TIME: Present.
SETTING: Bare stage.
AT RISE: MAX LITTLEFOOT stands center. Behind him, THREE SILHOUETTES stand reaching upward toward the sky. As MAX LITTLEFOOT begins his speech, SILHOUETTES enact Amerindian dance to offstage drumbeat.
MAX LITTLEFOOT: I am American. My ancestors have lived on this land since memory began. My tribal elders speak of a large turtle that rose out of the sea. This Turtle Island---Earth---provides everything we need. My ancestors could read the earth. They saw a scuff in the dirt and would find deer to hunt. They smelled the thawing riverbanks and knew salmon were on their way upstream to spawn. They touched the rough bark of a pine and it would become a strong wigwam. My ancestors were here before America was, when America was Turtle Island. Now we live on a reservation called Indian Island. There is still anger about how my people were treated. This is where I come from, though... it's what I know, whatever it's called. Tree roots don't know the difference. Neither do I. I am American. (Drumbeat stops. MAX exits right. JANE BRADFORD enters left and walks down left.
SILHOUETTES line up one behind the other up left and sway as though cramped together on a sailing ship, slowly making their way across the back of the stage. They quietly whistle wind sounds as they move.)
JANE BRADFORD: I am American. My great-to-the-7th-power-grandfather sailed in 1634 into Massachusetts Bay during the Great Migration. In England he worked on land that he would never own because he was not "noble." If he went to New England, and promised five years of service, then he would go from being a husbandman to a yeoman and own land. He chose New England, and when he arrived, he worked for one of the Puritan leaders. He took his whole family. They even brought the family cow, which cost more to bring than it did the family. They had to bring everything, though, because early on there were no grocery stores, or hardware stores, or anything.
Which is the best description of the structure of this play?
A. descriptive soliloquies accompanied by illustrative movement.
B. heightened drama at an epic, tragic scale.
C. naturalistic dialogue between characters in a realistic setting.
D. rapid farce with rhythmic action, entrances, and exits.
1 answer
A. descriptive soliloquies accompanied by illustrative movement.
The play features characters delivering personal narratives that describe their heritage and experiences in a reflective and expressive manner, while the accompanying movement of the silhouettes adds a visual element that enhances the storytelling.
