A ROCK & SOUL MUSICAL
SOON TO BE A FILM
Book by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley
and Joseph Coulson
Music by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley
and Robert Schleeter
SYNOPSIS
The Spirit Warrior’s Dream is a contemporary musical that explores a possible American future. The 36-song score features a variety of music styles including rock, soul, hip-hop, spoken-word, and gospel.
After decades of social upheaval and environmental disaster, the nation is now jammed into a space a tenth of its original size, called The Great Strip City. Food and water are in short supply, corruption is rampant, and violence is on the rise while the pillars of government and business have fallen apart. Things are bad and about to get worse. One night the lights go out and angry mobs take to the streets in what will be called The Madness Time.
For many years the only place safe from the anger and violence was a former maximum security prison called Yesterday. A teacher named Leta has led a group of young people there, hoping to prepare them to pick up the pieces of a nation in ruins.
The Ecchos, urban griots, recount the story of four friends. Makeda is a woman strong with the power of music and dreams. Train emerges as a charismatic dictator whose stark vision of the future dismisses America’s history. Omar is Makeda’s protector, torn between preparing for war or searching for peace. Kyla becomes Train’s second-in-command with her own ambitions.
These four friends survive The Madness Time together at Yesterday, but now take different paths with conflicting ideas about how to rebuild a once great nation. At the core of their disagreement is the question, “Is America a failed idea whose time has passed or an unfinished dream?”
