Performed at the Berkeley Arts Festival.
Molly Shapiro: Jim Jones, Temple members; Christian Stanley: Temple members, Marcy Jones, New West Reporter, violin; Joshua Marshall: saxophone; Mia Bella D’Augelli: violin; Crystal Pascucci: cello; Karl Evangelista: guitar; Andrew Jamieson: piano, keyboard; Robert Lopez: drums
Music and text from scene 2 derived from African American spirituals. Text from scenes 3, and 5 taken from recordings of Temple worship published by the Jonestown Institute. Text from scene 9 taken from the August 1, 1977 San Francisco Chronicle article about the Peoples Temple
SCENE #2:An abstract re-presentation of congregational singing, and the call and response of black worship. Jones: Trouble don’t last always. I’m so glad. What shall I do? We shall come home. Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home. Come carry us home! Jones and Temple member: Carry me home! Trouble don’t last always. O, what shall I do? We shall go home! So glad! Trouble don’t last. Swing low. Carry me home. Come home! SCENE #3: Depiction of supposed healing, and testimonies of congregation members, with Jones proudly declaring his power and accomplishments. Jones: Wonderful, wonderful, praises be to the name of our revolutionary Christ! (scene #3 cont.) Temple member: Oh, Jim Jones has come to bring socialism to the united states of America, Hallelujah! Jones: It’s beautiful. I would at one thing to it CHRISTIAN socialism! Jones: Black and white together. There is POWER in that equation. That’s showing the whole WORLD how we got over! Jones and Temple member: Hallelujah! Jones: We’ve never had a funeral in any of our temples. There’s a spirit of resurrection around this house! Temple members: This is like Heaven to us! This IS Heaven, almost. Marcy Jones: It is only through the miraculous power that sits right here! Temple member (from orchestra): That’s right! Temple Member: Something got aholt of me, and I feel good. I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time! Hallelujah! Jones: Wonderful, wonderful. I’m going tell you that if you’ve got any strength tonight, I gave it to you! If you’ve got any health in your body, I put it there. If you have life instead of death, it was I that gave it to you. If you have salvation, I brought it. Praises be to the revolutionary Christ. SCENE #9:
An article in the New West Magezine is finally published that Jones was unable to stop. Jones realized that the accusations offered from Temple defectors are serious, and he can no longer sustain the church in the United States. Reporter: Peoples Temple has two sets of locked doors, guards patrolling the aisles during services and a policy of barring passersby from dropping in unannounced on Sunday mornings.How does Jones manage to appeal to so many kinds of people? Where does he get the money to operate the church’s programs, or support his agricultural outpost in Guyana? Why does he surround himself with bodyguards? And above all, what is going on behind the locked and guarded doors of the peoples temple? TEN WHO QUIT THE TEMPLE SPEAK OUT! Jones: They are writing an article about us in the San Francisco Chronicle. I must know what it says. Reporter: After the Baines article, we began getting phone calls from former temple members. Callers volunteered “background” about Jim Jones’ “cruelty” to the congregation members, in addition to making several other specific charges. Based on what these people told us, life inside the Peoples Temple was a mixture of Spartan regimentation, fear and self-imposed humiliation. These members of the temple Planning Commission were often compelled to stay up all night and submit regularly to “catharsis,” an encounter process in which friends, even mates, would criticize the person who was “on the floor.” In the last 2 years, we were told, these often humiliating sessions had begun to include physical beatings with a large wooden paddle, and boxing matches in which the person on the floor was occasionally knocked out by opponents selected by Jones himself. Also, during regularly scheduled “family meetings” attended by up to 1000 of the most devoted followers, as many as 100 people were lined up to be paddled for such seemingly minor infractions as not being attentive enough during Jones’ sermons. Church leaders also instructed certain members to write letters incriminating themselves in illegal and immoral acts that never happened. In addition, the temple members were encouraged to turn over their money and property to the church and live communally in temple buildings. Those who didn’t ran the risk of being chastised severely during catharsis sessions. We checked the veritable facts of their accounts. The details of their stories checked out. One question, in particular troubled us: Why did some of them remain members long after they became disenchanted with Jones’ methods and even fearful of him and his bodyguards? Their answers were the same-they feared reprisal, and that their stories would not be believed.AN INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE LAUNCHED IMMEDIATELY!Jones: We are under attack! We must leave right away for the promised land! SCENE #5:
Climax of a Jim Jones sermon. Jones: Your conscience, socialism is God. God is socialism. And I am principle socialism. And that’s what makes ME God! The revolution in me is showing the Christ in you. That’s the only hope of glory. There’s no hope up there. Nobody’s going to come out of the sky. Nobody ever came to save us. There’s no heaven up there. We’ll have to make Heaven down here. SCENE #6: Community response to the sermon, in which each member (played by the orchestra) walks to the front and back.