› Cast of Characters:

Kublai Khan Bass-Baritone, late 60s, aging Khagen (emperor) of the Mongol empire
Marco Polo Lyric Tenor, mid 20s, Venetian trader and explorer, currently in the employ of the Mongol empire
First Woman (Swing Role) Lyric Coloratura Soprano
Second Woman (Swing Role) Light Lyric Mezzo-Soprano

Chamber Choir (4 voices SATB)

› Plot Summary:

In the gardens of Kublai Khan, the young explorer Marco Polo tells the emperor of his travels. Khan, who has sensed the end of his empire is coming soon, looks to Polo to prevent this fall. But instead Polo tells him stories of the many cities he visited hoping to illuminate, piece by piece, to the Khan why the fall of his empire is his destiny. For Polo, the travels were not only a journey to far::reaching lands, but a journey in his memory, to his home of Venice, and his search for the truth of his homeland in his travels.

› Treatment:

Overture

Scene 1 : Prologue
The imperial garden. Kublai Kahn sits stage left on a lush pillow throne. The palace garden, while opulent, seems affected by a decay of excess. As Khan sifts through his thoughts and memories, he is joined by the Two Women and Marco Polo. The Two Women serve as narrator and chorus, revealing the hidden desires and prejudices of both Khan and Polo. Kublai Khan ruminates that his empire, “which seemed the sum of all wonders, is a vast and formless ruin.” He looks to Marco Polo for the pattern, the reason behind his empire’s decline, and the key to its future.

Scene 2 : Isidora
Marco Polo tells the Great Khan of the city of Isidora: "a city where buildings have spiral staircases with spiral seashells encrusted ... where the foreigner hesitating between two women always encounters a third."

Scene 3 : Language
The Women, now dressed as Ambassadors, describe how, upon Marco Polo’s arrival at court, he did not speak the same language as Kublai Khan. Instead, he could only express himself “by drawing objects from his baggage::drums, salt, necklaces of warthogs’ teeth: and pointing to them with gestures, leaps, cries of wonder or of horror.” Polo begins by singing unconnected syllables as he draws objects from his bags, and Khan attempts to piece them together. Slowly, the syllables become fragments of Italian and English. The Women explain that over time, Polo and Khan no longer needed the actions and the fragments because they spoke the same language. However, Khan found this method of communication less satisfying. Eventually, they reverted back to the grunts and fragments, and then, to silence and stillness.

Scene 4 : Armilla
Polo describes the city of Armilla, a city that contains no walls, or ceilings, or floors, only a system of water pipes that cross vertically and horizontally where buildings would be. It is unknown whether the city was destroyed or never finished. Polo tells of the water nymphs who inhabit the city, and whose song can be heard in the mornings. Only the women’s silhouettes are visible. Their shadows appear gradually, and as the scene progresses, the shadows grow taller and larger.

Scene 5 : Venice
Kublai Kahn asks Marco Polo why he never speaks of his home, Venice. Polo says that in fact, every time he describes a city, he is saying something about Venice. Kahn insists that Polo tell him everything about Venice, but Polo refuses. “Memory’s images, once they are said in words, are erased,” Polo says. “Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it. Or perhaps, speaking of other cities, I have already lost it, little by little.”

Scene 6 : Adelma
Marco Polo describes the city of Adelma, where all the citizens have the faces of people known in life, now dead. As Polo describes the many people of the city, and who their faces belong to, the chorus, dressed in robes of shades of green and grey, pour onto the stage. The two Women are dressed in robes and follow along with the chorus. At the climax, one of the Women coincide and she hands him a flyer. He takes it, entranced by her face, which is surely the face of someone meaningful from his life. She does not recognize him, though, and continues on. This happens as Polo sings, “Perhaps Adelma is the city where you arrive dying and where each finds again the people he has known. This means I, too, am dead. And, this means the beyond is not happy.” At this, the crowd freezes.

Scene 7 : Atlas
Kublai Kahn leaps to his feet and tells Marco Polo of his atlases. He says his largest contains all the cities of the empire and neighboring realms, building by building and street by street. Marco Polo leafs through the book thoughtfully, sadly, as Khan searches the room for more books, more information. Khan sings that the book also contains maps of promised lands visited in thought but never discovered—Utopia, Oceana, New Atlantis. He then asks Polo, turns to him, nearly begging, “to which of these futures are the winds driving us?” Polo gently closes the book, and tells Khan that the only way to find these cities is in a brief glance, piece by piece, in fragments. The cities haunt him. He laments, “it is all useless, if the last landing place can only be the infernal city,” the city that is inevitable for everyone. Polo moves forward and says no, that the inferno already exists. In living day to day, he says, we have two options: to become part of the inferno, or to diligently seek and recognize who and what is not part of the inferno, and then “make them endure, give them space.” Khan realizes the truth in his words, and comes to his feet. The Women stand in line behind the two men, who are down center. The chorus is upstage. Lights out.