"Last Night"
DIEGO: LAST NIGHT I SAW A FLOWER GROW
ON THIS SAME EARTH WHERE WE STAND NOW.
IN SECONDS I WATCHED HER MATURE:
BRIEF SECONDS, SO PAINFUL TO ENDURE;
PETALS TORN HARSHLY FROM HER BREAST.
SHE WAS BROKEN AND RAPED BEFORE HER DEATH.
LUPE: WHAT WAS HER NAME?
DIEGO: I DON'T KNOW.
LUPE: WAS SHE LOVELY AND HOPEFUL
AND SO SLOW TO BLAME?
JORGE: DIEGO, WHY SHARE WHAT YOU'VE SEEN?
WE'VE ALL LOST FATHERS OR DAUGHTERS,
WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN PAINS.
DIEGO: JORGE, YOU'RE COLD AS A STONE.
YOU SAY "WHAT'S ONE FLOWER PLUCKED
'MIDST A FIELD THAT IS MOWN?"
JORGE: WHAT IS A STRANGER TO US?
DIEGO: IT WAS DARK!
WHO'S TO SAY SHE'S A STRANGER?
JORGE: SOME WOMAN WE DON'T EVEN KNOW.
DIEGO: SHE WORKED ON THESE FIELDS!
ON THESE FIELDS SHE WAS SLAUGHTERED!
JORGE, SHE WAS NO STRANGER‑
LUPE: SHE WAS MY DAUGHTER...
SOME NIGHTS SHE'D STAY LATE.
SHE SAID SHE WAS LEARNING TO READ.
SHE WAS SO...
SHE WAS...
SHE NEVER CAME HOME LAST NIGHT.
DIEGO: WILL YOU FIGHT WITH ME, LUPE?
WILL YOU AVENGE HER DEATH?
HELP ME TEAR DOWN THESE STRUCTURES
THAT PERSECUTE US.
LUPE: How could I fight, Diego? I'm no revolutionary.
DIEGO: If it's to right a wrong, anyone can fight.
LUPE: But I'm not just anyone, I'm Lupe... and my daughter is dead.
DIEGO:bFight for her, Lupe. Fight for her.
LUPE: ...I'LL FIGHT BUT I WILL NOT AVENGE.
I FIGHT ONLY THAT THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.
(The CAMPESINO chorus, with the exception of JORGE, shouts out their agreement.)
DIEGO: LET US BRING THIS AGE OF MARTYRS
TO A JUST END.
Are there more?
CAMPESINOS: I will, Diego. I, too! And myself!
COME, LET US FIGHT
IN THE HOPES THAT LAST NIGHT
MAY NOT COME AGAIN.
COME LET US FIGHT,
TRY TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT
AND SOOTHE THE OLD PAINS.
DIEGO: COME FIGHT FOR THIS REVOLUTION!
CAMPESINOS: COME FIGHT FOR THE TURN OF A PAGE!
DIEGO: COME FIGHT FOR THE END OF AN ERA!
ALL: AND DIE FOR THE DAWN OF AN AGE!
JORGE: ...Little by little, you are all crazy.
(In a flurry, the mob disperses. The lights dim slightly as the REVOLUTIONARIES meet with their new recruits. SALAMÓN is there, his stilts and his mask, all gone. ARMANDO and DIEGO are arguing about the GUNMAN's presence.)
♩♫ ♬ MUSIC ♬ ♫♩
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montepío - the musical
General FictionThe libretto for a 2-act Broadway-style musical about a revolution that plays out on a fictional Latin American coffee plantation. And Diego, the revolutionary leader, is in love with the Dictator's daughter... Love, politics, violence, and conseque...
