Act Four: Pressure

Zoom Scene with Mister Cacciatore

Mister Cacciatore

Hello class, welcome to GO131. I’d like to start today’s lecture a little differently. I’m sure you’ve all received the email from the dean’s office and it seems as if you’re taking the notion of collective action seriously. Even though the future may seem daunting , I’d encourage you all to keep in mind these words from CS Lewis

“In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. ‘How are we to live in an atomic age?’ I am tempted to reply: ‘Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”

-CS Lewis

We’ll explore a number of case studies this semester from the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, to the global trade in human body parts. Your first assignment will be a critical analysis on the Siege of Leningrad

From The Archives

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene One: Zanzibar: Tony preparing for his date with Leyna on the way to Zanzibar (Bar in town owned by Mister Cacciatore, who is also a professor at Colby. 

Saxophone: Danny Little

Sergeant O’Leary

Ali dances and the audience applauds

Though he’s bathed in sweat he hasn’t lost his style

Ali don’t you go downtown

You gave away another round for free

Tony

Me, I’m just another face at Zanzibar

But the waitress always serves a secret smile

She’s waiting out in Shantytown

She’s gonna pull the curtains down for me, for me

I’ve got the old man’s car

I’ve got a jazz guitar

I’ve got a tab at Zanzibar

Tonight that’s where I’ll be, I’ll be

Sergeant O’Leary

Rose, he knows he’s such a credit to the game

But the Yankees grab the headline every time

Melodrama’s so much fun

In black and white for everyone to see

Tony

Me, I’m trying just to get to second base

And I’d steal it if she only gave the sign

She’s gonna give the go head

The inning isn’t over yet for me, for me

I’ve got the old man’s car

I’ve got a jazz guitar

I’ve got a tab at Zanzibar

Tonight that’s where I’ll be

Tell the waitress I’ll come back to Zanzibar

I’ll be hiding in the darkness with my beer

She’s waiting out in Shandytown

She’s gonna pull the curtains down for me, for me

I’ve got the old man’s car

I’ve got a jazz guitar

I’ve got a tab at Zanzibar

Tonight that’s where I’ll be

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Two: Zanzibar: Johnny, Bobby and James arrive at Zanzibar. Tony shows them around the local watering hole and introduces them to characters at Mister Cacciatore’s.

Johnny

Hey there’s Mister Cacciatore!

Bobby

Wow the whole campus really is at bar night

James

No he owns Zanzibar

Bobby

I thought he was an IR professor at Colby?

James

Doesn’t that sound like exactly what an international relations professor would name a bar?

The boys go to order a drink at the bar, but the waitress is amidst a political discussion

Waitress

I don’t know how election day turned into election week. I mean, I swear it’s as if the media circus is gonna milk every last second of this never ending election. Blue and Red! Two Sides of the same coin!

The boys try to get her attention as Tony spots them across the bar

Tony

Hey there fellows

Bobby

Tonight’s your date with Leyna? 

Tony

Yeah so long as she doesn’t change her mind 

Johnny

Are you kidding? After our performance at the Chapel, I bet she’s smitten

Bobby

You just need a little liquid luck 

James

That might be harder than expected. We were trying to get the waitress’s attention since we arrived

Tony

Don’t worry about it. John at the bar is a friend of mind. Gets me my drinks for free

The boys approach the bar 

Davy

Well look who it is 

Tony

Guys, this is pal my Davy 

Davy

You know I actually went to Colby back in my day! Class of 71 before I became a seal

James

You were in the Navy?

Davy

Still am, young man! 

Tony

Excited to hear Mister Cacciatore play tonight?

Davy

Oh sure, he’s the Piano Man.

Tony

I haven’t seen Ali? 

Davy

Oh he’s almost surely with the rest of them outside of the bar. That reminds me I have some business to attend to. Cheers mates.

Srg

What’ll it be for you boys

James

I’ll have what Davy’s having 

Srg

Coming right up

Mister Cacciatore

Welcome to Zanzibar folks. Even with the masks it means the world we can surround ourselves with sound and good company.  I’m gonna start off our open mic. I spy some of my students who I’m hoping might share a song. Feel free to sign up for a slot at the bar

Tony

She’s still not here yet.

James

I’m sure she’ll be here any minute Tony!

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Three: Mister Cacciatore plays the harmonica and performs Piano Man at Zanzibar.

Mister Cacciatore

It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday

The regular crowd shuffles in

There’s an old man sittin’ next to me

Makin’ love to his tonic and gin

He says, “son, can you play me a memory?

I’m not really sure how it goes

But it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it complete

When I wore a younger man’s clothes”

La, la, la, di, dee, da

La, la, di, dee, da, da, dum

Company

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody

And you’ve got us feelin’ alright

Tony

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine

He gets me my drinks for free

And he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke

But there’s some place that he’d rather be

He says, “Bill, I believe this is killing me”

As the smile ran away from his face

“Well, I’m sure that I could be a movie star

If I could get out of this place”

Oh, la, la, la, di, dee, da

La, la, di, dee, da, da, dum

Tony

Now Paul is a real estate novelist

Who never had time for a wife

And he’s talkin’ with Davy, who’s still in the Navy

And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics

As the businessmen slowly get stoned

Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness

But it’s better than drinkin’ alone

Company

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody

And you got us feelin’ alright

Mister Cacciatore

It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday

And the manager gives me a smile

‘Cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been comin’ to see

To forget about life for a while

And the piano, it sounds like a carnival

And the microphone smells like a beer

And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar

And say, “man, what are you doin’ here?”

Oh, la, la, la, di, dee, da

La, la, di, dee, da, da, dum

Company

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody

And you’ve got us feelin’ alright

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Four: Everybody Loves You Now: Mister Cacciatore encourages Laura to play a number from her musical. Leyna calls and decides not to come. She says she’s swamped with work, but someone says they just saw her at the post office. Tony is crushed and James goes after him calling for Laura who is stuck because she’s just committed to performing for the bar. She asks James to play the piano, but he brushes her off and leaves. 

Laura

This is from an independent study I’ve been working on this semester. It’s a great piano song, but it seems my piano player has fled the scene, so we’ll give it a go on the guitar. 

Big Shot

Bass: Johnnie Gilmore

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Three: Big Shot: James turns back to play the piano for Laura, but by the time he arrives, she’s gone on without him. Frustrated about college amidst Covid and how Laura’s made along fine on her own, he storms off. 

James

Well, you went uptown riding in your limousine

With your fine Park Avenue clothes

You had the Dom Perignon in your hand

And the spoon up your nose

And when you wake up in the morning

With your head on fire

And your eyes too bloody to see

Go on and cry in your coffee

But don’t come bitchin’ to me

Because you had to be a big shot, didn’t you

You had to open up your mouth

You had to be a big shot, didn’t you

All your friends were so knocked out

You had to have the last word, last night

You know what everything’s about

You and to have a white hot spotlight

You had to be a big shot last night

They were all impressed with your Halston dress

And the people that you knew at Elaine’s

And the story of your latest success

Kept ’em so entertained

Oh, but now you just don’t remember

All the things you said

And you’re not sure you want to know

I’ll give you one hint, honey

You sure did put on a show

Yes, yes, you had to be a big shot, didn’t you

You had to prove it to the crowd

You had to be a big shot, didn’t you

All your friends were so knocked out

You had to have the last word, last night

So much fun to be around

You had to have the front page, bold type

You had to be a big shot last night

Well, it’s no big sin to stick your two cents in

If you know when to leave it alone

But you went over the line

You couldn’t see it was time to go home

No, no, no, no, no, no, you had to be a big shot, didn’t you

You had to open up your mouth

You had to be a big shot, didn’t you

All your friends were so knocked out

You had to have the last word, last night

So much fun to be around

You had to have a white hot spotlight

You had to be a big shot last night

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Election Scene

Leyna

Have other elections felt like this before Mister Cacciatore?

Mister Cacciatore

While I have to admit that between the onslaught of picketing and pointless posters that are by and large a huge waste of paper, I’ve never come across an election cycle quite like this one.  Though no matter the year it does seem as if we’re driven to detest the other candidate.

Rosalinda

 Maybe this struggle  for the soul of the nation is just a strategy that’s been used one time too many

Leyna

It’s true, either way we’re electing the oldest candidates in the history of the presidency in an increasingly multicultural nation 

Laura

I’m most worried about trust in the democratic process. Of the fifteen million people who became eligible to vote in this past election. If after this national mobilization to vote in spite of the pandemic and everything he’s done. What if we still lose?

Mister Cacciatore

Can you imagine a world without the social contract?

Rosalinda

I don’t know what incentive we’d have to uphold the social contract when we’re practically behaving like a failed state and our vote might not even count for anything

Mister Cacciatore

Roads? Schools? Private Property? Leviathan!

Leyna

“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains”

Mister Cacciatore

That’s actually Rousseau

Laura

I cannot imagine what society would devolve into if he were to be re-elected 

Mister Cacciatore

He who must not be named? 

Laura

I’m just tired of hearing his name

Leyna

I know what you mean about this notion of the newsreel. We’re all so overwhelmed by news, the misdoings start to blend together

Laura
Sure when I start to go through it all: pulling out of the Paris agreement, pulling troops out of Syria 

Leyna

The border wall. The Muslim ban!

Laura

I never would have imagined he’d win in 2016

Rosalinda

I  never would have imagined he’d be worse than we thought he was gonna be 

Mister Cacciatore 

Ah so it seems we’ve begun to tackle the conundrum of a civil war? 

Rosalinda

What would that even look like in the US anyways? Whoever’s in control of the military would win? If no other nation could challenge the global hegemon, what makes a militia think they could? 

Mister Cacciatore 

It wouldn’t be the first time in the history of the United States

Leyna

I still can’t get over that pie chart on our defense spending

Laura

Whilst we arm the rest of the world. 

Rosalinda

Yeah, it’s like in Monopoly, the banker isn’t a real player. Imagine if the banker could build hotels and earn 200 each time past go. The game would be totally rigged? 

Mister Cacciatore 

You pose an interesting question.

Pressure

Scene Five: Election number. Sung by Leyna. Mailroom scene with all the absentee ballots. Turns into a company tap dance number.

Musical Stylings: David Mansfield Tap: Sydney Ku