Send mail | Search site | Mary Celeste index
|
4 No Survivors |
From Mary Celeste |
[Deveau and Wright tell how they came alongside Mary Celeste at sea and climbed the chains to explore her; as they sing they will re-enact this on the now-docked ship, seeming not to see, on deck, the motionless Ghosts of the Crew. Faint light on Mary Celeste]
Wright & Deveau
Well we came alongside, and we made her fast
and my mate gave a hearty hail (Hoy!)
there was no reply but a creaking mast
and the flap of a tattered sail
no-one at the rail
So we look for signs of violence
and we search for signs of harm
but there's nothing here but the silence
and a kind of ghostly calm
fills us with alarm
If disease had taken those sailor boys
then their bodies should still be here
empty vessels they make most noise:
get the message, loud and clear
[During next stanza Deveau and Wright climb the chains on to the deck of Mary Celeste; motionless, the phantom Crew sing a lively refrain intent on turning them back]
Crew
Keep away, better hold your breath
No survivors on this ship of death
Once you catch it you're good as gone
Do the best you can not to pass it on
[Deveau and Wright are now on the deck of the ship]
Deveau
Yes and I was all for a-heading back
as there wasn't a soul to be seen
she ought to be flying the Yellow Jack
for a fever quarantine
What's it all mean?
Wright
We had no idea what disease we'd catch
But we searched below the decks
Wasn't any body under any hatch
not of any age or sex
Just us two nervous wrecks
[They mime searching for bodies, but in fact find a toy ship on wheels, and toss it over the rail to Docker 1; Arthur adopts it; it will be used again in Nos 13 and 16]
Together
And then we find all these children's toys
in a state of disarray
empty vessels they make most noise
and this one's trying to say
[Tourists and Ghosts join in the refrain]
Tourists &Ghosts
Keep away, better hold your breath
No survivors on this ship of death
Catch it once and you're good as gone
Do the best you can not to pass it on
[Mary Celeste's bell strikes, deck is fully lit. Deveau and Wright freeze; children appear from hatches as Germs and sing a swing tune in little harmony voices like the Andrews sisters: stylised battle as Germs use large syringes and lurid rubber gloves to try to 'infect' Crew, who defend themselves with mops]
Germs
Bacteria!
Well here we are!
We're bacteria, and we've come to make you sick
and we stowaway in every drain
dysent'ry (hello!)
housemaid's knee (hi there!)
water on the brain
Bacteria! We operate so quick
you never had a finer crew
The minute that your wife has
typhus
we transmit it to your baby too
Bacteria!
Superior!
We watch you polish the pumps
wiping out the mumps
killing halitosis or scabies;
soon we're back
with a fresh attack
a bit o' psittacosis and rabies!
Maybe swabbing the hold
will scrub the common cold,
bury beri-beri or worms;
We'll invent another virus!
Man can't tire us
can't come to terms
with the wonderful world of the germs
Bacteria! Bacteria!
[Germs retire into their hatches as they sing the last line. Ghosts freeze again as the spooky reggae music resumes for Deveau and Wright, who thaw]
Deveau & Wright
One by one they must have suspected
their precautions had been in vain
One by one they became infected
'cos the germs came back again
a new and deadly strain
One by one they came up with a notion
There was one safe way to behave
One by one they must have chosen the ocean
To be their solitary grave
So their friends could all be saved
[Ghosts sidle off one by one: if they are seen disappearing over the side it must be away from the Audience, and the effect must not be comic. Deveau and Wright are left alone, and during the final refrain they climb back down on to the quayside]
And that's the tale of their noble ploys
to contain a dire disease
empty vessels they make most noise
and this one's begging, please, please
Company
Keep away, better hold your breath
There are no survivors on this ship of death
Now you've got it you're good as gone
Do the best you can
Do the best you can
Do the best you can
Not to pass it on.