WordsOut poems by Godfrey Rust  | collection Welcome To The Real World ← 7 of 59 → | home       

Light of the world

Let there be light, he said.
Ah, but what sort of light?
That’s where I come in.

Let me introduce myself:
Senior Consultant,
Cherubim & Seraphim Technical Services.
Sound and lighting engineers by appointment to the Almighty.
Special rates for miracles and plagues.
Discount on all feedings of five thousand or more
and free thunderbolt with each repeat order. 

No doubt you’ll be familiar with some of our past productions.
We did the Tower of Babel.
With subtitles, of course.
The story of Noah.
Floodlit.
And Sodom and Gomorrah—
one of our most successful features.
An epic of biblical proportions according to the critics.
Not that there were many critics left afterwards.
And of course the Wanderings In The Desert.
Low budget soap opera, but it ran and ran.
Forty years lit by a single pillar of fire
and a seven-branched candelabra. 

But that was all before privatisation.
Lighting’s a tough business these days.
Lots of competition.
It’s a jungle out there in the desert.
So many options, you see—
sunlight, moonlight, street light, neon light.
Budweiser Light.
You’ve got to be in there
with this new-fangled electricity.
That’s the current thinking. 

And now this new script—
strangest of the lot.
The Nativity.
Don’t know where he gets these ideas from. 

Scene 1. Shepherds watching.
Enter Gabriel, with backing vocals.
Need a good clear sky for that.
Quick burst of heavenly host, then blackout.
Music - Hallelujah Chorus?
No, Handel hasn’t been born yet,
it’ll have to be something by Cliff.
It was much simpler in Moses’ day.
No 747s over Cairo airport—
anything flying at night had to be an angel. 

Scene 2. Wise men searching.
Ought to have direct sunshine,
But these humans can’t look straight the sun.
Have be the light of faith—
Soft starlight with a single, moving follow-spot. 

Scene 3. King Herod’s Palace.
Well, someone s taken his grumpy pills this morning!
Torches will do for him.
Lots of flickering flames—
Herod needs to get used to working in a hot place.
Then cue the dream sequence
and magi leave unnoticed by a side exit. 

Scene 4. A packed public house.
No problem getting atmosphere for this:
Jukebox playing Little Donkey.
TV in the corner showing rerun of David v Goliath championship fight.
Enter distressed couple, woman heavily pregnant.
Unable to get near bar.
Clearly they don’t drink Carling Black Label.
Artificial lights for this one.
People don't want to see too clearly
when they’re enjoying themselves.
And a big glowing EXIT sign:
This way for a stable relationship. 

Final Scene. The Nativity.
Total darkness?
Well there’s a challenge.
This must be God’s avant-garde period.
I should be grateful at least he doesn’t want us to fill the stage
with children and animals.
Oh.
Why does he do this, just when it needs a big finale?
Not exactly prime time material—
a closing scene in a shed with one 40-watt light bulb
resting on a sleeping ass.
A show like this will get him crucified in the ratings.
Never mind.
I’ve put in for the contract to light the Book of Revelation.
That’s bound to be a showstopper. 

Oh wait, there’s one last stage direction.
Enter the Light of the World. 

Ah.
That should be quite effective.
Yes, that ought to do the trick. 

I wonder if St Michael has any vacancies in merchandising?

Originally performed by Godfrey Rust and Adrian Jones at the carol service at St John’s, West Ealing in 1992. It can be read with one or two voices, though is more effective with two.  A version scripted for two voices is here.  The reader holds a pencil and a script attached to a clipboard, marking it up as s/he goes through it and comments.