Bring the Children Home
by Marcie R. Rendon
- Characters
- Grandmother (Min-di-way): Quite old. Very crabby. Grey hair. Short. Walks with a cane. A mother, elder and a wise woman. A little eccentric. She can see and speak to the spirits.
- Youth (O-day-min-nug): Ambiguous youth in terms of race, ethnic heritage and sex. Has no past. Is born in the now. Does not see the spirits.
- “Bad” Spirit (Matilda): Insatiable: hates her name, hates her body (always trying to extend her legs, shorten her nose, etc.). Trouble maker. Throws tantrums. Sticks close to Oday.
- “Good” Spirit (Gi-way-din-a-nung): Playful and feisty, but sincere. Giggles. Quick. Light on her feet. Sticks close to Oday.
- Maigun: Undeterminable age. First appears as a drunk. Is actually a wolf spirit.
- Crow & Eagle: Spirits present throughout play.
- Windigo: Spirit symbolizing decay/cannibalism of Western society.
- Chorus of youth
- Setting
- Present time.
Act 1: Daytime. Woods in the winter. Snow. Circle of Jackpines.
Act 2, Scene 1: Early evening fading to darkness. Further into the woods. Scene 2-3: Daytime fading to dusk. The edge of a small town.
Act 3: Part of the stage is set as a clearing on the edge of the woods. The other part will later reveal a house with a front door leading into a kitchen/living room where a young woman is sitting at a table, and a back door leading into a bedroom.
- Summary
- When an old bitter lady, tired of raising and guiding her village, goes into the forest to find rest in death, she instead finds a new life struggling to find its purpose and identity.
Marcie Rendon’s children’s play creates a heavily symbolic spirit world through which the wise and elderly must guide youth. From the woodlands to the continuously encroaching development of the Western world, spirits exist unseen and playing all around, or physically manifested into the animals and even some seemingly helpless drunken humans. Even when elder wisdom becomes crabby it’s purpose remains: to protect and lead the youth, deaf to but heavily affected by the spirits, to identity and purpose.
-Synopsis written by the author.
