persecuted brothers that we are all with them!
Verigin: This will show the world!
The three embrace in a brotherly way as lights fade.
The Matriarch steps forward, her co-singers in the background; they sing a simple psalm behind her.
Matriarch:
And so it was decided -
Our stoic inspiration
Who had suffered much
Had devised a most brilliant plan
To show all who had ears, and hearts
The way of life, on earth and hereafter
Was not the way of the soldier
Was not the way of preparing to kill fellow man.
The day was set
On his birthday and the day of the martyred saints
Peter and Paul
The two Vasilis depart, there is a bark of the dog, Verigin's cottage disappears with Verigin.
And thus it was
Just as the Vasilis had reported
To our esteemed soul-mate
Those who were called for the lots of conscription
Bore the suffering that their refusal brought on
With stoic strength
A firm example to those of lessor faith
And a force to be feared by all authorities
For the example they were setting
Not only for fellow Spirit Wrestlers but for fellow man
Where ever the military held sway
Others began to follow their brave stand
Giving strength to still other humanitarians
This example was surely to be feared -
The Matriarch and her two singers continue their plaintive psalm as light slowly fades; as their song ends there is one more mighty sound of the lash as it connects to flesh, and the victim's anguished moan.
The Matriarch steps forward.
Matriarch:
People have asked
What possessed sane people
To do such a deed
A deed that would bring on us the wrath
Of Church and State
And how could it be
That all of a sudden
At three different places
Across the vast steppes of Russia
At the same time
At midnight
The three fires shone out into the night
With our voices
Know then
That our leader
Banished already for
Eight years -
On false charges
Without trial
Eight years more to come
The greatest privation
The isolation from friends, family and people
Strange reward for being chosen as our inspiration
After his years of apprenticeship
With our great leader Lushichka
First in suffering and example
Our beloved Peter Verigin
Captured and guided our wishes of fulfillment
And know that - through great privation
Torment and danger
Petushka knew all that went on
And we knew his thoughts and wishes
Now know the strength of the partners and soul mates
Those who braved the Siberian steppes
In peril of their own lives
At risk of perpetual oblivion banished to the icy wastes
Those who risked and dared all
So that all might live -
And our prophetic adviser would know our daily lives
As the Matriarch says these last lines, she is joined by two younger women; they are the wives of Vasili Verigin and Vasili Vereschagin. When they are together, they begin singing a soulful but tuneful psalm, which forms the background for the following scene which was being prepared during her narration.
The scrim is white, and we see the dance of the Northern Lights; there is the howling of wind, the effect of snow blown across the stage, the lighting is a cold moonlight night, the twinkle of stars. There is the sound of a dog barking. We hear the effect of boots crunching through hard snow, then we see two figures emerging from the edge of the stage, a dog with them leads the way. As they come nearer centre stage, lights are coming up and reveal the inside of Peter V. Verigin's cottage in exile. As they enter through the imaginary door, the dog is left outside, and wanders off to stage side.
Verigin: Enter, enter, Christ is arisen.
Both Vasilis: In the righteous, Christ has arisen.
They bow to each other and embrace.
Verigin: You are safely here, God has granted you safe passage; but tell me, what journeys did you travel on, and what troubles did you overcome to arrive here safely?
Throughout this scene, the two Vasilis share the dialogue as seems appropriate.
Vasili: For the last few days, we had much to overcome - they tried to follow us, to discover us, but through our various disguises, we eluded them. All is safe.
Vasili: What a time we had; we traveled by train, boat, many miles walked, and finally, even by reindeer.
Verigin: Then you know that you are here, entrusted to take back the greatest, most decisive message that I have yet sent?
Vasili: We tremble in anticipation of what it might be, dear Petushka.
Vasili: The other messages were decisive enough, but what next can it be?
Verigin: The wandering heart and the tortured soul cannot stand still, Spirit Wrestlers do not rest on their laurels; that would be pride in contentment and accomplishment - there is always more that one can do, still, that one must do. [Evasively] We do not live in a perfect world, far from it!
Vasili: Nearly all of our brethren have stopped eating meat.
Vasili: And smoking tobacco.
Vasili: And drinking alcohol.
Both: As you suggested.
Verigin: [Confronting them] What next, my brothers?
Vasili: Indeed, what next?
Verigin: Suppose that a man becomes, almost becomes the perfect being, what is lacking, what more can be done?
Verigin: We don't know, dear leader, what more - to teach others?
Verigin: To teach others, yes, but how?
Vasili: Through good deeds, through example?
Verigin: Precisely, Doukhobors teach by example, by suffering if need be. Our life here is very simple; really - and why? It only becomes unbearable when you think only of yourself. As soon as you start helping those around you, life becomes very simple.
Vasili: We are all ready, Petushka.
Verigin: What good is our perfect body, with no alcohol and no meat, if we do not take a stand against the greatest evil?
Vasili: You mean the priests?
Verigin: The priests are the tail that wags the dog. Where will they be if the dog disappears?
[He is greeted by silence as the Vasilis look at each other.]
There are some who have been more than ready for years now. [Abruptly] Tell me, how are things in the army? With those who were the first to resist the call to militarism; to resist learning the ways which kill?
Vasili: They flog the brothers; but the brothers reply: 'Resist not him who is evil.'
Verigin: And how is it with the lads, the resistors? It has been sometime now that they began this heroic trial and test.
Vasili: They are towers of strength, Petushka; after much suffering and torture, at a later trial, they testified thus: 'I will not kill anyone, either during the time of war or during the time of peace, even if I have to face the firing squad. For my belief, I am ready to endure all kinds of suffering of the body.' The commanders tried all kinds of tricks, threats, torture - they did not give in.
Vasili: [With dramatic flourish, partially acting the scene out.] After many lashings and beatings, they erected the gallows, dressed them in death clothes, and told them they would be hung. Still, they showed no fear.
Verigin: All steadfast, firm in the spirit?
Vasili: All?
Verigin: All?
Vasili: All but Sherbinin.
Verigin: And him?
Vasili: He was flogged; then in a rage, still refusing the offered gun, he was seized, thrown against the gymnasium horse; this broke his chest and killed him.
Verigin: Then there was our brave Matvey Lebedov, the first in line.
Verigin: Yes . . . ?
Vasili: He and eleven others, how sore it makes my heart just to repeat such heinous crimes against all that is good; when they stepped out of the line of drill; they were all laid out, and on either side of them were placed drunken men who began to flay them with thorny rods, five or six in a bundle. They flayed them like ferocious wild beasts that tear apart meek and gentle sheep. The prickles of the rods entered into the flesh, bits of flesh scattered with blood in all directions. Then they were put into a cold cell into solitary.
Verigin: [Almost to himself] Some hate without reason, some hate witness to the truth.
Vasili: The next day they were led out to drill and guns were given to them; they said: 'We cannot fulfil what is against God's commandment.' At this they were beaten once again and removed.
Vasili: At dinner, while others ate meat, our brethren, holding fast to their beliefs even on the point of starvation, only had a bit of bread; when they asked for more, they received more beatings and not more bread - all this accompanied by horrible laughter at the so-called jest.
Verigin: And then . . .
Vasili: These tortures were repeated until Lebedov, Fofonov and Kalmikov, under great physical exhaustion and weakened by the torture, held their guns. The others were then transferred to Siberia, but the three were left in the Ekaterinograd penal battalion as soldiers, with continued punishment.
Vasili: Now, they sorely reproach themselves and feel their position keenly and show much tenderness of spirit. At the same time, they suffer greater torment than their comrades gone into exile.
Vasili: Dear Petushka, if you could but see the horror that manifests itself in the spirit of the commander.
Vasili: Letters were sent to Lebedov and his comrades, exhorting them to fortify the brethren within the battalion, to encourage them to continue the resistance to service. The brutish colonel reads all; at this he repeatedly flogs Lebedov, and abuses the three of them for any and no reason, since they are the ones visibly left, symbolic of the resistance.
Vasili: We saw him, and managed to secret him some bread. He was much touched, and said: 'I thought you had forgotten all about us, that we had forfeited your affection by want of our fortitude; I am very grieved about it, my heart is sore, but Pray God, I shall recover.'
Vasili: He begged us to tell this message to all the brethren, and to his mother.
Verigin: [Near tears, he brings forth a loaf of bread and offers it to the Vasilis, which they share.] What makes us perfectly human is the manner of our imperfections - although Lebedov has missed this step, he has now posed himself an even greater challenge.
Vasili: It is true; his life will be much harder now, but for all that, he will be stronger.
Verigin: Suffering becomes all mankind, but it finds its most perfect expression in the faces of the young. It is important to bear, without complaint, scorn for the truth, but it is still more important, when suffering for truth's sake, to bear such suffering patiently. But they are few, though they stand for many. How can we help them, those of us who are not called?
Vasili: Petushka?
Verigin: We must show them, those who are in the front line of the struggle; that all of us are behind them; those of us who are not called for the conscription; we too must be daring. We must take the supreme risk, all of us.
Vasili: We are ready, Petushka, but how?
Verigin: A sign, a symbol, a simple act which will unify all of the Christians, and will show our persecuted brethren how we stand behind them. [Somewhat mysteriously.] Where your treasure lies, there also lies your heart.
He reaches into his boot and brings forth a letter.
And this is how it will be done!
The Vasilis read the instructions, the singing is a bit louder.
Vasili: This is a wonderful plan, Petushka!
Vasili: To burn all of our weapons, at once, in all three settlements; to do so secretly so the local army does not know our plans until it is too late, yes, that will show the persecuted brothers that we are all with them!
Verigin: This will show the world!
The three embrace in a brotherly way as lights fade.
The Matriarch steps forward, her co-singers in the background; they sing a simple psalm behind her.
Matriarch:
And so it was decided -
Our stoic inspiration
Who had suffered much
Had devised a most brilliant plan
To show all who had ears, and hearts
The way of life, on earth and hereafter
Was not the way of the soldier
Was not the way of preparing to kill fellow man.
The day was set
On his birthday and the day of the martyred saints
Peter and Paul
The two Vasilis depart, there is a bark of the dog, Verigin's cottage disappears with Verigin.
And thus it was
Just as the Vasilis had reported
To our esteemed soul-mate
Those who were called for the lots of conscription
Bore the suffering that their refusal brought on
With stoic strength
A firm example to those of lessor faith
And a force to be feared by all authorities
For the example they were setting
Not only for fellow Spirit Wrestlers but for fellow man
Where ever the military held sway
Others began to follow their brave stand
Giving strength to still other humanitarians
This example was surely to be feared -
The Matriarch and her two singers continue their plaintive psalm as light slowly fades; as their song ends there is one more mighty sound of the lash as it connects to flesh, and the victim's anguished moan.
Scene Five:
Tableau:
The court of Czar Nicholas II. The Czar, some influential advisors and ministers are present, the Empress Alexandra, there are also bishops and archbishops dressed in full regalia of the time as well as some army generals in dress.
A string quartet plays light classical music in the corner, footmen hover around with canapes and champagne.
As the scene opens, we hear music and polite chatting, lighting should be soft and warm, romantic, slow murmur of approving conversation.
Matriarch: She is off to Stage Right, comes down to floor level to address audience more directly.
So now you see what a comfortable scene
Our brethren were encroaching upon
Goodness - what scorn our people raised amongst
Our masters - spiritual and temporal
What were we - after all ?
But bothersome vermin to be swept under an expensive rug -
With a Field Marshall's baton perhaps?
And after that -
A sprinkle of Holy Water maybe?
To purify the air where we once were?
How could we even think
That we would be taken seriously?
And what about that . . . !
[Indicates with her thumb]
. . . scraping music?
No wonder their minds got soft -
Can that be compared to the sweet dulcet tones
Of the true Doukhobor singing?
Singing tempered by flames of hardship -
Tempered and tougher than the swords and guns
In the flames we lit on that crystal night
Doukhobor singing that let us bear the worst -
The tortures, the abuse, that they
Visited upon us -
[Afterthought]
Someone said; in this very same city, I think -
[Gestures to stage]
‘Be then docile, Muse, to the will of God;
Fear no offense, grasp for no crown,
Learn indifference to both praise and blame
And never stoop to strive with fools.'
Lights on scene; music down, all present focus on Alexandra.
Alexandra: This man is steadfast, after many years in exile, his writing too, what do you think? I have read this letter, perhaps we should hear what he has to say? [Silence] We should hear what he has to say.
Pobyedonostzev: But he slanders us, this so-called leader! Who is this Peter Vasileyvich Verigin, anyway? Does he not know who we are? Does he not know what we can do to him and his ragged band?
Nicholas: A group of several thousand is hardly a ragged band.
Pobyedonostzev: I say let them perish where they stand; or fall. What do we have to lose now, except a bunch of unpatriotic dissidents?
Nicholas: It is not that simple; these people are only the tip of the iceberg; perhaps not even that.
General: We have our own solutions.
Nicholas: With all due respect to the might of our military forces; these solutions you speak of are not working.
General: Given the opportunity they will work.
Nicholas: Don't you see that the very army you are speaking of is the same one that is infected with this zeal of life being holy, resulting in this bizarre belief of pacifism?
General: As yet, they are not many, but we must nip them in the bud.
Nicholas: Not many? Pobyedonostzev, have you been following the activities of Lord Radstock, and what of Pashkov now helping him?
Pobyedonostzev: We fear that the numbers of the so-called evangelicals may be reaching twelve million . . .
Nicholas: This is like a tide, and we are concerning ourselves with a few thousand Doukhobors?
Pobyedonostzev: The General and I are in agreement . . . [General nods] . . . in order to stem the tide, we must deal with the greatest rifts in the dam of our Orthodox solidarity - in this case, the greatest rifts, or breaks, are those which are most vocal, and most noticeable, and those which set the worst example for others to follow - of all of the sectarians in current agitation; the Doukhobors are by far the worst.
Alexandra:[Commanding attention] Do you wish to hear this man? Perhaps he will indicate to us why he is so dangerous.
Murmurs: Yes, yes, of course, Your Majesty. We wish to know all so we can solve this pernicious problem.
Rascallion: But just the highlights!
[Twirls the ropes on his cassock and flirts off.]
Alexandra: [Humoring him] Very well, the highlights! [At first, 'sotto', then more serious and touched.] 'May the Lord God preserve thy soul in this life, as well as in the future life, Sister Alexandra.'
Rascallion: Sister?
Alexandra: [Looks at him, he is silent.]'I, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, am living in the glad tidings of His truth.'
Pobyedonostzev: Some truth.
Alexandra: [Continues.] 'I am in exile since the year 1886, from the Doukhobors' community of Trans-Caucasia.' Umm, I will just read the highlights. 'I implore thee, sister in Christ the Lord, Alexandra, pray thy husband Nicholas to spare the Doukhobors in the Caucasus from further persecution. It is to thee that I address myself, because I think thy heart is more truly turned towards the Lord God.' [There are gasps from the company; Rascallion claps his hands, all stare at him and he is silent.] '. . . there are at this moment more women and children suffering: hundreds of husbands and parents are confined in prisons, and thousands of families are dispersed in native villages, where the authorities incite the population to behave coarsely with them. This falls specially heavily upon the Christian women! Lately, they have been putting women and children into prisons.'
Nicholas: Is that true, Pobyedonostzev?
Pobyedonostzev: It was true, Your Majesty, with the Molokans; that
man, the scribbler, Tolstoy, had sent his daughter to me, to plead their case. Can you imagine that? But it was true, the Bishop of Samara had gone too far in his zeal to protect our Empire.
Nicholas: To protect our Empire from women and children? By separating them? That is barbarous!
Pobyedonostzev: We thought it would help, it was a difficult problem. We thought that if we could separate the children from these noxious influences, under our care, they would grow up to be real Russians.
Nicholas: Such barbarity in any so-called civilized country is not justifiable for any reason. Imagine, to separate mothers from children? Such callous barbarity! To separate a mother from her child! What else have we done? In the name of our Empire?
Pobyedonostzev: But women and children are now reunited, Your Majesty.
Nicholas: But only after the so-called 'heretic's' daughter pleaded their case.
Pobyedonostzev: We strive to serve the Empire, and your Majesty. In our zeal, your loyal servants may sometimes over step.
Nicholas: And what of this? Read on, Alix.
Alexandra: 'The fault on our part is that we, as far as it is possible to us, endeavour to become Christians.' [Czar looks at Pobyedonostzev] 'In regard to some of our actions, our understanding may not be sufficiently enlightened.' [Pobyedonostzev beams back.] 'Thou art probably acquainted with the teaching of vegetarianism; we are sharers in these humanitarian views. Lately we have ceased to use flesh as food, and to drink wine, and have forsaken much of which leads to a dissipated life, and darkens the light of the human soul.'
Pobyedonostzev: They are compounding the heresies of that scribbler, Tolstoy, I don't doubt it.
Nicholas: Tolstoy? Our greatest writer? Hardly a scribbler! I read his works and like many of them.
Pobyedonostzev: A lamentable lapse, Your Majesty. A clouded genius; Of course, I am referring to his later works, the ones with the heresies which propound our destruction. Great writer he may be, but he is also an impious infidel, a latter day heretical master.
Nicholas: Tolstoy is . . . Tolstoy.
Pobyedonostzev: He champions these heretics. I would dearly love to put him into the Suzdel monastery, let him preach to the converted who also suffer from such maladies; rather than to those who could be susceptible to his theories.
Nicholas: I won't hear of it.
Pobyedonostzev: If not prison or exile, then what? These beliefs are like the disease that begins in a little finger, and spreads to take over the heart and soul. We must amputate!
Nicholas: Allow me; our esteemed ancestor, Alexander 1, back in 1816, said; 'All the measures of the severity exhausted upon the Spirit Wrestlers during the 30 years up to 1801, not only did not destroy this sect, but more and more multiplied its adherents'. And need I remind you that the best efforts of Nicholas failed to eradicate them? These beliefs were not unheard of long before Tolstoy was born. Why blame him?
Pobyedonostzev: [Peevish, determined.] But he supports them, and he shares their heresies.
Nicholas: These people have existed in Russia for over two hundred years. They have not destroyed our Empire.
Pobyedonostzev: This time the pressure is much worse. The exiled scoundrels who are trying to help them and doing their best to cause us discomfort, have succeeded in drawing world attention to this so called 'cause.' Tolstoy, with all his weight, continues to draw attention to them; with their help. Did he not write an article that was handed here, trying to help them?
Nicholas: I have heard of such an article, we are not sure he wrote it.
General: But the second one, he signed it, it went to the papers, an appeal, he called it!
Nicholas: [Wearily] There are many such articles, how can we keep track of them all?
Alexandra: Allow me to continue, if you don't mind. Kiril, some champagne! [Servant pours champagne.] 'Refusing to kill animals, we in no case regard it as possible to deprive MEN of life. If we were to kill an ordinary man or even a robber, it would seem to us that we had decided to kill Christ.'
Pobyedonostzev: You see the monster we deal with; to compare any man, or even a robber, to Christ.
Rascallion: [Laughing] A veritable demon!
Alexandra: 'The State demands that our brethren should learn the use of the gun, in order to know how to kill well. The Christians do not agree to this; they are put into prisons, beaten and starved; the sisters and mothers are coarsely defiled as women, very often with railing exclamations, ‘Where is your God? Why does he not help you?'
Pobyedonostzev: Where indeed? His eye IS on the sparrow - but not where evil lurks.
Alexandra: [Continuing] 'Our God is in Heaven and on earth and fulfils all His will.' [Pause] 'This is sad because it is all taking place in a Christian country. Our community in the Caucasus consists of about 20,000 men. Is it possible that such a small number could injure the organism of the State, if soldiers were not recruited from among them?'
Nicholas: What about it, Commander? Can it hurt?
General: Only by example, Your Majesty. Think of what this can do if it is allowed to spread.
Nicholas: Pray, continue, Alix.
Alexandra: [Pensive]'At the present moment, they ARE recruited, but uselessly: thirty men are in the Ekaterinograd penal battalion, where the authorities are only tormenting themselves by torturing them.' [As this reading goes on, Alexandra becomes more impassioned.]
Nicholas: What of this, Commander, can thirty men make such a difference?
General: Since our universal conscription law of 1887; all must serve. No alternative service and no banishment, just the required service.
Alexandra: 'Man we regard as the temple of the living God, and we can in no case prepare to kill him, though for this we were to be threatened by death.'
Nicholas: We know of the Doukhobors when they were awesomely strong, what of these, we hear that they have fallen away from their beliefs? Have you tested their mettle?
General: They bear all with equanimity. Their so-called leader spoke thus; the same one who writes this letter: 'I ask that you will advise all . . . not to grumble at the government because it oppresses them. But let them bear, with God's help, any trial which befalls them. Let them only remember what Christ, and afterwards the apostles, had to suffer for the truth.'
Pobyedonostzev: One of our people were near by when a sympathizer managed to convince the guards to allow a visit to some of the prisoners. He had hoped to cheer them up, as it turned out, they cheered him. Spiritually, they were vigorous and healthy, and when asked for the reason for such well being in spite of severe torture, with more waiting, they answered thus: 'It is not for robbery or murder that we are here, and therefore one must not grieve at it but rejoice. Christ himself suffered;' ' We do not care for our flesh,' another said, 'No one can take away from us our soul.'
Nicholas: Read on, Alix. How much more does he say?
Alexandra: Not much more. As follows: 'Man we regard as the temple of the Living God, and we can in no case prepare to kill him, though for this we were threatened by death.'
Nicholas: [Addressing Pobyedonostzev and the General.] And what have the two of you done, to quell this bit of unnatural and tedious cancer eating at our common weal?
Pobyedonostzev: We have been alert, Your Majesty; this is only a partial list of our accomplishments: We placed our soldiers into their villages, and encourage the soldiers to use their property as their own, about 300 men who refused to continue army service were imprisoned, 30 more who refused active service into the penal battalion. Some 400 families we wrested from prime land, and sold all of their belongings for a trifle. If they believe in common property and goods, then let them share, I say! Some we banished among the Georgians to survive as best they can; let them practise their so-called pacifism among the hill tribes! Now they die of many diseases, especially children. Fever, typhus, diphtheria, dysentery, and unusual diseases of the eyes claim them. Mostly, they now starve.
Nicholas: Your accomplishments seem severe.
General: [Not to be outdone] Not as severe as ours, Your Majesty. In the Signak alone, 106 died from 100 families, in the Gory, 147 deaths in 190 families. In the Tionet, 83 deaths among 100 families.
[Gesturing and consulting book which servant brings him].
In Dushet, 20 deaths in 72 families, and in . . .
Nicholas: Enough! I am not convinced this is the answer.
Rascallion: Your Majesty; this is a small sample of the trouble they cause. The worst is the world attention. They write letters to the world press; Biryukov, Tregoubov, and Chertkov! Trouble makers all! We are becoming a laughing stock in the civilized Christian world!
Nicholas: You assured me that these agitators were taken care of; banished . . .
General: They are, they are gone, but they continue to make trouble, especially Chertkov. Allowing him exile to England was a mistake. From there, in league with the scoundrel, that is, the great writer, Tolstoy, he commands the attention of the world. [Pause - they turn to Alexandra.]
Alexandra:'The most convenient manner of dealing with us would be to establish us in one place where we might live and labour in peace. All state obligations in the form of taxes we would pay, only we cannot be soldiers.'
General: We cannot return to what is passed. We live in a new age now, with new laws.
Alexandra: It seems they only wish to be left in peace, or to simply leave peacefully. I am nearly done:'If the Government were to find it impossible to consent to this then let it give us the right of emigration into one of the foreign countries. . . . Umm . . . England . . . America . . . where there are a great number of brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ.'
Pobyedonostzev: How could we do that? The very home of our enemies! Think of the Masons!
Nicholas: We must think of these things. But your solutions are not working. Others have been trying them for 200 years; now all is worse; and gets worse every day. And what of your visit to the Caucasus, Dowager Empress?
Dowager Empress: A petition handed to me from the Doukhobors, not unlike this letter, begging for mercy from us, and the Almighty!
Alexandra: And now the finish: 'From the fullness of my soul I pray the Lord for the welfare of thy family - the servant of Christ, Peter.'
Nicholas: Amen. [In thought] We have begun again, and yes, continue something that is not easily completed. Perhaps we should let them go to these far off countries. What harm can it do? Let some other country deal with them.
General: But we have nearly solved the problem.
Pobyedonostzev: At the present rate, they will soon be exterminated . . . gone . . . That is the only way to solve this once and for all. One hundred years from now; who will even hear of these 'Spirit Wrestlers?'
Nicholas: I am not sure you are right, that it will work. As a snake unwinds its tail, who knows where the head ends up? The world publicity makes us a laughing stock.
Rascallion: Nothing can stand up to Mother Russia and our Empire.
Nicholas: [Wearily] The Nobel prize!
Alexandra: This is surely a disgrace to us all.
General: What of it?
Nicholas: When he, our renowned writer, our pride, Tolstoy - when he is nominated for the Peace Prize, Peace Prize, understand? The man who creates such turmoil - he writes a letter to the Stockholm newspapers and suggests that this prize be given to the Doukhobors instead, since by refusing to bear arms, they have done more for world peace than he. He rejects the nomination, something, that at this time, could have brought honour to our country. The bloodshed goes on, they should be nominated for the Peace Prize? And what of the world? And its opinion? Must we suffer such insults?
Alexandra: But they have done nothing, except suffer, and refuse to learn how to kill.
Nicholas: Precisely the point, my dear one. And the appeals go on. The English Society of Friends sends us a petition, begging for the release of the Doukhobors in a humane manner?
Pobyedonostzev: No doubt the agitation of the turncoat, Chertkov.
Empress Dowager: I have seen these people, they are simple, direct and honest. In any other country, they would be a credit.
Nicholas: They suffer heroically, as though life or death did not matter, they may keep that up while all of the world laughs at us, what can we do?
Pobyedonostzev: I have been thinking, Your Majesty.
Nicholas: [Musing] Does it feel strange, Pobyedonostzev?
Pobyedonostzev: [Pressing on] May I venture a solution, Your Majesty? One that will satisfy you, and world opinion, I believe.
Nicholas: Please amaze me with your erudition.
Pobyedonostzev: An Inquiry!
[They all look at each other.]
Nicholas: An inquiry?
Pobyedonostzev: An enquiry which will absolve all of us!
Nicholas: How will this happen?
General: But don't you see? By the time this enquiry is complete, who knows what will happen?
Pobyedonostzev: The press will die down, there will be more exiles to Siberia, many will be gone . . . but the world will see that we intend to do justice . . .
Nicholas: But there has been such an enquiry in 1801; Senators Lopoukine and Nedelinski reported on the Doukhobors to St. Petersburg; that's when they were allowed to move to the Milky Waters, a favourable report, that was.
Pobyedonostzev: A ha; but in 1792, another report said as follows: '. . . all those infected by this movement merit no mercy.' They were considered then, as now, to be particularly dangerous and enticing to adherents.
Rascallion: Read on, Pod., tell us why.
Pobyedonostzev: [Momentarily flustered.] Very well; why are they so dangerous? This is what the enquiry found; they are particularly dangerous because: [Reads] ‘The mode of life of the Doukhobors is founded on the most honest observances, and their greatest care is the general welfare, and they find salvation in good works.' [Pause] At first they were condemned to be burned, but that was remitted, and exile to Siberia became the norm. Indeed, the Spirit Wrestlers were the most pernicious and dangerous of all the dissidents.
Nicholas: [In deep thought] What you tell me solves nothing.
General: But so far, all is in order, we must have rules to prevent such insults to the body politic.
Nicholas: Such an inquiry is exactly what your so-called heretic, Tolstoy, warns me against.
Pobyedonostzev: But so he would, Your Majesty.
Nicholas: This is what he writes, in part: [A letter is handed to him.] ‘Majesty, for the love of God make an effort, and instead of avoiding the matter and referring it to commissions and committees, decide, without taking anyone's advice, you yourself, acting on your own initiative, that these religious persecutions, which are causing the shame of Russia, must cease; the exiles must be sent back to their homes . . . ' etc. - now you advise another commission . . . '
General: Just so, but that is what we are here for, to advise the best course . . .
Nicholas: [Cutting him off] Very well, I will agree to this . . . inquiry. But on one condition -
Pobyedonostzev & General: Yes, Your Majesty. Of course . . .
Nicholas: The inquiry is to be fair, and impartial - and we will do as the Inquiry recommends; and we will include and take note of all new information that we find.
Pobyedonostzev & General: [Toast each other.] Of course, Your Majesty!
Tableau:
The court of Czar Nicholas II. The Czar, some influential advisors and ministers are present, the Empress Alexandra, there are also bishops and archbishops dressed in full regalia of the time as well as some army generals in dress.
A string quartet plays light classical music in the corner, footmen hover around with canapes and champagne.
As the scene opens, we hear music and polite chatting, lighting should be soft and warm, romantic, slow murmur of approving conversation.
Matriarch: She is off to Stage Right, comes down to floor level to address audience more directly.
So now you see what a comfortable scene
Our brethren were encroaching upon
Goodness - what scorn our people raised amongst
Our masters - spiritual and temporal
What were we - after all ?
But bothersome vermin to be swept under an expensive rug -
With a Field Marshall's baton perhaps?
And after that -
A sprinkle of Holy Water maybe?
To purify the air where we once were?
How could we even think
That we would be taken seriously?
And what about that . . . !
[Indicates with her thumb]
. . . scraping music?
No wonder their minds got soft -
Can that be compared to the sweet dulcet tones
Of the true Doukhobor singing?
Singing tempered by flames of hardship -
Tempered and tougher than the swords and guns
In the flames we lit on that crystal night
Doukhobor singing that let us bear the worst -
The tortures, the abuse, that they
Visited upon us -
[Afterthought]
Someone said; in this very same city, I think -
[Gestures to stage]
‘Be then docile, Muse, to the will of God;
Fear no offense, grasp for no crown,
Learn indifference to both praise and blame
And never stoop to strive with fools.'
Lights on scene; music down, all present focus on Alexandra.
Alexandra: This man is steadfast, after many years in exile, his writing too, what do you think? I have read this letter, perhaps we should hear what he has to say? [Silence] We should hear what he has to say.
Pobyedonostzev: But he slanders us, this so-called leader! Who is this Peter Vasileyvich Verigin, anyway? Does he not know who we are? Does he not know what we can do to him and his ragged band?
Nicholas: A group of several thousand is hardly a ragged band.
Pobyedonostzev: I say let them perish where they stand; or fall. What do we have to lose now, except a bunch of unpatriotic dissidents?
Nicholas: It is not that simple; these people are only the tip of the iceberg; perhaps not even that.
General: We have our own solutions.
Nicholas: With all due respect to the might of our military forces; these solutions you speak of are not working.
General: Given the opportunity they will work.
Nicholas: Don't you see that the very army you are speaking of is the same one that is infected with this zeal of life being holy, resulting in this bizarre belief of pacifism?
General: As yet, they are not many, but we must nip them in the bud.
Nicholas: Not many? Pobyedonostzev, have you been following the activities of Lord Radstock, and what of Pashkov now helping him?
Pobyedonostzev: We fear that the numbers of the so-called evangelicals may be reaching twelve million . . .
Nicholas: This is like a tide, and we are concerning ourselves with a few thousand Doukhobors?
Pobyedonostzev: The General and I are in agreement . . . [General nods] . . . in order to stem the tide, we must deal with the greatest rifts in the dam of our Orthodox solidarity - in this case, the greatest rifts, or breaks, are those which are most vocal, and most noticeable, and those which set the worst example for others to follow - of all of the sectarians in current agitation; the Doukhobors are by far the worst.
Alexandra:[Commanding attention] Do you wish to hear this man? Perhaps he will indicate to us why he is so dangerous.
Murmurs: Yes, yes, of course, Your Majesty. We wish to know all so we can solve this pernicious problem.
Rascallion: But just the highlights!
[Twirls the ropes on his cassock and flirts off.]
Alexandra: [Humoring him] Very well, the highlights! [At first, 'sotto', then more serious and touched.] 'May the Lord God preserve thy soul in this life, as well as in the future life, Sister Alexandra.'
Rascallion: Sister?
Alexandra: [Looks at him, he is silent.]'I, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, am living in the glad tidings of His truth.'
Pobyedonostzev: Some truth.
Alexandra: [Continues.] 'I am in exile since the year 1886, from the Doukhobors' community of Trans-Caucasia.' Umm, I will just read the highlights. 'I implore thee, sister in Christ the Lord, Alexandra, pray thy husband Nicholas to spare the Doukhobors in the Caucasus from further persecution. It is to thee that I address myself, because I think thy heart is more truly turned towards the Lord God.' [There are gasps from the company; Rascallion claps his hands, all stare at him and he is silent.] '. . . there are at this moment more women and children suffering: hundreds of husbands and parents are confined in prisons, and thousands of families are dispersed in native villages, where the authorities incite the population to behave coarsely with them. This falls specially heavily upon the Christian women! Lately, they have been putting women and children into prisons.'
Nicholas: Is that true, Pobyedonostzev?
Pobyedonostzev: It was true, Your Majesty, with the Molokans; that
man, the scribbler, Tolstoy, had sent his daughter to me, to plead their case. Can you imagine that? But it was true, the Bishop of Samara had gone too far in his zeal to protect our Empire.
Nicholas: To protect our Empire from women and children? By separating them? That is barbarous!
Pobyedonostzev: We thought it would help, it was a difficult problem. We thought that if we could separate the children from these noxious influences, under our care, they would grow up to be real Russians.
Nicholas: Such barbarity in any so-called civilized country is not justifiable for any reason. Imagine, to separate mothers from children? Such callous barbarity! To separate a mother from her child! What else have we done? In the name of our Empire?
Pobyedonostzev: But women and children are now reunited, Your Majesty.
Nicholas: But only after the so-called 'heretic's' daughter pleaded their case.
Pobyedonostzev: We strive to serve the Empire, and your Majesty. In our zeal, your loyal servants may sometimes over step.
Nicholas: And what of this? Read on, Alix.
Alexandra: 'The fault on our part is that we, as far as it is possible to us, endeavour to become Christians.' [Czar looks at Pobyedonostzev] 'In regard to some of our actions, our understanding may not be sufficiently enlightened.' [Pobyedonostzev beams back.] 'Thou art probably acquainted with the teaching of vegetarianism; we are sharers in these humanitarian views. Lately we have ceased to use flesh as food, and to drink wine, and have forsaken much of which leads to a dissipated life, and darkens the light of the human soul.'
Pobyedonostzev: They are compounding the heresies of that scribbler, Tolstoy, I don't doubt it.
Nicholas: Tolstoy? Our greatest writer? Hardly a scribbler! I read his works and like many of them.
Pobyedonostzev: A lamentable lapse, Your Majesty. A clouded genius; Of course, I am referring to his later works, the ones with the heresies which propound our destruction. Great writer he may be, but he is also an impious infidel, a latter day heretical master.
Nicholas: Tolstoy is . . . Tolstoy.
Pobyedonostzev: He champions these heretics. I would dearly love to put him into the Suzdel monastery, let him preach to the converted who also suffer from such maladies; rather than to those who could be susceptible to his theories.
Nicholas: I won't hear of it.
Pobyedonostzev: If not prison or exile, then what? These beliefs are like the disease that begins in a little finger, and spreads to take over the heart and soul. We must amputate!
Nicholas: Allow me; our esteemed ancestor, Alexander 1, back in 1816, said; 'All the measures of the severity exhausted upon the Spirit Wrestlers during the 30 years up to 1801, not only did not destroy this sect, but more and more multiplied its adherents'. And need I remind you that the best efforts of Nicholas failed to eradicate them? These beliefs were not unheard of long before Tolstoy was born. Why blame him?
Pobyedonostzev: [Peevish, determined.] But he supports them, and he shares their heresies.
Nicholas: These people have existed in Russia for over two hundred years. They have not destroyed our Empire.
Pobyedonostzev: This time the pressure is much worse. The exiled scoundrels who are trying to help them and doing their best to cause us discomfort, have succeeded in drawing world attention to this so called 'cause.' Tolstoy, with all his weight, continues to draw attention to them; with their help. Did he not write an article that was handed here, trying to help them?
Nicholas: I have heard of such an article, we are not sure he wrote it.
General: But the second one, he signed it, it went to the papers, an appeal, he called it!
Nicholas: [Wearily] There are many such articles, how can we keep track of them all?
Alexandra: Allow me to continue, if you don't mind. Kiril, some champagne! [Servant pours champagne.] 'Refusing to kill animals, we in no case regard it as possible to deprive MEN of life. If we were to kill an ordinary man or even a robber, it would seem to us that we had decided to kill Christ.'
Pobyedonostzev: You see the monster we deal with; to compare any man, or even a robber, to Christ.
Rascallion: [Laughing] A veritable demon!
Alexandra: 'The State demands that our brethren should learn the use of the gun, in order to know how to kill well. The Christians do not agree to this; they are put into prisons, beaten and starved; the sisters and mothers are coarsely defiled as women, very often with railing exclamations, ‘Where is your God? Why does he not help you?'
Pobyedonostzev: Where indeed? His eye IS on the sparrow - but not where evil lurks.
Alexandra: [Continuing] 'Our God is in Heaven and on earth and fulfils all His will.' [Pause] 'This is sad because it is all taking place in a Christian country. Our community in the Caucasus consists of about 20,000 men. Is it possible that such a small number could injure the organism of the State, if soldiers were not recruited from among them?'
Nicholas: What about it, Commander? Can it hurt?
General: Only by example, Your Majesty. Think of what this can do if it is allowed to spread.
Nicholas: Pray, continue, Alix.
Alexandra: [Pensive]'At the present moment, they ARE recruited, but uselessly: thirty men are in the Ekaterinograd penal battalion, where the authorities are only tormenting themselves by torturing them.' [As this reading goes on, Alexandra becomes more impassioned.]
Nicholas: What of this, Commander, can thirty men make such a difference?
General: Since our universal conscription law of 1887; all must serve. No alternative service and no banishment, just the required service.
Alexandra: 'Man we regard as the temple of the living God, and we can in no case prepare to kill him, though for this we were to be threatened by death.'
Nicholas: We know of the Doukhobors when they were awesomely strong, what of these, we hear that they have fallen away from their beliefs? Have you tested their mettle?
General: They bear all with equanimity. Their so-called leader spoke thus; the same one who writes this letter: 'I ask that you will advise all . . . not to grumble at the government because it oppresses them. But let them bear, with God's help, any trial which befalls them. Let them only remember what Christ, and afterwards the apostles, had to suffer for the truth.'
Pobyedonostzev: One of our people were near by when a sympathizer managed to convince the guards to allow a visit to some of the prisoners. He had hoped to cheer them up, as it turned out, they cheered him. Spiritually, they were vigorous and healthy, and when asked for the reason for such well being in spite of severe torture, with more waiting, they answered thus: 'It is not for robbery or murder that we are here, and therefore one must not grieve at it but rejoice. Christ himself suffered;' ' We do not care for our flesh,' another said, 'No one can take away from us our soul.'
Nicholas: Read on, Alix. How much more does he say?
Alexandra: Not much more. As follows: 'Man we regard as the temple of the Living God, and we can in no case prepare to kill him, though for this we were threatened by death.'
Nicholas: [Addressing Pobyedonostzev and the General.] And what have the two of you done, to quell this bit of unnatural and tedious cancer eating at our common weal?
Pobyedonostzev: We have been alert, Your Majesty; this is only a partial list of our accomplishments: We placed our soldiers into their villages, and encourage the soldiers to use their property as their own, about 300 men who refused to continue army service were imprisoned, 30 more who refused active service into the penal battalion. Some 400 families we wrested from prime land, and sold all of their belongings for a trifle. If they believe in common property and goods, then let them share, I say! Some we banished among the Georgians to survive as best they can; let them practise their so-called pacifism among the hill tribes! Now they die of many diseases, especially children. Fever, typhus, diphtheria, dysentery, and unusual diseases of the eyes claim them. Mostly, they now starve.
Nicholas: Your accomplishments seem severe.
General: [Not to be outdone] Not as severe as ours, Your Majesty. In the Signak alone, 106 died from 100 families, in the Gory, 147 deaths in 190 families. In the Tionet, 83 deaths among 100 families.
[Gesturing and consulting book which servant brings him].
In Dushet, 20 deaths in 72 families, and in . . .
Nicholas: Enough! I am not convinced this is the answer.
Rascallion: Your Majesty; this is a small sample of the trouble they cause. The worst is the world attention. They write letters to the world press; Biryukov, Tregoubov, and Chertkov! Trouble makers all! We are becoming a laughing stock in the civilized Christian world!
Nicholas: You assured me that these agitators were taken care of; banished . . .
General: They are, they are gone, but they continue to make trouble, especially Chertkov. Allowing him exile to England was a mistake. From there, in league with the scoundrel, that is, the great writer, Tolstoy, he commands the attention of the world. [Pause - they turn to Alexandra.]
Alexandra:'The most convenient manner of dealing with us would be to establish us in one place where we might live and labour in peace. All state obligations in the form of taxes we would pay, only we cannot be soldiers.'
General: We cannot return to what is passed. We live in a new age now, with new laws.
Alexandra: It seems they only wish to be left in peace, or to simply leave peacefully. I am nearly done:'If the Government were to find it impossible to consent to this then let it give us the right of emigration into one of the foreign countries. . . . Umm . . . England . . . America . . . where there are a great number of brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ.'
Pobyedonostzev: How could we do that? The very home of our enemies! Think of the Masons!
Nicholas: We must think of these things. But your solutions are not working. Others have been trying them for 200 years; now all is worse; and gets worse every day. And what of your visit to the Caucasus, Dowager Empress?
Dowager Empress: A petition handed to me from the Doukhobors, not unlike this letter, begging for mercy from us, and the Almighty!
Alexandra: And now the finish: 'From the fullness of my soul I pray the Lord for the welfare of thy family - the servant of Christ, Peter.'
Nicholas: Amen. [In thought] We have begun again, and yes, continue something that is not easily completed. Perhaps we should let them go to these far off countries. What harm can it do? Let some other country deal with them.
General: But we have nearly solved the problem.
Pobyedonostzev: At the present rate, they will soon be exterminated . . . gone . . . That is the only way to solve this once and for all. One hundred years from now; who will even hear of these 'Spirit Wrestlers?'
Nicholas: I am not sure you are right, that it will work. As a snake unwinds its tail, who knows where the head ends up? The world publicity makes us a laughing stock.
Rascallion: Nothing can stand up to Mother Russia and our Empire.
Nicholas: [Wearily] The Nobel prize!
Alexandra: This is surely a disgrace to us all.
General: What of it?
Nicholas: When he, our renowned writer, our pride, Tolstoy - when he is nominated for the Peace Prize, Peace Prize, understand? The man who creates such turmoil - he writes a letter to the Stockholm newspapers and suggests that this prize be given to the Doukhobors instead, since by refusing to bear arms, they have done more for world peace than he. He rejects the nomination, something, that at this time, could have brought honour to our country. The bloodshed goes on, they should be nominated for the Peace Prize? And what of the world? And its opinion? Must we suffer such insults?
Alexandra: But they have done nothing, except suffer, and refuse to learn how to kill.
Nicholas: Precisely the point, my dear one. And the appeals go on. The English Society of Friends sends us a petition, begging for the release of the Doukhobors in a humane manner?
Pobyedonostzev: No doubt the agitation of the turncoat, Chertkov.
Empress Dowager: I have seen these people, they are simple, direct and honest. In any other country, they would be a credit.
Nicholas: They suffer heroically, as though life or death did not matter, they may keep that up while all of the world laughs at us, what can we do?
Pobyedonostzev: I have been thinking, Your Majesty.
Nicholas: [Musing] Does it feel strange, Pobyedonostzev?
Pobyedonostzev: [Pressing on] May I venture a solution, Your Majesty? One that will satisfy you, and world opinion, I believe.
Nicholas: Please amaze me with your erudition.
Pobyedonostzev: An Inquiry!
[They all look at each other.]
Nicholas: An inquiry?
Pobyedonostzev: An enquiry which will absolve all of us!
Nicholas: How will this happen?
General: But don't you see? By the time this enquiry is complete, who knows what will happen?
Pobyedonostzev: The press will die down, there will be more exiles to Siberia, many will be gone . . . but the world will see that we intend to do justice . . .
Nicholas: But there has been such an enquiry in 1801; Senators Lopoukine and Nedelinski reported on the Doukhobors to St. Petersburg; that's when they were allowed to move to the Milky Waters, a favourable report, that was.
Pobyedonostzev: A ha; but in 1792, another report said as follows: '. . . all those infected by this movement merit no mercy.' They were considered then, as now, to be particularly dangerous and enticing to adherents.
Rascallion: Read on, Pod., tell us why.
Pobyedonostzev: [Momentarily flustered.] Very well; why are they so dangerous? This is what the enquiry found; they are particularly dangerous because: [Reads] ‘The mode of life of the Doukhobors is founded on the most honest observances, and their greatest care is the general welfare, and they find salvation in good works.' [Pause] At first they were condemned to be burned, but that was remitted, and exile to Siberia became the norm. Indeed, the Spirit Wrestlers were the most pernicious and dangerous of all the dissidents.
Nicholas: [In deep thought] What you tell me solves nothing.
General: But so far, all is in order, we must have rules to prevent such insults to the body politic.
Nicholas: Such an inquiry is exactly what your so-called heretic, Tolstoy, warns me against.
Pobyedonostzev: But so he would, Your Majesty.
Nicholas: This is what he writes, in part: [A letter is handed to him.] ‘Majesty, for the love of God make an effort, and instead of avoiding the matter and referring it to commissions and committees, decide, without taking anyone's advice, you yourself, acting on your own initiative, that these religious persecutions, which are causing the shame of Russia, must cease; the exiles must be sent back to their homes . . . ' etc. - now you advise another commission . . . '
General: Just so, but that is what we are here for, to advise the best course . . .
Nicholas: [Cutting him off] Very well, I will agree to this . . . inquiry. But on one condition -
Pobyedonostzev & General: Yes, Your Majesty. Of course . . .
Nicholas: The inquiry is to be fair, and impartial - and we will do as the Inquiry recommends; and we will include and take note of all new information that we find.
Pobyedonostzev & General: [Toast each other.] Of course, Your Majesty!
Scene Six:
As black out on scene is complete, Spot on Matriarch, Stage Right. As footman passes by her she takes an orange or an apple from his tray. She throws it into the air and catches it. She does not eat it. She takes a step towards the audience.
Matriarch:
As our villages were plundered
And coarse, gleeful Cossacks, drunk
With liberty
Moved into the bedrooms
Of chaste young maidens, some not
Sixteen
And then even into those of
the
Mothers of our brave ones
Our possessions sold for a trifle
The final solution had its say -
Sweet children torn from
mothers' breasts
To witness their despair
Men folk into hiding
And into cruel submission when they
Were found
Under a cruel heel topped by a leather
Boot and a harder resolve
Tears in a strange mixture with
Blood and song
Strangers in a land they loved
But no longer knew
To become stranger still
And now an enquiry
To discover what an enlightened world now
Knew
Those with will not broken
Not holding a gun
Declared criminals
And banished
Although now the rule was no banishment
For refusing the holding of the gun
Let me take you on a journey
A journey of song and joy
Midst the vale of tears
For months or even years
How our heart bleeds as this strange
Motherland eats its innards
And spews them forth in a mixture of
Torment
We did not need an enquiry
To show us who we were
Surely even expensive mirrors
Clouded over in discreet shame
When they looked upon themselves
And their doings
Sudden light on scene, we see the procession of the wretched. Men are flogged as they walk along in chains to Siberia, women and children follow behind. As they march, they sing the following song:
DIN BOM - the lament of the prisoners' on their way to Siberia.
[Note: The producer should read IN RUSSIAN AND FRENCH PRISONS by Prince Peter Kropotkin, the section on the sectarians and the march to Siberia.] The scene could be choreographed and should last only as long as the song, about three minutes.
The Matriarch walks along with them and sings the song, but still relating to the audience. At the end, with slow fading of lights, she gives her apple or orange to one of the children who are following the procession.
As the procession is completed, they turn in a circle and lights die down - she disappears to emerge with costume change for next scene. It is important that this scene be dramatic and even dreary to contrast with the jollity of the next scene.
As black out on scene is complete, Spot on Matriarch, Stage Right. As footman passes by her she takes an orange or an apple from his tray. She throws it into the air and catches it. She does not eat it. She takes a step towards the audience.
Matriarch:
As our villages were plundered
And coarse, gleeful Cossacks, drunk
With liberty
Moved into the bedrooms
Of chaste young maidens, some not
Sixteen
And then even into those of
the
Mothers of our brave ones
Our possessions sold for a trifle
The final solution had its say -
Sweet children torn from
mothers' breasts
To witness their despair
Men folk into hiding
And into cruel submission when they
Were found
Under a cruel heel topped by a leather
Boot and a harder resolve
Tears in a strange mixture with
Blood and song
Strangers in a land they loved
But no longer knew
To become stranger still
And now an enquiry
To discover what an enlightened world now
Knew
Those with will not broken
Not holding a gun
Declared criminals
And banished
Although now the rule was no banishment
For refusing the holding of the gun
Let me take you on a journey
A journey of song and joy
Midst the vale of tears
For months or even years
How our heart bleeds as this strange
Motherland eats its innards
And spews them forth in a mixture of
Torment
We did not need an enquiry
To show us who we were
Surely even expensive mirrors
Clouded over in discreet shame
When they looked upon themselves
And their doings
Sudden light on scene, we see the procession of the wretched. Men are flogged as they walk along in chains to Siberia, women and children follow behind. As they march, they sing the following song:
DIN BOM - the lament of the prisoners' on their way to Siberia.
[Note: The producer should read IN RUSSIAN AND FRENCH PRISONS by Prince Peter Kropotkin, the section on the sectarians and the march to Siberia.] The scene could be choreographed and should last only as long as the song, about three minutes.
The Matriarch walks along with them and sings the song, but still relating to the audience. At the end, with slow fading of lights, she gives her apple or orange to one of the children who are following the procession.
As the procession is completed, they turn in a circle and lights die down - she disappears to emerge with costume change for next scene. It is important that this scene be dramatic and even dreary to contrast with the jollity of the next scene.
Scene Seven:
Darkness. Loud marching music, circus style. Lights up bright. Bigger spot on Matriarch. She is wearing a cap and cape, as a ringmaster in a circus. In her hand is a bugle and a scroll which is wound up. Music dies down - she blows on the bugle.
Matriarch:
Ladies and gentlemen!
The Inquiry!
The players - !
First, the enquirers!
On the stage, in keeping with the circus motif, the Enquirers appear: They wear a parody of officialdom, much decoration with robes, chains, crosses, Masonic emblems, other mystical symbols and so on. They gallop around the stage in time with the music, riding on foppish stick horses. They go in a circle as though they are on a carousel. When they stop, they use their stick horses as official staffs. As they are completing the circle on one side of the stage, the weary marchers appear from the other. The hymn of the marchers and the circus music merge for a minute, then grind down as if a record player has had the power turned off, then there is silence as the groups face each other.
Matriarch: And now:! The enquirees!
The Doukhobors appear; simple, plain, they stop in front of the inquirers, the groups face each other.
Matriarch:
A meeting - somewhere between Elisavetpol Prison,
On the way further north
Between Elisavetpol and Nukhin.
She unfurls her map to show the location and points it out with her stick.
Let us listen then, as they seek to
Learn what they know already
And had known
Through countless inquiries for 200 years
First Official comes forward, then stands aside when question is completed, this dialogue is not realistic on the part of the officials, the questions are delivered in 'rote fashion, a bit like a bored judge on the bench but more mechanical. The Doukhobors answer simply and directly, but also come forward one at a time and stand aside after the answer. This entire scene should resemble the circus contests or side shows. If one side finishes with all questioners or answers, then they simply start over with the first person again, perhaps changing a hat or a robe, quite in view of the audience.
1st. Official: What are you?
First Doukhobor: We are Christians.
Second Official: What sort of Christians?
Second Doukhobor: A Christian is one who believes in Christ Jesus and fulfills the Commandments of God.
Third Official: Whose subjects are you? The Turkish Sultan's or the Emperor of Russia's?
Third Doukhobor: As a matter of form we pay tribute to the Czar of Russia, but we are the subjects of Jesus Christ.
Fourth Official: And on whose land do you live?
Fourth Doukhobor: We live on God's earth.
Fifth Official: And who do you obey?
Fifth Doukhobor: We obey Him on whose land we live.
Sixth Official: As you live on God's earth and obey him, I suppose you do not acknowledge the Emperor?
Sixth Doukhobor: We do not take the Emperor's title from him; as he has been emperor in the past, so let him be in the future. But God created the earth and all that live on the earth.
Seventh Official: Then as you do not refuse to recognize the Emperor, why do you renounce your duties as soldiers?
Seventh Doukhobor: It is not in our power to serve as soldiers, because we are Christians, and a Christian ought not to do violence to his enemies, but to give full liberty to every living being, and not to kill his brother.
Eighth Official: Where did you get this from? Did some one teach you so?
Eighth Doukhobor: We got it from the Commandments of God, for the sixth Commandment says; 'Thou shalt not kill.'
Ninth Official: And who wants you to kill anybody?
Ninth Doukhobor: How can you say that no one wants us to kill anybody, when you teach the soldier how to kill? We who are Christians cannot kill anybody under any circumstances, because we consider a man the living temple of God.
Tenth Official: Yes, it may be sinful to kill a man without cause, but what harm is there in killing him in war, when the enemy is coming to plunder us?
Tenth Doukhobor: It is true that it is necessary to defend ourselves against our enemies, that the enemy may not be able to enter into a man, and implant evil in him. We believe that God and the Universal truth is our defence and our protector in such a case.
Dialogue becomes more mechanical and faster on both sides so it builds to a crescendo at the end of this section.
Eleventh Official: You trust in God, but we will put you in prison, and we shall see if God will save you. You might have lived peacefully but for refusing to serve the Emperor.
Eleventh Doukhobor: That is all we wanted, to live peacefully, but you have begun to oppress us and to compel us to kill.
Twelfth Official: Your fathers served the Emperor, but you refuse to do so. You might have lived peacefully but for that.
Twelfth Doukhobor: How can we serve him when he teaches men to kill? As Christians, to us all men are brothers, we consider it wicked to kill.
Thirteenth Official: What sort of brother is a man who threatens you?
Thirteenth Doukhobor: We are not allowed to judge a man. We have one Judge, who is able to save or condemn us.
Fourteenth Official: So then you decline to serve the Emperor under any circumstances?
Fourteenth Doukhobor: We will obey him only in what is not contrary to the will of God.
Matriarch: [Breaking in and gesturing towards the officials to stop].
Much obsufication
Much missing of the points
No solutions
Two diverse points continue to clash
Too much pride
Too many peers Too much politics
Too many princes Too many police
Too many prophets
Too many princes
Too many predictions
Too many practicalities
Too many pistols
Too many palaces
Too many priests
Too many prisons
Too many prisoners
Too many prosecutions
Too many prosecutors
Who were sure they were right
How could illiterate peasants
Deal with the divine right of kings
And bishops?
But they did - !
Let me take you to another place [Indicates with her stick to map].
This on the way to Metekhsky Castle
Or should I say prison?
In Tiflis
A harsher change of scenery from
The prison at Kars -
To actors on stage, who are now standing quietly looking at her, they stand out of character, as actors in rehearsal waiting for further instruction. She speaks to the actors in a normal voice, for a moment she is a director instructing the actors.
Let's try the second part of that -
Music starts up, singing starts up, both groups march in a figure 8, crossing each other, this time the two circles are intermingled, however, each questioner ends up facing the other as before.
First Off.: What sort of brother is a man to me when he wants to kill me?
First Douk.: How do you regard the people you fight with?
Second Off.: We regard them as enemies.
Second Douk.: And what are you to them?
Third Off.: We are enemies to them.
Third Douk.: Well, brother, you say that both parties become mutual enemies. Why should you consider yourself an enemy? Would it not
be better to consider yourself as the son of the Almighty Creator?
Fourth Off.: Of course, everyone would wish to be a son of the Almighty Creator, but it is necessary to deserve it.
Fourth Douk.: If you serve God, you will win his approbation. If you serve man, you will receive approbation from man. The
applause of man is fatal; it is not possible to serve two masters.
Fifth Off.: I will pull out a revolver, and put a bullet in your forehead, and you will argue with me no longer.
Fifth Douk.: If you have the power, kill me. It is written in the teaching, it is impossible to do anything unless God wills it; we cannot make one hair black or white - and we ought not to kill or destroy anything.
Sixth Off.: It is so written, but there is scarcely one of us who can fulfil such writings.
Sixth Douk.: How can you say that, when we take such pleasure in trying to fulfill God's commandment, while you stop us and do not want to do it yourself.
Seventh Off.: Yes Brothers, that is the way of God, but few choose to walk in it, though you, once you have entered it, stick fast to it. May God help you hold fast; but mind, don't talk my soldiers over to think as you do.
Matriarch: [Moving slightly forward]
So much confusion
Laid to rest
Like leaves covered by first snow
We followed nature's path for us
Deceiving in its simplicity and truth
They found it hard to grasp [To the actors].
Relax, that was very nice, we will do one more.
[To audience]
Let us sum up
The inquiries
The Commission
Some even fair
Though by then the damage had been severe
And most severe for the maidens
To relive the horror
Of the abuse
Some too young to even know
What was meant by this
Strange invasion of their bodies
Some with child
By noble husbands
Still, the truth must out [Pointing to scroll].
First to Signak
Victims were summoned to testify
Then to Slavanka
Then Kirolovka
Terpenie
Throughout the province of Kars
The villages of Akhalkalaki
To the Small Party
As well as the Great Party
And in some cases
The inquiry had to bear witness to
The truth
And with each testament
And each fresh violation of human nature
Our deliverance moved closer
Throughout this speech to audience, actors relax in the background, doing what actors do and what is possible when they will soon resume their roles; exercises, giving each other massages, drinking coffee etc.; any activity is permissible providing it is not distracting and does not interfere with resumption of play.
[To actors:]
So let us try once more
This is the last scene here
Some of you should go get ready
For the next scene
Some actors leave to change, others prepare for action. This last scene should be more realistic than the
previous two, the dialogue is more realistic and there is more potential for drama here. Whatever the choice of the director is, these instructions could be given by the Matriarch in her above instructions to the players, even to the point of stopping the scene and repeating something for emphasis. Rather than moving the actors in a circle, this dialogue could be more concentrated, for example, between one main judge and about five or six Doukhobors, at least half of which are women, there are costume changes for the next scene and most of the singers will have to appear at the top of the scene.
First Off.: I ask you to tell the whole truth quite freely, because we are sent by the Emperor to learn the whole truth.
First Douk.: You wish to compel us to fulfil the laws, but you yourselves commit iniquities.
Second Off.: It's true, that Doukhobor was right.
Second Douk.: Essentially, Christ said that one cannot serve two Masters, but reasonable laws we obey, but to kill people and to practise killing people . . .
Third Off.: We no longer wish to hear of your rejection of military service, in fact, we are now taking pains not to publicize that portion of your cause any more; we prohibit the propagation of such views at this time. We have come to ascertain certain conducts of our troops, troops, which, incidently, are posted here to protect you.
Third Douk.: The substance of the matter is this; When we lived in the flesh, according to our lusts, we were slaves of sin, we pleased the carnal man which leads into pride and perdition of pride, through the love of money and lust, through fornication, intoxication, superstition, murder and the shedding of the blood of one's brother, when we broke the law of God and His commandments, when we lived according to the world, - then we were loved and called good men; but when we turned away from the ways of the world, when we began to fulfill the law of God, the commandments of Jesus Christ and our conscience, - then we became hated, slandered, and put into prison on the pretext that we do not accept the power of the Emperor.
Fourth Off.: And precisely when did the friendly attitude begin to change?
Fourth Douk.: When we stopped giving the government officials in our towns bribes of every kind. Till then they called us well meaning, that there were no people better than the Doukhobors.
Fifth Off.: Can you prove such an allegation?
Fifth Douk.: In the Kars district, Shegoubatov, the official, took 1,000 roubles from a man who applied for a certificate excusing his son from service.
Sixth Off.: Let us turn to the allegations of the abuse of women and girls.
Sixth Douk.:[A young girl is brought forth.] Why do you torment me? For the fourth time you are asking me the same questions. I tell you the truth, why then do you annoy me further?
Seventh Off.: We must know the truth. These troops are here to protect you, not to take advantage of helpless people to satisfy their lust.
Seventh Douk.: Then listen to the following accounts:
It is possible for the different Doukhobor women to impersonate the following cases, and for the Matriarch to play one of the women.
Matriarch: My name is Aksenia Strelaeva. Four of us women were going from Spaski to Bogdonovka. We were overtaken by a hundred Cossacks, they brought us to Bogdonovka, placed us in a coach house and led us into the yard. They stripped us in front of many people, two held each of us and four flogged. One of us they dragged about so she could not stand.
Eighth Douk.: I am Nastasia Tchernenkova; a platoon and two sotnias of Cossacks lived in our yard at Bogdonovka. As we were having supper they came in to arrest the master of the family. They dragged all of us out and locked him in the storehouse and commenced beating him; the shrieks were dreadful. They locked me in a hut and took my daughter-in-law in the yard; she had been confined only fifteen days before. They tortured and abused her for three hours; they said; 'Where is your God? He will not save you.' Then the sotnik came, wishing to abuse her. She said; 'I shall remain alive, thou shalt perish, I shall die, but thou shalt perish.'
Ninth Douk.: I am Tina Saprikina, I was with my father and daughter, when they came and locked him in the shed. They then pleasured themselves with myself and young daughter for several hours. Such unwelcome vileness is hard to fathom.
Eighth Off.: That is enough.
Tenth Douk.: What of Tania Posniakova? And Mitro Malakhov? Men locked in the stable and wives and daughters abused for hours. The sons and men flogged till they couldn't stand, those that could stand, their boots got full of blood. The women abused by all ranks to the chorus of the men's desperate howls, who would have thought they had such fortitude?
Ninth Off.: What of men tortured and dying?
Eleventh Douk.: Now we starve and die from many diseases, with men folk imprisoned after the many arrests in Kars and in the villages of Kirilovka, Spasovka, Terpenie, Gorelevka, it is now worse with no men to work or make money, mostly we starve; men in prison die from beatings, others condemned to be hanged. V. Skvortsov, a missionary from the synod visits all of us and exhorts us to defend our fatherland; he says that a priest is responsible for the sins of the parishioners, as a sovereign is responsible for the sins of his soldiers. He believes we are sinners and have lost our salvation, we believe our salvation is here on earth, to live as Christians. As far as he is concerned, the Turk is not created in the image of God and of course, we should kill him with no fear of censure from heaven or earth.
Tenth Off.: I am astonished at the conduct of these soldiers who should be protecting you from such persecutions.
Twelfth Douk.: The army does not exist in the least to protect our interests, but in order that our savings may be spent on armaments, and is no use in the world, but to cause misery, outrage and murder.
Eleventh Off.: Nevertheless, we cannot do without soldiers and war, you and the others have little property, others will come to plunder all of us.
Thirteenth Douk.: You know what is written in the gospels; 'Lay not up to yourself treasure on the earth.' How can we keep our money when others need it? Christ said; 'Feed the hungry, give shoes to those who have none, share with those who are needy.'
Eleventh Off.: Since you are here with charges against you and I must find you guilty of something, I will find something. I also fine you three roubles; however, I advise you not to pay it. You are all dismissed; I wish to know more of your beliefs, and will visit you in your dwellings this evening. Hold fast to the commandment of the Lord.
Matriarch:
Later that evening, this unusual
Humane and civil Judge
Found the Doukhobors and pressed on them
Two roubles for their dinner
And wished to talk further with the Doukhobors
A humane person, a new convert?
An old philosopher once said he would have to travel from morning
Till night for many days with many lamps
Before he would find an honest man.
By becoming honest and decent, the
Doukhobors had insured that there would
Be a few less scoundrels in the
World?
Truly, in this world,
They had little competition.
Slow resumption of Doukhobor psalm, they slowly march off stage, followed by subdued officials.
Matriarch turns to the audience as though to say something else, then she shrugs her shoulders and walks off behind them.
Darkness. Loud marching music, circus style. Lights up bright. Bigger spot on Matriarch. She is wearing a cap and cape, as a ringmaster in a circus. In her hand is a bugle and a scroll which is wound up. Music dies down - she blows on the bugle.
Matriarch:
Ladies and gentlemen!
The Inquiry!
The players - !
First, the enquirers!
On the stage, in keeping with the circus motif, the Enquirers appear: They wear a parody of officialdom, much decoration with robes, chains, crosses, Masonic emblems, other mystical symbols and so on. They gallop around the stage in time with the music, riding on foppish stick horses. They go in a circle as though they are on a carousel. When they stop, they use their stick horses as official staffs. As they are completing the circle on one side of the stage, the weary marchers appear from the other. The hymn of the marchers and the circus music merge for a minute, then grind down as if a record player has had the power turned off, then there is silence as the groups face each other.
Matriarch: And now:! The enquirees!
The Doukhobors appear; simple, plain, they stop in front of the inquirers, the groups face each other.
Matriarch:
A meeting - somewhere between Elisavetpol Prison,
On the way further north
Between Elisavetpol and Nukhin.
She unfurls her map to show the location and points it out with her stick.
Let us listen then, as they seek to
Learn what they know already
And had known
Through countless inquiries for 200 years
First Official comes forward, then stands aside when question is completed, this dialogue is not realistic on the part of the officials, the questions are delivered in 'rote fashion, a bit like a bored judge on the bench but more mechanical. The Doukhobors answer simply and directly, but also come forward one at a time and stand aside after the answer. This entire scene should resemble the circus contests or side shows. If one side finishes with all questioners or answers, then they simply start over with the first person again, perhaps changing a hat or a robe, quite in view of the audience.
1st. Official: What are you?
First Doukhobor: We are Christians.
Second Official: What sort of Christians?
Second Doukhobor: A Christian is one who believes in Christ Jesus and fulfills the Commandments of God.
Third Official: Whose subjects are you? The Turkish Sultan's or the Emperor of Russia's?
Third Doukhobor: As a matter of form we pay tribute to the Czar of Russia, but we are the subjects of Jesus Christ.
Fourth Official: And on whose land do you live?
Fourth Doukhobor: We live on God's earth.
Fifth Official: And who do you obey?
Fifth Doukhobor: We obey Him on whose land we live.
Sixth Official: As you live on God's earth and obey him, I suppose you do not acknowledge the Emperor?
Sixth Doukhobor: We do not take the Emperor's title from him; as he has been emperor in the past, so let him be in the future. But God created the earth and all that live on the earth.
Seventh Official: Then as you do not refuse to recognize the Emperor, why do you renounce your duties as soldiers?
Seventh Doukhobor: It is not in our power to serve as soldiers, because we are Christians, and a Christian ought not to do violence to his enemies, but to give full liberty to every living being, and not to kill his brother.
Eighth Official: Where did you get this from? Did some one teach you so?
Eighth Doukhobor: We got it from the Commandments of God, for the sixth Commandment says; 'Thou shalt not kill.'
Ninth Official: And who wants you to kill anybody?
Ninth Doukhobor: How can you say that no one wants us to kill anybody, when you teach the soldier how to kill? We who are Christians cannot kill anybody under any circumstances, because we consider a man the living temple of God.
Tenth Official: Yes, it may be sinful to kill a man without cause, but what harm is there in killing him in war, when the enemy is coming to plunder us?
Tenth Doukhobor: It is true that it is necessary to defend ourselves against our enemies, that the enemy may not be able to enter into a man, and implant evil in him. We believe that God and the Universal truth is our defence and our protector in such a case.
Dialogue becomes more mechanical and faster on both sides so it builds to a crescendo at the end of this section.
Eleventh Official: You trust in God, but we will put you in prison, and we shall see if God will save you. You might have lived peacefully but for refusing to serve the Emperor.
Eleventh Doukhobor: That is all we wanted, to live peacefully, but you have begun to oppress us and to compel us to kill.
Twelfth Official: Your fathers served the Emperor, but you refuse to do so. You might have lived peacefully but for that.
Twelfth Doukhobor: How can we serve him when he teaches men to kill? As Christians, to us all men are brothers, we consider it wicked to kill.
Thirteenth Official: What sort of brother is a man who threatens you?
Thirteenth Doukhobor: We are not allowed to judge a man. We have one Judge, who is able to save or condemn us.
Fourteenth Official: So then you decline to serve the Emperor under any circumstances?
Fourteenth Doukhobor: We will obey him only in what is not contrary to the will of God.
Matriarch: [Breaking in and gesturing towards the officials to stop].
Much obsufication
Much missing of the points
No solutions
Two diverse points continue to clash
Too much pride
Too many peers Too much politics
Too many princes Too many police
Too many prophets
Too many princes
Too many predictions
Too many practicalities
Too many pistols
Too many palaces
Too many priests
Too many prisons
Too many prisoners
Too many prosecutions
Too many prosecutors
Who were sure they were right
How could illiterate peasants
Deal with the divine right of kings
And bishops?
But they did - !
Let me take you to another place [Indicates with her stick to map].
This on the way to Metekhsky Castle
Or should I say prison?
In Tiflis
A harsher change of scenery from
The prison at Kars -
To actors on stage, who are now standing quietly looking at her, they stand out of character, as actors in rehearsal waiting for further instruction. She speaks to the actors in a normal voice, for a moment she is a director instructing the actors.
Let's try the second part of that -
Music starts up, singing starts up, both groups march in a figure 8, crossing each other, this time the two circles are intermingled, however, each questioner ends up facing the other as before.
First Off.: What sort of brother is a man to me when he wants to kill me?
First Douk.: How do you regard the people you fight with?
Second Off.: We regard them as enemies.
Second Douk.: And what are you to them?
Third Off.: We are enemies to them.
Third Douk.: Well, brother, you say that both parties become mutual enemies. Why should you consider yourself an enemy? Would it not
be better to consider yourself as the son of the Almighty Creator?
Fourth Off.: Of course, everyone would wish to be a son of the Almighty Creator, but it is necessary to deserve it.
Fourth Douk.: If you serve God, you will win his approbation. If you serve man, you will receive approbation from man. The
applause of man is fatal; it is not possible to serve two masters.
Fifth Off.: I will pull out a revolver, and put a bullet in your forehead, and you will argue with me no longer.
Fifth Douk.: If you have the power, kill me. It is written in the teaching, it is impossible to do anything unless God wills it; we cannot make one hair black or white - and we ought not to kill or destroy anything.
Sixth Off.: It is so written, but there is scarcely one of us who can fulfil such writings.
Sixth Douk.: How can you say that, when we take such pleasure in trying to fulfill God's commandment, while you stop us and do not want to do it yourself.
Seventh Off.: Yes Brothers, that is the way of God, but few choose to walk in it, though you, once you have entered it, stick fast to it. May God help you hold fast; but mind, don't talk my soldiers over to think as you do.
Matriarch: [Moving slightly forward]
So much confusion
Laid to rest
Like leaves covered by first snow
We followed nature's path for us
Deceiving in its simplicity and truth
They found it hard to grasp [To the actors].
Relax, that was very nice, we will do one more.
[To audience]
Let us sum up
The inquiries
The Commission
Some even fair
Though by then the damage had been severe
And most severe for the maidens
To relive the horror
Of the abuse
Some too young to even know
What was meant by this
Strange invasion of their bodies
Some with child
By noble husbands
Still, the truth must out [Pointing to scroll].
First to Signak
Victims were summoned to testify
Then to Slavanka
Then Kirolovka
Terpenie
Throughout the province of Kars
The villages of Akhalkalaki
To the Small Party
As well as the Great Party
And in some cases
The inquiry had to bear witness to
The truth
And with each testament
And each fresh violation of human nature
Our deliverance moved closer
Throughout this speech to audience, actors relax in the background, doing what actors do and what is possible when they will soon resume their roles; exercises, giving each other massages, drinking coffee etc.; any activity is permissible providing it is not distracting and does not interfere with resumption of play.
[To actors:]
So let us try once more
This is the last scene here
Some of you should go get ready
For the next scene
Some actors leave to change, others prepare for action. This last scene should be more realistic than the
previous two, the dialogue is more realistic and there is more potential for drama here. Whatever the choice of the director is, these instructions could be given by the Matriarch in her above instructions to the players, even to the point of stopping the scene and repeating something for emphasis. Rather than moving the actors in a circle, this dialogue could be more concentrated, for example, between one main judge and about five or six Doukhobors, at least half of which are women, there are costume changes for the next scene and most of the singers will have to appear at the top of the scene.
First Off.: I ask you to tell the whole truth quite freely, because we are sent by the Emperor to learn the whole truth.
First Douk.: You wish to compel us to fulfil the laws, but you yourselves commit iniquities.
Second Off.: It's true, that Doukhobor was right.
Second Douk.: Essentially, Christ said that one cannot serve two Masters, but reasonable laws we obey, but to kill people and to practise killing people . . .
Third Off.: We no longer wish to hear of your rejection of military service, in fact, we are now taking pains not to publicize that portion of your cause any more; we prohibit the propagation of such views at this time. We have come to ascertain certain conducts of our troops, troops, which, incidently, are posted here to protect you.
Third Douk.: The substance of the matter is this; When we lived in the flesh, according to our lusts, we were slaves of sin, we pleased the carnal man which leads into pride and perdition of pride, through the love of money and lust, through fornication, intoxication, superstition, murder and the shedding of the blood of one's brother, when we broke the law of God and His commandments, when we lived according to the world, - then we were loved and called good men; but when we turned away from the ways of the world, when we began to fulfill the law of God, the commandments of Jesus Christ and our conscience, - then we became hated, slandered, and put into prison on the pretext that we do not accept the power of the Emperor.
Fourth Off.: And precisely when did the friendly attitude begin to change?
Fourth Douk.: When we stopped giving the government officials in our towns bribes of every kind. Till then they called us well meaning, that there were no people better than the Doukhobors.
Fifth Off.: Can you prove such an allegation?
Fifth Douk.: In the Kars district, Shegoubatov, the official, took 1,000 roubles from a man who applied for a certificate excusing his son from service.
Sixth Off.: Let us turn to the allegations of the abuse of women and girls.
Sixth Douk.:[A young girl is brought forth.] Why do you torment me? For the fourth time you are asking me the same questions. I tell you the truth, why then do you annoy me further?
Seventh Off.: We must know the truth. These troops are here to protect you, not to take advantage of helpless people to satisfy their lust.
Seventh Douk.: Then listen to the following accounts:
It is possible for the different Doukhobor women to impersonate the following cases, and for the Matriarch to play one of the women.
Matriarch: My name is Aksenia Strelaeva. Four of us women were going from Spaski to Bogdonovka. We were overtaken by a hundred Cossacks, they brought us to Bogdonovka, placed us in a coach house and led us into the yard. They stripped us in front of many people, two held each of us and four flogged. One of us they dragged about so she could not stand.
Eighth Douk.: I am Nastasia Tchernenkova; a platoon and two sotnias of Cossacks lived in our yard at Bogdonovka. As we were having supper they came in to arrest the master of the family. They dragged all of us out and locked him in the storehouse and commenced beating him; the shrieks were dreadful. They locked me in a hut and took my daughter-in-law in the yard; she had been confined only fifteen days before. They tortured and abused her for three hours; they said; 'Where is your God? He will not save you.' Then the sotnik came, wishing to abuse her. She said; 'I shall remain alive, thou shalt perish, I shall die, but thou shalt perish.'
Ninth Douk.: I am Tina Saprikina, I was with my father and daughter, when they came and locked him in the shed. They then pleasured themselves with myself and young daughter for several hours. Such unwelcome vileness is hard to fathom.
Eighth Off.: That is enough.
Tenth Douk.: What of Tania Posniakova? And Mitro Malakhov? Men locked in the stable and wives and daughters abused for hours. The sons and men flogged till they couldn't stand, those that could stand, their boots got full of blood. The women abused by all ranks to the chorus of the men's desperate howls, who would have thought they had such fortitude?
Ninth Off.: What of men tortured and dying?
Eleventh Douk.: Now we starve and die from many diseases, with men folk imprisoned after the many arrests in Kars and in the villages of Kirilovka, Spasovka, Terpenie, Gorelevka, it is now worse with no men to work or make money, mostly we starve; men in prison die from beatings, others condemned to be hanged. V. Skvortsov, a missionary from the synod visits all of us and exhorts us to defend our fatherland; he says that a priest is responsible for the sins of the parishioners, as a sovereign is responsible for the sins of his soldiers. He believes we are sinners and have lost our salvation, we believe our salvation is here on earth, to live as Christians. As far as he is concerned, the Turk is not created in the image of God and of course, we should kill him with no fear of censure from heaven or earth.
Tenth Off.: I am astonished at the conduct of these soldiers who should be protecting you from such persecutions.
Twelfth Douk.: The army does not exist in the least to protect our interests, but in order that our savings may be spent on armaments, and is no use in the world, but to cause misery, outrage and murder.
Eleventh Off.: Nevertheless, we cannot do without soldiers and war, you and the others have little property, others will come to plunder all of us.
Thirteenth Douk.: You know what is written in the gospels; 'Lay not up to yourself treasure on the earth.' How can we keep our money when others need it? Christ said; 'Feed the hungry, give shoes to those who have none, share with those who are needy.'
Eleventh Off.: Since you are here with charges against you and I must find you guilty of something, I will find something. I also fine you three roubles; however, I advise you not to pay it. You are all dismissed; I wish to know more of your beliefs, and will visit you in your dwellings this evening. Hold fast to the commandment of the Lord.
Matriarch:
Later that evening, this unusual
Humane and civil Judge
Found the Doukhobors and pressed on them
Two roubles for their dinner
And wished to talk further with the Doukhobors
A humane person, a new convert?
An old philosopher once said he would have to travel from morning
Till night for many days with many lamps
Before he would find an honest man.
By becoming honest and decent, the
Doukhobors had insured that there would
Be a few less scoundrels in the
World?
Truly, in this world,
They had little competition.
Slow resumption of Doukhobor psalm, they slowly march off stage, followed by subdued officials.
Matriarch turns to the audience as though to say something else, then she shrugs her shoulders and walks off behind them.
Scene Eight:
On the scrim there is an outline of Tolstoy's house at Yasnaya Polyana. The action is on the front porch, there is a table with tea and cakes. In the background, some servants are lounging. Discovered in the scene is Lev Tolstoy talking to Sonia and reading some letters in front of him which they are discussing.
Lev: According to our friend, Vladimir Chertkov, Verigin has never accepted the role of leader, though it was thrust upon him. He appears to be a modest and seemly man who has suffered much, but has never stopped agitating for the release of the Doukhobors. Of course, what can he do in exile for so many years? Is it possible that he can be heard, even from there, while I sit here and they pretend I don't exist? Sometimes I wish I could be there with him.
Sonia: You know that you are never satisfied with your immense accomplishments. What now? You would like to become a martyr?
Lev: The sad thing is that they won't lay a finger on me. They are defeating their own purpose however, for by leaving me to speak the truth, they are compelling me to speak it, and there is much to be said.
Sonia: Haven't you done enough? They won't touch you because you are a national treasure.
Lev: A national treasure belongs in a museum. Thank God, and there is one, in spite of what our church has done to thwart Christ's teachings; that I am still not a total cripple and am able to do what I can. Still, it makes me uncomfortable to sit in safety and comfort and pontificate, while real people die and suffer all around me. I wish they would exile me or lock me up somewhere. If they weren't such hypocrites, they would.
Sonia: Your care for people, humanity as you put it, is your curse and your salvation. We all use our God given talents as we can; how can I help? By serving you. How can you help, through this influence as you sit here as the respected author and Count. Would they listen and care about your opinions if you were just another fool in Christ?
Lev: [Slightly peevish] God does help those who help themselves by commitment to their cause, those who are not afraid to suffer. I sit on the sidelines and cheer, others play the game.
Sonia: Others play the game, but listen too. Perhaps you should have been a statesman. Is that something to regret? You have done that too - or is it more important to sit here and write your letters, and have these same statesmen pay attention and listen to you? That is a rare privilege.
Lev: Some satisfaction, perhaps.
Sonia: I begin to think that when a man suddenly notices that life is dreadful and closes his eyes to everything good in life, that man is sick. You should undergo treatment.
Lev: To live well means to die well. But first, we must live well.
Sonia: All this fuss, and all the life around you. You cannot cure everyone, and you cannot cure anyone if you are not cured yourself. Why all this obsession with death?
Lev: And why the fear? Love is God, and to die, means that I, a part of that love, shall return to that great whole, the eternal source of things.
Sonia: [Pours tea for Lev.] Have you read all your mail? Do you know that even the President of that great country, the United States of America, thinks you are an immoral man? That should give you at least a small reason to live?
Lev: Immoral? Why on earth?
Sonia: Because he read WAR AND PEACE, and ANNA KARENINA.
Lev: To tell you the truth, I am surprised that he can read. His finest moment was charging down a hill into a helpless bunch of peasants who were defending their freedom, their homes and their families. I did that under more danger in the very same Caucasus of the problems - what a time we had, Nicholas and I. I was twenty years old then, a mere stripling, trying to find my way.[Pause] I have lived to regret this folly, of course. Still, there is good in every person, and he too, may yet do something worthy of peace.
Sonia: You know, from the recent successes, that even the Czar pays attention to you.
Lev: Sometimes one is better known by the enemies he has rather than by his friends. In this case, I am proud of both.
Sonia: It doesn't hurt to have friends in high places.
Lev: These are my friends. Listen: [He reads] 'Having heard that some of the Doukhobors were being transferred from Elisavetpol prison to that of Nukhin, I went out to meet them. The stifling city prison was forgotten for a moment, and each was merely glad to breath fully and freely, to stretch his cramped limbs, to enjoy the new scene, with no longer around him the walls of the prison court. [To Sonia] You know how I like the open air, what would I do, how would I suffer were I in their place? [Continues reading.] 'It was just this that made my heart contract painfully as I looked at them. Among them was John Verigin, oldest brother of Peter Verigin. He was a tall handsome old man, very attractive by reason of his intelligence, judgement and communicative disposition. All around us, people kept asking; why are they taking such people to prison? What have they done, what is their crime?' [To Sonia] These are the people who know how to live, and have the courage of their convictions. Listen to this: 'Grigory Verigin, another brother of Peter's, in at Metekhsky Prison; 'I have been told that recently a good many friends and mothers have come to see our brethren in this prison, but to my great regret I could not see them. However, one cannot recall the past - may the will of the Lord be done. I was at the time sitting in solitary confinement in a dark and cold cell in which I passed four days in great suffering. But this is of no consequence, and may be for the best, as it is a good discipline, otherwise man forgets his position on earth, but when he has to undergo such sufferings it reminds him of the eternal life. They did not give me any food, and I spent the time in prayer and fasting. I was given no covering, and I had to suffer from the cold. When I asked, they shut the door and went away. Oh, hard-hearted men! May God forgive them.' These are my friends; an example for all of us.[Thinking] Religion does not make life, life makes religion.
Sonia: And your life? If they all find the mystical source, then life will be good?
Lev: Make yourself a spoon and eat with that spoon, as long as no one needs it.
Sonia: [Puzzled] The news is not all bad?
Lev: Au contraire; the news is good, their suffering is almost over, I only hope that they will release the men from exile to join their women and children.
Sonia: How important it is for the women and children to be free, they will hold the future utopia. You are good at secrets, what did they say?
Lev: The official communication is this; the Doukhobors may leave, on three conditions:
Sonia: And?
Lev: As follows; First: they must pay their own way, Secondly: They must leave their passports, never to return. Thirdly, they must leave immediately. I don't know how that will affect the ones in prison and exile, hopefully, some will be released.
Sonia: There are problems; how to raise the money? These conditions depend not in the least, on the finances, we have given much, and so have your friends, in exile now, here or elsewhere - what can we do?
Lev: But that is just the point, here I can do something because they won't interfere; and from abroad, where the yoke of oppression on common people is not so severe, there are many who will help. Thanks to our modest epistles, we now have the attention of the world.
Sonia: But at what cost? Have you read this? 'Because you are offending our Lord Jesus Christ and proving yourself to be an enemy of the Czar and the fatherland, you will die near the beginning of 1898.' What good will that do, and what good will you do when you are dead? And what will happen to us?
Lev: They will be silent as long as they can, and then they will kill me. My body can perish, but the teachings of Christ cannot perish.
Sonia: [Brandishing a letter] Have you seen these others?
Lev: More letters threatening my life? I am sorry there are people who hate me, but I am scarcely interested and still less concerned. Our greatest allies are own son, Sergei, now in London. He is trying, and he has feelings. Khilkov is off to Canada with Maude and some Doukhobors, their agricultural experts, to see the land, and to negotiate. Then there are our exiled friends; Biryukov now in Switzerland, and Chertkov in England.
Sonia: You know I wept a great deal when that decree was made. I regard the men who were banished as our best and most devoted friends; it is hard to be separated from them. History will judge, but it will remember them far longer than Pobyedonostzev and friends. My concern is for them, but most of all for you.
Lev: [Laughing] You know the Czar likes me, and said, as his father before; 'I do not intend to add a martyr's crown to his glory.'
Sonia: But after the manifesto, Give Help! you know how they searched Chertkov's house, and Biryukov, and Tregoubov, and exiled them all?
Lev: But they did not touch me. And what is the good of seizing papers and so on? The men live, the men write, the men speak the truth. What's going on inside is much more important than an enforced change of residence. They would have to kill us all to stop us, and now, with the attention of the refusal of the Nobel prize nomination and so on, the Doukhobors have become a world wide 'cause celebre', we have them where we want them! Attention must be paid!
Sonia: But we don't have the money!
Lev: Listen, my dearest chuck, you have seen me hard at work, finishing an old story, much as I hate writing such fiction now? The story called RESURRECTION, I am going to complete it, and FATHER SERGEI, perhaps that will make the difference. Of course, I have been draining the moneybags of our liberal friends as well, but we still need more. How I hated to write these people, and how I hated, but was also glad to receive their money, 5 to 10,000 rubles each! Of course, those who live only in the spirit, but do not deal with such realities, criticized me for such actions.
Lights dim on this scene, Sonia disappears but Tolstoy stays; Matriarch appears front of stage.
Matriarch:
You've probably missed me and are wondering where I've gone
As a matter of fact, I've been
Rehearsing
Let me welcome you to an impromptu
Entertainment, the Yasnaya Polyana
Peasant choir, which our Dedushka
Loved so well
There is a burst of music and the choir comes out, singing and dancing, Tolstoy comes forth, beaming and smiling and enjoying the music, after this interlude, Matriarch and Tolstoy are left on stage together.
Matriarch:
Heart felt friends
Now separated by an ocean
Others in the appeal:
Birukov to a remote area called
Kurland
Tregoubov to the hinterland
Friend and ally, Chertkov
Given the chance
Chose to go to England
And a good thing too
From there, he directed a massive
Campaign
To free these prisoners of
Conscience
Our dear Dedushka, now separated
From his allies
Waged a valiant
Struggle
Through his wits, talent and
Belief in humanity
How could we show the final plans
Missives separated by oceans?
Let us bring them together and use
Those words written
As they conversed in heated
Discussions
In those final days
Of a deed well done
Scene back to before, Tolstoy sitting, then rising to greet Chertkov as he strides in.
Tolstoy: My dear Vladimir Gregorvich Chertkov, how happy I am to see you.
Chertkov: I bask in your sublime presence, Lev Nickolaevich.
Tolstoy: Many miles and many rivers and many seas between us, but still, we are united in the common cause.
Chertkov: Ah yes, the Doukhobors, our present preoccupation.
Tolstoy: [Genuinely happy to be in good company.] More than a preoccupation, dear friend. This is our present and dear cause.
Chertkov: And the root of all great causes, as you very well know, the root of all evil; money.
Tolstoy: Precisely; I have sold many principles in the past, but never so dearly or as willingly as this.
Chertkov: Many people think they know you, none as well as me, but still, you are full of surprise. What have you planned next?
Tolstoy: What is the present state of our finances? You know the Doukhobors must leave immediately, and pay their own way.
Chertkov: It goes well, the colony at Purleigh, in danger to their own well being, is guaranteeing 10,200, the Friends, 2800.
Tolstoy: And?
Chertkov: The Doukhobors themselves, through their meagre resources, have raised 33,000 roubles.
Tolstoy: And?
Chertkov: The sad truth is, we are still short.
Tolstoy: [Toying] How short?
Chertkov: Short enough to make the difference. We must still raise over 30,000 roubles!
Tolstoy: I have been working very hard - Although these writings do not satisfy my present aesthetic requirements, there is no harm in their substance and they may even be of use some to the readers. We will sell them for the highest possible price, no need to wait for my death, and donate the proceeds to the Doukhobor fund.
Chertkov: That is wonderful news. But what works?
Tolstoy: Old works; you know I have been working for several years on a tedious tale called RESURRECTION, and then there's FATHER SERGEI.
Chertkov: But that's wonderful, of course I know, they were to be published posthumously. I will begin negotiations right away.
Tolstoy: No need, I am far ahead of you.
Chertkov: But I have been publishing all of your works abroad, for years - why this sudden change of heart?
Tolstoy: No change of heart, dear friend. But in this case, the hand of the master is required; this is 'prima facia', we cannot afford any slips.
Chertkov: But abroad?
Tolstoy: In Russia alone, NIVA is paying 1,000 rubles per 16 page sheet. In America and abroad, we seek the highest possible price, it looks equally good! Our American compatriot, Crosby, at this very moment is engaged in negotiations with a large magazine called Cosmopolitan.
Chertkov: I am amazed. I had thought I was the one with the brains, you the one with the talent. And how much will it raise, this little bit of financial dealing of yours?
Tolstoy: Probably more than enough - over 30,000 rubles!
Chertkov: Who said the Lord didn't take care of his own? In this case, you are the Lord.
Tolstoy: Only in name, and due to man's folly that they should believe in such things. I am simply an instrument of a higher power!
Chertkov: How do you feel; about resurrecting this RESURRECTION?
Tolstoy: I just remarked to our fellow toiler in the field, Prince Khilkov; 'just as nature has endowed certain men with a sexual instinct for the reproduction of the species, she has endowed others with an artistic instinct, which seems to be equally absurd.' I see no other explanation for the fact that an old man of seventy who is not utterly stupid should devote himself to an occupation as futile as writing novels.
Chertkov: But in this case, it bears fruit.
Tolstoy: In this case yes, and I am glad to do it, the others . . . Still I believe that no word ever disappears without leaving a trace if it expresses some truth and the man who spoke it had faith in its truth.
Light on Matriarch, Tolstoy and Chertkov in the background still visible, seemingly sipping tea and talking.
Matriarch:
So that's how it went
When a saviour was needed
How could you go wrong with
Dedushka Tolstoy on your side?
Still - there were others
Who through charity or misguided zeal
Did help -
[Back to Tolstoy and Chertkov]
Chertkov: And what of the land? Are we sure there is refuge?
Tolstoy: My dear Vladimir Grigorvich, you have sent your own emissaries into the field, you know our dear friend Prince Khilkov, he is there now, and sends most encouraging news.
Chertkov: Our renowned colleague, Kropotkin, had early done surveys of this very area. Many past brothers and sisters in the Lord had gone there. The land is excellent, this I know. But what of their trip?
Tolstoy: All is under control. Maude, Khilkov and Ivan and Makhortov have had an excellent reception. Why, because my old friend, and fellow humanist, James Mavor, had arranged it so. The land is available, in a block, education is left to the territories, and the Canadian government has had a clause allowing people not to serve in the military since 1868. In essence, they say that 'Canada is as free a country as any in the world.' Pray that it continue to be so. If the utopian ideal cannot be accomplished here in Mother Russia, it may be in the far off Americas. I have been reading some of their foremost thinkers and philosophers, Emerson, Thoreau, Garrison - Transcendalists all, and seekers for a better way. I have also been corresponding with Verigin, an exceptional leader.
Chertkov: So all is secure? Should I order the champagne?
Tolstoy: Not for me, dear friend. But I will have another glass of tea. [Drinks, ruminating.] There is an important problem.
Chertkov: What more can I do? Our Purleigh people have donated beyond their means. The very commune may be at stake.
Tolstoy: You have done an heroic job. History, and generations of Doukhobors will think of you kindly, and in reverence.
Chertkov: But not in the same breath as you, you are the grandfather and the godfather of all.
Tolstoy: I am but a helpless old scribbler, and a hopeless old idealist. What can I do? The poet skims off the best of life and puts it in his work. That is why his work is so beautiful and his life bad.
Chertkov: You have set a vision that only few can aspire to.
Tolstoy: A troubled vision, to be sure, we are in a clash between the material world and the spiritual world. Even our now concerned Nicholas knows that the ideal of the material world cannot be fully realized, as I know that the ideal of spiritual life cannot be realized.
Chertkov: Surely then, is all futile? What is the point of either?
Tolstoy: As with them, so with us! [Laughing] The whole point, then, is the constant effort to approach the ideal! Show me the man, or woman, for that matter, who thinks they have secured the ideal, and I will show you a fool, or a suicide, or a very empty, superficial being.
Chertkov: You are leading to something.
Tolstoy: My very pursuit. The complete man, artistic, sensitive, full of action, but most important of all, wise and practical - the man we need now.
Chertkov: Surely not Sergei?
Tolstoy: My son is a nice boy who is trying, and still may amount to something. He too, will have a part. Now, we need someone else.
Lights fade on scene, melancholy, Up on Matriarch.
Matriarch:
Who was this paragon of virtue?
This Ulysses who would sweep the
Doukhobors away on a marvelous,
Utopian odyssey?
What did it mean?
To take an entire group of beings,
Intelligent, honest, with strong belief
And a culture of their own
To lead them to a new place
To have sensitivity and endurance
And skill?
A young man, already renowned
In a triumvirate of giants
Giants setting the theatrical world
On edge
Stanislavsky,
Nemrovich-Danchenko
The toast of the theatrical world
The Moscow Art Theatre?
We will meet this unusual man -
But not yet -
She disappears, lights back on Tolstoy and Chertkov, now sharing a joke.
Tolstoy: I have just recently received a letter from his two famous colleagues, congratulating me on one of my works; Nemrovich Danchenko and Konstantin Stanislavsky, the famous producers of the Moscow Art Theatre.
Chertkov: I know that your past works have included plays, and no doubt, they have read them.
Tolstoy: They have read them and they like them, a play is a living testament and illumination to the state of the world. Alas, most of mine serve only to illuminate the Censor.
Chertkov: But why would such a man want to do this?
Tolstoy: Why does a man do anything? Because his soul, his being, is unhappy with the world as it is? Or because he loves people and doesn't want to kill?
Matriarch: [Joining the scene]
May I present to you, our man of the moment!
Leopold Sulerzhitsky!
There is a burst of song and music, the peasant choir comes on, singing, and dragging a reluctant and baffled Leopold, Tolstoy and Chertkov rise to embrace him and he is served tea, he remains standing.
Tolstoy: The toilers in the field await your coup d'etat. What is the news?
Leopold: You know that our initial success was to move some of the most oppressed to Cyprus. This we did, a shipload from Bedim. However, in spite of the temporary relief and the feeling of safety, that is what it must be - a temporary haven.
Chertkov: Just so, and we have now received the important telegram from Canada - 'let exiles come, land ready'. But how did they fare in Cyprus, did many suffer?
Leopold: I have with me some of their letters. In part, they write thus:[Bringing a letter out and quoting] ‘Brethren . . . in the first place we transmit to you our deepest gratitude for your brotherly concern about us and the help you have extended to us. Secondly, we desire to explain to you the position of our affairs, and we once more appeal to you not to withdraw your kind assistance from us. About ninety of our number have died already and we despair of ever adapting to this climate. It resembles that of our exile, where fully 1,000 of our people died out of four. We fear that what was not accomplished by our persecution, our total eradication, may be accomplished by our release.'
Chertkov: What an insult to humanity!
Tolstoy: When humanity is insulted, then all right thinking, feeling men, are insulted.
Leopold: Amen, but to be insulted is not enough.
Chertkov: A call to action for those who believe in dignity.
Pause as they look at each other.
Leopold: And action we have. While we talk, people die and suffer. This they wrote further: 'We fervently appeal to you not to enter into great expense in establishing us here; as our brethren, Ivan and Makhortov have explained to you, we wish to be transported to such a place as Canada, a place where we might dwell in peace, as brethren. Think of our brethren in the Caucasus first, still with no resources amidst great oppression. We speak to you in truth in order that we might afterwards not be responsible before you and God. May the Lord save you.'
Chertkov: A man of your talent and success in the theatre? What interests you in such activities?
Leopold: I am now a regisseur on a wider plain, perhaps a more important one. I cannot eliminate all violence and lying, but I myself can stop being violent, and I can stop lying. We educated people are afraid of suffering, so we lie and hide like children, while the virtuous, dumb, ignorant peasants, some call them, sacrifice their lives to establish a kingdom of love.
Tolstoy: So you refused conscription yourself?
Leopold: I did, and before me was the great example of the Doukhobors, and that is why I am planning to travel, literally, to the ends of the earth with them. Our sufferings are not so significant in comparison with the evil which I could perpetuate by entering the army.
Tolstoy: So you will go?
Leopold: I will go on the first ship, the Lake Superior, your son Sergius, will go on the second, the Lake Huron. In all, there will be four; some 7,500 souls will find freedom, after 200 hundred years of oppression and tyranny, exacted on them for trying to behave like Christians. Think of that, my friends!
Chertkov: So you are the man of action we have heard about!
Leopold: I have engaged the ships myself and look after all of the details. When I return, you will read all about all of my experiences in a book I will produce from my diaries: TO AMERICA WITH THE DOUKHOBORS.
Lev: So you are off then?
Leopold: Directly, I must immediately to London where the final communications await me, payment for the first ship must be made.
Chertkov: Then all is secure?
Leopold: As secure as the mysteries of the universe and the whims of state allow it to be.
Lev: Let us celebrate in the best way, no, not champagne! Exercise! Sonia, the rackets, Arbuzov, my bicycle!
Sonia appears with tennis rackets, Arbuzov with the bicycle. The Peasant Choir with Matriarch and picnic baskets, they all go off singing as lights are fading.
Chertkov:[Notices the bicycle and is aghast.] But what is this, Lev Nickolaevich? A velocipede? Surely, you?
Tolstoy: Have you not read Popov's book; SCIENTIFIC NOTES ON THE ACTION OF THE VELOCIPEDE AS PHYSICAL EXERCISE?
Chertkov:[Quite stern] No I haven't; I have also heard that such a conveyance is the work of the devil. To ride such a thing is not consistent with Christian ideals.
Tolstoy: Nonsense, such opinions are of no importance to me.
Chertkov: Think of the many who revere you, the many you set an example for; if not of them think of your own shame!
Tolstoy: I am not ashamed to ride it, and intend to continue to do it. I feel that I am entitled to my share of natural light heartedness, and there is nothing wrong in enjoying oneself simply, like a boy.
As they go off, Chertkov mutters his disapproval to himself, shaking his head.
Matriarch: [Coming forward]
Thus it was decided
And none better in charge
The single, largest migration
To the Canadian prairies was about
To begin
Before the final salvation however
One final test of faith
And strength . . .
On the scrim there is an outline of Tolstoy's house at Yasnaya Polyana. The action is on the front porch, there is a table with tea and cakes. In the background, some servants are lounging. Discovered in the scene is Lev Tolstoy talking to Sonia and reading some letters in front of him which they are discussing.
Lev: According to our friend, Vladimir Chertkov, Verigin has never accepted the role of leader, though it was thrust upon him. He appears to be a modest and seemly man who has suffered much, but has never stopped agitating for the release of the Doukhobors. Of course, what can he do in exile for so many years? Is it possible that he can be heard, even from there, while I sit here and they pretend I don't exist? Sometimes I wish I could be there with him.
Sonia: You know that you are never satisfied with your immense accomplishments. What now? You would like to become a martyr?
Lev: The sad thing is that they won't lay a finger on me. They are defeating their own purpose however, for by leaving me to speak the truth, they are compelling me to speak it, and there is much to be said.
Sonia: Haven't you done enough? They won't touch you because you are a national treasure.
Lev: A national treasure belongs in a museum. Thank God, and there is one, in spite of what our church has done to thwart Christ's teachings; that I am still not a total cripple and am able to do what I can. Still, it makes me uncomfortable to sit in safety and comfort and pontificate, while real people die and suffer all around me. I wish they would exile me or lock me up somewhere. If they weren't such hypocrites, they would.
Sonia: Your care for people, humanity as you put it, is your curse and your salvation. We all use our God given talents as we can; how can I help? By serving you. How can you help, through this influence as you sit here as the respected author and Count. Would they listen and care about your opinions if you were just another fool in Christ?
Lev: [Slightly peevish] God does help those who help themselves by commitment to their cause, those who are not afraid to suffer. I sit on the sidelines and cheer, others play the game.
Sonia: Others play the game, but listen too. Perhaps you should have been a statesman. Is that something to regret? You have done that too - or is it more important to sit here and write your letters, and have these same statesmen pay attention and listen to you? That is a rare privilege.
Lev: Some satisfaction, perhaps.
Sonia: I begin to think that when a man suddenly notices that life is dreadful and closes his eyes to everything good in life, that man is sick. You should undergo treatment.
Lev: To live well means to die well. But first, we must live well.
Sonia: All this fuss, and all the life around you. You cannot cure everyone, and you cannot cure anyone if you are not cured yourself. Why all this obsession with death?
Lev: And why the fear? Love is God, and to die, means that I, a part of that love, shall return to that great whole, the eternal source of things.
Sonia: [Pours tea for Lev.] Have you read all your mail? Do you know that even the President of that great country, the United States of America, thinks you are an immoral man? That should give you at least a small reason to live?
Lev: Immoral? Why on earth?
Sonia: Because he read WAR AND PEACE, and ANNA KARENINA.
Lev: To tell you the truth, I am surprised that he can read. His finest moment was charging down a hill into a helpless bunch of peasants who were defending their freedom, their homes and their families. I did that under more danger in the very same Caucasus of the problems - what a time we had, Nicholas and I. I was twenty years old then, a mere stripling, trying to find my way.[Pause] I have lived to regret this folly, of course. Still, there is good in every person, and he too, may yet do something worthy of peace.
Sonia: You know, from the recent successes, that even the Czar pays attention to you.
Lev: Sometimes one is better known by the enemies he has rather than by his friends. In this case, I am proud of both.
Sonia: It doesn't hurt to have friends in high places.
Lev: These are my friends. Listen: [He reads] 'Having heard that some of the Doukhobors were being transferred from Elisavetpol prison to that of Nukhin, I went out to meet them. The stifling city prison was forgotten for a moment, and each was merely glad to breath fully and freely, to stretch his cramped limbs, to enjoy the new scene, with no longer around him the walls of the prison court. [To Sonia] You know how I like the open air, what would I do, how would I suffer were I in their place? [Continues reading.] 'It was just this that made my heart contract painfully as I looked at them. Among them was John Verigin, oldest brother of Peter Verigin. He was a tall handsome old man, very attractive by reason of his intelligence, judgement and communicative disposition. All around us, people kept asking; why are they taking such people to prison? What have they done, what is their crime?' [To Sonia] These are the people who know how to live, and have the courage of their convictions. Listen to this: 'Grigory Verigin, another brother of Peter's, in at Metekhsky Prison; 'I have been told that recently a good many friends and mothers have come to see our brethren in this prison, but to my great regret I could not see them. However, one cannot recall the past - may the will of the Lord be done. I was at the time sitting in solitary confinement in a dark and cold cell in which I passed four days in great suffering. But this is of no consequence, and may be for the best, as it is a good discipline, otherwise man forgets his position on earth, but when he has to undergo such sufferings it reminds him of the eternal life. They did not give me any food, and I spent the time in prayer and fasting. I was given no covering, and I had to suffer from the cold. When I asked, they shut the door and went away. Oh, hard-hearted men! May God forgive them.' These are my friends; an example for all of us.[Thinking] Religion does not make life, life makes religion.
Sonia: And your life? If they all find the mystical source, then life will be good?
Lev: Make yourself a spoon and eat with that spoon, as long as no one needs it.
Sonia: [Puzzled] The news is not all bad?
Lev: Au contraire; the news is good, their suffering is almost over, I only hope that they will release the men from exile to join their women and children.
Sonia: How important it is for the women and children to be free, they will hold the future utopia. You are good at secrets, what did they say?
Lev: The official communication is this; the Doukhobors may leave, on three conditions:
Sonia: And?
Lev: As follows; First: they must pay their own way, Secondly: They must leave their passports, never to return. Thirdly, they must leave immediately. I don't know how that will affect the ones in prison and exile, hopefully, some will be released.
Sonia: There are problems; how to raise the money? These conditions depend not in the least, on the finances, we have given much, and so have your friends, in exile now, here or elsewhere - what can we do?
Lev: But that is just the point, here I can do something because they won't interfere; and from abroad, where the yoke of oppression on common people is not so severe, there are many who will help. Thanks to our modest epistles, we now have the attention of the world.
Sonia: But at what cost? Have you read this? 'Because you are offending our Lord Jesus Christ and proving yourself to be an enemy of the Czar and the fatherland, you will die near the beginning of 1898.' What good will that do, and what good will you do when you are dead? And what will happen to us?
Lev: They will be silent as long as they can, and then they will kill me. My body can perish, but the teachings of Christ cannot perish.
Sonia: [Brandishing a letter] Have you seen these others?
Lev: More letters threatening my life? I am sorry there are people who hate me, but I am scarcely interested and still less concerned. Our greatest allies are own son, Sergei, now in London. He is trying, and he has feelings. Khilkov is off to Canada with Maude and some Doukhobors, their agricultural experts, to see the land, and to negotiate. Then there are our exiled friends; Biryukov now in Switzerland, and Chertkov in England.
Sonia: You know I wept a great deal when that decree was made. I regard the men who were banished as our best and most devoted friends; it is hard to be separated from them. History will judge, but it will remember them far longer than Pobyedonostzev and friends. My concern is for them, but most of all for you.
Lev: [Laughing] You know the Czar likes me, and said, as his father before; 'I do not intend to add a martyr's crown to his glory.'
Sonia: But after the manifesto, Give Help! you know how they searched Chertkov's house, and Biryukov, and Tregoubov, and exiled them all?
Lev: But they did not touch me. And what is the good of seizing papers and so on? The men live, the men write, the men speak the truth. What's going on inside is much more important than an enforced change of residence. They would have to kill us all to stop us, and now, with the attention of the refusal of the Nobel prize nomination and so on, the Doukhobors have become a world wide 'cause celebre', we have them where we want them! Attention must be paid!
Sonia: But we don't have the money!
Lev: Listen, my dearest chuck, you have seen me hard at work, finishing an old story, much as I hate writing such fiction now? The story called RESURRECTION, I am going to complete it, and FATHER SERGEI, perhaps that will make the difference. Of course, I have been draining the moneybags of our liberal friends as well, but we still need more. How I hated to write these people, and how I hated, but was also glad to receive their money, 5 to 10,000 rubles each! Of course, those who live only in the spirit, but do not deal with such realities, criticized me for such actions.
Lights dim on this scene, Sonia disappears but Tolstoy stays; Matriarch appears front of stage.
Matriarch:
You've probably missed me and are wondering where I've gone
As a matter of fact, I've been
Rehearsing
Let me welcome you to an impromptu
Entertainment, the Yasnaya Polyana
Peasant choir, which our Dedushka
Loved so well
There is a burst of music and the choir comes out, singing and dancing, Tolstoy comes forth, beaming and smiling and enjoying the music, after this interlude, Matriarch and Tolstoy are left on stage together.
Matriarch:
Heart felt friends
Now separated by an ocean
Others in the appeal:
Birukov to a remote area called
Kurland
Tregoubov to the hinterland
Friend and ally, Chertkov
Given the chance
Chose to go to England
And a good thing too
From there, he directed a massive
Campaign
To free these prisoners of
Conscience
Our dear Dedushka, now separated
From his allies
Waged a valiant
Struggle
Through his wits, talent and
Belief in humanity
How could we show the final plans
Missives separated by oceans?
Let us bring them together and use
Those words written
As they conversed in heated
Discussions
In those final days
Of a deed well done
Scene back to before, Tolstoy sitting, then rising to greet Chertkov as he strides in.
Tolstoy: My dear Vladimir Gregorvich Chertkov, how happy I am to see you.
Chertkov: I bask in your sublime presence, Lev Nickolaevich.
Tolstoy: Many miles and many rivers and many seas between us, but still, we are united in the common cause.
Chertkov: Ah yes, the Doukhobors, our present preoccupation.
Tolstoy: [Genuinely happy to be in good company.] More than a preoccupation, dear friend. This is our present and dear cause.
Chertkov: And the root of all great causes, as you very well know, the root of all evil; money.
Tolstoy: Precisely; I have sold many principles in the past, but never so dearly or as willingly as this.
Chertkov: Many people think they know you, none as well as me, but still, you are full of surprise. What have you planned next?
Tolstoy: What is the present state of our finances? You know the Doukhobors must leave immediately, and pay their own way.
Chertkov: It goes well, the colony at Purleigh, in danger to their own well being, is guaranteeing 10,200, the Friends, 2800.
Tolstoy: And?
Chertkov: The Doukhobors themselves, through their meagre resources, have raised 33,000 roubles.
Tolstoy: And?
Chertkov: The sad truth is, we are still short.
Tolstoy: [Toying] How short?
Chertkov: Short enough to make the difference. We must still raise over 30,000 roubles!
Tolstoy: I have been working very hard - Although these writings do not satisfy my present aesthetic requirements, there is no harm in their substance and they may even be of use some to the readers. We will sell them for the highest possible price, no need to wait for my death, and donate the proceeds to the Doukhobor fund.
Chertkov: That is wonderful news. But what works?
Tolstoy: Old works; you know I have been working for several years on a tedious tale called RESURRECTION, and then there's FATHER SERGEI.
Chertkov: But that's wonderful, of course I know, they were to be published posthumously. I will begin negotiations right away.
Tolstoy: No need, I am far ahead of you.
Chertkov: But I have been publishing all of your works abroad, for years - why this sudden change of heart?
Tolstoy: No change of heart, dear friend. But in this case, the hand of the master is required; this is 'prima facia', we cannot afford any slips.
Chertkov: But abroad?
Tolstoy: In Russia alone, NIVA is paying 1,000 rubles per 16 page sheet. In America and abroad, we seek the highest possible price, it looks equally good! Our American compatriot, Crosby, at this very moment is engaged in negotiations with a large magazine called Cosmopolitan.
Chertkov: I am amazed. I had thought I was the one with the brains, you the one with the talent. And how much will it raise, this little bit of financial dealing of yours?
Tolstoy: Probably more than enough - over 30,000 rubles!
Chertkov: Who said the Lord didn't take care of his own? In this case, you are the Lord.
Tolstoy: Only in name, and due to man's folly that they should believe in such things. I am simply an instrument of a higher power!
Chertkov: How do you feel; about resurrecting this RESURRECTION?
Tolstoy: I just remarked to our fellow toiler in the field, Prince Khilkov; 'just as nature has endowed certain men with a sexual instinct for the reproduction of the species, she has endowed others with an artistic instinct, which seems to be equally absurd.' I see no other explanation for the fact that an old man of seventy who is not utterly stupid should devote himself to an occupation as futile as writing novels.
Chertkov: But in this case, it bears fruit.
Tolstoy: In this case yes, and I am glad to do it, the others . . . Still I believe that no word ever disappears without leaving a trace if it expresses some truth and the man who spoke it had faith in its truth.
Light on Matriarch, Tolstoy and Chertkov in the background still visible, seemingly sipping tea and talking.
Matriarch:
So that's how it went
When a saviour was needed
How could you go wrong with
Dedushka Tolstoy on your side?
Still - there were others
Who through charity or misguided zeal
Did help -
[Back to Tolstoy and Chertkov]
Chertkov: And what of the land? Are we sure there is refuge?
Tolstoy: My dear Vladimir Grigorvich, you have sent your own emissaries into the field, you know our dear friend Prince Khilkov, he is there now, and sends most encouraging news.
Chertkov: Our renowned colleague, Kropotkin, had early done surveys of this very area. Many past brothers and sisters in the Lord had gone there. The land is excellent, this I know. But what of their trip?
Tolstoy: All is under control. Maude, Khilkov and Ivan and Makhortov have had an excellent reception. Why, because my old friend, and fellow humanist, James Mavor, had arranged it so. The land is available, in a block, education is left to the territories, and the Canadian government has had a clause allowing people not to serve in the military since 1868. In essence, they say that 'Canada is as free a country as any in the world.' Pray that it continue to be so. If the utopian ideal cannot be accomplished here in Mother Russia, it may be in the far off Americas. I have been reading some of their foremost thinkers and philosophers, Emerson, Thoreau, Garrison - Transcendalists all, and seekers for a better way. I have also been corresponding with Verigin, an exceptional leader.
Chertkov: So all is secure? Should I order the champagne?
Tolstoy: Not for me, dear friend. But I will have another glass of tea. [Drinks, ruminating.] There is an important problem.
Chertkov: What more can I do? Our Purleigh people have donated beyond their means. The very commune may be at stake.
Tolstoy: You have done an heroic job. History, and generations of Doukhobors will think of you kindly, and in reverence.
Chertkov: But not in the same breath as you, you are the grandfather and the godfather of all.
Tolstoy: I am but a helpless old scribbler, and a hopeless old idealist. What can I do? The poet skims off the best of life and puts it in his work. That is why his work is so beautiful and his life bad.
Chertkov: You have set a vision that only few can aspire to.
Tolstoy: A troubled vision, to be sure, we are in a clash between the material world and the spiritual world. Even our now concerned Nicholas knows that the ideal of the material world cannot be fully realized, as I know that the ideal of spiritual life cannot be realized.
Chertkov: Surely then, is all futile? What is the point of either?
Tolstoy: As with them, so with us! [Laughing] The whole point, then, is the constant effort to approach the ideal! Show me the man, or woman, for that matter, who thinks they have secured the ideal, and I will show you a fool, or a suicide, or a very empty, superficial being.
Chertkov: You are leading to something.
Tolstoy: My very pursuit. The complete man, artistic, sensitive, full of action, but most important of all, wise and practical - the man we need now.
Chertkov: Surely not Sergei?
Tolstoy: My son is a nice boy who is trying, and still may amount to something. He too, will have a part. Now, we need someone else.
Lights fade on scene, melancholy, Up on Matriarch.
Matriarch:
Who was this paragon of virtue?
This Ulysses who would sweep the
Doukhobors away on a marvelous,
Utopian odyssey?
What did it mean?
To take an entire group of beings,
Intelligent, honest, with strong belief
And a culture of their own
To lead them to a new place
To have sensitivity and endurance
And skill?
A young man, already renowned
In a triumvirate of giants
Giants setting the theatrical world
On edge
Stanislavsky,
Nemrovich-Danchenko
The toast of the theatrical world
The Moscow Art Theatre?
We will meet this unusual man -
But not yet -
She disappears, lights back on Tolstoy and Chertkov, now sharing a joke.
Tolstoy: I have just recently received a letter from his two famous colleagues, congratulating me on one of my works; Nemrovich Danchenko and Konstantin Stanislavsky, the famous producers of the Moscow Art Theatre.
Chertkov: I know that your past works have included plays, and no doubt, they have read them.
Tolstoy: They have read them and they like them, a play is a living testament and illumination to the state of the world. Alas, most of mine serve only to illuminate the Censor.
Chertkov: But why would such a man want to do this?
Tolstoy: Why does a man do anything? Because his soul, his being, is unhappy with the world as it is? Or because he loves people and doesn't want to kill?
Matriarch: [Joining the scene]
May I present to you, our man of the moment!
Leopold Sulerzhitsky!
There is a burst of song and music, the peasant choir comes on, singing, and dragging a reluctant and baffled Leopold, Tolstoy and Chertkov rise to embrace him and he is served tea, he remains standing.
Tolstoy: The toilers in the field await your coup d'etat. What is the news?
Leopold: You know that our initial success was to move some of the most oppressed to Cyprus. This we did, a shipload from Bedim. However, in spite of the temporary relief and the feeling of safety, that is what it must be - a temporary haven.
Chertkov: Just so, and we have now received the important telegram from Canada - 'let exiles come, land ready'. But how did they fare in Cyprus, did many suffer?
Leopold: I have with me some of their letters. In part, they write thus:[Bringing a letter out and quoting] ‘Brethren . . . in the first place we transmit to you our deepest gratitude for your brotherly concern about us and the help you have extended to us. Secondly, we desire to explain to you the position of our affairs, and we once more appeal to you not to withdraw your kind assistance from us. About ninety of our number have died already and we despair of ever adapting to this climate. It resembles that of our exile, where fully 1,000 of our people died out of four. We fear that what was not accomplished by our persecution, our total eradication, may be accomplished by our release.'
Chertkov: What an insult to humanity!
Tolstoy: When humanity is insulted, then all right thinking, feeling men, are insulted.
Leopold: Amen, but to be insulted is not enough.
Chertkov: A call to action for those who believe in dignity.
Pause as they look at each other.
Leopold: And action we have. While we talk, people die and suffer. This they wrote further: 'We fervently appeal to you not to enter into great expense in establishing us here; as our brethren, Ivan and Makhortov have explained to you, we wish to be transported to such a place as Canada, a place where we might dwell in peace, as brethren. Think of our brethren in the Caucasus first, still with no resources amidst great oppression. We speak to you in truth in order that we might afterwards not be responsible before you and God. May the Lord save you.'
Chertkov: A man of your talent and success in the theatre? What interests you in such activities?
Leopold: I am now a regisseur on a wider plain, perhaps a more important one. I cannot eliminate all violence and lying, but I myself can stop being violent, and I can stop lying. We educated people are afraid of suffering, so we lie and hide like children, while the virtuous, dumb, ignorant peasants, some call them, sacrifice their lives to establish a kingdom of love.
Tolstoy: So you refused conscription yourself?
Leopold: I did, and before me was the great example of the Doukhobors, and that is why I am planning to travel, literally, to the ends of the earth with them. Our sufferings are not so significant in comparison with the evil which I could perpetuate by entering the army.
Tolstoy: So you will go?
Leopold: I will go on the first ship, the Lake Superior, your son Sergius, will go on the second, the Lake Huron. In all, there will be four; some 7,500 souls will find freedom, after 200 hundred years of oppression and tyranny, exacted on them for trying to behave like Christians. Think of that, my friends!
Chertkov: So you are the man of action we have heard about!
Leopold: I have engaged the ships myself and look after all of the details. When I return, you will read all about all of my experiences in a book I will produce from my diaries: TO AMERICA WITH THE DOUKHOBORS.
Lev: So you are off then?
Leopold: Directly, I must immediately to London where the final communications await me, payment for the first ship must be made.
Chertkov: Then all is secure?
Leopold: As secure as the mysteries of the universe and the whims of state allow it to be.
Lev: Let us celebrate in the best way, no, not champagne! Exercise! Sonia, the rackets, Arbuzov, my bicycle!
Sonia appears with tennis rackets, Arbuzov with the bicycle. The Peasant Choir with Matriarch and picnic baskets, they all go off singing as lights are fading.
Chertkov:[Notices the bicycle and is aghast.] But what is this, Lev Nickolaevich? A velocipede? Surely, you?
Tolstoy: Have you not read Popov's book; SCIENTIFIC NOTES ON THE ACTION OF THE VELOCIPEDE AS PHYSICAL EXERCISE?
Chertkov:[Quite stern] No I haven't; I have also heard that such a conveyance is the work of the devil. To ride such a thing is not consistent with Christian ideals.
Tolstoy: Nonsense, such opinions are of no importance to me.
Chertkov: Think of the many who revere you, the many you set an example for; if not of them think of your own shame!
Tolstoy: I am not ashamed to ride it, and intend to continue to do it. I feel that I am entitled to my share of natural light heartedness, and there is nothing wrong in enjoying oneself simply, like a boy.
As they go off, Chertkov mutters his disapproval to himself, shaking his head.
Matriarch: [Coming forward]
Thus it was decided
And none better in charge
The single, largest migration
To the Canadian prairies was about
To begin
Before the final salvation however
One final test of faith
And strength . . .
Scene Nine:
As lights dim on the procession leaving the stage, the Matriarch comes forward and begins her dialogue. As she talks, the background becomes more evident and we hear sounds of the work and other dialogue in the background. There is some hammering, other work, some shouts and commands, then the plaintive sound of a Doukhobor psalm. All appears tranquil. Occasionally, there is the sound of the ship's horn.
Matriarch:
Our friend and helpmate
Leopold Sulerzhitsky
Was certainly well organized
And if he had not taken care of the
Myriad of details
Involved in loading some 2140 of us
Into a ship
We, who had never seen a ship
Much less sailed -
And, oh, what a fright we had
Before we saw the welcome craggy shore
Of Halifax, Nova Scotia
Well, that was on January 20, 1899
The LAKE HURON with 2140 Doukhobors
On the 26th, same month
The Lake Superior with 2000
Towards the end of winter,
April 18
The Lake Superior again
With 1036 refugees from Cyprus
Then June 21st
2286 from Kars on the Lake Huron
Yes, there were a few hitches
And even some suspicion
On the background, an outline of the ship, the Lake Huron. Foreground, Leopold Sulerzhitsky talking with Captain Evans and Makhortov, an old sea captain turned Doukhobor. In between, on the decks, Doukhobor women are washing the decks while men are carrying pails of coal. They are singing a collective hymn.
Leopold: These are people who can work, but are hardly sailors -
Captain Evans: But I have heard there is one.
Leopold: Yes, indeed, allow me to present Captain Makhortov!
Makhortov: Greetings, and thank you for your hospitality.
Leopold: Tell the captain how you happen to be here?
Makhortov: My career is thus. I am a feeble man now of eighty-five - but once I was a Captain in the Royal Russian Navy, many years served and many honours won. When I learned of the truth and renounced my skill in war and blood letting, they immediately seized my properties, considerable, mind you, and for the last nine years, I have been serving in the Russian galleys. Then one year ago they allowed me to return to Russia, providing I would leave at the first opportunity. When the good news came that I could join my brothers in spirit, how happy I was to join them, and frail as I am, to come on this journey!
Captain Evans: Your every spirit belies your ancient years!
All of a sudden, there is a loud crack of thunder and a gust of wind. A fearful storm has come. There is a crack as a cabin door is broken in by a sea swell, the foremost mast is lowered to steady the ship, all rush to save the ship. The Doukhobors fall on to the deck, praying and wailing a hymn.
Makhortov: Have no fear, brothers and sisters, I have sailed many oceans and many stormy seas - this too will pass - our refuge cannot be denied now.
This scene depends on the imagination of the director, a wind machine as used in films can be employed, as well as lighting effects to simulate lighting, the sound of thunder, the cast choreographed to show the movement of the waves, all moving in unison. As suddenly as the storm sprang up, all is peaceful and tranquil, in the background there is a scene of the shore, fortifications with cannon along a rocky, mountainous coast.
Matriarch: To front, singing of psalm in background, the hymn GOD IS WITH US AND WILL CARRY US THROUGH.
How ironic to find peace at last
Sailing into a port studded with cannon
We rushed forward peering at our new land
Our first sight of the Canadians that we had never
Seen before
Of course, they were as curious to see us
Reporters crowded around us
As though we had come from the ends of the earth
And we had
Physically, though our spiritual journey
They would never know
Many newspapers came and spoke thus of us:
'Singing psalms of thanksgiving to Almighty God over
Two thousand souls freed from Russian tyranny sailed
Into Halifax harbour.
They were thankful for their safe transportation over
The mighty waters of the Atlantic.
They left their country because they refused to take
Up arms, yet they received a warm welcome in a harbour
With forts.'
A gang plank seems to be lowered, Captain Evans, Sulerzhitsky and Makhortov approach to greet the welcoming delegation. Friend Elkinton comes on board, with Prince Khilkov who acts as interpreter, James Smart, government representative, and J. T. Bulmer.
Elkinton: As representative of the Friends' Committee of America, I welcome you, the Great One has brought you safely to us, and all of our efforts have not been in vain. You are fine looking people, with honest faces and stalwart frames; though you have suffered much, new challenges face you. We will continue to help you, let us give thanks to the Almighty.
He bows his head in prayer, the chorus swells up.
James Smart: And how was the passage, Captain Evans?
Evans: All's well, and to tell you the truth, I am honestly sorry to see them leave the ship. This was like a holiday for me and the crew, they all did the greater part of the work, for example, they moved over 800 tons of coal as skilfully as any crew might have done. Of course, I managed to pay them a small wage.
Makhortov: There were some squalls, seas heavy enough to smash in one of the doors of the deck houses.
Sulerzhitsky: There were squalls of nature, but in all of the trip, imagine 2000 people, a voyage of 5000 miles, a month living on board, and not even one cross word or argument!
Smart: And your decks seem clean enough to eat off.
Evans: They are a godly people and live up the rule that cleanliness is next to godliness.
Elkinton: But here is Mr. J. T. Bulmer, to make the official welcome!
Bulmer: [Steps forward.] I am happy to present my interpreter, a man who worked closely with the immigration committee. Prince Khilkov! And may I remind all present that this man of quality
and ability, a man who lived in the Caucasus and observed the persecution first hand, also suffered from this same oppression - his very own children were seized from him and their mother and taken away in order to be brought up as proper Russians! Imagine what lengths such a regime would go to - to deprive a child of its home and mother! No wonder Prince Khilkov himself would work so assiduously on behalf of these people who were wronged.
Khilkov: My help was modest enough, but were I not called further afield once more to similar aid, I would be pleased to join this self-same group of migrants, and till their new soil with them, shoulder to shoulder. As it turns out, my tilling is of a different kind.
Bulmer: Thank you, Prince Khilkov, for your efforts on behalf of justice. [Khilkov interprets the following speech] I have been appointed by a society of working men to welcome you to Canada, which I do most heartily. Not only are you a great accession of immigrants of a most desirable class, but more you bring to Canada something more needed in this country than even immigrants - men who stand by their principles, no matter how much suffering it costs them. Your noble stand in refusing to bear arms, and becoming exiles from your native land, will strengthen every good cause in Canada. I have never witnessed so touching a spectacle in my life as to see 2000 people driven from Russia - over half of them women and children - and entering a new world through a port, every point of prominence of which contained a frowning fort or bastion. Nevertheless, peace will have her victories, and the same gentle force which caused you to throw down your guns down in Europe will dismantle even the forts of Halifax. I do not know the name of your emperor, but the name of your patron and friend, Count Tolstoy, is as well known in Canada as in Russia, and who knows, perhaps a descendant of some of the boys standing in front of me now, some hundred years hence, will write a tale of your epic struggles, and like him, bring honour to his country. On behalf of the working men of this country, I welcome you to Canada and bid you God-speed.
There is applause from everyone, a hymn begins and the Doukhobors begin to descend the gang plank to their new land. As they trail off and the song fades, the Matriarch is at the end. She is watching them go. As they leave they take everything with them, the lights fade extremely slowly, in the end the stage is bare and we are left with only work lights. She continues to look at them leave. She then turns to the audience and comes forward as though to say something. She then shrugs her shoulders and opens her arms, then she turns to follow the group. This is a false ending, and the audience should feel that the play is over. The lights fade very slowly to black and the audience should be on the verge of applauding.
As lights dim on the procession leaving the stage, the Matriarch comes forward and begins her dialogue. As she talks, the background becomes more evident and we hear sounds of the work and other dialogue in the background. There is some hammering, other work, some shouts and commands, then the plaintive sound of a Doukhobor psalm. All appears tranquil. Occasionally, there is the sound of the ship's horn.
Matriarch:
Our friend and helpmate
Leopold Sulerzhitsky
Was certainly well organized
And if he had not taken care of the
Myriad of details
Involved in loading some 2140 of us
Into a ship
We, who had never seen a ship
Much less sailed -
And, oh, what a fright we had
Before we saw the welcome craggy shore
Of Halifax, Nova Scotia
Well, that was on January 20, 1899
The LAKE HURON with 2140 Doukhobors
On the 26th, same month
The Lake Superior with 2000
Towards the end of winter,
April 18
The Lake Superior again
With 1036 refugees from Cyprus
Then June 21st
2286 from Kars on the Lake Huron
Yes, there were a few hitches
And even some suspicion
On the background, an outline of the ship, the Lake Huron. Foreground, Leopold Sulerzhitsky talking with Captain Evans and Makhortov, an old sea captain turned Doukhobor. In between, on the decks, Doukhobor women are washing the decks while men are carrying pails of coal. They are singing a collective hymn.
Leopold: These are people who can work, but are hardly sailors -
Captain Evans: But I have heard there is one.
Leopold: Yes, indeed, allow me to present Captain Makhortov!
Makhortov: Greetings, and thank you for your hospitality.
Leopold: Tell the captain how you happen to be here?
Makhortov: My career is thus. I am a feeble man now of eighty-five - but once I was a Captain in the Royal Russian Navy, many years served and many honours won. When I learned of the truth and renounced my skill in war and blood letting, they immediately seized my properties, considerable, mind you, and for the last nine years, I have been serving in the Russian galleys. Then one year ago they allowed me to return to Russia, providing I would leave at the first opportunity. When the good news came that I could join my brothers in spirit, how happy I was to join them, and frail as I am, to come on this journey!
Captain Evans: Your every spirit belies your ancient years!
All of a sudden, there is a loud crack of thunder and a gust of wind. A fearful storm has come. There is a crack as a cabin door is broken in by a sea swell, the foremost mast is lowered to steady the ship, all rush to save the ship. The Doukhobors fall on to the deck, praying and wailing a hymn.
Makhortov: Have no fear, brothers and sisters, I have sailed many oceans and many stormy seas - this too will pass - our refuge cannot be denied now.
This scene depends on the imagination of the director, a wind machine as used in films can be employed, as well as lighting effects to simulate lighting, the sound of thunder, the cast choreographed to show the movement of the waves, all moving in unison. As suddenly as the storm sprang up, all is peaceful and tranquil, in the background there is a scene of the shore, fortifications with cannon along a rocky, mountainous coast.
Matriarch: To front, singing of psalm in background, the hymn GOD IS WITH US AND WILL CARRY US THROUGH.
How ironic to find peace at last
Sailing into a port studded with cannon
We rushed forward peering at our new land
Our first sight of the Canadians that we had never
Seen before
Of course, they were as curious to see us
Reporters crowded around us
As though we had come from the ends of the earth
And we had
Physically, though our spiritual journey
They would never know
Many newspapers came and spoke thus of us:
'Singing psalms of thanksgiving to Almighty God over
Two thousand souls freed from Russian tyranny sailed
Into Halifax harbour.
They were thankful for their safe transportation over
The mighty waters of the Atlantic.
They left their country because they refused to take
Up arms, yet they received a warm welcome in a harbour
With forts.'
A gang plank seems to be lowered, Captain Evans, Sulerzhitsky and Makhortov approach to greet the welcoming delegation. Friend Elkinton comes on board, with Prince Khilkov who acts as interpreter, James Smart, government representative, and J. T. Bulmer.
Elkinton: As representative of the Friends' Committee of America, I welcome you, the Great One has brought you safely to us, and all of our efforts have not been in vain. You are fine looking people, with honest faces and stalwart frames; though you have suffered much, new challenges face you. We will continue to help you, let us give thanks to the Almighty.
He bows his head in prayer, the chorus swells up.
James Smart: And how was the passage, Captain Evans?
Evans: All's well, and to tell you the truth, I am honestly sorry to see them leave the ship. This was like a holiday for me and the crew, they all did the greater part of the work, for example, they moved over 800 tons of coal as skilfully as any crew might have done. Of course, I managed to pay them a small wage.
Makhortov: There were some squalls, seas heavy enough to smash in one of the doors of the deck houses.
Sulerzhitsky: There were squalls of nature, but in all of the trip, imagine 2000 people, a voyage of 5000 miles, a month living on board, and not even one cross word or argument!
Smart: And your decks seem clean enough to eat off.
Evans: They are a godly people and live up the rule that cleanliness is next to godliness.
Elkinton: But here is Mr. J. T. Bulmer, to make the official welcome!
Bulmer: [Steps forward.] I am happy to present my interpreter, a man who worked closely with the immigration committee. Prince Khilkov! And may I remind all present that this man of quality
and ability, a man who lived in the Caucasus and observed the persecution first hand, also suffered from this same oppression - his very own children were seized from him and their mother and taken away in order to be brought up as proper Russians! Imagine what lengths such a regime would go to - to deprive a child of its home and mother! No wonder Prince Khilkov himself would work so assiduously on behalf of these people who were wronged.
Khilkov: My help was modest enough, but were I not called further afield once more to similar aid, I would be pleased to join this self-same group of migrants, and till their new soil with them, shoulder to shoulder. As it turns out, my tilling is of a different kind.
Bulmer: Thank you, Prince Khilkov, for your efforts on behalf of justice. [Khilkov interprets the following speech] I have been appointed by a society of working men to welcome you to Canada, which I do most heartily. Not only are you a great accession of immigrants of a most desirable class, but more you bring to Canada something more needed in this country than even immigrants - men who stand by their principles, no matter how much suffering it costs them. Your noble stand in refusing to bear arms, and becoming exiles from your native land, will strengthen every good cause in Canada. I have never witnessed so touching a spectacle in my life as to see 2000 people driven from Russia - over half of them women and children - and entering a new world through a port, every point of prominence of which contained a frowning fort or bastion. Nevertheless, peace will have her victories, and the same gentle force which caused you to throw down your guns down in Europe will dismantle even the forts of Halifax. I do not know the name of your emperor, but the name of your patron and friend, Count Tolstoy, is as well known in Canada as in Russia, and who knows, perhaps a descendant of some of the boys standing in front of me now, some hundred years hence, will write a tale of your epic struggles, and like him, bring honour to his country. On behalf of the working men of this country, I welcome you to Canada and bid you God-speed.
There is applause from everyone, a hymn begins and the Doukhobors begin to descend the gang plank to their new land. As they trail off and the song fades, the Matriarch is at the end. She is watching them go. As they leave they take everything with them, the lights fade extremely slowly, in the end the stage is bare and we are left with only work lights. She continues to look at them leave. She then turns to the audience and comes forward as though to say something. She then shrugs her shoulders and opens her arms, then she turns to follow the group. This is a false ending, and the audience should feel that the play is over. The lights fade very slowly to black and the audience should be on the verge of applauding.
Scene Ten:
Lights up to normal scene as in Scene 3. The Matriarch is sitting at a little table, the children gathered around her at her feet, they have finished their milk and cookies.
Matriarch is singing the last lines of IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS; it is as though the entire play has been told in the song.
MATRIARCH:
So that is the story
Why you are here
And how your ancestors
Struggled to make a life of peace
Let us remember those noble
Ancestors - and their friends
Who made all this possible
Children: We see now that we should live in peace - but what can we do?
Matriarch:
Our ancestors lighted a beacon of hope
Many years ago
When they lit the fires that burned
That burned the guns
We must not let that beacon of hope
Extinguish
As she is saying these last words, she is wiping the table with a paper napkin, she carries this to the old kitchen stove, raises the lid, and throws the napkin in. She is about to put the lid down, when one of the children runs to their seat and gets their toy gun.
Child: Just a moment, Babushka, you have forgotten something!
The child throws the gun into the stove, the other children follow suit with their weapons, perhaps even some of the play military uniforms are thrown in, the fire grows brighter.
Child: We can do something, but we must start right now!
A guitar appears, they begin the following song, first verse in English, then the following verse in Russian.
Child: We have been learning this song for you, only now it means so much more:
HOW MANY ROADS
How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man
And how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she can rest in the sand
And how many times must a cannon ball fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
[Written by Bob Dylan]
As they sing this last song, perhaps with guitar accompaniment, they exit informally through the audience, lights fade on stage again, last light on the stove as the light flickers and fades.
BLACK OUT AND SILENCE
Lights up and cast comes out singing, not in character, but in the last costumes they appeared in; however, this time they have added something Canadian, a cowboy hat, a kerchief, someone holds a flag etc. As applause continues, children and Matriarch come through the audience again, they hand out flowers to the audience and shout peace slogans such as MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR, SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES, LET'S START NOW, WE WANT PEACE NOW, WE ARE ALL BROTHERS, NO MORE WAR, PEACE ON EARTH, WE OPPOSE ALL MILITARY BASES, TOIL AND PEACEFUL LIFE etc. The applause and curtain call should gradually disintegrate, house lights merging with stage lights, it should be very informal and audience should feel free to mingle and talk and visit with the actors.
- END -
Lights up to normal scene as in Scene 3. The Matriarch is sitting at a little table, the children gathered around her at her feet, they have finished their milk and cookies.
Matriarch is singing the last lines of IT HAPPENED IN THE CAUCASUS; it is as though the entire play has been told in the song.
MATRIARCH:
So that is the story
Why you are here
And how your ancestors
Struggled to make a life of peace
Let us remember those noble
Ancestors - and their friends
Who made all this possible
Children: We see now that we should live in peace - but what can we do?
Matriarch:
Our ancestors lighted a beacon of hope
Many years ago
When they lit the fires that burned
That burned the guns
We must not let that beacon of hope
Extinguish
As she is saying these last words, she is wiping the table with a paper napkin, she carries this to the old kitchen stove, raises the lid, and throws the napkin in. She is about to put the lid down, when one of the children runs to their seat and gets their toy gun.
Child: Just a moment, Babushka, you have forgotten something!
The child throws the gun into the stove, the other children follow suit with their weapons, perhaps even some of the play military uniforms are thrown in, the fire grows brighter.
Child: We can do something, but we must start right now!
A guitar appears, they begin the following song, first verse in English, then the following verse in Russian.
Child: We have been learning this song for you, only now it means so much more:
HOW MANY ROADS
How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man
And how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she can rest in the sand
And how many times must a cannon ball fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
[Written by Bob Dylan]
As they sing this last song, perhaps with guitar accompaniment, they exit informally through the audience, lights fade on stage again, last light on the stove as the light flickers and fades.
BLACK OUT AND SILENCE
Lights up and cast comes out singing, not in character, but in the last costumes they appeared in; however, this time they have added something Canadian, a cowboy hat, a kerchief, someone holds a flag etc. As applause continues, children and Matriarch come through the audience again, they hand out flowers to the audience and shout peace slogans such as MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR, SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES, LET'S START NOW, WE WANT PEACE NOW, WE ARE ALL BROTHERS, NO MORE WAR, PEACE ON EARTH, WE OPPOSE ALL MILITARY BASES, TOIL AND PEACEFUL LIFE etc. The applause and curtain call should gradually disintegrate, house lights merging with stage lights, it should be very informal and audience should feel free to mingle and talk and visit with the actors.
- END -
Author's note:
This play was written from facts gleaned through research of material written by and about Doukhobors in Canada including: published and personal letters of Clifford Sifton, public records of the Department of the Interior, notes of James Smart, the James Mavor Collection in the Thomas Fischer Rare Books Library of the University of Toronto, the writings of Koozma J. Tarasoff, George Woodcock, etc. As well, there were extensive interviews with scholars, journalists and Doukhobors. Written material included newspapers of the period; various histories of Canada, ethnic journals, two biographies of Leo Tolstoy, one of Nicholas II, writings of James Elkinton, Tregoubov, Biryukov, Chertkov, Khilkov, Aylmer Maude, Prince Peter Kropotkin's In Russian and French Prisons etc. Other sources included the Royal Archives, Berkshire Castle and the Colonial Land Office, London.
In Russia, I was permitted the use of the personal library of Leo Tolstoy, Yasnaya Polyana, as well as his collected works in ninety volumes, the Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow for Peter Verigin's letters to Tolstoy, the Royal Archives, Kremlin, the Museum of the Moscow Art Theatre and the letters and photographs of Leopold Sulerzhitsky; the collected works of Doukhobor songs by Anna Chertkova, interviews and discussions with scholars of history and anthropology in Russia; other court records and letters and archaic writings including those of the Masons, Rosicrucians, The Orthodox Church, and other 'sectarian' groups such as the Molokans. The history of the Purleigh Colony and the Free Age Press was also useful. In addition, there were many letters from this period which were helpful, from those of people in 'high places' to those of the people concerned.
ISBN 1-896031-16-1
This play was written from facts gleaned through research of material written by and about Doukhobors in Canada including: published and personal letters of Clifford Sifton, public records of the Department of the Interior, notes of James Smart, the James Mavor Collection in the Thomas Fischer Rare Books Library of the University of Toronto, the writings of Koozma J. Tarasoff, George Woodcock, etc. As well, there were extensive interviews with scholars, journalists and Doukhobors. Written material included newspapers of the period; various histories of Canada, ethnic journals, two biographies of Leo Tolstoy, one of Nicholas II, writings of James Elkinton, Tregoubov, Biryukov, Chertkov, Khilkov, Aylmer Maude, Prince Peter Kropotkin's In Russian and French Prisons etc. Other sources included the Royal Archives, Berkshire Castle and the Colonial Land Office, London.
In Russia, I was permitted the use of the personal library of Leo Tolstoy, Yasnaya Polyana, as well as his collected works in ninety volumes, the Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow for Peter Verigin's letters to Tolstoy, the Royal Archives, Kremlin, the Museum of the Moscow Art Theatre and the letters and photographs of Leopold Sulerzhitsky; the collected works of Doukhobor songs by Anna Chertkova, interviews and discussions with scholars of history and anthropology in Russia; other court records and letters and archaic writings including those of the Masons, Rosicrucians, The Orthodox Church, and other 'sectarian' groups such as the Molokans. The history of the Purleigh Colony and the Free Age Press was also useful. In addition, there were many letters from this period which were helpful, from those of people in 'high places' to those of the people concerned.
ISBN 1-896031-16-1
James Mavor welcomes the Doukhobor immigrants, 1899