A Wrinkle in Time - Piano/Vocal Score - Libby Larsen, Walter Green, Madeleine L'Engle

KEYBOARD/VOCAL SCORE

music by Libby Larsen libretto by Walter Green based on the book A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L’Engle

Premiere performances by Opera Delaware, March 1992 Commissioned by Opera Delaware and Sigurd and Evelyn Swensson for its 1991–92 season

Percussion tam-tam bass drum suspended cymbal snare drum thundersheet slap stick woodblock triangle orchestra bells

brass wind chimes high hat cymbal ratchet bell tree guiro tambourine bivraphone timpani

Copyright © 1992 ECS Publishing Company i

CHARACTERS Principal: Meg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Charles Wallace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Calvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mrs. Whatsit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mrs. Who . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mrs. Which . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Secondary:

Soprano Boy Soprano Baritone Soprano Mezzo Soprano or Tenor

M. Jenkins/Man with Red Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bass Mrs. Murry/Happy Medium/Aunt Beast . . . . . . Soprano Mr. Murry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tenor

Acting Roles: Fortinbras, the family dog Chorus parts: Uriel, The Dark Thing, It, People of Camazotz

ORCHESTRA Sound enhancement is needed for proper acoustic mix.

Flute (3) doubles Piccolo Oboe Clarinet (2) 1 doubles Bass Clarinet Bassoon Horn in F Trumpet Trombone Tuba Percussion (2) Timpani Keyboard (Synthesizer) Strings (3-3-2-2-1)

ii

SETTINGS Period Present Time Setting The set should be a grid unit set, dome-shaped, strong enough for characters to move about on it. The feeling of the set should take its inspiration from the work of American culptor Brower Hacher. Embedded in the dome are everyday objects, abstracted an redefined. Props should be attached to the dome in such a way that they may be pulled down for use in scenes and then retracted into the dome as objects. There should be a means for displaying Mrs. Which’s quotations (i.e., slide projection capabilities built into the set and a screen opon withch Mrs. Which’s quotations may be projected; banners with quotations to be unfurled when needed and re-furled; quotations formed into neon signs retraced until uttered, then left lit after said, etc.)

Sights within the setting The Murry home The tree Orion’s belt/Uriel The Happy Medium’s place Camazotz Ixchel The column

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Descriptions of Characters as taken from Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time Charles Wallace “…a blond little boy in faded blue Dr. Dentons…unlike most children, had the ability to sit still” Meg “…She looked at herself in the wardrobe mirror and made a horrible face, baring a mouthful of teeth covered with braces. Automatically she pushed her glasses into position, ran her fingers through her mouse-brown hair, so that it stood wildly on end…Meg’s hair had been passable as long as she wore it tidily in braids. When she went into high school it was cut, and now she and her mother struggled with putting it up, but one side would come out curly and the other straight…”

Calvin “…Tall he certainly was, and skinny. His bony wrists stuck out of the sleeves of his blue sweater; his worn corduroy trousers were three inches too short. He had orange hair that needed cutting and the appropriate freckles to go with it. His eyes were an oddly bright blue…his enormous smile lit up his face.”

Fortinbras “…He was, Meg’s father had decided, part Llewellyn setter and part greyhound, and he had a slender, dark beauty that was all his own.”

Mrs. Murry “…It was not an advantage to have a mother who was both a scientist and a beauty as well.

Mrs. Murry’s flaming red hair, creamy skin, and violet eyes with long dark lashes seemed even more spectacular in comparison with Meg’s outrageous plainness.”

Mr. Murry “…The horn-rimmed glasses, which always seemed so much a part of him, were gone, and the expression of his eyes was turned inward…He had grown a beard, and the silky brown was shot with gray. His hair, too, had not been cut. It wasn’t just the overlong hair…it was pushed back from his high forehead and fell softly almost to his shoulders, so that he looked like someone in another century, or a shipwrecked sailor.”

Mrs. Whatsit “…The age or sex was impossible to tell for it was completely bundled up in clothes. Several scarves of assorted colors were tied about the head, and a man’s felt hat perched atop. A shocking pink stole was knotted about a rough overcoat, and black rubber boots covered the feet…Under all this a sparse quantity of grayish hair was tied in a small but tidy knot on top of her head. Her eyes were bright, her nose a round, soft blob, her mouth puckered like an autumn apple.”

Pages iv and v Text Copyright © 1962 by Crosswicks, Ltd. Used with permission.

iv

Mrs. Who “…In a dilapidated Boston rocker sat a plump little woman…She wore enormous spectacles, twice as thick and twice as large as Meg’s…”

Mrs. Which “…There was a giant gust of wind, the leaves shivered in it, the patterns of moonlight shifted, and in a circle of silver something shimmered, quivered…It became vaguely darker and more solid; and then there appeared a figure in a black robe and a black peaked hat, beady eyes, a beaked nose, and long gray hair; one bony claw clutched a broomstick.”

The Happy Medium “…She wore a turban of beautiful mauve silk, and a long, flowing purple satin gown. In her hands was a crystal ball into which she was gazing raptly. She did not appear to [look at them]…but continued to stare into the crystal ball [laughing]…”

Three Beasts/Aunt Beast “…Coming toward them, moving in silence across the brown grass, were three figures…

They were the same dull gray color as the flowers. If they hadn’t walked upright they would have seemed like animals…They had four arms and far more than five fingers, to each hand, and the fingers were not fingers, but long waving tentacles. They had heads, and they had faces…Where the features would normally be there were several indentations, and in place of ears and hair were more tentacles. They were tall…far taller than any man. They had no eyes. Just soft indentations.”

Mr. Jenkins “…behind Mr. Jenkin’s surface concern was a gleam of avid curiosity.”

The Man with Red Eyes “…On a platform was a chair, and on the chair was a man…What was there about him that seemed to contain all the coldness and darkness they had felt as they plunged through the Black Thing on their way to the planet?…she was not sure what the face exactly looked like, whether it was young or old, cruel or kind, human or alien.”

The People of Camazotz “…This was so. As the skipping rope hit the pavement, so did the ball. As the rope curved over the head of the jumping child, the child with the ball caught the ball. Down came the ropes. Down came the balls. Over and over again. Up. Down. All in rhythm. All identical.

Like the houses. Like the paths. Like the flowers. Then the doors of all the houses opened simultaneously, and out came the women like a row of paper dolls. Each woman stood on the step of her house. Each clapped. Each child with the ball caught the ball. Each child with the skipping rope folded the rope. Each child turned and walked into the house. The doors clicked shut behind them.”

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