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23 Daddy Knows Best |
From Mary Celeste |
[During this number the Crew will end up, for the third time, in the lifeboat. The first time, during My Favourite Destination, they went no further than a tableau on board Mary Celeste; the second time, during When My Ship Comes In, they lowered it over the side away from the Audience. (It has to be restored on deck during the interval) But, this last time, the lifeboat will be launched towards the Audience]
[Peals of thunder, during which the Mourners and Arthur join the quayside crowd. A sultry, stormy night on board Mary Celeste; same lighting plot as at the very start of the show, with lightning intermittently flickering. Sophia, feverish, comes to the rail in her night-dress, perhaps clutching a teddy-bear; Sarah, also in night attire, brings her a fan; although Sophia cannot hear the Dockers' song, its gloom is contagious]
Dockers
This ship sailed on the Ally ally O,
Ally ally O, Ally ally O,
yes, she set sail on the Ally ally O
on the fifth day of November
Sophia
When the night is full of thunder
and my heart is full of care
can't sleep, can't sleep
And it isn't any wonder
in this suffocating air
I weep
Sarah
You mustn't weep
Sophia
But I miss the smell of lilac
and I miss the morning rain
and the skylark as she rises from her nest
and my little baby brother
that we left behind in Maine
I never thought I'd miss that little pest
Sarah
but Daddy knows best
Sophia
Daddy knows best
[Huge peals of thunder, but Sophia is momentarily reassured as Briggs bursts on to the deck with oilcloths for his wife and child; as they are putting them on Briggs covers Sophia's ears]
Briggs
Well the storm's done its worst
but she needn't be told
there's a barrel that's burst
and the vapour's like a bomb in the hold
[Briggs hails the Mate]
Better lower the boat
but keep the line slack
if we hear her explode
then we can haul ourselves back
Dockers
Remember, remember, the fifth of November, remember
[Briggs, deeply pre-occupied, strides about, ignoring Sarah and Sophia; during the next stanza the Crew lower the lifeboat downstage; unseen Dockers might receive it. The ocean is suggested by a gauze waved by the Children, or by some laser technique. Sophia has not seen the launch; Sarah's reassurances sound somewhat desperate]
Sophia
But he eyes me like a stranger
and he doesn't hear me say
"Can't breathe, can't breathe!"
and he says this deadly danger
is a price we I have to pay
I grieve
Sarah
You must believe
'cos the cargoes that we carry
keep the factory fires aglow
the payload puts the treasure in our chest
and if Daddy really worried
it was all about to blow
he wouldn't bring his child on board Celeste
No, Daddy knows best
Sophia
Yes, Daddy knows best
[Dockers sing unseen, banging the barrels to create additional thunderclaps; Crew descend into the lifeboat]
Dockers
Great big barrels, banging to and fro
great big barrels, banging to and fro
and if one big barrel should accidentally blow
there'd be no more sailing the Ally ally O no no!
[Once the Crew are installed, Mary Celeste is hidden from view and the lifeboat appears to be rocking on the open sea. Crew having grave difficulties coping with the lifeboat: it drifts downstage as the front-cloth closes, and now the lifeboat appears to be being towed by the painted image of Mary Celeste at sea with which the show started. Downstage, in the stern, the Briggs family; once again Briggs blocks his daughter's ears: behind them, the frantically working oars. Perhaps whatever represents the sea could hide ropes, worked by stage-hands in the wings, by which the lifeboat could be made to skate from side to side on its castors]
Crew
Well she needn't be told
but he got it all wrong
as our little boat rolled
with the mother-ship storming along
our emergency rope
dragging us down
hope against hope
pray we don't all drown
Sophia
It's my Daddy's clever lifeline
that sweeps us through the tide
I'm cold, so cold
Still there's no more fear of stifling
and I'm clinging to his side
stay bold, like I was told
as I wait for the explosion
that I know is bound to come
there's a hungry ocean lapping at my breast
But I've found some consolation
for my poor unhappy Mum:
'You mustn't look so worried and depressed
'cos Daddy knows best, Daddy knows best
Daddy knows best, Daddy knows best.'
[Music storms on, sea goes in rising, but suddenly the little boat stops rocking; all freeze in prayer as Briggs sings; he still has his hands over Sophia's ears. Finally the rising sea (gauze? laser?) will obscure the lifeboat]
Briggs
Goodbye my dear wife
God bless my child
farewell to this life
in an ocean rugged and wild
felt our boat overturn
everything gone
but her name on the stern
as my Mary Celeste sails on
[Arthur runs to Matilda in distress. For the first time, it seems the Crowd can see the Ghosts, and they stare in distressed horror at the disappearing lifeboat: it's the first time they've witnessed, rather than merely contemplated, loss of life. As Mary Celeste's tolling bell recedes, and as they wind up the fabric of the sea, they start to sing a wordless elegy: the stately refrain of Crime of Passion. As this tune repeats, the Mourners sing the following counterpoint, for Arthur, to the traditional tune. Alternatively, if the particular child is able, Arthur could sing it himself]
Children
Mary, Mary,
quite contrary
Where did your captain go?
from shipping bells
to cockle shells
with the pretty mates hollering 'Row!', 'Row', 'Row' ...
the pretty mates hollering 'Row!'
[The usual sub-Wagnerian fanfare breaks the sombre mood; Herald appears at Courtroom door: Crowd now seems to have gathered expressly to hear Attorney pronounce verdict]