The Basketmaker

The Basket Maker
on The Fifth of May

All songs are optional. For text and music see "Mexican Culture" by Cantos Para Todos. All songs are originals by the authors.

Characters of the play, "The Basketmaker on the Fifth of May"

Narrator
Eusebio, the basketmaker
Juanito, the grandson who helps him
this could be Juanita
Various community people such as:
Baker, cook, Sellers of coffee, juice, etc., María the weaver, Children, Cuauhtémoc the indian
General Zaragoza organized the people at 4am on May 5, 1862 at the Guadalupe and Loreto hills. A few hours later, Lorences attacked and was surprised by the Mexican bravery.

Introduction
To be read as a narration

The volcano Popocatepetl
lifts its white capped head
high above the Sierra Madre
like an ancient patriarch.

On certain days it explodes
as if to tell us
that we are not to stray
onto forbidden paths
without knowing the way
and that we should show respect.

In the mountain there is a people
known for bravery.
On a certain very famous day
they demonstrated their faith and honor.
La Cordillera Volcánica

Now let us observe that day:

Scene I: the early morning

María working her loom,
Eusebio the basketmaker, with grandson Juanito and stalls for sellers of bread, juice, coffee, food, or other items. If you need more actors, divide Juanito's part, or use more salesmen, or have a group of singers. if you desire fewer actors, one person can read various parts, or you may delete optional scenes.

Juanito
¿Qué tal? Buenos días, abuelo, ¿Qué tal?
Eusebio
Muy bien, mijo, ¿Cómo estás?
Juanito
I am awake and ready..
Are we going to have breakfast?
Eusebio
No, we are going collecting today.
We need palm fronds;
work is good for you.

Scene Ib The Market
Juanito and Eusebio head for the field to gather, but first they pass by and converse with people in the street.
Juanito (to the baker)
Buenos días, that smells good!
Panadero
Fresh bread, come and get it!
There won't be a better time;
I bake with fresh ground wheat,
get it while it is hot.
Se Vende Pan
Eusebio
Sí, señor, that smells great!
But it is our good habit
to eat after we work.
Juanito
Ay, abuelo, I want to try
even just a little piece.
Cocinero
Mole, mole, mole con chile
Enchiladas, they really taste good
big fat chiles, giant onions
you'd better watch it, it will bite you!
Mole, Mole
Juanito
It smells so good!
Eusebio
Oye, la palma calls to us.
Cafetero
Señores, for your pleasure,
one cup will help you
do your work in the field.
Café Poblano
Eusebio
Now, don't you bother us.
We will soon return from the field.
Juguero
Fresh guanábana punch
Fresh banana punch
Juices relieve the sun's sting
Granada, better than anything.
Ponche de Granada

Scene Ic (optional) With María
Juanito
Abuelo, Aren't we basket makers?
We work all day long.
Is there no time for pleasure?
Palm fronds will wait one day.
Eusebio
All of the craftsmen
have their routine,
for example, María.
Just look at her day:
Eusebio, a helper of María, or a chorus can recite or sing:
Artesanía Poblana
María buys the wool and she
washes in the morning and she
cards it and she spins it and she
dyes it lots of colors and she
weaves it into fabrics and she
makes them every color with the
wool that she washes and she
spins and she dyes. Eusebio Vamos.
Juanito
Muy bien abuelo, nos vamos.
I love to go with you.
You tell me about everything.
You are the best teacher!
Mi Abuelo

Scene II: In the Field

Juanito & Eusebio are gathering materials to make all kinds of baskets. The people of the town rush by stopping briefly to talk to them.

Juanito
Abuelo, look who is coming.
Eusebio
Who is it? Juanito El indio, Cuauhtémoc,
and he is running as fast as he can.
Cuahtémoc
El General Zaragoza
has commanded everyone to come.
Leave your chiuquihuites
The danger is almost upon us.
Eusebio
I don't understand what is happening, señor. Juanito
Your fear is scaring me.
Cuauhtémoc
There is no time to explain.
Hurry, we have to fight.
Let's act united, or those
from the outside will devour us.
(Cuauhtémoc runs out. María comes in with children each one armed with a stick.)
María
Vamos niño, vamos abuelo
Come on, cousins, by the dozens.
Freedom is what we're fighting for.
We have to struggle to be worthy.
Vamos al Encuentro

Eusebio
What is the big hurry?
María
Six thousand marched fromTehuacán
more dangerous than el volcán.
Not even children may now sleep
If our peace we are to keep.
El Espíritu de la Libertad
(María leaves with her group, the basketmakers stay, the merchants enter.)
Panadero
Vengan, Eusebio y Juanito.
They will be here in a poquito.
Juanito
Who is coming, and why, señor?
Panadero
Napoleón sent General Lorences.
His pretext is the debt,
his intention is an empire.
They want to impose an emperor!
Eusebio
I am old, I have no weapons.
I don't have the heart to fight.
Juguero
Don't your remember your youth,
in eighteen hundred and ten,
Hidalgo, the revolution,
the "Cry of Liberty"?
Now that all this is ours
they want to take it away.
¡Viva la Independencia!

Cafetero
We are not Europeans.
I am an American from here.
We don't want the outsiders
to tell us what to do.
I know we are not soldiers.
Without weapons we go to war.
But, we have what we need:
our homeland, our family,
our mountain and our land.
Cocinero
If they are wearing fancy uniforms
we'll give them the tropical sun.
If they threaten us with rifles
we'll chase them with sticks.
They think they will win?
We'll win with stones if we have to!
Juanito
Abuelo, our work is not ours
if they take it away.
Eusebio
My brothers, I see now
that we must fight
if we are to live in peace.
Nothing is more important
than to live with integrity.
El Corrido de Puebla

Closing
Narration

There was a war that day.
General Zaragoza
guided the people to victory.
Later they returned with more
and Maximilian did rule.
But in five years time
Presidente Benito Juárez won the war
and peace returned to Mexico.

The lesson that we learn
is that we in the Americas
do not tolerate injustice
We should be like el volcán:
watching with wisdom,
patience and love
everything that goes on;
but never failing to take action
against fear and injustice.
Corrido: el Cinco de Mayo

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