THE GOSPEL OF JUDITH ISCARYOT - ACT III

Scene Two - THE CIRCLE OF JESUS:

JUDITH AT GETHSEMANE AND THE DISCIPLES' CONGREGATION

(The stage is illuminated. It is the garden in Gethsemane, a few days later, at sundown. Haki is sitting on a chair on the porch, in the foreground. Judith is standing next to one of the olive trees, in the background. Haki keeps looking in her direction, but doesn't say a word. Their T.V. comes alive, as the life-size T.V. screen lights up. A large image appears on the screen. It is Mr. Jobs, dressed in a black suit, his hand is bandaged and he has a black silk arm band on his sleeve.)

MR. JOBS: Ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry to interrupt your tranquility, but I have some bad news. Jesus of Nazareth died a short time ago. The cause of death, as determined by the doctors, was a brain tumor. It was very quick, and he did not suffer. According to his wishes, he will be cremated, and his ashes buried without ceremony. He didn't want anyone to mourn his passing, but rather to remember him as he was.

(The right stage grows dark.)

JUDITH: They killed him.

(Haki rises and walks slowly to Judith, to comfort her.)

HAKI: You don't know that. You don't even know if he is really dead.

JUDITH: I do. I knew he was dead even before they announced it. Please leave me alone. The pain is so great it has blocked the tears. I feel I can't breath. Just leave me alone, please. It will pass.

(Haki returns to his chair and sits down. A spotlight illuminates Judith, standing next to an olive tree, trying to cry.)

JUDITH: Arghhhh! Arghhhh! (Loud screams)

(Haki jumps up and runs to Judith, who is pounding her fists against the olive tree and screaming. He takes her in his arms. She is quiet for a moment, and then starts screaming again and beating H aki with her fists. After a short time, she falls on the ground exhausted. Haki stoops next to her and tries to comfort her.)

JUDITH: If you really want to help - then go away. Go attend that Passover dinner you are invited to. I will be fine. Please! Go to your dinner. I'll be all right. I need to be alone, now!

(Haki leaves her there on the ground, goes back to the room to get dressed. In a few moments he calls to Judith, before leaving.)

H AKI: Is it really O.K. if I go? I am worried about you. I can stay with you, if you want.

JUDITH: Don't worry. I will be fine. I just want to be alone.

HAKI: All right, but I'll come back as soon as I can.

(H aki goes, and the stage grows dark. Then a spotlight illuminates Judith, who is wandering from one olive tree to another, swinging her hands. Then she faces the direction to the city where Haki has just gone.)

JUDITH: Oh Haki, dear Haki, go and enjoy the ritual of your fellow Mechano-Messianists. May your faith in your mechanical Messiah be rewarded, as my lack of faith in my flesh and blood messiah will soon be.

(Judith turns back to the trees, and lifts her head to the heavens.)

JUDITH: Jesus, dear beloved Jesus, rest in peace, safe from any torment and betrayal. In finding myself - I lost you, and in losing you, I lost myself. Without you to cling to, there is nothing left for me. You were my center. The faith I lost before, I now have in abundance. Too late. Too late.

(Judith goes back to pacing from tree to tree, swinging her arms with abandon in the air. Then she leans on a barren tree.)

JUDITH: (Singing):

Darkness. Darkness. So much darkness.

All the light has left the world.

Guilt and darkness in my spirit,

Only guilt and no hope left.

I thought I saw the spotless light,

That should guide all of humankind.

Then imlicated it in guilt and death,

Infected the hope with Rasan curse.

My crime and curse are so immense,

I have, myself, my soul destroyed

All that I am is an empty shell,

Stuffed by the Rasan fraud.

Yes there is nothing left in me,

Except this body that traps men,

That could have been a loving gift,

If there was left any love to give.

Instead of becoming so conceptualized,

My body should have conceived new life.

But life no longer holds value, (J. Moat: I don't find this song contributes

After the soul is lost by you. much. The next, doesn't it say it all?)

I might have made love and conceived,

Before Jesus showed me I had a soul,

But now, that I have known, then lost it,

What use is there for my flesh and blood?

JUDITH: (speaking) My blood! now that I think of it, I did not have my period. Is this why I speak about conception? No, I better not even think about it. Let the blood flow out, not through that "gate", but out of the cuts, of my failing walls. Let all fall down to the earth where it came from. Return to Mother Earth.

(Judith falls on the ground, and presses her body to the earth. A few moments pass, and she rises.)

JUDITH: (Singing) Yes, mother Earth - beloved Adamah -

I know, You will still accept me, waste and void.

You gave me a body which men craved,

You can use it again from the soil to give life.

And I will die, not knowing who I am.

My name is Ish-Krayot, I have become a man,

An Ish of Cry-out, of crying for my sin,

One who can carry through that which I mean.

With my hands I'll dig a hole in the soil,

To the roots of a tree, to the Earthly womb.

And once it's done, I'll cut out my veins,

Annointing with blood this sliver of land.

My one comfort will be to see the earth drinking me.

And when I'm left dry - both bloodless and soulless,

With nothing more to give, I'll crawl back to the hole,

To the Adamah I shall descend, return into her womb.

The more I mourn for the son of God I loved,

The more I ask you, Adamah, mother of all,

Raise your female water to raise trees of life,

Even revive dead souls from your very soil.

As you suck my blood, let your spirit rise.

Raise thy vines to raise the spirit of men.

The blood that is my soul will go to your soil,

As my blood will descend, you'll raise the dead.

(Judith takes a small spade, left over from the tree­planting, and starts digging a hole near the tree. She begins to sing, in a wailing, talking voice, as she digs.

JUDITH: (Singing):

Hands, serve me well.

For seeding time has come,

And we shall be the seed,

This one last time.

Mother earth, prepare your welcome,

Let me pass my blood through you,

I'll sprinkle this field with my being,

So as to rise in new growth anew.

Mother earth, oh please receive me,

A mother who will never be,

Turning to death and oblivion,

That is where I seek my peace.

Oh sweet death-rest whom I seek,

Soon I shall know your kiss,

In you I shall conceive,

What in this life I missed.

(Judith digs and digs, wildly throwing chunks of dirt in all directions. The stage lights dim slowly, and all that can be seen is a shadow of Judith digging. The stage grows dark, and we can only hear sounds of her digging, and the animal noises she makes as she digs. Then the right stage, where the big life-size T.V. screen was, is illuminated. The screen is lifted as a curtain. Behind it we see the group of Jesus's disciples sitting around a large table. On the table is a jug of wine and three loaves of bread. The sounds of Judith digging continue.)

FIRST DISCIPLE: I still cannot understand what happened. He was there one moment and gone the next.

SECOND DISCIPLE: I tell you he escaped. Did he not tell us that he would rise from the dead?

THIRD DISCIPLE: No, they have eliminated him with some death beam or something just as devastating. So devastating that it even affected the cameras and screens. Even if they didn't eliminate him then, they did soon thereafter, you can be sure.

FOURTH DISCIPLE: It is a plot to confound and confuse us, and to lay a trap for anyone who calls the station to inquire what happened or who refuses to accept their explanation. I say he is dead, and we should beware of being tricked and ensnared if we pursue the matter any further.

FIFTH DISCIPLE: No! Can't you see that it was he who tricked them? He acted as he did and suffered silently only to lead them on and to expose the real nastiness behind their affected face to the whole world.

SIXTH DISCIPLE: Who has been tricking whom, and who is trying to trick whom, that is the question. Perhaps he escaped, for why else would he have disappeared so, and why else were they so quick to cover it up by saying he died? Yet perhaps he was killed and it was all an elaborate trick to confuse and mislead us.

SEVENTH DISCIPLE: We must stay united. If he doesn't return, we must have a new leader. The one he always had sitting nearest to him must be the one he had chosen. And that is me.

EIGHTH DISCIPLE: But I was nearer to him than you. He intimated to me what he would not tell anyone else. I am the one he must have chosen.

NINTH DISCIPLE: No. I was nearer to him than either of you. He passed his cup to me after he drank from it. Obviously I am the one chosen.

TENTH DISCIPLE: No, Judith, who is not here to speak for herself, is the chosen one. It was she whom Jesus told what he wouldn't tell anyone else. And it was she to whom he passed the bread dipped with wine. What's more, none of us is fit to be the new leader, because none of us would dare to confront the Rasans. Only Judith.

ELEVENTH DISCIPLE: Enough of this, friends. We better stay the night together and united. Perhaps he will return. Or he'll send us a sign. Or Judith will return and tell us what he would have wanted. I wonder where she is?

(The digging sounds stop. The left half of the stage is illuminated enough to see Judith with her hands stretched sideways in a cruciform and her wrists dripping blood. She is walking calmly, back and forth, as in enchantment, moving in small spiraling circles, whirling about, muttering to the trees and to the earth, offering them to drink her blood.)

JUDITH: Dear tree, drink this from me. Drink this blood. Grow from the sap I raise from my heart, for I am as a mother to you.

(On the stage right, the disciples are continuing their discussion, and their excitement builds, as Judith's blood is draining. She continues talking to the trees as she grows weaker and weaker, as each disciple speaks up in his turn.)

FIRST DISCIPLE: Enough bickering. Didn't we see Him ascend with our own eyes? We were all there. Can't you understand? It was what he had told us - the story about the prophet Elijah - don't you remember? Like Elijah, Jesus ascended alive to heaven in a whirlwind!

SECOND DISCIPLE: Maybe he did. But we need him with us right here on earth. How can he guide us if he is in heaven?

THIRD DISCIPLE: But, brothers, He is still with us. I can feel his presence right in my heart.

(Judith falls to the ground and crawls with her last strength into the hole, where she collapses. A wind steers up the trees, her shawl is blown up the tree. An owl shrieks.)

FOURTH DISCIPLE: Yes, He is here. I can see him standing over there. He is trying to comfort us.

FIFTH DISCIPLE: He is not there, he's over there.

(He points to the left side of the stage to the place where Judith has fallen. Some light is, in fact beginning to glow there, a white light about the size and shape of a human form).

SIXTH DISCIPLE: Yes, over there! Can't you see Him standing where I'm pointing?

SEVERAL DISCIPLE VOICES: Over where?

What do you say?

What do you see?

SEVENTH DISCIPLE: Yes. I also see Him. Anyone of you, if only he has the proper spiritual vision, should be able to.

EIGHTH DISCIPLE: I can see something, and I feel His presence among us. Can't you all see?

SEVERAL VOICES: I do.

I see Him.

He has risen.

NINTH DISCIPLE: Alas, I cannot see him, but I believe you, brother, all the same. And because I believe, I see.

TENTH DISCIPLE: Yes, we must claim we have had His presence, and it is the same as the very Presence of the Lord. We must uphold the faith and the vision.

ELEVENTH DISCIPLE: And we must spread to every land this good news, that Jesus our Lord has risen again.

FIRST DISCIPLE: hallelujah! We'll beat the Rasans at their game, and turn the tide on them!

(The light from stage left increases, and the disciples are filled with joy, and start moving and rising in growing animation. Soon the light grows and envelopes the room, and they all rise in unison shouting. At first all that is heard is a din of noise, where each repeats his own words while the others are speaking. Each keeps repeating his message, but as they begin to tire and catch their breaths, a few words such as LOVE, YESHUA, GOD, ALLAH, GOSPEL, YESUS CHRISTUS and more are beginning to become clear. The sound level falls and longer and longer sentences may be heard going and forming as waves. The last train of exclamation is the quietest and most orderly, one by one, and it goes as follows:)

FIRST DISCIPLE: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

SECOND DISCIPLE: Im Tirtsu Eyn Zu Agadah! If you will, it is no myth! He has risen. I have seen the light.

THIRD DISCIPLE: La Allah Illa Allah! There is no God but God, and we have seen His son and are saved!

FOURTH DISCIPLE: Yesus Christus Sanctus! Behold the holy Christ! I have seen the light and am saved!

FIFTH DISCIPLE: Bism Allah a-rahman a-rahim! In the name of the merciful compassionate God. We shall sing His glory at every land.

SIXTH DISCIPLE: Shma Yisrael ve shma ha-olam! Hear oh Israel, and listen the whole world! Ha Mashi'ah ba! The Messiah has come! I have seen the light and am saved!

SEVENTH DISCIPLE: C'est L'amour qui tourne le monde! Love makes the whole world go round! And Jesus is love. I have seen the light and am saved!

EIGHTH DISCIPLE: We'll preach to the whole world the Gospel of Love! We have seen His light and now we are saved!

NINTH DISCIPLE: Glory to the Lord Jesus, hallelujah! I am saved! He lives for ever in our souls!

TENTH DISCIPLE: Chang Fung woo! I have seen the light and am saved!

ELEVENTH DISCIPLE: Orshana bitsvili nakshi! I have seen the light and am saved!

FIRST DISCIPLE: Glory, glory, hallelujah! Let us join together as he taught us!

(The disciple lock hands together and sing in unison.):

All the world was waiting for the Word of God,

But when the Word came in the flesh,

The World yet knew him not.

We need to speak, we need to sing,

The Glory of our Lord,

For if not we'll be destroyed.

Glory, glory hallelujah,

Glory, glory hallelujah,

Glory, glory hallelujah,

Oh my Lord please bless my soul.

Let's go onward and proclaim in every land,

How our glorious Lord was slain,

But yet he rose again. (J. Moat: too long.)

How, like a lamb to slaughter,

He was led through shame and pain,

How he died to save our souls.

Glory, glory hallelujah,

Glory, glory hallelujah,

Glory, glory hallelujah,

Oh my Lord please save my soul.

Let's go sing it and in every tongue proclaim,

To every one with ear to lend -

He gave his life for them.

For we're alive in God's own lamb,

And if in this world we'll die,

we'll revive in the World to Come.

Glory, glory hallelujah, etc....

TENTH DISCIPLE: Maybe we'd better look for Judith. It is not like her, not to have shown up.

SEVENTH DISCIPLE: No. We have more important things to do. She will show up when she shows up.

EIGHTH DISCIPLE: Why all this talk about Judith? We are capable of deciding without her. Obviously we are no longer very high on her list of priorities, nor do we need her.

NINTH DISCIPLE: Brothers, let us not bicker at such a momentous moment. Judith has obviously chosen not to be chosen, one of us will have to take over the leadership.

(The right stage grows dark, and a moment later, so does the left stage.)