Enlightenment

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

Book and lyrics by Kyle Bostian

190 46th Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
715.252.6847
kbostian@comcast.net

Draft Date: May 2009

© Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

CHARACTERS:

DIONYSUS
SOPHIE, mother of a seriously ill child
A DOCTOR (played by DIONYSUS)
RENÉ Descartes, philosopher and mathematician
HÉLÈNE Jans, his maid and mistress
PHIL, Sophie’s husband
A REPAIRMAN (played by DIONYSUS)
Ralph WALDO Emerson, essayist and poet (played by actor who plays RENÉ)
LYDIA Jackson Emerson, his wife (played by actor who plays HÉLÈNE)
Constantijn HUYGENS, friend of Descartes (played by DIONYSUS)
Henry David THOREAU, student and friend of Emerson (played by DIONYSUS)
GRACE, another doctor (played by actor who plays HÉLÈNE and LYDIA)
A PROFESSOR (played by DIONYSUS)
A PATIENT (played by DIONYSUS)
GIL Gamesh, nanobiologist (played by actor who plays RENÉ and WALDO)
CHORUS of Worshippers (also play Inquisitors, Ministers, Mourners, Elderly People,
and Hospital Workers)

SONGS:
ACT I: ACT II:
Invocation Philosophy of Life
The Essence Spiritual Dialectic
Understand This Tell the Children
Doubt Passions
Faith The Beat Goes On
Nature Immortality
Reincarnation Déjà Vu Eterna’s End
Three Astonishing Dreams Understand This (reprise)
Inquiring Minds Into the Flow
Schooled in Divinity The Essence (reprise)
Threnody Closing Prayer
Reincarnation Déjà Vu (reprise)
Wait for the Miracle

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
It’d be impossible to list all the sources that influenced this piece. I’m particularly indebted
to a number of books and websites on Descartes and Emerson. I’ve lifted nearly all the
words of Waldo’s song Nature, his Divinity School Address, and the song Threnody from
Emerson’s essays and poem by those names. Nevertheless, this is a work of dramatic art,
not a factual account of real lives, and I’ve taken liberties with the historical record.

I-1

ACT ONE

Masked CHORUS MEMBERS ceremoniously enter and form a
semicircle at the periphery of the stage as -- accompanied by
flutes, drums, and strings -- they chant the Invocation.

CHORUS
OM
OM
OM
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA GURAVE
SAT CHIT ANANDA MURTAYE
NISPRAPANCAYA SHANTAYA
NIRALAMBAYA TEJASE
OM

In a dazzling effect, a robed and hooded FIGURE appears. The
FIGURE throws back the hood to reveal long, flowing locks of hair
and boyishly effeminate features. He sings The Essence.

FIGURE
I’M THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT
SUMMON ME AND I APPEAR
EVEN IF YOU DON’T REVERE IT
I’M ALWAYS ALREADY HERE
I AM KRISHNA BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS
I AM MOSES JESUS AND MOHAMMED
I’M THE ESSENCE OF ALL THINGS
I AM GOD MADE MANIFEST
AND I BRING YOU LIGHT
AND I BRING YOU LIGHT
I’M THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT
SUMMON ME AND I APPEAR
EVEN IF YOU DON’T REVERE IT
I’M ALWAYS ALREADY HERE
I AM KRISHNA BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS
I AM MOSES JESUS AND MOHAMMED
I’M THE ESSENCE OF ALL THINGS
I AM GOD MADE MANIFEST
AND I BRING YOU LOVE
AND I BRING YOU LOVE

The FIGURE steps forward and addresses the audience.

I-2

FIGURE
Good evening! Recognize me? Perhaps you’ve seen my image on a vase painting. I
hope it was a flattering depiction. Or maybe you’ve read a description of me by one of
the great poets of my golden age: Euripides or Aristophanes. Don’t worry -- I’m nothing
like the character in The Bacchae or The Frogs. Of all my many forms this one simply
seemed most appropriate for the circumstances. My name, in case you haven’t figured it
out yet, is Dionysus. But call me Dion. These worshippers of the living art performed in
my honor have beckoned me forth to be your guide. So let’s get started.

The FIGURE (DIONYSUS) gestures; dim lights rise on SOPHIE.
She’s huddled over a hospital bed, in which lies an unconscious
child hooked up to various monitors and IV units.

I won’t say this is where our story begins, for our story has no beginning -- only periodic
shifts within a continuous, eternal truth. You can think of those shifts as plot points. And
as any contemporary follower of Thespis can tell you, the first important plot point is the
inciting incident. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an incident to incite.

As SOPHIE sings Understand This, the CHORUS MEMBERS
ceremoniously disrobe DIONYSUS and dress him in a lab coat,
then exit.

SOPHIE
GOD IF YOU CAN HEAR ME
I MEAN IF YOU’RE EVEN REAL
SEND A SIGN TO CLEAR ME
OF THIS ANGUISH THAT I FEEL
I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THIS
HOW AN AILMENT SO SERIOUS
IN OUR MODERN AGE OF REASON
CAN ALSO BE MYSTERIOUS

DIONYSUS, as a DOCTOR, enters SOPHIE’s area.

AH DOCTOR
I DO HOPE THE NEWS IS GOOD
PLEASE GIVE ME CAUSE TO CELEBRATE
PLEASE GIVE ME GROUNDS FOR CONFIDENCE
MY SON’S AFFLICTION WILL ABATE

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
OH SOPHIE
I’M AFRAID THE NEWS IS BAD
PLEASE DON’T BLAME THE MESSENGER
PLEASE DON’T HATE ME WHEN I SAY
YOUR SON’S AFFLICTION HAS NO CURE

I-3

SOPHIE
I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
YOU DO UNDERSTAND THIS

SOPHIE
I CAN’T UNDERSTAND THIS

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THIS

SOPHIE
HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
TRY TO UNDERSTAND THIS
THERE’S NO MEDICAL SOLUTION
FOR HIS FRAGILE CONSTITUTION

SOPHIE
YES I UNDERSTAND THAT
WHAT I ONLY PUZZLE AT
IS WHY
WHY HE HAS TO DIE

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
Listen, Sophie, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. No one said your son is going to die.

SOPHIE
You said there’s no cure.

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
No medical cure.

SOPHIE
What other kind is there?

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
Well … how do you feel about …?

SOPHIE
What?

I-4

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
Do you believe …?

SOPHIE
In …?

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
Do you believe in magic?

SOPHIE
NO I DON’T BELIEVE IN MAGIC
BUT LET THE MIRACLES PREVAIL
MY WHOLE LIFE HAS JUST TURNED TRAGIC
AND I’D PREFER A FAIRY TALE
NO I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THIS
THIS DENIAL OF THE FACTUAL
THE BEST ANSWER SCIENCE OFFERS
IS TO TRUST THE SUPERNATURAL

SOPHIE approaches the DOCTOR/DIONYSUS and reads the
name embroidered on his lab coat.

SOPHIE
Thank you, Doctor Hipp--… Doctor Hypocrits.

DOCTOR/DIONYSUS
Hippocrates. It’s Greek. You can call me Cosmo.

SOPHIE
Well. This has been most enlightening. I’m sure the hospital administration will agree.

SOPHIE storms out. Not noticing the “Out of Service” sign on an
elevator, she steps through the open doors and falls into the shaft.
DIONYSUS drops the DOCTOR role and peers down after her.

DIONYSUS
Incident incited!

DIONYSUS waves his hand. Blackout.

Lights rise on RENÉ at his writing desk.

RENÉ
Hélène! Come quickly!

I-5

Enter HÉLÈNE, a maid.

HÉLÈNE
Monsieur Descartes?

RENÉ
I exist!

HÉLÈNE
Monsieur?

RENÉ
I tell you I exist! I’m absolutely certain of it!

HÉLÈNE
Yes, Monsieur Descartes. I’ve never doubted that. (aside) Especially during the nights
when you visit me in my chamber.

RENÉ
Exactly. You’ve never doubted. But I have! I’ve doubted all that cannot be verified by
mathematical proof. In short, everything. That’s how I can conclude that I in fact exist.
I’ve discovered the First Principle. (beat) You look as though you don’t understand.

HÉLÈNE
Well, Monsieur … to the unscientific mind … to those who lack your gifts of reason …

RENÉ
Let me try another method of discourse.

RENÉ raps Doubt.

RENÉ
COGITO ERGO SUM
THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT
I THINK THEREFORE I AM
THE PROOF IS IN THE DOUBT
I BELIEVE ONLY THAT
WHICH ONE CANNOT DENY
THUS ALL OUR COMMON TRUTHS
AT ONCE CEASE TO APPLY
OUT OF THIS NEGATION
ARISES ONE CLEAR FACT
SOMEONE MUST BE CONSCIOUS
TO DO THE DOUBTING ACT

I-6

The CHORUS MEMBERS wander through the audience.

CHORUS
COGITO ERGO SUM
THAT’S WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT
HE THINKS THEREFORE HE IS
AN ATTITUDE WITH CLOUT
COGITO ERGO SUM
WORDS HEARD IN ALL THE SCHOOLS
BUT ARE THEY SPOKEN BY
THE SAGES OR THE FOOLS

The CHORUS MEMBERS exit.

RENÉ
JUST ASSUME IF YOU WILL
THAT I DO NOT EXIST
THEN WHO IS IT WHO SEES
RIGHT THROUGH THE SENSORY MIST
A DOUBTER MUST BE HERE
TO CAST THE NET OF DOUBT
BY THINKING SO I PROVE
THAT BEING TO BE MYSELF
DUBITO ERGO COGITO ERGO SUM
THAT’S THE CHAIN OF LOGIC THAT FALLS OUT
I DOUBT THEREFORE I THINK THEREFORE I AM
I CANNOT DOUBT THE FACT THAT I CAN DOUBT

RENÉ stares at HÉLÈNE expectantly.

RENÉ
Well? Have you nothing to say in response?

HÉLÈNE
I’m pregnant. (beat) Well? Have you nothing to say in response?

RENÉ
I’m to be a father.

HÉLÈNE
Yes, René, you’re to be a father. Never mind thinking. How does that make you feel?

RENÉ
Oh, Hélène! It’s as though I’ve fallen into a beautiful and strange dream.

I-7

DIONYSUS enters and freezes RENÉ and HÉLÈNE. He gestures;
crossfade to the hospital room, where SOPHIE lies in a bed near
her son. Her head is bandaged. She awakens to see her husband
PHIL standing beside her.

SOPHIE
I had the strangest dream. I was a philosopher. The “I think, therefore I am” guy.

PHIL
You were René Descartes? That’s strange all right. Amazing what a concussion can do.

SOPHIE
Concussion? What happened?

PHIL
Believe it or not, you fell down an elevator shaft. Not far, though. The car was stopped
between this floor and the one below us. That’s why the doors were open. Repairman
access. (beat) You were lucky. Your only injury seems to be a little bump on the head.

SOPHIE
How is he?

PHIL
No change. And still no good explanation.

SOPHIE
That’s why I fell! I was on my way to report this infuriating doc--

Enter DIONYSUS in coveralls and ball cap, as a REPAIRMAN.

REPAIRMAN/DIONYSUS
Don’t mean to interrupt. Just wanted to pop in and say how sorry I am. About your
accident. Didn’t you see the sign? You oughta pay more attention to signs.

SOPHIE
I’ll make an effort to do that.

REPAIRMAN/DIONYSUS
Sure gave me a fright. Crashing onto the roof like a ripe apple dropping from a branch.
For a second there, I felt like that guy who invented gravity. Glad I didn’t get bonked on
the head!

PHIL
Isaac Newton didn’t actually invent gravity. You can’t invent a physical law. He simply
recognized it for what it is. It was always already there. And, despite what legend says,
he didn’t really get hit on the head by an apple.

I-8

REPAIRMAN/DIONYSUS
Uh-huh. Anywho … glad to see you’re doing okay.

SOPHIE
I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about a lawsuit.

REPAIRMAN/DIONYSUS
Only thing I was worried about was you. Be sure to watch for them signs now.

The REPAIRMAN/DIONYSUS exits.

PHIL
Talk about strange. What are the odds we’d discuss both Descartes and Newton within a
couple minutes? Their combined influence inspired the entire Enlightenment.

SOPHIE
I know. And they totally misunderstood me!

PHIL
What? Who did?

SOPHIE
The so-called Enlightenment thinkers. They ignored the fundamental point of my work.
I mean his work. Descartes.

PHIL
How much do you even know about Descartes and his work?

SOPHIE
Hardly anything. Just that quote everyone knows. And that he fathered a child with his
Dutch maid. Or at least I did -- I mean, he did -- in my dream.

PHIL
Maybe we should ask the doctor to take another look at you.

SOPHIE
Oh, Phil. The dream was so vivid. That’s all. I’m fully aware I’m not René Descartes.

PHIL
So you didn’t father a child with your Dutch maid? Hey, speaking of dreams involving
maids … I’ve got a little fantasy I’ve been meaning to share with you. How would you
feel about dressing up like a French maid?

SOPHIE
For you, I’d consider it. As long as you promise not to go “oui oui” on me.

I-9

PHIL
Don’t worry. I’ve long since outgrown my bed-wetting phase.

SOPHIE rises suddenly and crosses to their child’s bed.

SOPHIE
What if he doesn’t? What if he-- …? What are we going to do if-- …?

PHIL
Sophie. Come on. You shouldn’t be moving around.

SOPHIE
He’s not even six years old!

PHIL leads SOPHIE toward her bed as he sings Faith.

PHIL
I’VE NEVER BEEN A BELIEVER
IN AN OMNIPOTENT BENEVOLENT GOD
THERE’S TOO MUCH PAIN AND SUFFERING
NOT TO SEE THAT NOTION AS ODD
BUT WHEN I FACE A CRISIS
THAT SUGGESTS THE WORLD’S UNFAIR
I RESIST ATHEISTIC URGES
TO PLUNGE HEADLONG INTO DESPAIR
FAITH’S NOT ONLY FOR THE FAITHFUL
FAITH’S NOT ONLY FOR THE DEVOUT
FAITH IS A GIFT TO EVERYONE
OF THAT I HAVE NO DOUBT

SOPHIE
WHAT CAN YOU SAY YOU HAVE FAITH IN
IF NO OMNIPOTENT BENEVOLENT GOD
THE ONLY CLEAR ALTERNATIVE
IS ONE WHO SPARETH NOT THE ROD
THERE’S NOTHING I’D LIKE BETTER
THAN TO COMFORT IN HIS KINDNESS
BUT TRUSTING THAT AS CERTAINTY
I SEE AS CONVENIENT BLINDNESS
FAITH IS ONLY FOR THE FAITHFUL
FAITH IS ONLY FOR THE DEVOUT
FAITH’S NOT A WHIM FOR SKEPTICALS
WHEN THEY NEED BAILING OUT

I-10

PHIL
THEN DON’T BELIEVE IN ANY GOD
WHAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU BELIEVE
BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE
BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE
FAITH IS A SEED WE ALL CONTAIN
WE JUST HAVE TO LET IT SPROUT
BELIEVE IN ME I BELIEVE IN YOU
BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU HOPE COMES TRUE
BELIEVE IN ME I BELIEVE IN YOU
BELIEVE IT AND YOU’LL MAKE IT THROUGH
FAITH IS A TRAIT WE ALL POSSESS
AND ONE WE COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT

By the end of the song, PHIL has guided SOPHIE back into bed.

SOPHIE
Thank you, Phil. I’d invite you in … but these hospital beds aren’t exactly built for two.

PHIL
The nurse said she’d bring me a cot.

SOPHIE
Oh. You’re going to stay.

PHIL
Of course I’m going to stay.

SOPHIE
There’s really no need for us both to be here. If by some miracle he wakes up, I’ll call you.

PHIL
Is that really what you want?

SOPHIE
I think … yes.

PHIL contemplates for a moment, then kisses SOPHIE. He goes to
the other bed and gives their son a gentle caress before he exits.
SOPHIE gazes at the comatose child as the lights fade.

I-11

Lights rise on WALDO at his writing desk. He’s played by the
actor who plays RENÉ.

WALDO
Lydian! Come quickly!

Enter LYDIA. She’s played by the actor who plays HÉLÉNE.

LYDIA
Mister Emerson?

WALDO
What is The World?

LYDIA
Pardon?

WALDO
What is Man?

LYDIA
Why, Mister Emerson, you know better than to play your quixotic games with me.

WALDO
I’ve had a revelation. I’ve gleaned the First Philosophy. (beat) Let me try to explain.

WALDO speak-sings Nature.

WALDO
A SUBTLE CHAIN OF COUNTLESS RINGS
THE NEXT UNTO THE FARTHEST BRINGS
THE EYE READS OMENS WHERE IT GOES
AND SPEAKS ALL LANGUAGES THE ROSE
AND STRIVING TO BE MAN THE WORM
MOUNTS THROUGH ALL THE SPIRES OF FORM
NATURE NEVER WEARS A MEAN APPEARANCE
NATURE ALWAYS WEARS THE COLOR OF THE SPIRIT
ESSENCES UNCHANGED BY MAN
SPACE THE AIR THE RIVER THE LEAF
THE WORLD EXISTS TO SATISFY THE SOUL
THROUGH BEAUTY ETERNAL AND UNCONTAINED
THE PERPETUAL PRESENCE OF THE SUBLIME
IN THE EARTHBOUND RAYS OF STARS DOES SHINE
THE UNIVERSE IS COMPOSED OF NATURE AND THE SOUL
THE POET IN HIS MIND INTEGRATES THE WHOLE

I-12

WALDO (CONT’D)
IN NATURE I BECOME A TRANSPARENT EYE-BALL
I AM NOTHING I SEE ALL
CURRENTS OF UNIVERSAL BEING CIRCULATE THROUGH ME
I AM PART OR PARTICLE OF GOD

WALDO stares at LYDIA expectantly.

WALDO
Well? Have you nothing to say in response?

LYDIA
I’m pregnant. (beat) Well? Have you nothing to say in response?

WALDO
My dearest Lydian! I’m to be a father.

LYDIA
Yes, Mister Emerson, you’re to be a father. What revelation do you glean from that?

WALDO
I can’t begin to express the joy you’ve given me. More so even than on our wedding day,
Missus Emerson.

DIONYSUS enters and freezes WALDO and LYDIA. He gestures;
crossfade to the hospital room. SOPHIE dials her phone.

SOPHIE
What I said earlier was wrong. Now I’ve had the strangest dream. (beat) At least I think
it was a dream.

DIONYSUS gestures; lights fade to a spotlight on him. As he sings
the first verse of Reincarnation Déjà Vu, the masked CHORUS
MEMBERS enter the space from all sides.

DIONYSUS
DID YOU EVER HAVE A FUNNY FEELING
DID YOU EVER HAVE A STRANGE SENSATION
DID YOU EVER HAVE A DREAM REVEALING
YOU’VE LIVED THROUGH THIS PAST LIFE BEFORE

CHORUS
IT’S REINCARNATION DÉJÀ VU
AND IT’S HAPPENING TO YOU

I-13

DIONYSUS
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU DREAMED
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU SCREAMED
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU STEAMED
THROUGH THIS CYCLE OF LOVE AND WAR

CHORUS
IT’S REINCARNATION DÉJA VU
AND IN ESSENCE IT IS TRUE

DIONYSUS
YOU MAY WISH TO ESCAPE IT
YOU MAY WISH TO RESHAPE IT
YOU MAY WISH TO UNDRAPE IT
TO DO THAT YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR CORE

CHORUS
AND THERE’S ONE THING YOU CAN DO

DIONYSUS
DON’T ASK FOR DIVINE INTERVENTION
DON’T ASK FOR HEAVENLY AMNESTY
DON’T ASK FOR COSMIC CIRCUMVENTION
SOUL SEARCHING’S A HUMAN CHORE

DIONYSUS AND CHORUS

DIONYSUS
It’s death and rebirth all over again!

Blackout.

Lights rise on SOPHIE, who appears to be praying at her child’s
bedside. PHIL enters behind her. He sets down the heavy bag
he’s carrying and watches silently until she stops mouthing words
and opens her eyes.

I-14

PHIL
Any response?

SOPHIE jumps and cries out in surprise.

PHIL
Sorry about that.

SOPHIE
No, it’s--... I was just …

PHIL
I saw.

SOPHIE
I figure it can’t hurt. You know, in case He really does exist.

PHIL
Sure. Any response?

SOPHIE
Is that a trick question?

PHIL
How do you mean?

SOPHIE
First I have an entire conversation with an apparently imaginary doctor. Then I dream
I’m René Descartes and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Next I claim God speaks to me? That’d
sure give you plenty of reason to have me carted off to the loony bin. No, rest assured I
don’t believe God has ever spoken to me. Nor do I harbor any illusions He ever will.

PHIL
Okay. But I meant to the new meds. Has he shown any response?

SOPHIE
Oh. No. No response. Not yet anyway.

PHIL
Do they have any more ideas?

SOPHIE
Maybe. They’re doing some kind of additional test right now. Results should be back
soon. I actually think they’re running out of tests. Good thing, too, because I don’t know
how much blood he has left.

I-15

PHIL
You’re not crazy. I don’t think you’re crazy. I’m sure you’re not crazy.

SOPHIE
No? I wish I shared your faith in that.

PHIL
You had a couple of intense and bizarrely similar dreams. So what? It means nothing.
Especially after hitting your head like that. The content of them may mean something,
though. Where’s a Freudian psychoanalyst when you need one?

SOPHIE
What about my fantasy encounter with Doc Hippocrates? That was before I hit my head.

PHIL
You’re totally stressed out! And with good reason. Your child -- our child -- is very very
sick and nobody knows why. Or what to do about it. So your deepest fears found a way
to express themselves in a … hallucination of sorts.

SOPHIE
Involving a physician from ancient Greece?

PHIL
The first one in history to actually view his profession as a science. Who could be a more
credible medical authority? In dream logic.

SOPHIE
But I didn’t know that! I couldn’t even pronounce his name. (aside) And my Hippocrates
believed in magic.

PHIL
On some level you did know it. You must’ve. (beat) And there’s a similar explanation
for why you dreamt what you did. You’re afraid you might lose your son, so you dream
about other people having children.

SOPHIE
But why Descartes? Why Emerson? Why famous people? Ones I know next to nothing
about. “I think, therefore I am.” And living in a cabin by some pond.

PHIL
That was Thoreau, not Emerson.

SOPHIE
See!

I-16

PHIL removes hardcover books from the bag and places them on
the empty hospital bed.

PHIL
Well, I brought you every book I could find on either of them in the library. So you can
read up while you … wait for good news. Oh! I already checked one thing. That little
detail in your dream was true. Descartes really did father a child with his Dutch maid.

SOPHIE
What?!

SOPHIE rushes over.

PHIL
Yeah, it’s right here in black and--

SOPHIE arrives right as PHIL turns with a huge book, striking her
on the head by accident. She falls onto the bed unconscious.

PHIL
Oh shit.

Blackout.

Lights rise on RENÉ in his study. DIONYSUS, in the person of
Constantijn HUYGENS, stands nearby, holding a manuscript.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Brilliant. “I think, therefore I am.” So simple, yet so profound. You’ve used the logic of
mathematics to solve a problem that’s confounded poets and philosophers for centuries.

RENÉ
I hope the rest of the world -- and not just the poets like yourself, Constantijn -- is as kind
in its evaluation of my Discourse.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
What? You can’t mean you intend to publish this.

RENÉ
What other purpose is there in preparing a manuscript?

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
René. You have responsibilities beyond yourself now.

RENÉ
I assume you refer to my niece.

I-17

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
I refer to Francine. We both know she’s more than your niece.

RENÉ
Your point, Constantijn?

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
My point, dear friend, is that this is written in French.

RENÉ
Yes. That’s my native language. You do realize I was born in France?

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Which is another way of saying that it is not written in Latin.

RENÉ
No. Bravo! It is written in French, therefore it is not written in Latin. A fine illustration
of sound reasoning, especially for a poet.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
You’re absolutely infuriating!

RENÉ
Do you really imagine I’m not aware of the dangers? Why do you suppose I withdrew Le
Monde from the printer once the trial commenced?

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Then why publish in the vernacular? To follow the example of … a heretic. Why risk it?

RENÉ
Are you afraid even to say his name? Allow me. It’s Galileo. But I’ve taken great care
to avoid addressing the Copernican controversy. And I’ve written in French simply so it
will be accessible to the widest possible audience. I display no disrespect to the Church.

The CHORUS MEMBERS enter as ROMAN INQUISITORS,
surrounding RENÉ and HUYGENS/DIONYSUS.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Let’s hope the Church agrees.

RENÉ
If it makes you feel better, the authorship can be left anonymous. For now.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
I think that would be wise.

I-18

RENÉ
But I will publish it. And I have nothing to fear. After all, God himself guided my work.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
What are you saying?

The CHORUS MEMBERS hum and chant in Latin. RENÉ sings
Three Astonishing Dreams -- acting out the dreams through dance.

RENÉ
ON THE TENTH OF NOVEMBER SIXTEEN-NINETEEN
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN’S EVE
AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-THREE WITH MIND MATURE
AND SOUL SO VERY NAÏVE
IN THE OVEN OF MY ROOM I WENT TO SLEEP
AND UNDERWENT THREE VIVID DREAMS
THREE ASTONISHING DREAMS ON SAINT MARTIN’S EVE
ASTONISHING MARVELOUS DREAMS
IN THE FIRST I WAS WALKING ALONE THROUGH TOWN
WHEN A STORM BEGAN TO BLOW
A VIOLENT WIND FORCED ME TOWARD THE CHURCH
RIGHT WHERE I WANTED TO GO
I AWOKE AND PRAYED TO GOD FOR PROTECTION
AND THOUGHT ON GOOD AND EVIL
THEN I TURNED IN MY BED FROM LEFT SIDE TO RIGHT
AND DREAMT A NEW UPHEAVAL
THE CHAMBER ALL AROUND ME FADED AWAY
AND I HEARD A THUND’ROUS BANG
BUT THEN THE CHAMBER FILLED WITH SPARKLES OF LIGHT
I WAS SAFE IN GOD’S DOMAIN
IN MY THIRD DREAM I OPENED A BOOK OF VERSE
TO LINES BY A ROMAN BARD
WHAT ROAD SHALL I FOLLOW IN THIS LIFE HE ASKS
MY CONSTANT POINT OF REGARD
A MYSTERIOUS FIGURE APPEARED JUST THEN
AND SHOWED ME ANOTHER POEM
ITS TITLE I TOOK TO MEAN TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD
AND WITH THAT I’D FOUND MY HOME

I-19

RENÉ dances along the CHORUS of INQUISITORS, trying in vain
to gain their approval.

RENÉ
EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER I STILL FEEL GOD’S CALLING
IN THREE DREAMS ASTONISHING
UNITY OF SCIENCE THROUGH PHILOSOPHY
IS WHAT HE WANTS ME TO BRING

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS flips through the manuscript for a moment.
Then he sings Inquiring Minds as the CHORUS of INQUISITORS
closes in on RENÉ.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
ARE YOU NUTS ARE YOU CRAZY
HAS YOUR INTELLECT GONE HAZY
HAVE YOU IMBIBED TOO MUCH BORDEAUX
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW

CHORUS
IF YOU MEAN THIS BLASPHEMY
IF YOU’D LIKE TO MAKE A PLEA

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
YOU SAY GOD INSPIRED YOU
YOU PROFESS TO DO HIS WORK
BUT IF YOU PRINT YOUR FULL TREATISE
THE PRIESTS WILL GO BERSERK
THOUGH YOU SKIRT COPERNICUS
AND GALILEO’S SCIENCE
BY MERGING ALL THE DISCIPLINES
YOU STILL DEFY CHURCH GIANTS

CHORUS
HOW LONG YOU HOPE TO THRIVE
IF YOU’LL RECANT THIS JIVE

I-20

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
YOU IMPLY THERE’S NO CENTER
NOR BOUNDS TO THE UNIVERSE
IN MAKING IT SEEM LIMITLESS
YOU COULDN’T BLUNDER WORSE
GOD ALONE IS INFINITE
ACCORDING TO THE POPE
IF YOU PERSIST IN FLOUTING HIM
YOU’LL FEEL THE STING OF ROPE

CHORUS
IF YOU WISH TO PURGE YOUR SIN
THE THICKNESS OF YOUR SKIN

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
CONTRADICT PREVAILING THOUGHT
AS YOU DO IN THIS VOLUME
CALL ATTENTION TO YOURSELF THIS WAY
AND YOU’LL WISH YOU HAD KEPT MUM
BUT YOUR GRAVEST ERROR OF ALL
IS THIS NOTION OF THE SOUL
TO SEPARATE IT FROM THE BODY
WOULD VIOLATE THE WHOLE

CHORUS
WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS DIVIDE
WHO ELSE IS ON YOUR SIDE

During the above, the CHORUS MEMBERS transform RENÉ into
WALDO. Then they adjust their own costumes, transforming from
ROMAN INQUISITORS into YOUNG MINISTERS. Lights change.
HUYGENS/DIONYSUS withdraws. WALDO uses his writing desk
as a podium to address the CHORUS MEMBERS.

WALDO
The sentiment of virtue is a reverence and delight in the presence of certain divine laws.
It perceives that this homely game of life we play, covers, under what seem foolish
details, principles that astonish. These laws refuse to be adequately stated. They will not
be written out on paper, or spoken by the tongue. They elude our persevering thought;
yet we read them hourly in each other’s faces, in each other’s actions, in our own remorse.

I-21

The CHORUS MEMBERS exchange anxious glances.

WALDO
It is an intuition. It cannot be received at second hand. Truly speaking, it is not instruction,
but provocation, that I can receive from another soul. What he announces, I must find true
in me, or wholly reject; and on his word, or as his second, be he who he may, I can accept
nothing. On the contrary, the absence of this primary faith is the presence of degradation.

ONE CHORUS MEMBER exits in a huff. The OTHERS murmur
amongst themselves.

WALDO
Divine nature is attributed to one or two persons, and denied to all the rest, and denied
with fury. The doctrine of inspiration is lost. Miracles, prophecy, poetry; the ideal life,
the holy life; they are not in the belief, nor in the aspiration of society; when suggested,
seem ridiculous. Life is comic or pitiful, as soon as the high ends of being fade out of
sight, and man becomes near-sighted, and can only attend to what addresses the senses.

TWO CHORUS MEMBERS exit. The OTHERS murmur amongst
themselves with growing fervor.

WALDO
Christianity has fallen into the error that corrupts all attempts to communicate religion.
As it appears to us, and as it has appeared for ages, it is an exaggeration of the personal,
the ritual. It has dwelt, it dwells, with noxious exaggeration about the person of Jesus.
The soul knows no persons. It invites every man to expand to the full circle of the
universe, and will have no preferences but those of spontaneous love.

The REMAINING CHORUS MEMBERS exit. Lights change.
DIONYSUS steps forward, having transformed himself from
Constantijn HUYGENS into Henry David THOREAU.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
You really said that? You said that to the graduates of the Harvard Divinity School?

WALDO
Yes indeed, my young friend. And that’s not the half of it.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
The address is being described as the ravings of a heretic. What else did you say?

WALDO
I spoke the truth. No more, no less.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
Please, Mister Emerson. Let me hear it from you yourself.

I-22

WALDO
I’ve told you. If we’re to be friends, you must call me Waldo. And I’ll call you David.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
I’ve been thinking of reversing it. Henry David instead of David Henry.

WALDO
I’ll always consider you a David. But a man must choose his own identity, and if Henry
Thoreau is your preference, then I’ll respect your wishes.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
Call me what you will, as long as you repeat the speech.

WALDO reminisces as the music starts for Schooled in Divinity.

WALDO
Oh, I simply encouraged them to observe the limitations of their new office.

THE SOUL ALONE CAN TEACH
A MAN CAN MERELY SPEAK
IF SERMONS YOU’RE GUSHING YOU’RE BETTER OFF HUSHING
SAVE PEOPLE WHO GATHER FROM BIBLICAL BLATHER
IF TRUTH WOULD BE SPOKEN YOUR HEART MUST STAY OPEN
IMPART FROM YOUR SPIRIT AND OTHERS WILL HEAR IT
MAKE LOVE FAITH AND COURAGE YOUR TRINITY
AND THEN YOU’LL BE SCHOOLED IN DIVINITY

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
Praise Waldo!

WALDO
I then illustrated my point by negative example.

A PREACHER ONCE MADE PLAIN
HE’D LIVED HIS YEARS IN VAIN
HE’D PLOUGHED AND HE’D PLANTED ALL TAKEN FOR GRANTED
HE’D READ AND HE’D EATEN HIS WORDS NEVER SWEETENED
HIS DOCTRINE WAS VACANT OF ANYTHING SACRED
BELYING THE NOTION HE’D FELT AN EMOTION
IN CREED AND YOUR LIFE SEE AFFINITY

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
If you’d been on the vaudeville stage, surely you’d have gotten the hook.

I-23

WALDO
Vaudeville? The hook? I’m not familiar with the terms.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
(aside, as DIONYSUS, to the audience)
Oops. I got a little ahead of myself there.

WALDO
No matter. Next I offered them a challenge.

THE QUESTION YOU MUST ASK
IS HOW TO MEET YOUR TASK
NEGATE MODERN EVIL BY SOUL’S FULL RETRIEVAL
REKINDLE THE HOLY WITH SOUL BURNING SLOWLY
BRING LIFE TO TRADITION THROUGH SOUL IN FRUITION
TO SOAR INTO RAPTURE IT’S SOUL YOU MUST CAPTURE
PURSUE DEPTHS OF SOUL TO INFINITY

WALDO AND THOREAU/DIONYSUS
DIVINITY SCHOOL IS NOW OPEN
TO RESURRECT SOUL WE ARE HOPIN’
OUR TEACHER REFLECTS LIKE A MIRROR
TO SPIRIT THE WORLD BRINGS US NEARER
BOTH GRAVITY AND LOVE ARE FORCES
THAT PULL AT US LIKE WILD HORSES
THE TRUTH IS THAT OUR MORAL DUTY
IS ONE WITH JOY SCIENCE AND BEAUTY
MAKE LOVE FAITH AND COURAGE YOUR TRINITY
IN CREED AND YOUR LIFE SEE AFFINITY
PURSUE DEPTHS OF SOUL TO INFINITY
TO RESURRECT SOUL WE ARE HOPIN’
DON’T STUMBLE THROUGH LIFE BLINDLY GROPIN’

Crossfade to the hospital room. SOPHIE sits up like a shot.

SOPHIE
I think … I know what the dreams mean. I think … God is speaking to me.

I-24

PHIL
God.

SOPHIE
And I think … I’m supposed to spread the word. No matter what other people say.

PHIL
Okay. Exactly what word are you supposed to spread?

SOPHIE
I haven’t quite figured that out.

Enter GRACE. She’s played by the actor who plays HÉLÈNE and
LYDIA.

GRACE
May I have a word?

PHIL
Please. She hit her head again. Someone oughta take a look at her.

SOPHIE
I’m fine.

GRACE
I’ve seen the latest lab results.

SOPHIE
Are they conclusive?

GRACE
In fact they are.

SOPHIE
Thank god!

GRACE
He has a bacterial infection. Group A streptococcus.

PHIL
As in strep throat?

GRACE
That’s probably where it got started.

I-25

PHIL
See, Sophie! This is great news!

SOPHIE
Wait. Why couldn’t you diagnose it sooner? And what’s causing the … more serious
symptoms?

PHIL
Right. And he’s already had antibiotics.

GRACE
Yes. We’ve tried the full spectrum. It’s a resistant strain. And a virulent one. He’s got
both septic and immune complications. I’ve never seen a case this severe. It normally
takes about three weeks for toxic shock to result from untreated group A streptococcus.

SOPHIE
Are you saying it’s our fault? He’s been sick for weeks and we didn’t notice?

GRACE
No no. Not at all. Developments like this are very rare, but when they do occur, it’s not
unusual for the underlying infection to have been totally asymptomatic. That’s the most
obvious reason for it to progress this far.

PHIL
How’s it treated? Now that you know what he has, how do you plan to treat it?

GRACE
We’ll continue to administer the liquid nutrients, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatories.
It’s possible he’ll begin to respond. We should know within a day or so.

SOPHIE
And if he doesn’t?

GRACE
Well … he may then need surgical drainage or transfusions.

PHIL
Could this be fatal?

GRACE
There’s a risk the infection could spread further and eventually cause organ failure.
We’ll do our very best to prevent that.

PHIL
How can this be happening? It’s the twenty-first century!

I-26

GRACE
I’m afraid medicine remains as much art as science. Some of our advances may even be
hurting us in terms of drug-resistance and heightened virulence. But I’d still rather be
living now. Conditions like malignant scarlatina were far more common in the past.

SOPHIE
Scarlatina? Is that the same thing as scarlet fever?

PHIL
What … like in Little Women?

GRACE
That’s a well-known literary example. When it comes to infectious diseases, I’m actually
something of a history buff. Scarlet fever and the related illness we call rheumatic fever
were responsible for the deaths of many young people in that era. Louisa May Alcott
based Little Women on her own family. Besides her sister, she lost at least one notable
friend to scarlatina. Did you know the Alcotts and Emersons were neighbors?

SOPHIE
Emerson? Ralph Waldo Emerson?

GRACE
But it wasn’t the famous writer who died. It was young Waldo. His five-year-old son.

SOPHIE faints into PHIL’s arms. DIONYSUS enters and freezes
them, then solemnly helps GRACE transform into LYDIA. He
gestures; crossfade to WALDO, standing at a grave. LYDIA joins
him. The CHORUS MEMBERS, costumed as MOURNERS, enter
and surround them as WALDO sings the first verse of Threnody.

WALDO
THE SOUTH-WIND BRINGS
LIFE SUNSHINE AND DESIRE
AND ON EVERY MOUNT AND MEADOW
BREATHES AROMATIC FIRE
BUT OVER THE DEAD HE HAS NO POWER
THE LOST THE LOST HE CANNOT RESTORE
AND LOOKING OVER THE HILLS I MOURN
THE DARLING WHO SHALL NOT RETURN
THE GRACIOUS BOY WHO DID ADORN
THE WORLD WHEREINTO HE WAS BORN
AND BY HIS COUNTENANCE REPAY
THE FAVOR OF THE LOVING DAY
HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE DAY’S EYE

I-27

LYDIA
FAR AND WIDE SHE CANNOT FIND HIM
MY HOPES PURSUE THEY CANNOT BIND HIM
RETURNED THIS DAY THE SOUTH-WIND SEARCHES
AND FINDS YOUNG PINES AND BUDDING BIRCHES
BUT FINDS NOT THE BUDDING MAN
NATURE WHO LOST CANNOT REMAKE HIM
FATE LET HIM FALL FATE CAN’T RETAKE HIM
NATURE FATE MEN HIM SEEK IN VAIN
NOW LOVE AND PRIDE ALAS IN VAIN
UP AND DOWN THEIR GLANCES STRAIN
THE BROOK INTO THE STREAM RUNS ON
BUT THE DEEP-EYED BOY IS GONE
WAS THERE NO STAR THAT COULD BE SENT
NO WATCHER IN THE FIRMAMENT
NO ANGEL FROM THE COUNTLESS HOST
THAT LOITERS ROUND THE CRYSTAL COAST
COULD STOOP TO HEAL THAT ONLY CHILD
NATURE’S SWEET MARVEL UNDEFILED
AND KEEP THE BLOSSOM OF THE EARTH
WHICH ALL HER HARVESTS WERE NOT WORTH

WALDO
PERCHANCE NOT HE BUT NATURE AILED
THE WORLD AND NOT THE INFANT FAILED
IT WAS NOT RIPE YET TO SUSTAIN
A GENIUS OF SO FINE A STRAIN
WHO GAZED UPON THE SUN AND MOON
AS IF HE CAME UNTO HIS OWN
AND PREGNANT WITH HIS GRANDER THOUGHT
BROUGHT THE OLD ORDER INTO DOUBT
HIS BEAUTY ONCE THEIR BEAUTY TRIED
THEY COULD NOT FEED HIM AND HE DIED
AND WANDERED BACKWARD AS IN SCORN
TO WAIT AN EON TO BE BORN

CHORUS
SOME WENT AND CAME ABOUT THE DEAD
AND SOME IN BOOKS OF SOLACE READ
SOME TO THEIR FRIENDS THE TIDINGS SAY
SOME WENT TO WRITE SOME WENT TO PRAY
ONE TARRIED HERE THERE HURRIED ONE
BUT THEIR HEARTS ABODE WITH NONE
COVETOUS DEATH BEREAVED US ALL
TO AGGRANDIZE ONE FUNERAL

I-28

CHORUS (CONT’D)
O TRUTH’S AND NATURE’S COSTLY LID
O TRUSTED BROKEN PROPHECY
O RICHEST FORTUNES SOURLY CROSSED
BORN FOR THE FUTURE TO THE FUTURE LOST

WALDO
WHEN FRAIL NATURE CAN NO MORE
THEN THE SPIRIT STRIKES THE HOUR
MY SERVANT DEATH WITH SOLVING RITE
POURS FINITE INTO INFINITE
LIGHT IS LIGHT WHICH RADIATES
BLOOD IS BLOOD WHICH CIRCULATES
LIFE IS LIFE WHICH GENERATES
AND MANY-SEEMING LIFE IS ONE
WILT THOU TRANSFIX AND MAKE IT NONE

LYDIA
SILENT RUSHES THE SWIFT LORD
THROUGH RUINED SYSTEMS STILL RESTORED
BROADSOWING BLEAK AND VOID TO BLESS
PLANTS WITH WORLDS THE WILDERNESS
WATERS WITH TEARS OF ANCIENT SORROW
APPLES OF EDEN RIPE TO-MORROW
HOUSE AND TENANT GO TO GROUND
LOST IN GOD IN GODHEAD FOUND

During the above, THOREAU/DIONYSUS has entered and joined
the MOURNERS. As the song ends, the CHORUS MEMBERS, at
WALDO’s instruction, lead LYDIA offstage.

WALDO
It is the secret of the world that all things subsist, and do not die, but only retire a little
from sight, and afterwards return again. Do you believe that, Henry?

THOREAU/DIONYSUS places a comforting hand on WALDO.

WALDO
Me neither. Not today. But perhaps I will again -- in the weeks, months, or years ahead.
Should I be so fortunate not to die of accumulated grief before then. First my father.
Then my brothers. Now my son. Can my own demise be far behind?

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
Missus Emerson is holding up well.

I-29

WALDO
My Lydian has more strength of spirit than most men.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
She’s a remarkable woman.

WALDO
Yes, I’ve noticed your fondness for her. (beat) I’m glad you’ve come to live with us.
Lydian and the remaining children will depend on you more than ever now. As will I.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
I’ll endeavor to provide whatever support is needed. I think of your family as my own.

WALDO
You are a much loved member of it.

THOREAU/DIONYSUS
Perhaps I should see to the little ones.

WALDO
It is the secret of the world that all things subsist, and do not die, but only retire a little
from sight, and afterwards return again. I’m going to keep repeating that until it once
more seems true.

DIONYSUS drops the THOREAU role and freezes WALDO, then
transforms him into RENÉ and unfreezes him. RENÉ kneels beside
the grave.

RENÉ
Holiest Father in Heaven … (beat) How am I to pray to you now? You’ve taken what I
held most dear in all the world. A soul so incomparable you couldn’t wait to claim it.
And now we here who benefitted most from the purity of her presence must go without.
(beat) My little France. Named for my mother country. Yet never to set foot on its soil.
Instead, laid to rest in the soil of your own native land.

Crossfade to the hospital room, as before. SOPHIE stirs in
PHIL’s arms. As she sings a reprise of Reincarnation Déjà Vu, the
MASKED CHORUS MEMBERS appear on the periphery.

SOPHIE
I HAVE THIS FUNNY FEELING
I HAVE THIS STRANGE SENSATION

CHORUS

I-30

SOPHIE
HOW MANY TIMES WILL I DREAM
HOW MANY TIMES WILL I SCREAM

CHORUS

SOPHIE
HOW CAN I ESCAPE IT
HOW CAN I RESHAPE IT

CHORUS

SOPHIE
I NEED DIVINE INTERVENTION
I NEED HEAVENLY AMNESTY

CHORUS

PHIL and GRACE lead SOPHIE toward her bed.

SOPHIE
What happened to her, Phil? Descartes’ daughter.

PHIL
I don’t know. I didn’t get that far.

SOPHIE
Which one of these is it in?

PHIL finds the book and gives it to SOPHIE, who frantically flips
through the pages.

SOPHIE
I think … he was right. Hippocrates was right. There’s no cure. No medical cure.

GRACE
It’s true we don’t technically have a “cure” for bacteria. But once we get the infection
under control, we can at least minimize -- if not totally counteract -- the effects. And
we’re generally successful at preventing recurrence. Give us a little time and trust.

I-31

SOPHIE
Here! On September seventh, sixteen-forty, after three days of illness, five-year-old
Francine died of scarlet fever.

PHIL
Sophie.

SOPHIE
No. No no no.

PHIL
It’s pure coincidence.

SOPHIE
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

PHIL
Doc! I think she’s gonna need something.

GRACE exits. SOPHIE breaks away from PHIL to sing Wait for
the Miracle.

SOPHIE
GIVE US A LITTLE TIME AND TRUST
LET MEDICAL SCIENCE PROVE ITS PLACE
IT’S NOT FOR NOTHING WE CALL YOU PATIENTS
SHOW SOME PATIENCE SHOW SOME FAITH
WAIT FOR THE MIRACLE
WAIT FOR THE CURE
IT’LL COME I’M SURE
YOUR SON IS AILING CRITICALLY
HIS DELICATE BEING IS AT STAKE
BUT YOU CAN SIT BACK AND HEED OUR KNOWLEDGE
HE’LL RECOVER JUST YOU WAIT
IT’S TRUE WE HAVE NO CREAM TO RUB
NO AEROSOL TONIC WE CAN SPRAY
IT’S TRUE WE’RE LACKING A REAL SOLUTION
REST WITH DIS-EASE ANYWAY
WAIT FOR THE CURE

I-32

CHORUS
IT’S REINCARNATION DEJA VU

SOPHIE
NOW SHOULD THOSE PROSPECTS SEEM TOO DIM
IF CLINICAL PRACTICE SEEMS TOO SLOW
THERE’S STILL NO REASON TO FEAR THE OUTCOME
GOD WILL SAVE HIM DON’T YOU KNOW
AND EVEN IF BY SOME SMALL CHANCE
HIS PHYSICAL BODY DOES GIVE OUT
HIS SOUL TO HEAVEN THE LORD WILL SUMMON
THERE YOU’LL MEET HIM HAVE NO DOUBT
WAIT FOR THE CURE

CHORUS

SOPHIE goes to her child and gazes at him. Lights rise slightly on
RENÉ at the grave. HÉLÈNE joins him. He ignores her. PHIL
joins SOPHIE, who kisses their child’s forehead and then crosses
to her bed. She gathers up the books and her other possessions.

PHIL
Sophie. Wait a minute.

SOPHIE
No more waiting!

PHIL
But … where are you going?

SOPHIE
To create my own miracle!

SOPHIE exits. PHIL looks after her and then back at his child.
Lights fade.

END OF ACT ONE

II-33

ACT TWO

Lights rise on PHIL and the unconscious child. The CHORUS
MEMBERS ceremoniously enter and sing Philosophy of Life.

CHORUS
OUR MORTALITY
THE REALITY
OF A FINALITY
PAST RATIONALITY
NO SENSATION
OF SALVATION
FROM MINISTRATION
OR REINCARNATION

Lights rise on SOPHIE seated on a bench reading a book.

CHORUS
THE HISTORICAL
SEEMS CATEGORICAL
NEVER RHETORICAL
OR METAPHORICAL
A MIRACLE
COULD BE LYRICAL
NEVER SATIRICAL
OR PLAIN EMPIRICAL

SOPHIE closes the book and opens another. She reads.

CHORUS
IT IS AT BEST
A FUTILE QUEST
TO SEEK ONE’S SELF
ON A BOOKSHELF
JUST AS INEPT
IS TO ACCEPT
THE VOID YOU FEEL
ONE DAY WILL HEAL
PHILOSOPHY
THE LOVE OF WISDOM
PHIL AND SOPHIE
TWO LOVERS GONE NUMB

II-34

The CHORUS MEMBERS surround SOPHIE.

CHORUS
LIFE IS MEANT FOR LIVING
LOVE IS MEANT FOR GIVING
WISDOM’S GAINED THROUGH STRUGGLE
AND WE MAKE HARMONY FROM STRIFE
YOU AVOID RELIVING
SIMPLY BY FORGIVING
EGOS LEAD TO TROUBLE
IN OUR PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

SOPHIE gathers her books and exits. The CHORUS MEMBERS
surround PHIL.

CHORUS
PARENTS MAKE A PAIRING
MARRIAGE CAN BE SPARING
COMFORT’S FOUND IN SNUGGLE
BUT WORDS CAN CUT YOU LIKE A KNIFE
IT’S HARD WORK REPAIRING
DAMAGE FROM DESPAIRING
FIX IT ON THE DOUBLE
IS OUR PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE
YOU AVOID RELIVING
SIMPLY BY FORGIVING
EGOS LEAD TO TROUBLE
IN OUR PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

The CHORUS MEMBERS exit. Crossfade to SOPHIE seated
across the writing desk from DIONYSUS as a PROFESSOR.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Let me see if I understand this.

SOPHIE
I don’t see how you could.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Yet here you are. So … let me see if I understand this. I am a logician, after all.

SOPHIE
But what I’m telling you makes no sense. Therefore … you can’t possibly understand me
using logic. If, on the other hand, you were actually an illogician … maybe you’d get it.

II-35

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Who better to make sense of seeming illogic than someone with a firm grasp of logic?
So let me see if I understand this. First. Your son is five years old. He’s infected with
the bacterium that causes scarlet fever. His condition is life-threatening. Second. René
Descartes and Ralph Waldo Emerson each had a child die of scarlet fever at age five.
Third. You believe yourself to be the reincarnation of both Descartes and Emerson.
Fourth. You hope, by determining -- and correcting -- where your prior spiritual
embodiments erred in their philosophies, to create a miracle that saves your son’s life.

SOPHIE
That’s pretty much it.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Very good. Then I see only two problems.

SOPHIE
First, I’m nuts. Second, I’m nuts.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Your logic is quite reasonable. Flawed but reasonable. If you accept the premise that
reincarnation is a possible occurrence …

SOPHIE
Do you?

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
I have yet to hear a persuasive argument for it. (beat) I also have yet to hear a persuasive
argument against it. So, for this hypothetical scenario, I’ll accept it as a possibility.

SOPHIE
Thank you.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Onto the actual problems then. The first is your assumption that Descartes and Emerson
erred in their philosophies. There’s no doubt Descartes made scientific errors in keeping
with the limitations of his time. But his more abstract notions are harder to refute.

SOPHIE
Their ideas contradict each other. So at least one of them was wrong. And I’m betting
there’s a middle ground.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Ah. A classic Hegelian dialectic of thesis and antithesis. And you’re to be the synthesis.
Assuming the conflict between their ideas can be reconciled in such a manner. So the
question is whether the conflict between their ideas -- as you see it -- can be reconciled.

II-36

SOPHIE pulls one of the books from the bag. She sings the first
verse of Spiritual Dialectic.

SOPHIE
I THINK THEREFORE I AM SAYS ONE
IN THE POWER OF REASON I TRUST
IN MY VIEW I TAKE CENTER STAGE
AND THE CONCEPT OF EGO’S ROBUST
THE WORLD AROUND IS REAL AS WELL
MADE OF OBJECTS MY SENSES DETECT
CAUSED NOT BY MY INTERNAL WILL
INDEPENDENT OF WHAT I EXPECT

Spotlight rises on RENÉ. He tap dances.

RENÉ
‘TIS THE SEASON TO USE REASON
A SEASON THAT’S ETERNAL
AND MY INSTINCT SAYS I’M DISTINCT
FROM EV’RYTHING EXTERNAL
AS SEPARATE DID GOD BEGET
EACH OF HIS LIVING CREATURES
BUT MAN IS BEST ‘CAUSE HE IS BLESSED
WITH MIND AMONG HIS FEATURES
MY DUALISM SEES A SCHISM
BETWEEN THE SOUL AND BODY
THE ONE UNSEEN RUNS THE MACHINE
IN NEITHER FOUND WILL GOD BE

Spotlight fades on RENÉ. SOPHIE takes out another book.

SOPHIE
THE OTHER SAYS EXPAND THY SELF
IT’S THE ONLY THING YOU CAN CONTROL
BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT YOU AREN’T ALL
JUST A MINISCULE PIECE OF THE WHOLE
AND DON’T NEGLECT THIS EQUAL TRUTH
THAT AT MOMENTS WE FEEL IN OUR HEARTS
THE OVER-SOUL PERVADES THE WORLD
UNIFYING ITS VARIOUS PARTS

Spotlight rises on WALDO. He tap dances.

II-37

WALDO
INTUITION IS OUR MISSION
A MISSION NEVERENDING
AND THE BEAUTY OF THAT DUTY
IS TRULY QUITE MINDBENDING
IN NATURE SEE THE BIRD AND TREE
EACH FOR ITS UNIQUE ASPECT
BUT IN YOUR SOUL DO NOT EXTOL
THE SUBJECT O’ER THE OBJECT
FOR ALL IS ONE AND THERE IS NONE
DIVIDED FROM ANOTHER
THE SHINING WHOLE OF MOTHER’S SOUL
RESIDES WITHIN EACH BROTHER

Spotlight fades on WALDO. SOPHIE lifts both books.

SOPHIE
DO YOU HAVE IT A WHITE RABBIT
TO PULL FROM YOUR SCHOLAR’S HAT
TO RECONCILE THROUGH VERBAL GUILE
THE CONFLICT INNATE IN THAT
IS IT THE SEASON TO LIVE BY REASON
DOES OUR MISSION NEED INTUITION’S SEED
ARE WE MERE MACHINES NOTHING MORE THAN GENES
DO OUR SELVES TRANSCEND WHAT WE COMPREHEND
IT’S TRUE THAT IN WAYS WE SAW BETTER DAYS
BEFORE RATIONALISM TOOK HOLD
BUT SEEKING RELIEF IN ANCIENT BELIEF
I FIND RATHER SIMPLISTIC ALL TOLD

SOPHIE hands the two books to the PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS.
He opens his mouth to sing but no words come out.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Huh. That does present a conundrum of sorts.

SOPHIE
Tell me about it.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
But sometimes asking questions is more important than knowing answers. And, even if
there were a way to synthesize those perspectives, the second problem in your argument
seems a more fundamental one. Your view of reincarnation is based on karma. Correct?

II-38

SOPHIE
To break the cycle, I have to avoid making the same mistake they did. Change my core.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
In that case, there’s a major flaw in your assumption that, even if Descartes and Emerson
did get things wrong in their philosophies, that’s what led to your reincarnation and, by
extension, your son’s life-threatening illness.

SOPHIE
But that’s the only point of connection! That’s what all three of us have in common.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
I grant that it’s the most obvious point of connection. Given our time constraints, there’s
no practical way to determine whether or not there are others. So I’ll accept your premise
that by correcting a “karmic” mistake made by both your prior spiritual embodiments you
can miraculously avert a similar outcome for your own child. The problem is in your
assumption that the mistake you need to correct has to do with their philosophical beliefs.

SOPHIE
But that’s who they were! They were thinkers. Influential thinkers.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
That’s who they are to us. That’s how history has remembered them. But that’s not all
they were. They were also living, breathing humans.

SOPHIE
“I think, therefore I am.” But I’m more than what I think.

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
As I understand it, karma means action. If so, then the mistake you need to correct isn’t
something they thought. It’s more likely something they did. How they lived their lives.
The core you need to change may not be in your beliefs. It may be in your actions.

SOPHIE
Or in both. “In creed and your life see affinity, and then you’ll be schooled in divinity.”
He didn’t recognize the truth of his life. So he’d lived in vain. That’s it!

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
What’s that?

SOPHIE
Just something I said a long time ago. I’m finally beginning to understand what it means.
Thank you, Professor. I’m off to learn more about my prior spiritual embodiments.

SOPHIE starts to exit.

II-39

PROFESSOR/DIONYSUS
Sophie! Your books.

SOPHIE
Those are useless to me now. I need firsthand experience. Direct revelation.

DIONYSUS drops the PROFESSOR role and freezes SOPHIE.

DIONYSUS
In that case, I know a shortcut.

DIONYSUS gestures; the office door swings closed. He unfreezes
SOPHIE, who immediately steps forward, banging her head into
the closed door.

SOPHIE
Ouch.

SOPHIE spins around and slumps against the door unconscious.
DIONYSUS gestures; lights change. DIONYSUS withdraws as
WALDO enters and sits at the desk. He works in silence for a
moment. There’s a knock on the door.

WALDO
Enter!

The door pushes against SOPHIE, awakening her. She crawls out
of the way and looks around in amazement as LYDIA enters.

LYDIA
Forgive me for interrupting.

WALDO
What is it?

LYDIA
I … the children are hoping you’ll come tuck them into their beds.

WALDO
Hmm. Perhaps tomorrow.

LYDIA
That’s what you said yesterday. And the yesterday before that.

WALDO
And I may say it again tomorrow. And the tomorrow after that.

II-40

LYDIA
Very well, Mister Emerson. I’ll inform your three darlings you’re occupied with more
important matters.

WALDO
Thank you, Lydian.

LYDIA doesn’t move.

Yes?

LYDIA
Nothing.

LYDIA starts to exit.

WALDO
I’ll be going out shortly. You needn’t wait up for me.

LYDIA
At this hour? Where?

WALDO
Mister James has asked me to stop in.

LYDIA
Mister James! I don’t like that man’s ideas. Emanuel Swedenborg and all his followers
should be denounced as the heretics they are.

WALDO
You’re well aware how much I admire the sharpness of your intellect and the firmness of
your convictions. I admit I’m skeptical myself of James’s view of selfhood as a delusion.
Why, he goes so far to make it a cause of evil and barrier to salvation. Our selves are all
we have! But I can put that aside in order to fulfill my obligations to my young godson.

LYDIA
Your godson.

WALDO
I see something extraordinary in that boy. Mark my words, William James will achieve
greatness. That’s why I must seize every opportunity to influence his development.

Long silence.

LYDIA
He’s not Waldo.

II-41

SOPHIE
What?

WALDO
What did you say?

LYDIA
It’s just … sometimes it seems as though you … when one considers the timing of
William’s birth and Waldo’s …

Long silence.

WALDO
Is there anything else?

LYDIA
My name is Lydia.

WALDO
Pardon?

LYDIA
Lydia. My name is Lydia.

WALDO
I find that Lydian better reflects the divinity of your spirit. Lydia is so common.

LYDIA
I’ll kiss your children goodnight for you.

WALDO
Perhaps I can spare a moment to tuck one of them in myself. Tell Ellen I’ll be--

LYDIA
Ellen! Of course it’s to be Ellen.

WALDO
Yes. Ellen is the eldest. Next time it will be Edith. And Edward after that.

LYDIA
Of course.

WALDO
Tell Ellen I’ll be there presently.

II-42

WALDO goes back to work. SOPHIE approaches the desk and
stares at him. LYDIA sings Tell the Children.

LYDIA
TELL ELLEN I’LL BE THERE PRESENTLY
TELL ELLEN I’LL COME TO HER SOON
I’LL FUSS OVER HER PLEASANTLY
AND THEN I’LL FLY OFF TO THE MOON
TELL EDITH I’LL VISIT HER NEXT TIME
TELL EDITH I’LL KEEP HER IN MIND
I’LL MAKE LIFE TO HER SEEM SUBLIME
AS SOON AS I FEEL SO INCLINED
TELL EDWARD HIS TURN COMES AFTER
TELL EDWARD HE’S THIRD IN THE QUEUE
I’LL ENLIVEN HIM WITH LAUGHTER
WHEN THERE’S NOTHING BETTER TO DO
MY OWN DEAREST LYDIAN
I NAMED YOU FROM THE GREEK
AS SHARP AS OBSIDIAN
ALTHOUGH NOT QUITE AS SLEEK
YOU’RE MY PRIME MERIDIAN
YOU GUIDE ME THROUGH THE WEEK
BRAVING THE QUOTIDIAN
WHILE I SENSE THE UNIQUE
ME ME ME ME ME
IIIII
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY
ME ME ME ME ME
IIIII
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE
TELL WALDO TO LIVE YET I WILL HIM
TELL WALDO I’LL NEVER LET GO
I SEE HIS LOST SOUL IN WILLIAM
AND MY CHEERLESS HEART STARTS TO GLOW
TELL ALL THE CHILDREN I LOVE THEM
TELL ALL THE CHILDREN IT’S TRUE
TELL ALL THE CHILDREN ABOVE THEM
ONLY MY SELF I VALUE
TELL ALL THE CHILDREN I LOVE THEM
AND BY CHILDREN I MEAN YOU TOO

II-43

LYDIA storms out. SOPHIE leans in close to WALDO.

SOPHIE
You poor dear. You’re still not over the loss, are you?

WALDO
Ellen! Is that you, Ellen?

SOPHIE jumps away in surprise. WALDO gazes all around.

It’s been so long since you’ve spoken to me! I was afraid I’d angered you by remarrying.
By no means have I forgotten you. I visit your grave every day. I even named my eldest
daughter after you.

SOPHIE
Oh! I don’t think you should’ve done that.

SOPHIE clamps a hand over her mouth.

WALDO
But … it was Lydian who suggested it. And the girl is a perfect jewel. She does honor to
your spirit. Imagine if you’d lived long enough to bear us children. What princes they’d
have been! (beat) Are you angry? Should I have remained a widower?

SOPHIE shrugs her shoulders. WALDO paces in growing
agitation.

Please, Ellen. I need answers. Have you met … my son? Speak to me. You must!

SOPHIE shakes her head emphatically.

I can’t endure this any longer. Lydian! Lydian, come quickly!

LYDIA
(entering)
What is it? Are you all right?

WALDO
I’ve made a decision. I’ve settled on a cure for the restlessness I’ve been feeling. I shall
return to Europe. I intend to book passage on the next ship sailing from Boston harbor.

LYDIA
Europe! And what of us? What of your family?

SOPHIE
Really, Waldo. She’s got a point.

II-44

WALDO
Thoreau will watch over you. Now that he’s completed his experiment in solitude, he’ll
no doubt welcome a return to the comforts of this house. And surely you won’t object to
being left in his capable hands.

LYDIA
As you wish. (aside) Unlike your own, Henry’s hands are indeed capable. And willing.

DIONYSUS steps forward and freezes WALDO, LYDIA, and
SOPHIE.

DIONYSUS
What can I say? I’ve always had a thing for the ladies. And they seem drawn to me.

He transforms LYDIA into HÉLÈNE.

The men, too, for that matter. But this one would’ve found Whitman more receptive.

He transforms WALDO into RENÉ.

As for these two … that’s another situation altogether.

He unfreezes RENÉ, HÉLÈNE, and SOPHIE, then withdraws.
SOPHIE is momentarily confused in regard to her whereabouts.

HÉLÈNE
You sent for me.

RENÉ
Ah. Hélène. Yes. Hmm. There’s no good way to tell you this.

Long silence while RENÉ hesitates. SOPHIE draws closer.

HÉLÈNE
Perhaps it would be best to make it easy on yourself and just say it. (aside) Anything
would be better than the nothing I’ve had from you these three weeks.

RENÉ
Very well. My landlady’s informed me she no longer requires your services. She’s
offered to recom--

HÉLÈNE
And you?

RENÉ
Pardon?

II-45

HÉLÈNE
Do you any longer require my services?

RENÉ
Now that my niece … I have no … I, too, will write you an exemplary recommendation.
In some circles, where my name is not despised, such a letter might actually be helpful.

HÉLÈNE
Will you recommend me as a maid or as a wife?

SOPHIE
Oh my!

RENÉ
Our “marriage” was never sanctified. It has no standing before God.

HÉLÈNE
Nor before you it seems.

RENÉ
I never promised to remain faithful to you.

HÉLÈNE
Who is she?

RENÉ
Pardon?

HÉLÈNE
With whom do you intend to be unfaithful to me?

SOPHIE
Yeah! Who’s the harlot?

RENÉ
I have no plans--… That’s not the point.

HÉLÈNE
I love you, René. You’ve professed the same to me on many occasions.

RENÉ
I wouldn’t say many. A few perhaps. You can’t hold me responsible for the follies of
youth. (beat) The truth is I initiated our … bodily interaction … in the name of science.
In the interests of furthering my understanding of anatomy. You may recall that I was
working on my treatise on the formation of the fetus at the time.

II-46

HÉLÈNE
I recall the formation of the fetus. And the act that led to it. And the birth of the infant
girl that developed from it. And the growth of that infant girl into our daughter. And--

RENÉ
Enough!

HÉLÈNE
And the death of our daughter three weeks ago. I recall that part with particular clarity.
Do you?

RENÉ
Farewell, Hélène.

HÉLÈNE
You can’t just send me away. I won’t go.

RENÉ
Suit yourself. I leave for Leiden in the morning. I’ll provide you with some measure of
support, as my income allows, until you find another position.

HÉLÈNE runs out.

SOPHIE
You’re such a little shit! Wait, you’re me. I was such a little shit!

RENÉ goes to the desk and begins to write as he sings the first
verse of Passions.

RENÉ
MY DEAR PRINCESS ELIZABETH
EXILE FROM BOHEMIA
UNDERSTAND I YOUR LIVING DEATH
BANNED FROM ACADEMIA
YEARS AGO I MET YOUR MOTHER
ELDEST DAUGHTER OF KING JAMES
WOMAN UNLIKE ANY OTHER
I CAN SENSE YOU’RE MUCH THE SAME
I HAD NO CAUSE TO SUSPECT YOU
KNEW OF MY PHILOSOPHY
I’D BE HONORED TO INSTRUCT YOU
THOUGH I OFFER NO DEGREE

A letter drifts down from above and lands near SOPHIE. She
picks it up and looks at RENÉ, who waits. She hesitantly sings.

II-47

SOPHIE
MY DEAR TEACHER RENÉ DESCARTES
THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR BRILLIANCE
PLEDGE I HEREBY TO DO MY PART
QUESTIONING WITH RESILIENCE
FIRST EXPLAIN IF YOU WOULD YOUR THOUGHT
PROVING THE LORD’S EXISTENCE
EVERYTHING THAT I’VE BEEN TAUGHT
CHALLENGES SUCH INSISTENCE
RARELY BEFORE IN HISTORY
DARED SOMEONE MAKE SUCH A CASE
SHOULDN’T GOD BE A MYSTERY
WE EMBRACE WITH UTMOST FAITH

RENÉ begins to write again.

RENÉ
MY DEAR PRINCESS ELIZABETH
STUDENT WITHOUT PARALLEL
YOUR QUERIES LEAVE ME OUT OF BREATH
PROMPTING MY OWN THOUGHTS TO GEL
I’M BACK LIVING IN LEIDEN NOW
JUST TWO HOURS FROM LA HAYE
THIS CONVENIENCE WILL US ALLOW
FACE TO FACE TO SPEAK I PRAY
IN REGARD TO INTERACTION
BETWEEN THE BODY AND MIND
I HOPE I GIVE SATISFACTION
ANSWERING IT’S UNDEFINED
YOU SEE IT’S ALL ABOUT PASSION
PASSIONS OF THE SOUL
THE FORCE OF ANIMAL SPIRITS
HUMANS CAN’T CONTROL
ORIGINATING IN OUR BLOOD
MUSCLES THEY ATTACK
THUS STIMULATING ALL THE WAYS
BODIES TEND TO ACT
PASSIONS WILD OR UNDETECTED
COME AT A GREAT COST
SHOULD OUR MINDS BECOME INFECTED
REASON WILL BE LOST

II-48

Another letter drifts down. SOPHIE quickly collects it.

SOPHIE
INTELLECTUAL GIANT
ON THE WISDOM YOU IMPART
I’VE BECOME RELIANT
MY YOUNG BROTHER HAS STABBED A MAN
WHO HAD DARED TO FLIRT WITH ME
THREATENED BY MY DEAD SUITOR’S CLAN
SOUTH TO SPAIN HE HAD TO FLEE
NOW MY MOTHER ACCUSES ME
CLAIMS I MAKE MEN HOSTILE
SENDS ME OFF TO GERMANY
EXILED TO DOUBLE EXILE
MUSCLES THEY ATTACK
BODIES TEND TO ACT
REASON WILL BE LOST

RENÉ steps toward SOPHIE without bothering to write.

RENÉ
THOSE OF US WHO REFLECT ON LIFE
OFTEN SUFFER THE SAME FATE
MELANCHOLY OR MENTAL STRIFE
ONLY DREAMING CAN ABATE
QUEEN CHRISTINA HAS SUMMONED ME
SWEDEN’S COURT AWAITS MY PLEA
I’LL PETITION THE ROYALTY
BEAR NO MORE YOUR POVERTY

II-49

RENÉ (CONT’D)
MUSCLES THEY ATTACK
BODIES TEND TO ACT
REASON WILL BE LOST

Another letter drifts down. SOPHIE snatches it out of the air.

SOPHIE
(SKIP THE SWEET TALK FOR GOD’S SAKE
COME ON SOPHIE IF YOU’RE SO SMART
LOOK FOR HINTS OF HIS MISTAKE)
POLAND’S KING HAS PROPOSED WE WED
WIFE TO HIM I COULDN’T BE
I’M ALREADY IN LOVE I SAID
WITH DESCARTES’ PHILOSOPHY

SOPHIE AND RENÉ
MUSCLES THEY ATTACK
BODIES TEND TO ACT
REASON WILL BE LOST

DIONYSUS enters as HUYGENS. He strains to drag a large trunk
into the room.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Phew! What’s inside this chest anyway?

RENÉ
What would you expect? My books of course.

II-50

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Surely the Queen of Sweden has her own library. As her private tutor, no doubt you’ll
have free rein in the palace.

RENÉ
I need the contents of that case with me. In my room. For my meditations. I never get
out of bed before noon at the earliest.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Another of your strange habits. Like the vegetarian diet.

SOPHIE
At least you’re not a vegan.

RENÉ
Is it strange a man should wish to take good care of himself?

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
That reminds me. How’s that hair project coming along?

RENÉ
You can see for yourself.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Indeed I can. I’m afraid you’ve made no discernible progress in reversing the graying
process. Not that it seems to matter.

RENÉ
Not matter! How can you say that? I used to think death could deprive me of no more
than thirty years. Now I fear I could lose out on over a hundred. Who knows how long
men might live? That’s why I must continue my animal experiments. The secret of our
existence awaits discovery.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
You really believe they’re incapable of pain? The animals you dissect?

SOPHIE
You cut up live animals!

RENÉ
Only humans have souls.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
So it’s death that motivates you. You turn fifty and suddenly feel mortal. You should try
your hand at poetry. And I thought you were simply concerned with your appearance.

II-51

RENÉ
Why would I care about my appearance? I spend almost all my time alone.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
True. You are something of a recluse. When you’re not in the chambers of lovely young
ladies, that is.

RENÉ
What are you implying, Constantijn?

SOPHIE
You’re a dirty old man!

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
I imply nothing. The facts speak for themselves. First Elizabeth, now Christina. I give
you credit for setting your sights high. Deposed royalty isn’t even good enough for you.

RENÉ
They’re my students! And both of them prodigies. Christina is fluent in ten languages.
As for Elizabeth … to understand so easily the reasoning of both algebra and metaphysics
… it’s a rare gift indeed.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
I confess to understanding neither. At least not the way you do. Or even as my son does.
I suspect that’s your influence.

RENÉ
Christiaan honors the Huygens name. I expect him to achieve great success as a scientist.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Thank you. (beat) So you really aren’t hoping the Queen takes, shall we say, a personal
interest in you?

RENÉ
I’m old enough to be her father!

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
That you are, René. And I mean it as a compliment.

RENÉ
If you’ll excuse me, I must prepare for my first session with her Excellency.

RENÉ sits at the desk and begins making notes. Behind him,
HUYGENS/DIONYSUS goes to the trunk and opens the lid. He
stares inside, aghast. SOPHIE approaches.

II-52

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
Dear Lord in Heaven!

RENÉ
What are you doing? Get away from there!

Before RENÉ can reach the trunk, HUYGENS/DIONYSUS lifts out
a female doll. It’s the size of a human child and highly realistic,
with mechanically functional limbs. SOPHIE staggers back.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
I … I just wanted to see which works you hold so dear.

RENÉ
Please put that down.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
It must’ve cost you a fortune.

RENÉ
Please.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
The likeness is remarkable.

RENÉ
It’s a … scientific model. I had it built to illustrate the human machine once it’s lost-- …
as an example of the machine without a soul.

RENÉ carefully takes the doll from HUYGENS/DIONYSUS and
returns it to the trunk. He closes the lid.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
I’m sorry.

RENÉ
I think it would be best if you left me now.

HUYGENS/DIONYSUS
As you wish. (beat) Do you ever hear from her? Hélène. The maid who used to look
after your … niece. I know you had strong feelings for her.

RENÉ collapses onto the trunk. SOPHIE reaches out toward him.
DIONYSUS drops the HUYGENS role and gestures; crossfade to
the hospital room. A heart monitor beeps slowly but steadily.
PHIL gazes at his son for a moment, then sings The Beat Goes On.

II-53

PHIL
LIFE CAN GET ROUTINE AT TIMES
LIFE CAN SEEM MONOTONOUS
LIFE CAN BE AN UPHILL CLIMB
BUT LIFE STILL MEANS THE WORLD TO US
LOVE CAN PUNCH US IN THE GUT
LOVE CAN BRING HEARTACHE PROFOUND
LOVE CAN DRIVE US TRULY NUTS
BUT LOVE STILL MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND

The CHORUS MEMBERS enter.

CHORUS
LIVING AND LOVING
BREATHING AND FEELING
EACH YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR
THE BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON

PHIL
DEATH CAN STRIKE US AS UNFAIR
DEATH CAN SEEM OH SO UNJUST
DEATH CAN CATCH US UNAWARE
BUT DEATH STILL MEANS THE END FOR US
FAITH CAN HELP US FACE OUR FEARS
FAITH CAN LIGHTEN WHAT’S UNKNOWN
FAITH CAN MINIMIZE OUR TEARS
BUT FAITH STILL LEAVES US ON OUR OWN

CHORUS
LIVING AND LOVING
EACH YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR
THE BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON
BEAT GOES ON

II-54

PHIL
YOU LIE THERE SO SHORT OF BREATH
YOU LIE THERE WITH FACE SO RED
YOU LIE THERE ON VERGE OF DEATH
BUT YOU STILL HOLD ON BY A THREAD
I STAND HERE AND PLAY MY PART
I STAND HERE AND NOD MY HEAD
I STAND HERE WITH CARING HEART
BUT I STILL FEEL SUCH MORTAL DREAD
LIVING AND LOVING
I HOPE I SO HOPE I JUST HOPE
THE BEAT GOES ON

CHORUS
THUMP THUMP THUMP
THUMP THUMP THUMP
THUMP THUMP THUMP
THUMP THUMP THUMP

PHIL
LIVING AND LOVING
I HOPE I SO HOPE I JUST HOPE
THE BEAT GOES ON

CHORUS
THUMP THUMP THUMP
THUMP THUMP THUMP
THUMP THUMP THUMP
THUMP THUMP THUMP

The CHORUS MEMBERS withdraw but remain onstage as the
music fades into the beep of the heart monitor. SOPHIE enters.

SOPHIE
Phil! You won’t believe this! Descartes kept a doll of his--

PHIL
Where have you been?

SOPHIE
What? I …

II-55

PHIL
Do you have any idea how long you’ve been gone?

SOPHIE
I … no, not really. I hit my head again. Don’t worry: I’ve been to the campus infirmary.
Professor Logos insisted I get it looked at.

PHIL
And …?

SOPHIE
And what?

PHIL
Where is it?

SOPHIE
Where’s what?

PHIL
Or should I ask, when is it coming?

SOPHIE
I…

PHIL
Well?

SOPHIE
I don’t know what you’re talking about. My head is spinning from everything I saw. Not
to mention the bump. I’m still trying to get my mind around it all so I can figure out--

PHIL
The miracle! You were going to create your own. Right? That’s what you said. Right?
Where is it? When’s it coming? ‘Cause we could really use one about now.

SOPHIE
What’s happening? What’s wrong? Is he-- …?

PHIL
He’s dying, Sophie. So. Work your miracles. Or say your goodbyes. But whichever
you do, do it soon.

SOPHIE
No.

II-56

PHIL
The infection’s spread to his heart. And to his brain.

SOPHIE
No.

PHIL
They call it Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome. It even has an acronym. MODS.
There’s probably a pun in there somewhere.

SOPHIE
What are they doing to stop it? What’s the treatment?

PHIL
Don’t worry: They’ve called the MODS Squad. (beat) Not bad, huh? Wait. I just got
another one. But how to use it in a sentence. What we need … are meds for MODS.
We need meds for MODS for bods in beds. Bods in beds belonging to kids in Keds.

SOPHIE
Phil.

PHIL
Work with me here. Tods and their teds. No. Too fuzzy. Get it? Toddler teddy bears.
Fuzzy. (beat) What else? Gods and … nope. Nothing meaningful follows gods.

SOPHIE
This is serious!

PHIL
You think?

SOPHIE
It’ll destroy me!

PHIL
It’ll destroy you?

SOPHIE
Like Waldo and René. They were devastated. And now it’s happening to me.

CHORUS

The CHORUS MEMBERS exit.

II-57

PHIL
For god’s sake, Sophie! You are NOT the reincarnation of Descartes and Emerson!
There’s no such thing as reincarnation. I don’t believe in reincarnation.

SOPHIE
Well then. So much for believing in me.

Silence except for the beep of the heart monitor. Enter DIONYSUS
as a PATIENT. He wears a hospital gown and drags an IV stand.

PATIENT/DIONYSUS
Don’t mean to interrupt.

SOPHIE
Can we help you with something?

PATIENT/DIONYSUS
More like I can help you.

SOPHIE
I doubt that.

PATIENT/DIONYSUS
Nothing wrong with doubt. According to some folks it’s the only basis for certainty.

PHIL
Listen, buddy …

SOPHIE
Wait. Let’s hear what he has to say.

PATIENT/DIONYSUS
Bananas and jello.

PHIL
What?

PATIENT/DIONYSUS
Bananas and jello. That’s what your boy needs. Good for the organs. See, I used to
drink a bit, back in the day. Red wine mostly. They say it’s healthy -- in moderation or
what not. But I went kinda wild. Messed up my liver bad. From what I can dismember,
that is. Now I eat bananas and jello every day. Back on my feet. Back from the dead.

SOPHIE
He can’t eat. He’s in a coma.

Enlightenment

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