Act One

The Dead Are Never Dead

The dead are never dead
They are in everything
Roar of wind that shakes the plains
Clap of thunder, rhyme of rain
In the firebrand that flames
These are their hiding places
Reborn with different faces
The dead are never dead
We pray –

Man 1:
No harm to come our way
As we set out for the kill

Man 2:
Keep our arrows swift

Man 3:
Keep our pulses strong

Chorus:
Spirits of the dead
Hear our song
You who tremble in the trees
You who whisper in the glade
Guide our feet
And light our way
We pray - 

Mother:
Ohh…oohhhh

Chorus:
We pray –
Keep our hearts fierce
Keep our hearts strong
Spirit of the lion, rage!
With the sadness of our song
Spirit of the desert fox
Bare your teeth, raise your claw
No justice in our children lost
Avenge us with your higher law
We pray –

Chief:
Let no one be spared
As we set out for the kill

Chorus:
Zingela baba
Kumnandi

Women:
If they touch our children,
It is our blood they spill

Chorus:
Keep our arrows swift
Keep our pulses strong
Spirits of the dead
Hear our song

Mother:
Oohhh…oohhh (to the tune of ‘If I Had Known Your Name’)

Chorus:
The dead are never dead
They are in everything
Roar of wind that shakes the plains
Clap of thunder, rhyme of rain
In the firebrand that flames
These are their hiding places
Reborn with different faces
The dead are never dead
We pray, we pray, we pray, we pray!
 

I Long To See Your Face

Young Bakhita:
Oh Great Spirit
Hear my prayer
I need to know you hear it
Show me some sort of sign
Great Spirit
Some sort of sign
I long to know that this prayer
Has fallen on your ears
To silence all my fears

Someone stole into my home
Stole into my life
Taken my sister
And now this knife turns in my heart

Someone stole into my home
Stole into my world
What do I know of warmth or safety
Now that danger lurks so close

I long to see your face
I long to know what warm is
What safe is
If I see your face
All that I have lost will be found
My sister safe and sound
Warm in my embrace
Let me see your face

If you are the stars
Be the light that guides her home
If you are the sun 
Take away the night
Take away the shadows
That keep her from my sight
If you are the wind
Give her wings
And let her fly
Home where safe is
Home where warm is
Home where I am waiting

I long to see your face
I long to know what warm is
What safe is
If I see your face
I long to see your face, your face!
 

Fruit of the Gir-Gir Tree

Young Bakhita:
Fruit of the Gir-Gir tree
So tasty I could eat all day!
Come out where you’ve been hiding
There!

Kishmet:
Yummy!

Both:
Fill our tummies while we play!

Young Bakhita:
If you eat from the Gir-Gir tree
You will grown strong!

Kishmet:
If you eat from the Gir-Gir tree
You will live long!

Both:
Longer than mama
Longer than papa
Longer than the sun!

Young Bakhita:
If I eat from the Gir-Gir tree
The wind will have to catch up with me
How fast can I run!

Both:
Faster than the rush of the river
Faster than the rain
Faster than…
 

History Lesson: Sudan in Shambles

Slaves:
Sudan, heartland home
These shackles chain you away
These lashes bruise our colors on our skin
Sudan our heartland and their sin, their sin, their sin –

Khedive Mohammed Ali:
In 1805, Turkey took Sudan by storm

Slaves:
A jewel by the Nile

Mohammed Ali:
An endless possibility
Of gold and ivory
They sent an emissary –

Slaves:
Mohammed Ali!

Mohammed Ali:
To see the sights and sounds
Of a land newfound
To boost a found’ring economy!

Slaves:
But the Nile had found its serpent!

Mohammed Ali
Mohammed took what gold he could find
But discovered a delicious secret –

Slaves:
The slave routes winding to the Mediterranean!

Mohammed Ali:
He bound the slaves in caravans –
The real gold of the promised land
And wheeled them off to sea!

Slaves:
The glitch made him rich!
The Ottoman Empire flourished!
But the slaves were whipped and undernourished!

Mohammed Ali:
And the country was torn by slavery!
Until the middle of the century…
A man claims heavenly visions

Slaves:
Ooh! Ahh!

Mahdi:
Like flashes of lightning!

Slaves:
Ooh! Ahh! These heavenly sightings!

Mahdi:
Allah your people are torn
Your people need to be reborn!
Allah your people are torn
Your people need to reborn!
In your Name
In your Name
..Allah Hu Akbar!

I wage war against every Christian in this land,
Every master of every slave who bends not to the will of Allah!

Slaves:
Like a self-syled prophet
Like a savior without a cross

Mahdi:
I will Islamicize Africa!

Slaves:
And bloodshed, endless bloodshed for the unbelievers!

Mohammed Ali:
Sudan Wonderland
Your bounty is our to reap!

Mahdi:
Sudan Brokenland
I will mend the chasm
Though hope is dim – 

Slaves:
Sudan our heartland and their sin!

Mohammed Ali:
Ivory, silk and gold
Your riches are manifold
Ivory, silk and gold
Your riches are manifold

Mahdi:
This cunning enterprise
The smell of blood and spice in the air
Sudan I will unite you
Under the crescent moon
Sudan wipe your tears
And raise your chin-

Slaves:
Sudan our heartland and their sin

All:
Sudan our heartland and their sin!
 

Pay Homage to your Mistress!

Turkish General’s Wife:
Pay homage to your Mistress!
Gorify my name!

Chorus:
Cut it on your skin
Leave it on your flesh
Pay homage to your Mistress!

Wife:
You are my minion
My slave
You cannot be saved
Forever these marks to remind you
That you are mine (4x)

Chorus:
Blood and brine
Let the wounds never close
Let the wounds simmer 
In the noonday sun
Let salt open flesh
Let wounds never close
Let the scar never fade
For as long as you are marked

Wife:
You glorify my name (3x)
Hold her down!
Pygmy-girl
Hold still, hold still
As the needle in my name on your skin
Almost there!
You have pricked my heart
I will prick your skin
I will prick your skin
Until I’ve pulled the needles
From my heart!

Chorus:
Salt! Dye! Needle!…..

Wife:
Rub more salt in
Darken the dye
For as sure as the scars remain
My name will never die
My name will never die
My name will never die!
 

Her Careful Ways

Legnani:
Who is this girl?
Look how her eyes plead with me
What’s their secret?
Look how carefully she sets the cup
How carefully she pours the tea
How she trembles in his gaze
What is she afraid of?

But there’s a quiet grace to her
A quiet courage
Look how she hides
The way he’s marked her flesh
The lashes on her skin
The careful way she pleases him

You curtsy for your master
You kiss his feet
And fetch his tea
Now there’s a smile upon your lips
You’ve painted there for me

But there are lashes in your heart
Much too deep to disguise
And there’s a sorrow in your gaze
Even in your careful ways
There’s a fear you try to hide
There’s a tremor in your hand
When he is by your side
A shadow cuts across your face
You hide it in your careful ways
Your careful ways
 

I Long to See Your Face Reprise

Young Bakhita:
I long to see your face
I long to know your name
Oh Great Spirit
Hear my prayer
They call you Allah
The one, the just
They say that mercy is your face
And I’ve longed to see it
All of my days

But they spill their blood
For your cause
And kneel at sundown
For your holy laws

If you are the one 
And mercy is your face
Why do they kill
And call it your Holy will?

Why do they murder in the street?
Without mercy without pause
If you are the one
The merciful one
These aren’t your laws
This isn’t your face

I long to see your face
I long to know what warm is
What safe is?
If I see your face
I long to see your face, your face!
 

Powerless

Turkish General:
There were days when I lived your vision
The riches of this land to reap Mohammed
Your dreams have gone to sleep (2x) in my hands

You dreamt in ivory and silk
In caravans and slaves
You played with fire
And an Empire was born!

You built spires from the ground
You cast your dreams in stone
You had your legions
I am alone

Mohammed my armies are dead
The Empire is crumbling
How do I resurrect
Your parapets
Your glory, your schemes
Your visionary dreams?

Your fire has left my veins
I confess
The General has lost, Mohammed
I am powerless.

Mohammed I see
Sudan
Your skin, your eyes
Sudan
The Africa you vanquished
How easily you took her!
How she faltered in your hands!
Mohammed take back your challenge
Reclaim your lost empire!

Venezia

Chorus:
The paved and quiet streets
The smell of the sea
There are gentlemen and ladies
In their Sunday finery
Speaking in a tongue
I barely understand
Peasants begging alms
Reaching out their hands

What new world is this?
Venezia
Desert of stone and arch and canopy
A jungle of voices

Il mio amico dice che!
Bellisima Moretta!

Il mio amico dice che!
Bellisima Moretta!

In Venezia
A peddler and a king can meet
Down a labyrinthine street
Upstairs a woman sings
Of broken wings,
A broken heart
Downstairs a world will start
With verve and noise
And simple joys

Venezia
Il mio amico dice che
What new world is this?
People biding their time
In piazzas with wine
Fish-men hauling in their nets
The area of a sunset
Over an arch by the square
The smell of brine and brine and sweat
In the air

Venezia
Venezia!
 

I Will be There

Voice-over:
Everyday I watch you,
Mimmina
And you're growing 
Too big for my arms
Everyday,
An inch too tall
A foot too fast
A world too wise
For my arms
Too big for my arms

Everyday
In every way, Mimmina
You grow
Too big to answer when I call
Too wise to hush
Whenever I shush you
Too big for my arms
Too big for my arms

But every night
When you've stolen to bed
I watch you curled and small
And my arms are wide enough
To hold you afterall

Mimmina!
 

White Hands, White Face

Bakhita:
White hands
White face
He has
White hands
White face
He has

Warm and gentle His eyes
When He held me close
I trembled
How could anyone's embrace
Feel so safe?
White hands
White face

Signor Illuminato:
Her eyes are lost and wild

Bakhita:
Warm and gentle His eyes

Signor Illuminato:
And when I held her close
She trembled

Bakhita:
I trembled

Signor Illuminato:
How do I teach her Lord of Light?

Bakhita:
Shining through this endless night?

Signor Illuminato:
How do I teach her that wounds may heal?

Bakhita:
And though the scars may never fade

Signor Illuminato:
If only You should will it my Lord

Bakhita:
All my anger's wearing thin

Signor Illuminato:
Erase the lashes on her skin

Bakhita:
And I no longer feel afraid

Signor Illuminato:
I've asked you
What more could I do
And when I saw her eyes
How lost they were and wild
I knew what I could do
This child is mine
To bring to you

Bakhita:
I never thought I'd feel of safe…

Signor Illuminato:
I lift her up to your embrace

Bakhita:
…In anyone's embrace

Signor Illuminato:
Hold her close in your embrace
White hands, white face

Both:
White hands, white face
 

All lyrics are copyrighted 2000