Libretti Writ Large

Baba Yaga: The Cyrillic Witch

Art Samples
Character Breakdown
Lyrics Samples
Music Samples
Scene Sample
Synopsis

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

Principals

Skulls, Spiders, and Bats, victims and familiars in BABA YAGA’s hut

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SYNOPSIS

Act I

Scene 1

A tribe of Rom (Gypsies to the non-Rom) led by Madam Melanova and her son, Vertres, are stranded in Russia’s Forest Bledinil. Their reserves of magic, fueled by the stories they collect, has been depleted. Melanova suggests they tell a story to put them on the road once more and brighten all their “Fortunes.” The tribe begins the story of Vasilisa the Plain and her encounter with the ogress Baba Yaga, playing all the parts involved.

Scene 2

Vasilisa laments the death of her mother (“Far From You”) and seeks comfort from her enchanted doll, Babushka. Sorcha, Vasilisa’s aunt and stepmother, accuses the girl of slothfulness and ingratitude (“In My Day”), and the girl departs in disgust. The ghost of Vasilisa’s mother, Anna, confronts Sorcha, who killed her sister with black magic in order to marry the village blacksmith, Sergei. Sorcha declares her intentions to kill Vasilisa as well. She’s “Good Enough” in witchcraft to take all she desires.

Scene 3

During dinner, Vasilisa and Sorcha fight, and Vasilisa storms from the room when her step-mother attempts to wrest away Babushka. In a snit after her failure, Sorcha casts a fever upon her husband (“In My Day [Reprise]”). She slyly sends Vasilisa into Forest Bledinil in search of curative herbs.

Scene 4

Sorcha summons monsters who have been “Lost from the Light” to slice apart her stepdaughter. The three Avatars of Day intercede. They banish the ghouls and they promise to guide Vasilisa to Baba Yaga, who can provide the herbs for which the girl is searching (“Morning, Noon, and Night”).

Scene 5

Vasilisa arrives at the Hut on Fowl’s Feet, only to be ordered away by the undead valet, Maschaf, who fears for the villager’s safety. Baba Yaga arrives before Maschaf’s demands can be heeded, and Vasilisa is thrown into an oven after being introduced properly to “The Dancing Hut.”

Act II

Scene 1

Baba Yaga toys with “What to Make?” of Vasilisa, though her murderous recipes are quickly deflated by the sympathetic Maschaf. Babushka comes to life and, in Maschaf’s voice, suggests that Vasilisa cook. Baba Yaga accepts and departs on an errand after assigning two impossible tasks – clean the hut completely and make a feast for an army. Maschaf and the avatars sympathize with Vasilisa (“The Bright of Our Eyes”). Babushka, sick of this self-pity, springs to life and performs the tasks in short order (“Leave It to Babushka”).

Scene 2

At the Rom encampment, Baba Yaga and Melanova embracing. They exchange hexes and charms and talk about the way that witchcraft has fallen upon hard times (“Witches to Hags”). Baba Yaga thinks that she can start the old legends anew if she can frighten her houseguest enough. Melanova notes that Baba Yaga has a soft spot for girls, and the mystic wonders why. Baba Yaga smells supper on the air. She departs for her hut.

Scene 3

The ogress is treated to a tour of the cleaned hut before she is shown to her seat and fed her feast. (Morning, Noon, and Night act as servants.) She nearly eats Vasilisa, so caught up in her meal does she become, but a quick question about Sergei from the girl restores the witch’s wits (“Ask”). It seems that Baba Yaga has developed a compulsion to answer questions along with her compulsion to eat constantly (hunger of mind and body). The ogress spies upon the Pelochik household and discovers Sorcha, her old apprentice, giving Sergei grief (“Your Wife, She Knows”). Sorcha suggests that she and Sergei move to Kiev and pursue boyarship by selling ironworks to the royal family. Baba Yaga ceases her spying, and Vasilisa tries to leave in order to stop her stepmother’s scheming. She snaps at Baba Yaga for her lack of understanding, and the ogress responds with “Stains Upon the Snow,” her tragically unfair history. Made maudlin by her recollection, Baba Yaga gifts Vasilisa with a Light of Healing, housed in Maschaf, and sends her away. Vasilisa leaves Babushka behind in gratitude.

Scene 4

Vasilisa is “Going Home” while, at the Pelochik household, Sorcha prepares for the trip to Kiev. Vasilisa enters and Maschaf’s light freezes her father even as he sweeps away Sorcha’s spells of warding. Baba Yaga arrives and reclaims her recalcitrant apprentice, but Vasilisa begs for Sorcha’s life. Baba Yaga declares that torture is more fun than murder and rewards Vasilisa for her good heart by granting her outer beauty to match the inner – the girl becomes Vasilisa the Beautiful. Baba Yaga leaves with Sorcha, Sergei is cured of his fever with his second wife’s removal, and father and daughter are reunited. The Rom end the story, and Melanova declares her tribe’s magicks refueled in full (“The Final Skazka”).

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LYRICS SAMPLES

"FAR FROM YOU"

THE FROST HAS FALLEN EARLY.
THE SKY HAS GONE TO GREY.
I FEEL A CHILL WIND BLOWING,
BLOWING ILL FROM FAR AWAY.

HOW LIKE YOUR DAY OF DYING.
THE WEATHER WAS THE SAME.
DEAR MOMMA, HOW I MISS YOU,
HOW YOU USED TO SAY MY NAME.

FAR FROM YOU.
FAR FROM THE LIFE WE KNEW.
WE STAND
ON GREY AND BARREN GROUND.
FAR FROM YOU.
HOW FAR AWAY YOU FLEW.
OUR DAYS ARE SORROW
RAGING RAW AND UNBOUND.

MAYBE GOD HAD SOME GRAND PURPOSE
WHEN HE LAID YOU IN THE DUST.
I KNOW YOU WOULD NOT DESERT US,
NEVER BREAK A DAUGHTER’S TRUST,
BUT WE’RE IN NEED AND WE’RE IN PAIN
AND YOUR CHAIR IS DARK AND COLD.
A GIRL WITHOUT A MOTHER
IS A FROZEN STONE, A WINTER STONE.
A GIRL WITHOUT HER MOTHER
IS A FROZEN WINTER STONE.

THE HOUSE IS LONELY LATE AT NIGHT.
THE SHADOWS CRAWL; THE SHADOWS CREEP.
YOU MADE THE PLACE FEEL SAFE AND WARM.
YOU GUIDED DREAMS. YOU GUARDED SLEEP.

DUSTY CORNERS BY THE STAIRS
MARK WHERE YOU WOULD SIT AND SEW.
YOUR PRESENCE WAS A WATCHLIGHT,
AND NOW WE DON’T KNOW WHERE TO GO.

FAR FROM YOU.
FAR FROM THE LIFE WE KNEW.
WE STAND
ON GREY AND BARREN GROUND.
FAR FROM YOU.
HOW FAR AWAY YOU FLEW.
OUR DAYS ARE SORROW
THAT FLOWS ONWARD UNBOUND.


"THE DANCING HUT"

WELL, THEN, MY CHICK,
YOU’RE IN AN AWFUL FIX.
FOR THIS DANGER,
YOU DON’T NEED A SEER.
BEFORE YOU STANDS,
TO YOUR DISTRESS,
THIS FROZEN COUNTRY’S CONJURESS
WHOSE FACE SHOULD HAVE YOU
PARALYZED WITH FEAR.

YOU’RE IN THE HUT OF BABA YAGA,
THE NIGHTMARE WITCH
WITH SKIN OF GLACIAL GREEN.
I’M THE OGRESS OF THE IRON TEETH,
SOWER OF DESPAIR AND GRIEF.
I’M THE NASTY
GRANDMOTHER OF MEAN.

I FLY AROUND
INSIDE A STONY MORTAR.
WITH A PESTLE.
WITH MY BROOM,
I SWEEP MY TRACKS AWAY.
THEY’RE GONE BY DAY.
FOR SLAVIC FOLK OF EVERY KIND,
I’VE A RECIPE IN MIND
FROM BAKER BROTH
TO SWEET FARMER SOUFFLÉ.
WHY, I’VE EVEN HAD A TSAR
BOILING IN MY SAMOVAR.

YOU’RE IN THE HUT . . .
(THE DANCING HUT!)
OF BABA YAGA,
THE ANCIENT CRONE
WITH SQUEAKING YELLOW SHOES.
DON’T BE SCARED,
MY LITTLE BORSCHT,
I LIKE FOLK OF EVERY SORT,
ESPECIALLY PREPARED
IN SPICY STEWS.

YET SOMETIMES,
IT’S HARD TO BE A LEGEND.
SO HARD.
ONE GROWS TIRED
OF THE SHRIEKS AND SCREAMS.
IT’S TIRING.
BUT THEN I EAT A SERF OR THREE
OR FILL THE WOODS WITH CACKLING,
AND I KNOW I’M LIVING OUT MY DREAMS.
OY-OY-AI-DAI-BOI-DOI.
OY. LOI-DOI-AI-DOI-BOI.

YOU’RE IN THE HUT OF BABA YAGA,
THE CHICKEN-LEGGED HOME
OF NE’ER-DO-WELL.
SAY A PRAYER, MY PUDDING-PIE.
NOW IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO DIE.
I’M SO GLAD YOU STOPPED BY
FOR A SPELL.
WELCOME TO THE HUT . . .
(WELCOME TO THE HUT!)
THE DANCING HUT OF BABA YAGA!

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MUSIC SAMPLES

Instrumentals (Orchestrations by Dan Timoskevich)

"Fortunes"
"In My Day"
"Lost from the Light"

Vocals with Accompaniment

"The Dancing Hut" (Use Optimal Gain)
"Good Enough" (Use Optimal Gain)
"What to Make?" (Use Optimal Gain)

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SCENE SAMPLE

Act I, Scene 1

(Forest Bledinil at twilight. MADAM MELANOVA’s vardo is revealed CS, surrounded by Gypsies. The chuvihani herself stands to the side of the wagon; she is disgusted. VERTRES stands beside her. A solitary Rom plays a haunting, shifting melody on his violin.)

MELANOVA

(To VERTRES.) So?

VERTRES

So nothing. We’re stuck.

MELANOVA

People of the road are never stilled, never stopped.

VERTRES

Save it for the gorgios, Momma. I know better.

(He opens out the DS wall of the vardo. A man-sized gauge is housed within the structure, mystical and ornate. A filagreed “E” glows at the base of the gauge. The violinist begins to squeak his violin a la “gas alarm ping.”)

The wagons, the stoves, the lamps – anything and everything mystic is gasping for magic.

(MELANOVA plucks a rock from the ground and tosses it at the violinist to make him stop squeaking.)

MELANOVA

Quit that caterwauling! (He does, and she turns to VERTRES with poor grace.) Where are we, then?

VERTRES

Forest Bledinil, I think. By Omanovik.

GYPSY

Where nobody has a kopeck for an honest itinerant.

MELANOVA

So. Right. Think. Think. Think. Melanova knows all. Melanova sees all. (Pause, then with inspiration.) Anyone know a story about Forest Bledinil? Or Omanovik?

GYPSY VIOLINIST

What for?

SONG: FORTUNES

MELANOVA

For telling. That’s how we fuel our magic, right? With stories?

VERTRES

Stories from others. That’s why we wander. We can’t tell our own stories.

MELANOVA

Who says so?

GYPSY

You do. Whenever you have the chance.

MELANOVA

I can unsay what I’ve said, no? Melanova is smart enough to be wiser than herself. Or something profound like that. Look, I’ll start things. I have the perfect words to share. Vertres, we need a father. You’ll do. Milavisa, I think you’d best be the heroine. Keep her plucky but humble. No airs. Yagrof, Boritch, Vledes – pick up the comic relief. Get Zedkik involved, too. You can use the sarcasm. Come on, people. Let’s make some magic!

GRAB THE COSTUMING AND DAB THE PAINT.
BUILD A MERRY LITTLE FICTION.
SET YOUR FANCY FREE OF ALL RESTRAINT,
BINDING, AND CONSTRICTION.

THROW YOUR DOUBTS TO THE AIR,
RELISH THE FEELING OF PURE ABANDON.
FIND A MANTLE TO WEAR.
DANCE FOR THE ROLE YOU LAND IN!

(The tribe members scatter around the stage. They find costumes and props, everything they need to become the characters for the show proper. They disguise themselves throughout the song as MELANOVA guides their efforts and whispers directions. VERTRES becomes SERGEI, a role he maintains for the remainder of the play.)

GYPSIES

FORTUNES! LET’S TELL SOME FORTUNES!
MAKE OUT A HISTORY FOR CHARACTERS TO PLAY!
FORTUNES! ROLL OUT THE FORTUNES!
CALL UP THE CAST AND GET THE PLOTTING ON ITS WAY!

VASILISA

VASILISA, YOUNG AND PLAIN,
LEADS A LIFE THAT’S HARD.
KIND OF HEART BUT TART OF TONGUE,
MOTHERLESS AND SCARRED.

SERGEI

SERGEI SAW HIS ANNA DIE
AND HE MOURNS THE LOSS.

SORCHA

SORCHA, ANNA’S SISTER,
IS HIS NEW WIFE AND HIS BOSS.

ANNA

LEAVING ANNA EDGY IN THE SPIRIT WORLD,
WORRIED FOR HER DAUGHTER AND HER MAN.

AVATARS AND MASCHAF

MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT AND MASCHAF UNITGEY
HELP VASILISA WHEN THEY CAN.

(The principals cluster together as they sing the above character-identifiers in counterpoint. The remaining tribefolk, MELANOVA exempted, join the grouping slowly and begin to chant "Baba Yaga."  The others take up the chant.)

ALL

BABA YAGA!
BABA YAGA!
BABA YAGA!
BABA YAGA!
BABA YAGA!

(MELANOVA gestures and BABA YAGA bursts out of the group. She is plump and grandmotherly in physicality, the morphic opposite of her traditional emaciated appearance, but she moves with menace and a sense of total control. This is a very real woman who has gone to the bad and prospered there. The Gypsies are aghast, for this is clearly no Rom in disguise. BABA YAGA menaces VASILISA and the audience and then storms offstage. SERGEI/ VERTRES looks askance at MELANOVA, but she only shrugs. A silhouette of the hut on fowl’s legs is flashed on a back-scrim.  A tiny BABA YAGA can be seen flying home.)

ALL

WE’VE PREPARED THE FORTUNES, THE SCARY FORTUNES
FOR A STORY MORE THAN PASSING GRIM!
FORTUNES! WE’VE WRIT THE FORTUNES!
NOW’S THE TIME THE STORY SHOULD BEGIN!

(Blackout.)

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ART SAMPLES



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