| Before the curtain. On a street in Shushan the next day. Music: "Oh, dem Golden Slippers," fades down after the first chorus to background level and eventually out. Enter two chamberlains, Mehuman and Zethar, one of whom carries the golden slipper that Estherella lost at the ball. |
| Mehuman | Zethar, imagine having to find the girl that fits this golden slipper. |
| Zethar | The King says that a girl left it at the ball last night, and he wants to find her. Enter girl. |
| Mehuman | That's an awful lot of work to return a slipper. |
| Zethar | Hey, Girl! |
| Girl | Me? |
| Zethar | Yes, you. Come here. |
| Girl | Who are you? |
| Zethar | My name is Zethar. I am one of the King's chamberlains. |
| Girl | Wilt? |
| Zethar | No, wilt not. Wilt you allow me to try this slipper on you? |
| Girl | I wilt. |
| Mehuman | It's a shame to let a pretty flower like this wilt. Your foot, please. |
| Girl | Will twelve inches do? |
| Mehuman | No, but we'll take a third of a yard. Tries the slipper on the girl. |
| Zethar | Doesn't fit. Thank you, miss. exit girl. |
| Mehuman | There's another girl. Points to front of audience. |
| Zethar | Let's try the slipper on her. They walk off the stage and into the audience. May we try this slipper on you, Ms.? They try the slipper on the member of the audience if she permits and announce that it doesn't fit. They do the same with two others in the audience with similar results. Enter Vashti, Harbona, Bizzetha, and Estherella on opposite side of stage. |
| Mehuman | There are some more girls. Girls, stop in the name of the King! |
| Harbona | Why should we stop? |
| Vashti | Those men are two of the King's chamberlains. Zethar, Mehuman, what can we do for you? |
| Zethar | Oh, it's Vashti. How are you today? Mehuman and Zethar return to stage. |
| Vashti | Tired. We didn't leave the ball until after midnight, and then we had a long walk home. |
| Mehuman | We're instructed by the King to try this golden slipper on all of the girls in the kingdom until we find the person it fits. So if you please... Tries the slipper on Harbona. |
| Zethar | No, it doesn't fit. It's my turn to try it on this girl. Tries the slipper on Bizzetha. |
| Mehuman | Two down and one to go. |
| Vashti | You needn't try it on her. She's Jewish. |
| Mehuman | As you say, Vashti. Good seeing you. |
| Vashti | And you too, Mehuman and Zethar. Chamberlains exeunt. |
| Estherella | You didn't let them... |
| Vashti | Shut up. You're Jewish. Exeunt |
| In the throne room. Ahasuerus is sitting in the throne, reading a scroll. Mehuman and Zethar enter. |
| Mehuman | We've had no luck. |
| Zethar | We've been al ovr Shushan, three days now. |
| Mehuman | And the suburbs too. |
| Zethar | But no girl fits the slipper. |
| Ahasuerus | And you tried all the girls? |
| Zethar | Well, just about. |
| Ahasuerus | Just about? Whom did you miss? |
| Mehuman | Well, we knew we needn't try the slipper on Vashti. |
| Ahasuerus | That makes sense. Anyone else? |
| Mehuman | Most of the audience. |
| Ahasuerus | There probably aren't any Persian virgins there. Who else? |
| Zethar | There was a girl with Vashti. We didn't try it on her because she was Jewish. |
| Ahasuerus | And that's all? |
| Mehuman | That's all. We tried all the other girls. We are tired. |
| Zethar | And it's smelly work, too. |
| Mehuman | May we have a day off before we go to the next town? |
| Ahasuerus | I want to find that girl. You'll leve tomorrow morning. But first check out that one girl you missed. You said she was ghoulish or something. |
| Mehuman | She sure was. |
| Ahasuerus | I can't afford any more travel expense thann I have to. |
| Zethar | As you say, good King. Chamberlains exeunt, and the King starts to pick up the scroll again when Haman enters. |
| Haman | Your majesty, please let me tell you about the plans for the massacre. |
| Ahasuerus | The massacre. Oh, yes. It seems that I'm so busy with the affairs of state that I can't even find time to read the Daily Scroll. |
| Haman | It will be a glorious massacre. We will round up all of the Jews into Shushan Square, and then we will systematically hold the crowd at swordpoint until you give the signal. Then the Persian Legionnaires willl charge upon one row at a time, and... the curtain closes as Haman talks on. |
| Before the curtain. The next morning on a street in Shushan. Mehuman and Zethar enter. |
| Mehuman | Looks like a trip out of town for us. |
| Zethar | But first it's back to Vashti's house. |
| Mehuman | I still wonder why we have to find this girl. |
| Zethar | Beats me, but the King's word is law, and we will find her. Enter Vashti, Harbona, Bizzetha, and Estherella. |
| Mehuman | Look, there are Vashti and the girls. Hey, Vashti! |
| Vashti | You guys don't give up easily. |
| Zethar | We have instructions to check out this other girl with you. |
| Vashti | But that's silly. She's Jewish. |
| Zethar | It may be silly, but we have our orders. |
| Mehuman | I'll bet her feet smell, Zethar. You may have the honor. Ha Ha. |
| Zethar | Tries the slipper on Estherella. IT FITS! Mehuman, the joke's on you. Ener Mordechai |
| Mordechai | Yes, this is the King's Estherella. Vashti, Harbona, and Bizzetha slink offstage. |
| Mehuman | And who are you? |
| Mordechai | I am Mordechai, Estherella's taxi-godfather. |
| Mehuman | A taxi-godfather? Mordechai removes Estherella's rags, revealing thegown, puts on her other slipper, and straightens her hair. |
| Zethar | Yes, silly. In Shushan we have taxi-godfathers to cruise around because there are no large bodies of water for ferry-godfathers. |
| Mehuman | How did you know that? |
| Zethar | I didn't sleep through the first act like you did. |
| Mehuman | Seeing the now beautiful Estherella. Now I see why the King wanted her back. |
| Zethar | We've done it! Now, back to the castle. Exeunt. |
| In the throne room. The King is seated, and Haman is talking to him. |
| Haman | And they have leaders. I thinnk it would be fitting if we saved the leaders for last. I have already ordered the construction of a large gallows on the west lawn of the castle, where we will hang Mordechai, the leader of the Jews. We'll kill him last and the setting sun will throw his shadow on the wall of the throne room. Won't that really be something? |
| Ahasuerus | You seem to have all the details worked out very well. And you are so enthusiastic. |
| Haman | Bowing. Anything for my King. Enter guard. |
| Guard | Mehuman and Zethar have returned with a girl. |
| Ahasuerus | Show them in at once. Guard ushers Mehuman, Zethar, Estherella, and Mordechai onto stage, then exits. Haman sees them and exits as inconspicuously as possible. My dear Estherella. Bows. |
| Estherella | My Sovereign. Curtsies. |
| Ahasuerus | As is the tradition of our country, we have held a ball. We have found the loveliest virgin in all the land, and this is she, Estherella. This will be my wife. |
| Estherella | Thank you, my King. |
| Ahasuerus | But who is this? Points to Mordechai. |
| Estherella | Your Majesty, this is my taxi-godfather, Mordechai. |
| Ahasuerus | You, too, are welcome bfore my throne, taxi-godfather. |
| Mordechai | Thank you, Your Majesty. |
| Ahasuerus | I was just thinking, taxi-godfather, that I have no place in my cabinet for a taxi-godfather. However, I could sorely use a good taxi-collector. I'm always having money problems. |
| Mordechai | Were I able to, I would be pleased to help you. But, alas, that is not my trade. |
| Ahasuerus | Then what is your trade, my good man? |
| Mordechai | My trade? I am a rabbi. |
| Ahasuerus | Talk not in riddles. What does a rabbi do? |
| Mordechai | Well, for one thing, he marries people. |
| Ahasuerus | What fortune. We shall have a wedding here and now. Ahasuerus stands. Estherella, come to my side. Rabbi - or taxi-godfather - or whatever you are - begin! |
| Mordechai | You have come here to ask God's blessing on your marriage in the... |
| Ahasuerus | What kind of a wedding ceremony is that? |
| Mordechai | It's a reform ceremony, from Avodat Halayv. |
| Ahasuerus | I've never heard of that. |
| Mordechai | That's okay, nobody else has either. |
| Ahasuerus | You may begin again. My apologies for the interruption. |
| Mordechai | You have come here to ask God's blessing.... Curtain closes. |
| Before the curtain. On a street near the castle. Enter Haman and Hammedatha. |
| Haman | Now the next action we must start is the roundup of the Jews who live outside Shushan. We must start tomorrow so that the Jews can be brought to Shushan for the massacre. |
| Hammedatha | Who will do that? |
| Haman | General Memucan will order that. I suggest you get in touch with him to arrange it. You are old friends, and he will listen to you. Then, when the King approves it, he will go about the job with unusual vigor. |
| Hammedatha | But how can General Memucan identify the Jews? |
| Haman | Funny thing aboout the Jews. They tink that they are the chosen people. They are proud that they are Jews. You ask them and they won't deny it - they'll even make you think that they're better then you. |
| Hammedatha | But we can't ask every person in Persia if he or she is a Jew. |
| Haman | No, that would take too long, and they might find out what is happening and resist. However, tomorrow is Friday, and every Friday night, Jews do something funny. |
| Hammedatha | What's that? |
| Haman | They go to Temple. They call Friday night Shabbat. So all we have to do is make certain they are all in Temple. |
| Hammedatha | And how do we do that? |
| Haman | By announcing that a message of great importance to all Jews will be read in Temple that night. |
| Hammedatha | But what if they don't come? |
| Haman | We will ask them when they arive what the names of their families and friends are, so we may personally read the message to those who don't come. |
| Hammedatha | But we'll really use that to round up the Jews that stay at home. |
| Haman | And then the beauty of it. General Memucan and his men will move to capture the entire Jewish people and bring them to Shushan. |
| Hammedatha | Well planned, Haman, my son. I shall now go to the general and get him to take action. Exeunt. |
| Before the curtain. The same street a day later. Enter Estherella and Mordechai from opposite sides of the stage. |
| Estherella | Thank God you could come. |
| Mordechai | What's wrong, Estherella? I was told by Hathach that is was an emergency. But Hathach didn't say why. |
| Estherella | I could tell no person but you, lest others know too. Haman is planning to kill all the Jews in Persia. He drew lots to determine the date. It will happen next week, but the plan starts on Shabbat, tonight. |
| Mordechai | I have heard that the King has an important announcement for all Jews, and that all Jews are to attend Temple to hear it. |
| Estherella | Not an annoncement, taxi-godfather, but.... |
| Mordechai | Please call me Mordechai. |
| Estherella | Anyway, Mordechai, the reason they are trying to get all Jews to Temple is so that they can round them up for massacre on the appointed day. |
| Mordechai | The Jews love their King. They would do this for him. And then the army would round up all of our people, Texas-style. |
| Estherella | What the King said he wanted was a tax collector, not a Texas-style collector. |
| Mordechai | And the King does not realize that his greatest support, his greatest source if taxes, is the Jewish people. With the Jews gone, it would be easy for Haman to overthrow the King and kill him. |
| Estherella | That's Haman's plot. He will kill the King on the self-same day. |
| Mordechai | Haman must be stopped. |
| Estherella | But how? |
| Mordechai | There is only one way. You must tell the King. |
| Estherella | But I can't. If I try to see him when he wants me not, he will kill me. |
| Mordechai | The King will see you. He chose you as a wife from all the girls in Shushan. Certainly he will not choose to kill you. |
| Estherella | But if he does? |
| Mordechai | Then it will be the same fate that all of the othr Jews in the land will meet. You can do no less. Be brave. |
| Estherella | To the King I shall go. Mordechai, wish me mazel. |
| Mordechai | On your actions will depend the fate of all the Jews in Persia. May God be with you. Exeunt to dfferent sides. |
| In the throne room. The king is seated on his throne, talking to Haman. Hammedatha is nearby. Mehuman and Zethar are standing together on the opposite side of the stage. |
| Haman | The plans are going well to round up the Jews. By tonight we will have all the Jews in captivity. I have asked your guards to pick up Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, so that he will not lead them in revolt. He will be brought here. |
| Ahasuerus | You know, Haman, you talk too much I've told you that you may carry out your plans, so carry them out. I don't have to know every little detail. |
| Haman | Your Majesty, you must look at the beautiful gallows that I have built on the west lawn. Estherella enters opposite the throne, and starts inching her way toward the King. It is all of fifty cubits high, the greatest gallows ever built, to hang the enemy of my King. |
| Estherella | If it please your majesty. |
| Ahasuerus | Why, it's Estherella. Who told you to come here? |
| Estherella | I came to see the King. Do I find favor in your eyes? |
| Ahasuerus | Yes, indeed, you always find favor in my eyes. |
| Estherella | May I speak with you? |
| Ahasuerus | By all means. I have had about enough of my talkative prime minister. Please take your place on the throne. She sits. Now what is it that you wanted to talk about? |
| Estherella | It's your talkative prime minister, Haman. I understand that he is about to kill all the Jews. Do you know who the Jews are? Do you know that they are your greatest supporters? Without the support of the Jews, you would be weak and powerless. |
| Ahasuerus | Can you give me an example? |
| Estherella | Do you remember when Bigthana and Teresh were plotting against you? It was Mordechai, a Jew, who revealed the plot to you. |
| Ahasuerus | Mehuman, look in the records to find out who revealed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh. Exit Mehuman What else, my dear? |
| Estherella | The Jews pay the highest taxes, and they pay them willingly to a sovereign like you. |
| Ahasuerus | Zethar, look in the tax records to see who pays the most taxes. Exit Zethar. Do you know more? |
| Estherella | With the Jews out of the way, Haman will want to kill you and take over the throne himseslf. He has the greatest patronage, and it would be easy for him to succeed. |
| Ahasuerus | I remember at the ball you told me they were going to kill me, but you didn't say who. |
| Estherella | I didn't say because I didn't know then. I saw the men talking in a dark street, and I knew them not. But I have seen the men again. They are those men over there. Points to Haman and Hammedatha. |
| Mehuman | Entering, The records show that it was Mordechai, the Jew, who warned you about the plot of Bigthana and Teresh. |
| Zethar | Entering. The records show that the biggest taxpayers in the city of Shushan are the Cohens and the Levys. Both are Jewish names. |
| Guard | Entering, pushing Mordechai ahead of him. What should I do with him? |
| Ahasuerus | This is Mordechai? I thought he was the taxi-godfather. |
| Mordechai | Yes, I am Estherella's taxi-godfather, and my name is Mordechai. I am also a leader of the Jewish people. |
| Ahasuerus | You know, at the wedding ceremony, there's something I couldn't figure out. What was that line about "Mikudeshet Lee"? |
| Mordechai | That was in Hebrew, the language of Israel. By those words, Estherella was betrothed to you. |
| Ahasuerus | It is a beautiful language. Haman, come here! Haman keeps edging toward the door. Guard, seize Haman. Mehuman, seize Hammedatha. They do. Haman, you told us that the Jews are plotting against us. What evidence do you have? |
| Haman | The Jews worship a god you can't see. |
| Ahasuerus | What else? |
| Haman | That's all. Isn't that bad enough? |
| Ahasuerus | The evidence shows that the Jews are my most faithful subjects; and Mordechai, among the faithful, is the most devoted of all. Mordechai, will you be my new prime minister? |
| Mordechai | That would be a great pleasure, serving you. |
| Zethar | Behold the gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordechai, who spoke good for the King. It stands in the house of Haman. |
| Ahasuerus | Hang Haman thereon! Estherella, it took you and Mordechai to show me this plot. I shall be forever grateful to you. Haman is dragged out by the guard. |
| Mordechai | As we are grateful to you. You are a good King, just and merciful. You walk humbly with your gods, as we walk humbly with our God. |
| Ahasuerus | What a beautiful thought. I am certain that it was you who thought it up. |
| Mordechai | No, it came from Micah, one of our prophets. |
| Ahasuerus | Well, that's good too. The more prophets you make, the more taxes you pay. By the way, how are prophets these days? |
| Zethar | Look, the sun sets. A light of great intensity starts to glow offstage, illuminating one wall of the throne room. |
| Mordechai | Shabbat is coming. |
| Ahasuerus | Shabbat? What is that? |
| Estherella | It is our day of rest. For six days we labor, and then, as it is commanded, for one day we rest. That is why we say Shabbat Shalom, Sabbath Peace. In front of the light, the figure of a man hanging on a gallows is placed, so that the shadow is seen on the wall of the throne room. |
| Zethar | Look - on the wall. Haman is dead. |
| Hammedatha | My son! Am I to have the same fate? |
| Mordechai | King Ahasuerus, spare the father of Haman. He has made one mistake, misled by his own son. In the past he has contributed mightily to Persia, and with the loss of his son, he has suffered enough. I will give him a minor post in which he can still use his talents for the good of King Ahaduerus. |
| Ahasuerus | When a Jew says Sabbath Peace, he means Sabbath Peace. It shall be done. |
| Hammedatha | My son never told me that the Jews were a kind, forgiving people. |
| Mordechai | If your hate is truly purged, Hammedatha, so is ours. |
| Hammedatha | But what of the Jews that General Memucan is rounding up this very night and bringing to Shushan? |
| Ahasuerus | Is it too late to stop him? |
| Hammedatha | Even our fastest camels couldn't reach his forces in time. |
| Ahasuerus | Then when they get here, we'll celebrate a festival for the Jews instead of a massacre. Mordechai, what shall we call it? |
| Mordechai | Let's call it Purim, which means "lots," because of the lots that Haman drew to determine the date. |
| Ahasuerus | And we will celebrate Purim every year as long as I am King. |
| Mordechai | And we will celebrate Purim at this season every year, throughout the generations, in evey province and every ciry. |
| Estherella | And we will spread the word of peace and truth. The intense light fades out. |
| Zethar | The sun has set. |
| Mordechai | Shabbat Shalom |
| Estherella | Shabbat Shalom |
| Ahasuerus | Shabbat Shalom |
| Company | Shabbat Shalom |