Setting:
An ancient Yoruba palace. Towering carved pillars. Flickering oil lamps. Drums speak in the distance slow, heavy, like a heartbeat. The air is thick with unseen spirits, history, and vengeance.
Scene One
The Palace Courtyard (Midnight)
(The stage is dim. A full moon casts silver light. Drums echo faintly: gbam… gbam… gbam…)
(EWA enters slowly, barefoot, dressed in flowing white. Her face is calm but her eyes burn with pain.)
Ewa (soft, trembling):
This ground…
This cursed ground…
(She kneels, touches the earth.)
I can still feel it.
The blood. The screams. The fire that swallowed my home.
(Drums grow louder.)
Ewa (rising, stronger):
Kabiyesi… mighty king…
You sit on a throne built on bones!
(She laughs bitterly.)
And now another heir is born.
Another life… to continue your wicked legacy.
(She pulls out a small calabash, holding it tightly.)
Ewa (whispering fiercely):
Tonight… your dynasty ends with me.
(Thunder rumbles faintly. Lights fade.)
Scene Two
The Inner Chamber
(Soft lullabies are heard. A dim golden light. A royal cradle at center stage.)
(The BABY PRINCE lies peacefully. A maid sleeps in the corner.)
(EWA enters silently, like a shadow.)
Ewa (whispering, conflicted):
So small…
So peaceful…
(She steps closer, her hand shaking.)
You did not burn my village…
You did not kill my parents…
(Pause. Tears roll down her face.)
But your blood… carries his sins.
(She opens the calabash slightly.)
Ewa (voice breaking):
If you live… my pain lives.
If you breathe… my nightmares breathe.
(She raises her hand toward the child—)
VOICE (thunderous, unseen):
EEWAA!!!
(Everything freezes. The drums stop abruptly.)
Scene Three
Shrine of the Village Priest
(Lights shift violently. Thunder crashes. The stage transforms into a sacred shrine.)
(The PRIEST appears, holding a staff, adorned in white and red beads.)
Priest (booming):
Ewa! Omo ayanmo! Child of destiny!
What darkness have you embraced?
(EWA steps back, shocked but defensive.)
Ewa:
Baba…
This is not your battle.
Priest (advancing):
When a soul is drowning in vengeance,
It becomes the battle of the spirits!
(He strikes his staff. A loud echo fills the stage.)
Priest:
Drop it!
(EWA clutches the calabash tighter.)
Ewa (angrily):
No!
Where were the spirits when my people burned?
Where were they when I screamed for help?!
(She points at him, shaking.)
Tell me, Baba! WHERE?!
(Silence. The drums return—slow, sorrowful.)
Priest (soft, heavy):
They were there…
Watching… waiting…
For this moment.
Ewa (confused, furious):
Moment?
You call this suffering a moment?!
Priest:
Yes.
Because this… (points at the calabash)
Will decide if you become a victim…
Or something far worse.
Scene Four
The Breaking Point
(Lights flicker between warm and cold tones—symbolizing her inner conflict.)
Ewa (screaming):
I WANT JUSTICE!
(Echo: “Justice… justice… justice…”)
Priest (firm):
This is not justice.
This is revenge wearing the mask of justice.
(He steps closer, gently now.)
Priest:
You think killing this child will heal you?
No…
It will chain you forever to the pain you hate.
(EWA trembles violently.)
Ewa (whispering):
Then what do I have left…?
(Long pause.)
Priest (soft, powerful):
Choice.
(Silence. Even the drums stop.)
Priest:
Kings rule lands…
But only the brave rule their hearts.
(EWA looks at the child… then at the calabash.)
(Her hand shakes uncontrollably.)
Ewa (crying):
I am tired… Baba…
Tired of the pain…
Priest:
Then let it end…
Not with blood…
But with courage.
Scene Five
Dawn of Release
(A faint golden light begins to rise. Morning is coming.)
(EWA slowly lifts the calabash… pauses… then—)
CRASH!
(It falls. Shatters. Poison spills across the ground.)
(The drums change—now soft, peaceful.)
(EWA collapses to her knees, breathing deeply, as if freed.)
Ewa (soft, broken but calm):
I release it…
I release the fire…
I release the past…
(She looks at the child, peaceful now.)
Let the future… breathe.
(The PRIEST nods slowly, proud but solemn.)
Final Scene
The Rising Sun
(The full stage lights up in warm gold. Palace life begins to awaken. Distant voices, birds, soft drums.)
(EWA remains kneeling, no longer a victim, but transformed.)
Narrator (voice-over):
In a land where kings command power…
And spirits guard destiny…
One woman chose the hardest path—
Not revenge…
But freedom.
(Pause.)
Narrator:
And in that choice…
Ewa did not just save a life
She saved her soul.