謝侑蓁 You Jen Xie
In the Name of God
Character:
1. Lucia: A pale but pretty juvenile vampire
2. Father: Who shelters Lucia in the church
3. Village head and other villagers
4. Masked Man
ACT 1:
The organ plays while the Father (celebrant), wears cassock, leads the villagers to sing the introit. As the introit and music stop, the villagers sit down. Reading the Bible, the Father starts to preach a sermon to the villagers. 1
FATHER: …in the full measure of your mercy; and in your fear I will give worship, turning my eyes to your holy Temple.
(A pale but pretty juvenile, about 17, walking from the back stage, kneels down behind the organ. No one notices him.)
FATHER (closes the Bible, and walks from the altar): I will go on in my upright ways: be my savior, and have mercy on me.2
VILLAGERS (stand up and repeat): Be my savior, and have mercy on me.
FATHER: Now, let’s pray to our Lord.
(People all kneel down, and then Father kneels down in front of the altar.)
FATHER: Lord, make us stick by you.
Lead us to the right way yet leave the evil.
Let us know your justice and
(The juvenility starts to quiver painfully.)
Live under your mercy
Teach us to listen to your words.
Thank you, Lord.
(The juvenility tries to make a sign of cross, but he becomes much more painful, and then falls down.)
FATHER and VILLAGERS (make a sign of cross): Amen.
(Curtain down)
1. Psalms 5:7 2. Psalms 26:11
ACT 2:
In the chamber of the church. The pale juvenile lies on bed, and the Father sits at the bed, looking at the juvenility concernedly. In a while, the juvenility comes around.
FATHER (still concernedly): Are you ok? You fainted again! You don’t need to force yourself to attend the worship.
THE JUVENILIE (smiles and speaks with illness): …I want to attend the worship and receive the blessing from you (pause)…just like regular person
FATHER: Listen, my kid, you are so ill! You haven’t got used to the strong light, Lucia.
LUCIA (The juvenile): If I were a regular person, I could have attended the worship and played the organ for you. In the end of the worship, I could receive the blessing from you—but NEVER! (Agitatedly) Because I can never be a regular person! I am a vampire! An evil spirit! (Lucia slouches with frustration)
FATHER: Lucia, in front of God, we’re all sinners, and God saves us with His mercy as long as we believe in Him. (holding Lucia’s hand) As long as your soul is pure and loyal, no mater how grimy your body is, He will love you and have mercy on you.
LUCIA: As a vampire, I’m not sure whether I have the soul or not.
(He turns around, with his back against Father)
FATHER: You have the feeling of happiness and frustration—I believe you must have the soul, like regular people. (He stands up) My kid, I have to go to the church now. Promise me, take care of yourself.
(Lucia is still silent; the Father sighs, and walks to the door.)
(Curtain down)
ACT 3:
The funeral held for the old man, father of village head, is just finished. People in the church are talking about the strange things happened in the village recently.
VULLAGE HEAD: Father, we’ve discovered that recently the corpse buried in the tomb near the church was exhumed, and the mortuary objects were all stolen!
MALE VILLAGER: Last week my mom’s tomb was broken and stolen!
FATHER: I am very sorry that I can’t protect the people passed away.
VULLAGE HEAD: Can you promise me? My father is reposing in the churchyard!
FATHER: I believe under the God’s mercy, he will always be in peace.
MALE VILLAGER: How can you promise us? Such strange things happened near the church!
OLDER MALE VILLAGER: I’ve heard the rumor that you shelter a stranger secretly in the church! And I know that he never attends the worship! There must be something wrong with the stranger!
OTHER VILLAGERS (scream): God punishes us for sheltering a stranger who may be a pagan in our village!
FATHER (a little bit angry): Mind your words! I’ve said many times: God is mercy! Our Lord won’t punish his people! He loves all of us!
VILLAGE HEAD: But if the things happen again, you must be responsible for it. You have to drive out that stranger, the person of unluckiness!
FATHER: I’ll try my best. God bless us, bless our village.
ALL VILLAGERS: God bless us, bless our village.
(The villagers and the Village head leave on the left side of the stage, and the Father sits on the bench tiredly.)
FATHER: Come out, my kid. I know you are here.
(Lucia enters, from the right side of the stage, and walks to the Father directly.)
LUCIA (kneels down besides the Father): Please believe me! I am not the suspect! I never exhume the corpse!
FATHER: I know. Every night you always stay in the chamber. You always try hard to control yourself from sucking people’s blood. You never even kill the mice appearing in your room. I can know you’re so pure and honest, and that’s why I choose to save you from other priests. For me, you are not a vampire, but a good and kind boy.
LUCIA: Thank you, my Father. You always appease me kindly and encourage me a lot. I hope one day I can get used to the light of sun, help people with you, and play the organ for you and villagers in the church. (pause) I set my goal to be a kind priest like you, my Father. (shyly)
(Lucia lays his head on the Father’s knee. The Father smoothes Lucia’s hair tenderly.)
(Curtain down)
ACT 4:
The stage is separated into two sides. The right side, with warm light, is the chamber of the church, where Lucia kneels down at the bed and prays to God; the left side is a dark churchyard with dingy light.
LUCIA: My Lord, I am so grimy, for my ancestor betrayed God. But please listen to my prayer. My Father tolerates all of my faults. He leads and encourages me. He is the kindest people I have ever met.
(A man in black, with a handkerchief masked on his face, suddenly appears on the left side of the stage. He walks to a latest tomb, and checks everything around him surreptitiously.)
Lord, he is your mild and honest servant. All he has done is to devote to you and he has never made anything that blasphemes you or humiliates himself.
(A man in black starts to dig the tomb. In a while, he successively exhumes the corpse and some mortuary objects. However, as he squats down to gather the expensive mortuary objects, he drops the handkerchief. His face is unveiled—the Father! )
LUCIA: Lord, please help your pure and virtuous servant overcome all the difficulties.
(At the same time, the Father is murmuring to himself on the graveyard, the left side of the stage.)
FATHER (wears in black): Damn it! Only a few jewels! Mr. Richie, you are not rich at all, huh? Let’s see what else you have!
(The Father starts to search other things in the tomb.)
LUCIA: Lord, please lead my father to the bright way under your will.
FATHER: Son of bitch! Nothing! (kicks the corpse fiercely)
LUCIA: All I wish is not for myself, but for my Father. Please have mercy on him, my Lord.
(At the same time)
FATHER (cruel): God bless you! You bustard! (kicks the corpse into the tomb violently )
LUCIA and FATHER: Amen.
(Both of them make the sign of cross. Lucia is still on the right side of stage, but the Father leaves with discordant laughing.)
(Curtain down)
ACT 5:
In the same scene, Lucia is asleep; in the graveyard, the Father is sitting on the bench with a big bag, waiting for someone’s coming. In a while, another man with mask appears.
FATHER: Is everything ok?
MASKED MAN: Sure, I’ve persuaded the Bishop, and he guaranteed me that he will give you the title of Suffragan two months later. (the masked man takes out a wax-sealed letter, on which is the mark of Bishop.)
FATHER (opens the letter and reads it carefully): Great! Here is your commission.
MASKED MAN: How about your little vampire?
(At the same time, Lucia is awaked by the noises, and he looks around, finding that Father is not in the room.)
LUCIA (looks around the chamber, in the right side of the stage): Where did he go?
(Lucia gets up and leaves the stage with the lamp.)
FATHER: My little vampire? What are you talking about?
MASKED MAN: You want that good kid to be your scapegoat, right? (mocking)
FATHER (not care at all): I don’t understand what you are talking about, my friend.
MASKED MAN: I know the rumors from your village! People always find the corpses exhumed a few days after funerals.
FATHER (still not care at all): So what? It has nothing to do with me. God bless them.
(Suddenly, Lucia appears in the dark shade of graveyard, the left stage, but neither the Father nor the masked man notices him.)
LUCIA (hiding himself in the shadow): Why is father here? Who is that man?
MASKED MAN (laughing): I know who the suspect is! It’s you! My dear friend! (He laughs loudly, and Lucia is stunned.)
LUCIA: It won’t be true…
FATHER (coldly): What the hell are you talking about?
MASKED MAN: I have stalked you for two weeks, because I want to know as a poor priest, how can you get so much money? (He shakes the bag.) And just three days ago, I found you in the graveyard. You were exhuming an old man’s tomb, poor Mr. Richie, the father of the village head!
LUCIA (sadly): No…how could it be, my father! (At the same time)
FATHER (still coldly): So, what are you going to say?
MASKED MAN: You want that little vampire to be regarded as the suspect, right? So that you can still be a virtuous Father, just as before! Don’t be so cold at me! My Dear Father! If you corporate with me, I won’t unveil what you have done.
(Lucia sits down despairedly)
FATHER (smiles and walks closer): What do you want to say, my friend?
MASKED MAN: All you have to do is to go on your work, stealing the tomb! And we share the fortune.
FATHER (moves nearer): That’s a good idea—you bustard!
(The father takes out a knife, and kills the masked man cruelly. the man struggles for a while, and then lays down into the tomb of Mr. Richie.)
LUCIA: No! It must be a nightmare! (He runs away from the stage in the shadow.)
FATHER (speaks coldly): Now you are the suspect, not me!
(The Father puts the knife into the masked man’s hand, and walks away.)
(Curtain down)
ACT 6:
It is deep in the night, and no one comes to the church. On the alter is the holy water and Bible. Awhile, Lucia comes in with Father.
LUCIA: Please baptize me, Father!
FATHER: Why? You haven’t got used to everything! I must refuse!
LUCIA: Please baptize me, my father. Recently the evil spirit has annoyed me in my mind. (kneels down) I must receive the baptism, otherwise I will lose control!
FATHER: But can you endure the Holy water?
LUCIA: I promise I can. (He touches the bottle of holy water tremulously.)
FATHER (sighs): All right. I will baptize you on Sunday.
(He turns around, trying to walk away. The light of church brightens gradually.)
LUCIA (stops him): Not on Sunday! Please baptize me right now. Purify my soul! I am almost out of control! (He kneels down painfully)”…our willing participation so that our sins may be blotted out. Unless we repent we will perish.”
FATHER (sighs again and walks back to the altar): Have you repented of your sins?
LUCIA: Yes.
FATHER: Do you believe that Christ died to cover the debt for your sins?
LUCIA: Yes. (He starts to quiver painfully.)
FATHER: Do you undertake to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ, the Messiah?
LUCIA: Yes. (The light of church brightens more but still gradually.)
FATHER (sighs): I now baptise you for the remission of sin—I hereby declare that you are baptized into the name of God——
(Father upholds the Holy water, but suddenly Lucia lunges at him with a knife.)
LUCIA (crying sorrowfully): Sorry, my Father! My Father!
FATHER (struggling): …Why…?
LUCIA: I know everything! You are not the virtuous father I used to know anymore. You exhume the corpses and steal everything!
FATHER: …Won’t you… love me …any…more…? (The church brightens much more.)
LUCIA (sorrowfully): I love you, My Father! I used to love you—the most virtuous and kindest Father in the world!
(Lucia prods him with the knife more deeply. The Father is dead. He puts the Father’s body in the altar. He drinks the half of holy water, and sprays another half on the Father’s body.)
LUCIA (crying sorrowfully and painfully): Unless we repent we will perish…by the authority of Jesus…Goodbye, my dearest father!
(The church becomes bright. Lucia kisses the Father’s hand and walks out of the church. The first glimmering of morning sun is shining on him.)
LUCIA (smiling extremely painfully): …Goodbye, my Father…my dearest Father…
(Lucia fainted, with his body scattered in the glimmering of morning sun.)
(Curtain down, The End)