Scene Two

JUAN, CONDOR PASSES, CALLADITA, and CAKEHEAD appear in the lobby. The RECEPTIONIST is vacuuming. FAT JORGE holds the Inti-Illimani record.

FAT JORGE:

Excuse me! Excuse me!

The RECEPTIONIST continues vacuuming.

FAT JORGE:

(standing in front of the RECEPTIONIST, waving his arms around) Excuse me!

RECEPTIONIST:

(turning off vacuum cleaner) What is it this time?

He sees the whole group standing there, smiling expectantly.

FAT JORGE:

(showing record) Uh, we were wondering if you have a record player for us to listen to this—

RECEPTIONIST:

I don’t understand what you’re saying!

FAT JORGE:

This is a beautiful record of gorgeous Andean music with outstanding revolutionary lyrics by one of Chile’s top folk groups, which is now completely banned in our homeland, and it has miraculously fallen from the sky into my hands. This record is a symbol of resistance. The fact that this record is here, at the refugee hotel, just sitting here, shaking in my hands, is enough to move the masses of the world because we want to listen to a song by Víctor Jara, that holy martyr who was brutally murdered by the regime for the simple yet indisputable fact that Víctor Jara was a poor man who wrote lyrics that spoke to the people, that were of the people, that gave dignity to the working man. And this record, this record means so much to us, the fact that it’s here, and that so many are not. So I stand here, with this humble yet noble record in my hands, I stand here in this new country and I ask you if you will please lend us a record player—don’t worry, we won’t break it—so we can listen to “El Aparecido,” tribute to Che Guevara, written by Víctor Jara, both of whom are now dead, dead in the hands of traitors, of fascists, of right-wing pigs who destroy life in the name of profit. Please, let us listen to “El Aparecido.”

RECEPTIONIST:

I’ll get you a record player right away.

The RECEPTIONIST leaves and returns immediately with a record player. He sets it up.

CONDOR PASSES:

(to CAKEHEAD, proudly) RCA Victor. I made the needles for those. At the factory in Santiago.

FAT JORGE pulls the record out of its cover and hands it to the RECEPTIONIST. The RECEPTIONIST puts it on. “El Aparecido” begins to play. Everyone listens in silence. MANUEL raises his left fist. The others follow, except for JOSELITO . The RECEPTIONIST listens intently.

FAT JORGE:

(once song is over) Thank you. That song is banned in Chile right now.

RECEPTIONIST:

That’s remarkable music! Thank you for letting me listen to it! We’ll keep the record player here now, by the lava lamp. You can listen to your records all you want. All you want. Remarkable music. Remarkable.