Synopsis:
Written as a textual intervention from Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Indian Camp,” Wondrous Stories reimagines the story of a Caucasian doctor and his son taking over the birth of a baby from the perspectives of the Native American’s waiting for the child to be born.
Setting:
- A Native American encampment somewhere in Massachusetts
Themes:
- Perceived superiority of one over another
- Balance of nature and one’s life
- Reclaiming the truth of Native American life
Cast of Characters: 1 Female, 3 Males, 3 Any Gender
Inspiration:
This is a textual intervention of Indian Camp by Ernest Hemingway. A textual intervention is a way to reimaging a story from a different perspective. Some famous textual interventions are Gergory Maguire’s Wicked (based off of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz books), John Gardner’s Grendel (based off of the epic poem Beowulf), and Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account (based off of Cabeza de Vaca’s The RelaciĆ³n).
Excerpt:
The stage is bathed in blue light broken up with a gobo representing branches. On stage right an entrance to a small cabin is shown. A lantern hangs in the window of the house. The Lantern is not bright enough to illuminate anything inside the cabin. The sound of a flowing river should be played over the sound system.
In the center of the stage sits a small circle of stones with a campfire in the middle. The campfire is lit with the logs configured in two different ways: in the middle the logs are arranged in a pyramid with a point towards the sky; the surrounding logs are stacked on either side of the triangle two-by-two in layers (layer one: east side and west side of triangle. layer two: north side and south side. layer three: east side and west side; layer four: north side and south side). These stacks form a “log cabin” configuration that surrounds the pyramid in the center. To the stage right side of the circle of stones is a larger flat stone that holds a pot of water. There are two logs towards the back of the circle of stones. These are used for sitting.
On stage left is a piece of blue cloth that lays on the floor. It is 8 feet wide and laid flat at an angle from upstage left to downstage center left.
As the actors enter the stage the lights should shift from an evening blue to a morning amber on stage right, while stage left should remain more in the blue light. The NARRATOR enters from the door in the cabin while THE RIVER enters from stage left. With the focus being on the NARRATOR the entrance of THE RIVER should not be as focused for the audience to notice. Before the NARRATOR speaks the sound of the river should fade out.
NARRATOR
Hello.
Thank you for coming to this performance.
This is a piece called “Wondrous Stories” written by E. Salvador Chapman. This is a work of fiction called a …
Textual Intervention.
Textual Interventions are written responses to a piece of literature, usually created from a different perspective than the original. This play is a response to “Indian Camp” by Ernest Hemingway. If you know the work than you might get more out of the play. If you do not … well … no need to worry.
This piece is so much better.
I am, what you would call, the omniscient narrator. I see all, know all and will point out important things to you with which you you should be aware.
Good morning, River.
I hope you are well and healthy. Thank you for providing much needed sustenance for the people.
NARRATOR
Well hello, Azeban. How are you this morning?
NARRATOR
Wli nanawalmezi (wo.lay nah.nah.wal.meh.zee)
NARRATOR
Not a moment too late, either.
THE RIVER
Calmly, We rest
Flowing through the night
Calmly, We’re still
We bring to you our song
We bring to you our joy
We bring to you our peace
We bring to you our life
Calmly, We float
Bringing you a light
Calmly, We breathe
NICK
Where are we going, Dad?
FATHER
Over to that cabin. There is an Indian lady very sick.
NICK
Oh.