SNOW CHILD

Words By Denise Page Caraher

copyrighted material-use by express permission only

Music-Traditional Russian folk music; Rimsky-Korsakov from the

opera, The Snow Maiden; Borodin from the opera, Prince Igor;
Tchaikovsky from the opera, Eugene Onegin; Moussorgsky
*********************************************
Characters-Old man - baritone
Old woman mezzo or soprano
Snow child - soprano
Fox tenor or soprano
Bear (old man from offstage)
Instruments keyboard/piano, cello, flute
**********************************************
EXCERPT:
Old Man: Was that a dream?
Old Woman: Did that just happen?
Old Man: A child walked on this floor.
Old Woman: And ran right out this door!
Old Man: Shell be back. I know she will.
Old Woman: (Looking out the window) She hasnt gone
anywhere. Shes right outside, playing in the snow.
Song: Enjoy the miracle for now.
Video- Snow falling Music
Fox: And all night long she played and played. Throwing
snowballs at the stars and trees. Chasing snowflakes in the
moonlight. Throwing snowballs at me and chasing me. The old

couple watched her until their eyes grew weary. And then in the
night, when they would awaken, as old people do, they would
walk to the window to see if she was still there. At those times,
they thought that maybe it had been a dream. There was no
snow child at all, but then, they would see her dancing about in
the snow. Their hearts would warm with joy and they would creep
back into bed.
******************************************************************
*
Snow Child: I was about to say to Silly Man that
Old Woman: Oh, thats not his name, sweet girl. You can call
him
Snow Child: Husband?
Old Woman: Oh, no, no! That is what I call him because we are
husband and wife.
Snow Child: Huh?
Old Woman: You can call himcall him
Old Man: Papa.
Snow Child: Papa.
Old Man: And you may call her.
Old Woman: Mama.
Snow Child: (singing) I SHALL CALL YOU PAPA, I SHALL CALL YOU
MAMA,
PAPA-, MAMA, PAPA AND MAMA, I ASK OF YOU,
LOVE- ME LARGE- WITH ALL YOUR HEARTS,
AND LOVE ME TRUELOVE IS THE WARMTH OF LIFE, ILL GLADLY TAKE FROM
YOU-.

BUT IF I FIND YOU LOVE ME LESS, AWAY, AWAY ILL GO,

JUST LIKE THE MELTING SNOW, ILL LEAVE FOR EVER, FOR
EVER!
Old Man: We will love you large and love you true.
Old woman: We are a family now.
Snow Child: What is that in your hand?
Old woman: (who has been sketching during Snow Childs song;
hands her sketch of the girl) Love. This is what love looks like. To
me, this is love.
Snow Child: Is that me? Is that what I look like?
Old Man: Dont you know? Of course it is, my child. You are
beautiful.

Snow Child(singing, Snow Maiden):

PAPA, MAMA, OLD ONES, OLD DOES NOT MEAN WISEIT NEARLY BREAKS MY HEART THAT LOVING COMES WITH LIES,
NOW, I KNOW YOU DO NOT LOVE ME LARGE AND TRUE,
I MUST TAKE MY LEAVE FROM YOU, SADLY, I TAKE MY LEAVE FROM
YOU,
AH! NOW I KNOW YOU LOVE ME LESS THAN YOUR FINE HEN,
SO I HAVE TO GO AWAY, AWAY AGAIN, AH!
GOODBYE DEAR ONES, YOUR LOVE WAS SWEET, I KNOW,
BUT, NOW I MELT AWAY, JUST LIKE THE SNOW, AH!
I WILL NO MORE LAUGH AND PLAY BY FROSTY DAY
NOR BY FROSTY NIGHT, WILL I PLAY AND PLAY,
SO BACK ACROSS THE SKY, I GO, AWAY--! (leaving)
Old Woman: No! No! Do not go!
Old Man: You cant! We love you so!

Scene: Outside
Foxy: This is where the story ends in many tellings of this tale,
but we are allowed to invent our own endings to any story. We
allowed to choose joy over sorrow. We are allowed to forgive.
Snow Child: Foxy, I miss them. I liked pretending to be a real girl.
I liked pretending to have a real Mama and Papa.
Foxy: Well, I can tell you, I didnt like having a dog bite my butt.
Snow Child: Oh, Foxy. I know they love me. They love me more
than life itself. They are just so poor. They made a selfish choice,
but they made it in haste.
Foxy: I tell you when that snapping dog came out of that bag
instead of a nice, plump hen(rubbing bottom)
Snow Child: I can make a choice. I can choose forgiveness.
Everyone deserves a second chance.