Early Treatment

What follows is one of Chiquita Mullins Lee's first efforts in crafting the current play. Compare it to the premiere performance; note especially how the one-man show incorporates the numerous characters below.
 
 

Pierce to the Soul (wt)

Treatment by Chiquita Mullins Lee - 8/16/04

 

It is a big day. A statue has been erected and will be unveiled and dedicated. The statue stands downstage right in a pool of light. A man, who is nearly as tall as the statue approaches it and walks around it. Then he speaks to the statue recognizing that the statue represents him. He says that it is a big day. Folks will come today to celebrate his life. They will dedicate this statue and everyone will know his place in the world. Everyone will know what he gave. The man is Elijah Pierce, the celebrated woodcarver, and he remembers another place, a different space, and a time, not so long past.

Lights fade to black, then up on the scene of a barbershop. A red and chrome barber chair dominates the stage. There are mirrors, clippers, and various bottles, along with an old radio. Around the walls, on tables, and in every reasonable place are carvings: signs, animals, human figures, sayings fashioned in relief from single pieces of wood. This shop doubles as an art gallery. The man, Elijah Pierce is home, comfortable. His is a sacred, holy place, where his hands can get busy – trimming, cutting, carving away.

From this place, Elijah Pierce tells his story. He picks up a piece of cedar, smells it, caresses it and sees within it the story of John the Revelator. He will gradually free John from the wood. Like John, Elijah sees a vision and tells the story of that vision. As he carves, he tells his story, careful to put the wood aside on occasion, telling the story that the wood will become, telling the story of who he becomes.

What is primitive? What is naïve? Folks label a thing, but that thing is just what Elijah does. Folks have “had a fit” about what he does with slabs of cedar and poplar. Folks have kind to him, sweet, in fact. Most folks.

He remembers well. He was born in Mississippi. His father who was born into slavery; his mother was his father’s second wife, the first dying in childbirth. He started to carve around the same time that he developed a knack for cutting hair. That’s what he did. Carved, cut hair, made friends, and went to church with his family. At age 19, he made a baby, named Arthur, with Carrie Beene. He also made a startling discovery. Trouble can follow an innocent man. A white cop said that a murderer was loose and that he looked just like Elijah Pierce. Mr. Pierce was able to prove his innocence. After he got free, Elijah also discovered that God can reach down and carve His name in your heart and convert your whole life.

Music plays – a spiritual. The lights fade in the barber shop, leaving Elijah standing in a pool of light, the first of three women who figure prominently in his life, comes to him. She is his mother. She talks to him about God and advises him to read the Bible; he is interested, instead, in the Sears catalog. As a result, he is struck by a Hand from above and learns the hard lesson depicted in his carving, “Obey God and Live.”

The lights cross fade to the barber shop. His life is changing. At age 23, Elijah marries Zetta. She gives birth to his son, Willie. She dies soon after the baby is born.

Life can throw a curve when you least expect it. Converted, yes he was, but Elijah had a world, he wanted to see. Leaving his son, for Zetta’s mother to raise, Elijah hit the road. He hit the rails – hobo-style, and ventured as far as curiosity would take him. He found himself in Illinois. It was there that he met Cornelia, a woman from Columbus, Ohio. When she returned home, he followed her and married her.

Lights fade again and Cornelia enters. Elijah has carved an elephant for her. She calls it cute and he promises, since she likes it so much, to carve her a whole zoo. Soon, he carves a zoo, Noah’s ark, and enough Bible stories to fill a book. He calls his book, the Book of Wood, and he and Cornelia, dressed in capes, demonstrate the stories contained in the Book of Wood.

A gospel instrumental plays softly. Death visits again. Cornelia dies and Elijah Pierce is alone once more. He stares at the Book of Wood and counts his blessings. Even in his grief and sorrow, he thanks God for the mysteries of life and grace.

The lights cross fade to the shop and Elijah speaks of opening his own business, his own barber shop on the corner of East Long and North Washington. The radio blasts the news of the day, and the songs of Marian Anderson and Chuck Berry. Mr. Pierce finds love again and marries Estelle. He also meets people who support his work. Ursel White Lewis is the first woman to take his work to the Gallery that becomes the Columbus Museum of Art. He is the first black artist to be exhibited there. His shop has also become a gallery and is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. He gains a protégé named Leroy Almond, the only person who Elijah taught to carve. He attracts the attention of scholars and writers. He makes friends with artists such as Kojo Kamau. He becomes an associate minister at Gay Tabernacle Church. The media, as well, discover Mr. Pierce. Articles are written, documentaries are made, and books are published about him and his work. He meets 1st Lady, Nancy Reagan. His visions continue to spill onto the wood as his influence extends. Awards. Honorary degrees. Exhibits nation-wide. A place in the Smithsonian alongside Leroy Almon, his protégé.

The music of the 1960’s plays. The lights dim and the third woman comes to him. She is Aminah Robinson. She draws while he carves, in silence, at first. She thanks him for his kindness to her son. He loves the children who come to his shop, as much as he enjoys his customers who argue about current events, movies, politics, and the whole world. Elijah and Aminah talk about their morning walks, meditating, the stories he carves from the Bible, and their meaning. He teaches her by merely being who he is.

Lights cross fade and focus on his barber chair. Mr. Pierce is alone in his shop. He stops cutting hair because of a hip injury. He continues carving because he’s still got stories to tell, news to capture, victories to celebrate, sermons to preach, and gifts to carve and give away.

The lights fade on the barber shop and Elijah stands in a pool of light against the darkness. He tells the story of a little building on East Long Street. He used to cut hair in there. He used to carve wood in there. Sometimes, people let things go much too quickly. Is it in the name of progress? Some stuff people give away, some they push aside. Some stuff, people keep.

The light comes up on the statue and he walks to it. He speaks to it, respectfully asking its name, asking what’s in its hands. Then he describes how the dedication festivities will unfold. Folks will talk about Mr. Pierce. They will be kind. They will call his name. They will mark his place and remember what he made. They will remember what he gave from his heart and how he touched their souls. He picks up his carving, takes one last glance at the statue and walks away. Lights fade.