Theater Heroic, operatic story of four women
By RETTA BLANEY
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
As a composer, Elizabeth Swados was
drawn to news stories 20 years ago of four American churchwomen raped and
murdered in the beginning years of the Salvadoran civil war.
The idea itself of belief is extremely important to
me, she said. That somehow people could believe so much in
something, that even though they could lose their lives, they could stay and
believe that no matter what the outcome, it was meant to be.
Thats heroic. Its operatic. That doesnt
exist very often in our culture.
But it wasnt just the operatic subject matter that inspired
Swados to compose Missionaries, a choral drama about the lives,
work and murders of Maryknoll Srs. Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sr.
Dorothy Kazel and laywoman Jean Donovan.
Im a Jew and I did it for Jewish reasons, she
said during a telephone interview from her Manhattan home. Were not
supposed to forget. Were supposed to seek justice. Were supposed to
speak out.
Missionaries will be presented in New York twice on
Dec. 2, the 20th anniversary of the womens murders. We will
simultaneously be praying for them throughout the piece and introducing their
words and spirit, said Swados, who will direct and introduce her
work.
During the 90-minute performance, which features a 20-member cast,
the words of the women and the sermons of Archbishop Oscar Romero are used as
libretto and lyrics, with music from the Mass and Latino culture woven
throughout. The vicious works of the military and government conspirators are
used as percussive sounds of warning.
If theres any kind of prayer, I believe its in
song, in music, Swados said, explaining that a play cannot create the
same spiritual elements. Words are more subjective. Music is universal.
It can touch an unconscious nerve.
It took Swados, whose work is highly regarded on and off Broadway,
nearly 10 years to complete Missionaries, which was first performed
in the early 1990s. She wanted to know the women as best she could, so she read
every news story and book. But it wasnt just the research that held her
back.
I had a hard time dealing with the notion of Christ. I was
brought up with the idea there was no such thing, yet here I was with four
women deeply loving this person or saint or whatever you want to call him. It
was one of the major hurdles.
It was only after she discovered liberation theology that she felt
comfortable dealing with Jesus. Whether or not you believe hes the
Messiah, if you believe hes a symbol like Moses representing a fight for
freedom and enduring suffering with dignity, you dont have to believe.
Liberation theology taught me an awful lot, probably because Im a
Jew.
Swados made it a point not to involve the womens families
because she didnt know if her piece would ever be completed or performed
publicly. It was extremely delicate and enormously important to a great
number of people. The responsibility was constantly with me, that as much as I
might try to be a regular artist and write good stories, I knew there were
grieving families, and that colors the writing, she said.
Although the tortures are described in horrifying detail and the
growing threat is clear, the dominant elements of the work are the womens
words representing their faith and their love of the people, which are the
reasons they stayed.
In an early letter home, Clarke is filled with gratitude for her
work. This is a terrible time in El Salvador for youth, she sings
with the others joining her. Many people have found a meaning to live, to
sacrifice and even die. And whether their life spans 16 years, 60 or 90, for
them their life has had a purpose. In many ways, they are fortunate
people.
Donovan sings that she is really thrilled to be doing my
Lords work as a laywoman, missionary, God-driven person. She is
welcomed by the three sisters as Kazel tells her what to expect: Hard
work, long days, this is what the soul takes strength from. Sharing prayers,
staying awake to keep the others safe.
We know we arent heroes. We
just try our best, and the rest is up to God and the Salvadoran
people.
As the repression and genocide grow, fear and doubt ring out of
their correspondence and journals. Am I willing to suffer with the people
here? Ford sings. Can I say to my neighbor, I dont know
the answers, but I will walk with you, search with you, be with you?
Other voices are heard as well. When the tortures of local women
are described, a chorus of them takes up the song: We keep going, we keep
going. Out of the ashes, we keep going.
And the four American women, who had come to spread the gospel,
have a new understanding of why they are there. Now I know I was called
to be a witness.
I must feel every blow the Salvadorans endure.
To live out my mission, I must be found by the side of the road. Bound, gagged,
at one with the people. Tortured, murdered, at one with the people.
They rely on their faith. To choose what is difficult all
ones days as if it were easy
that is faith, they say.
The women, Swados said, have been transformed by the people,
and they understand why they do what they do and what it means. That
transformation is a ritual.
Their transformation is aided by their admiration for Romero,
whose words are sung by a tenor to convey the sensibility of one who is higher
up. His rays of enlightenment shine on the women, and it transforms
them, Swados said.
The final transformation occurs in the people after the
womens murders. Their deaths become for the people a reason to be
strong and not give up, to point out injustice even more. The souls of the
women become inspiration for the people.
Julia Keogh, Clarkes sister, said Missionaries
captures her sister well. She had been 19 years in Nicaragua first,
Keogh said. She loved Latin American culture and the people. Even when
she was home thats all she talked about. Her whole world was being a
missionary in South and Central America.
Keogh will not be at the anniversary performances. She will spend
that day at the school her sister helped start in Nicaragua.
She said watching Missionaries is painful. It
brings it all back. You think youve had the wounds so long theyre
under control, but the anger, regrets and sorrow come back.
Still, she said she is glad the show is being done because it will
increase awareness of the injustice the missionaries and people of Salvador
suffered.
Swados said the story should be kept alive because similar
atrocities continue. Whats changed really? Look at Yugoslavia.
People keep doing something to the poor and disenfranchised, and people are
trying to make change. What is the power to make this kind of mass genocide,
and what stops it from happening?
National Catholic Reporter, November 17,
2000
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