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THE LIBRETTO
Dreams in the Witch House
A Lovecraftian Rock Opera Libretto
A witch stood trial for being godless GILMAN
Act One Sentenced to be hung at dawn
On the prison walls she’d drawn
The night, so fraught with sound
It never subsides, nor goes away
W
Lines and curves, then she vanished! I strain to concentrate
Her disappearance never was explained And find the answers which help equate
Be it Satan’s work or sorceries attained Dimensions of reality
Stay the night and soon you’ll be aroused There’s got to be a way
Some say she lingers still in the Witch House To step deliberately from earth
To points beyond in space
MAZUREWICZ I will go higher
THE CONFESSION / ARKHAM OVERTURE Benedictus dominus I’ll make it there, no time to spare
Benedictus dominus I’m losin’ self control
ELWOOD I will go higher
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, ARKHAM CHOIR To comprehend, I must descend
bless me, Father for I have– Within these moldy dank walls, a newborn baby cries Might even sell my soul
FATHER IWANICKI A wicked rat roams, it’s the devil in disguise But I’ll go high
Yes, my son. Go on. When was your last confession? I’ll go high
ELWOOD GILMAN
Five weeks, Father. Thirty-seven days ago. That’s Behind these slanting walls, a lurking place MAZUREWICZ
eight hundred ninety one hours. My last confession Holy Spirit, lead me to a better understanding of the
was fifty-three thousand, four hundred sixty minutes ELWOOD Cross of Christ!
ago. More or less. Unbounded void transcending time and space The night so cursed, the Witch’s Sabbath is near
FATHER IWANICKI I kneel to pray
Alright. What do— GILMAN + ELWOOD Beware Walpurgis Night
ELWOOD Just stay the night, and soon you’ll be aroused The slaves of Satan, I keep at bay
Three million, two hundred seven thousand, six Some say she lingers still in the Witch House Brandishing this crucifix
hundred seconds… Of silver in my hand
FATHER IWANICKI WITCH The ghosts which haunt my hallowed room
It’s alright, begin your confession. Behind these slanting walls, a lurking place Forever will be damned
ELWOOD Unbounded void transcending time and space Fight fire with fire
Father, I’ve seen evil. Evil incarnate. Stay the night and leave no room for doubt Transfixed upon this crucifix
FATHER IWANICKI You’ll suffer fevered dreams in the Witch House Until the break of dawn
Men do terrible things my son. Fight fire with fire
ELWOOD ELWOOD
No, no, I’m not talking about men. I mean evil. Evil He was a genius. Truly gifted. GILMAN
beyond you, me, mankind. Real evil. Supernatural evil. FATHER IWANICKI I hear his prayers from down the stairs
Malevolent and eternal. You understand what I mean? Who, my son? Why must he carry on?
FATHER IWANICKI ELWOOD I will go higher!
I do. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under My friend, Walter Gilman. We were classmates at
your feet. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.” Miskatonic and rented rooms in the same house. They MAZUREWICZ
ELWOOD call it the Witch House. Fight fire with fire
No, I don’t think so. Not this time, Father. FATHER IWANICKI Forsake evil deeds with rosary beads
FATHER IWANICKI Ah yes. Legend has it the accused witch, Keziah “Our Father, who art in heaven…”
This evil, tell me, where was it? Mason once lived there. Why would you choose such
ELWOOD a place? GILMAN
Here. Right here, Father. All around us. ELWOOD In these walls I see beyond boundaries
FATHER IWANICKI Poor students can’t afford to be picky. I will go higher!
Here? FATHER IWANICKI I’ll make it there, no time to spare, I’m losing self
ELWOOD True. control
Here. In Arkham. ELWOOD I will go higher!
It was cheap, but Walter really wanted to live there
because of its history. ELWOOD
DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE FATHER IWANICKI Between Mazurewicz’s unrelenting prayers and Wal-
It’s a dark history, unholy. ter’s fanatical devotion to his mathematical studies, he
ELWOOD
ELWOOD didn’t get much rest. The longer we lived in the house,
There’s a haunted town full of whispered tales
Walter had no fear of that. The story of Keziah Father, the more obsessed he became. The strain on
About a creaking house of mystery
fascinated him. Soon after we moved in he began to him was terrible. The doctor said he had some kind of
This brooding, moldy tomb
hear strange noises there. He called it the endless “brain fever,” but Walter swore it had something to
With a crooked garret room
cacophony. All I heard were the constant prayers of do with the irregular shape of his garret room.
Hides a devilish history
our neighbor, Mr. Mazurewicz.
GILMAN
Behind its slanting walls, a lurking place
There’s something ‘bout these walls
Unbounded void transcending time and space
Geometric and so strangely mathematical
Stay one night and leave no room for doubt HIGHER FIRE / BREAKING ME DOWN Hypnotizing
You’ll suffer fevered dreams in the Witch House
Mesmerizing
MAZUREWICZ
I spend all night analyzing
GILMAN May the Lord bless me, protect me from evil and bring
Angles and curves hide secrets so surprising
Centuries ago in a pious, fearful town me to everlasting life!
Esoteric
Asymmetric There’s a bridge to the stars There my mind truly soars
Disguising something epic Dimensions near and far Cognizance exposing every door
It’s slowly breaking me down! We could walk where no man has walked before
There’s a bridge to the stars Geometrical, mathematical, I step deliberately
Fantastical, dimensional, through cryptic boundaries
BRIDGE TO THE STARS ELWOOD + GILMAN Improbable, impossible, abyss I must transcend
And places very far Such frequency, a mystery too deep to comprehend
FATHER IWANICKI Expand your mind, the world’s ours to explore
Your friend does sound troubled, my son. BROWN JENKIN
ELWOOD MISKATONIC STUDENT CHOIR Crawlin’ across the floor
The worst of it was his strange, terrible dreams. There’s a bridge to the stars Hellish beast men abhor
FATHER IWANICKI Dimensions near and far Lurkin’ insidiously
An intelligent man studying both mathematics and We could walk where no man has walked before Mongrel monstrosity!
occult folklore… no doubt it triggered his imagination. There’s a bridge to the stars
ELWOOD MAZUREWICZ
It wasn’t his imagination, Father. I think he made some UPHAM O bone et dulcissime Iesu
kind of deal with the Devil. He’d gained abstract math- Mister Gilman that’s quite intriguing Ante conspectum tuum genibus
ematical knowledge beyond human comprehension!
Me provolvo!
We were all astounded by it, especially our teacher, MISKATONIC STUDENT CHOIR BROWN JENKIN
Professor Upham. To explore So here I come, you’ve seen me before
Ahhhh Prepare yourself for what’s in store!
PROFESSOR UPHAM There’s a bridge to the stars!
So many questions
Science is a vast frontier BROWN JENKIN +
ELWOOD
Of theory scrutinized RATS IN THE WALLS CHOIR
Other students whispered about Walter in the hall-
Deep exploration So blasphemous, calamitous, you’ve everything to
ways. Even the faculty were concerned for him. The
Of concepts we hold dear fear
learning … he was coming unhinged.
We equate and we describe I’m merciless, nefarious, the screeching that you
FATHER IWANICKI
hear
Perhaps Gilman ought not to have studied so hard.
UPHAM + ELWOOD + STUDENTS ELWOOD So deafening, this reckoning
Our calculations never end It wasn’t only that, Father. Walter lived in the very
room where Keziah herself performed black magic. GILMAN
GILMAN FATHER IWANICKI It’s driving me insane!
I’ve insight you can’t comprehend My son, witchcraft and science are two sides of the
There’s a bridge to the stars same coin. Man has always hungered for the unknow- RATS IN THE WALLS CHOIR
Dimensions near and far able, the divine. Unsettling and menacing
I will go to a cosmos more immense ELWOOD
There’s a bridge to the stars But Father, this isn’t divine at all. This knowledge was, BROWN JENKIN
I don’t know… profane? Unholy? These dreams destroy your brain!
PROFESSOR UPHAM FATHER IWANICKI
Son, your notion’s quite bizarre Your friend Walter’s soul was in peril, my son. Yours MAZUREWICZ
too, perhaps. The Lord of Darkness is always present O bone et dulcissime Iesu
ELWOOD and can take many forms. Ante conspectum tuum genibus
Walter, you’re not making any sense ELWOOD
Yes, Father. Walter heard strange, unearthly voices GILMAN
GILMAN in the house. He said there was a creature, a horrible Ahhhhhhhhh!
Just hold on! thing bound to the Witch.
Mankind’s perceptions are constricted by his fears FATHER IWANICKI
Blindness soothes your mind It is said witches had familiars, evil spirits in the form
of animals.
PROFESSOR UPHAM ELWOOD NO TURNING BACK
Bold speculation, but your theory thus implies Yes! That’s it exactly! He saw it, in his dreams.
Flesh and blood of man survives FATHER IWANICKI GILMAN
Such entry to another realm Dreams can be a battlefield, where the holy and unholy The Lord is my rock
wage war for the soul. In him shall I trust?
ELWOOD ELWOOD Is he the shield and horn of my salvation?
Bound creatures, we’d be overwhelmed Walter’s dreams were now becoming terrifying
nightmares. WITCH
UPHAM + ELWOOD Don’t look away, the time has come
On your bridge to the stars To abandon absolution
Dimensions near and far Your body shivers, the quest begun
THE NIGHTMARE Penetrate God’s grand delusion
UPHAM I’m here, your fantasy
I’m impressed, but it’s just a metaphor GILMAN
In my dreams I see cubes and prisms Oh there’s no turning back
GILMAN Idols shrieking cacophonous rhythms From all your sensual discoveries
There’s a bridge to the stars Tentacles drag me deep into a labyrinth I can give you what you lack
And places very far We’ll consummate a new reality
It’s actual, and I can show you more Indescribably vile behaviors You’ll see!
Ravage me, oh Lord, where’s my savior?
ELWOOD Am I trapped in purgatory? Why don’t you run?
Walter strode up to the black board and effortlessly My God! Why do you feel like a prisoner in your own body?
solved numerous Riemannian equations, which seemed These monstrous visions, so surreal
to demonstrate the possibility of man literally stepping Atop, cyclopean spires I find your passion sensuous and bawdy
from one dimension to others of infinite remoteness. Rising, take me ever higher I want you desperately
Professor Upham was astonished. I was baffled at first, Above, beyond infinity
but soon I could see… Come on!
Oh, there’s no turning back ELWOOD You took a vow, before you now
For now you’ve woken up an entity There was something… a presence not of this world Three cosmic entities
Demonic giant, lean and black on the other side of that door, Father. We didn’t know
From worlds beyond he crawls relentlessly towards what to do! Mazurewicz handed me a crucifix and BROWN JENKIN
you prayed the rosary. His hands were shaking. Desrochers This is more than dream
There’s no turning back peeked through the keyhole and it was as if that Nothing’s what it seems
From a luscious world of blasphemy strange violet light had burned his eye, for he fell back Faith’s a lie
As your nightmare fades to black in utter terror! Fate draws nigh!
Come with me, abandon sanity FATHER IWANICKI
Did you enter the room, my son? WITCH + BROWN JENKIN
WITCH + GILMAN ELWOOD Nothing you can do will cleanse your soul anew
There’s no turning back! Yes. Nothing you can say can keep the truth at bay
There’s no turning back! By the power of God…
ELWOOD
WITCH ELWOOD + DESROCHERS Empty room, where did he go?
No, there’s no turning back …thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander
through the world for the ruin of… MAZUREWICZ
Through these walls the Witch Light glows
DESROCHERS + MAZUREWICZ
Souls! DESROCHERS
House of sorrow, house of woe
SIGNUM CRUCIS ELWOOD
A thing inside his room, we all saw it! A hideous GILMAN
ELWOOD creature like a huge rat, but with the face of a man. Nothing I can do will cleanse my soul anew
The old witch had become so real to him father, I Walter’s nightmares had somehow become real!
was afraid she might appear to me. It got worse as WITCH + BROWN JENKIN
May Eve approached, and our superstitious neighbors BROWN JENKIN Nothing you can say can keep the truth at bay
worried about Walter’s strange behavior. He was Mankind fails to see the truth
sleepwalking, and there were screams at night, and Your faith poorly misconceived WITCH + BROWN JENKIN +
that strange light that glowed from beneath his door. Dare you step into the violet light ELWOOD + MAZUREWICZ +
FATHER IWANICKI You’ll see that you’ve been deceived DESROCHERS
You saw a light? Revelations he defends
ELWOOD
Not just me. We all saw it… a weird violet color. WITCH + BROWN JENKIN
FATHER IWANICKI NOTHING I CAN DO Science proves
In nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti
ELWOOD ELWOOD +
FATHER IWANICKI + MONKS Then it vanished into the wall. Mazurewicz said the MAZUREWICZ + DESROCHERS
Throughout the ages creature was Brown Jenkin, the Witch’s familiar. Can While faith condemns
Virtuous sages such things be, Father?
Spoke of a violet light FATHER IWANICKI BROWN JENKIN + WITCH
Waxing primeval The Devil assumes many shapes, my son. In the end we all descend
Causing upheaval ELWOOD
Come every Walpurgis Night Walter wasn’t there. We found bloody footprints on ELWOOD
the floor, but they stopped halfway across the room. It The evil had engulfed him, Father. And I felt it was
ELWOOD was as if he vanished before reaching the door! Was it going to consume me as well. Walter went too far
Our neighbor, Desrochers, woke me. He had heard witchcraft? The Devil? Where could he have gone? down the path. I want to turn back, but I’m afraid it
stranger than usual thumping coming from Walter’s might already be too late for me.
room up above. I lit a candle, and we climbed the stairs GILMAN FATHER IWANICKI
following the eerie noises. We found Mr. Mazurewicz Blistering, brilliantly It’s never too late to turn back to God, my son.
already listening outside Walter’s door. Glittering, gorgeously ELWOOD
MAZUREWICZ Minarets and pinnacles, as far as eyes can see I want to believe that.
In nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti!
High above, sky aflame ELWOOD
MAZUREWICZ + ELWOOD Vibrant hues, none the same Nothing I can do, that’s why I turned to you
Cracks ‘round his doorway Far below, a city glows beyond the balustrade Nothing I can say, has faith led me astray?
In his quest to comprehend, mighty God did he offend?
MAZUREWICZ + DESROCHERS Is this just a dream? Walter was my faithful friend.
Fatefully glowing In terror, I scream
God on high
MAZUREWICZ + Hear my cry
DESROCHERS + ELWOOD
Dreadful footsteps amplify Nothing I can do will cleanse my soul anew
Nothing I can say can keep the truth at bay
MAZUREWICZ Breaking down from my despair
Ominous talkin’ Rising up I say a prayer
DESROCHERS Where is God and does he care?
Somnolent walkin’
WITCH
FATHER IWANICKI + ELWOOD + Menacing minstrelsy
MAZUREWICZ + DESROCHERS Swelling up rhythmically
There is a Devil inside From below, an overflow of piping symphonies
My God!
Maddening melodies
Rapturous rhapsodies
The evil in this room afflicts us all
THE SLEEPWALKER Turn to your crucifix
ELWOOD ‘Tis April’s awful Sabbat
Act Two Somehow Keziah escaped. They found mystical lines
and curves on the walls of her empty cell.
Foul Walpurgis Night
V
FATHER IWANICKI DOMBROWSKI
Lines and curves like the ones your friend Gilman We hear the chants from Meadow Hill
studied?
ELWOOD DOMBROWSKI + MAZUREWICZ
Exactly, Father! Maybe Walter learned her secret. And pray to know God’s holy will
Maybe he followed in her footsteps.
MEADOW HILL CULTIST CHOIR
GILMAN Nyarlathotep Veni Veni
Am I dreaming? Daemonia Ia Yog Sothoth
ELWOOD
Am I walking barefoot down the streets of Arkham? Ars Magister, Clavicula
There’s something about the house itself, Father. It’s
Through these misty alleyways Gel Sabaoth, Nyarlathotep
always been cursed.
Beguiled, my mind in disarray
FATHER IWANICKI
The starlight beaming ELWOOD +
Do you believe in curses, my Son?
Figure gleaming, here in my hand MAZUREWICZ + DOMBROWSKI
ELWOOD
Exotic and damned, God forsake me Blessed are the faithful
I believe that there are forces that can corrupt even
the most innocent. I imagine that the witch, Keziah For Hell’s on the horizon
Mason, was pulled into that trap herself. She wasn’t The Devil has a thousand tricks
born evil, was she? BLESSED ARE THE FAITHFUL But can’t defeat a crucifix
BROWN JENKIN
Madness is your destiny!
GILMAN
False perception, deep deception led to my insanity
Dreams eternal, life infernal
Madness is my destiny
Madness is my destiny
In black seas of infinity!
Executive Producer
Dreams in the Witch House Mike Dalager
Music by
R
Chris Laney Anders Ringman Lennart Östlund
Lyrics by
Mike Dalager Andrew Leman
Book by
Sean Branney Andrew Leman
© 2013 Platform West, LLC
Based on “The Dreams in the Witch House” by H. P. Lovecraft All rights reserved.