s CHE and EVA There is evil, ever around, fundamental System of government quite incidental EVA So go, if you're able To somewhere unstable And stay there Whip up your hate In some tottering state But not here, dear Is that clear, dear? Oh what I'd give for a hundred years! But the physical interferes Every day more--O my Creator! What is the good of the strongest heart In a body that's falling apart? A serious flaw--I hope You know that 19. SHE IS A DIAMOND OFFICERS It's all very well--to a certain extent For the lady at the side of the President To show an interest in affairs But let's not be blind to the drift of events She's eclipsing the strength of the government She should return to below stairs She will never win our hearts She's a woman for a start She holds no elected post She's an ornament at most CHE What's new Buenos Aires? Your nation, which a few years ago had the second largest gold reserves in the world, is bankrupt! A country which grew up and grew rich on beef is rationing it! La Prensa, one of the few newspapers which dares to oppose Peronism, has been silenced, and so have all other reasonable voices! I'll tell you what's new Buenos Aires! PERON (to OFFICERS; CHE has gone) But on the other hand--she's all they have She's a diamond in their dull gray lives--and that's the Hardest kind of stone--it usually survives And if you think about it, can you recall The last time they loved anyone at all? She's not a bauble you can brush aside She's been out doing what we just talked about--example Gave us back our businesses, got the English out And when you think about it--well why not do One or two of the things we promised to? But on the other hand she's slowing down She's lost a little of that magic drive--but I would Not advise her critics present to derive Any satisfaction from her fading star She's the one who's kept us where we are OFFICERS She's the one who's kept you where you are 20. DICE ARE ROLLING PERON Dice are rolling, the knives are out I see every bad sign in the book And as far as they can--overweight to a man! They have that lean and hungry look EVA But we still have the magic we've always had! The descamisados still worship me--we arrived thanks to them and no-one else; no thanks to your generals--a clutch of stuffed cuckoos! PERON It's not a question of a big parade, proving we're big with the mobs on the street-- EVA You're wrong--the people, my people-- PERON The people belong to no-one! They are fickle, can be manipulated, they don't matter! However much they love you now it matters more that as far as my stuffed cuckoos are concerned, you don't politically exist! EVA So I don't exist! So I count for nothing! Try saying that on the street when all over the world I am Argentina! (EVA breaks off for a second--in some pain) Most of your generals wouldn't be recognized by their own mothers! But they'll admit I exist when I become vice-president! PERON That won't work... we've been through all of this before, they'd fight you tooth and nail--you'd never overcome them with a hundred rallies and even if you did-- EVA Yes? PERON Your little body's slowly breaking down You're losing speed, you're losing strength--not style-- that goes on Flourishing forever, but your eyes, your smile Do not have the sparkle of their fantastic past If you climb one more mountain it could be your last EVA I'm not that ill--bad moments come but they go Some days are fine, some a little bit harder But that doesn't mean I should change my routine Have you ever seen Me defeated? Don't you forget what I've been through and yet I'm still standing And if I am ill--that could even be to your advantage! PERON Advantage? I'm trying to point out that you are dying! This talk of death is chilling--of course you're not going to die! EVA Then I must now be vice-president! And I shall have my people come to choose Two Perons to wear their country's crowns In thousands in my squares and avenues Emptying their villages and towns Where every soul in home or shack or stall Knows me as Argentina--that is all Oh I shall be a great vice-president! (But EVA collapses in great pain) PERON So what happens now? So what happens now? EVA Where am I going to? PERON Don't ask anymore 21. EVA'S FINAL BROADCAST CHE Forgive my intrusion, Evita, I just have to see How you admit you have lost--a brand new experience We got it set up! We fixed you a broadcast--and you're so good on the air! EVA The actress hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear She's sad for her country Sad to be defeated by her own weak body (a microphone is switched on--she is now on the air) I want to tell the people of Argentina I've decided I should decline All the honors and titles you've pressed me to take For I'm contented--let me simply go on As the woman who brings her people to the heart of Peron! Don't cry for me Argentina The truth is I shall not leave you Though it may get harder For you to see me I'm Argentina And always will be Have I said too much? There's nothing more I can think of to say to you But all you have to do is look at me to know that every word is true 22. MONTAGE (In her last hours, images, people and events from EVA's life flow through her mind, while the grief of the nation knows no bounds) CHE She had her moments--she had some style The best show in town was the crowd Outside the Casa Rosada crying, "Eva Peron" But that's all gone now-- MAGALDI Eva beware your ambition-- EVA Screw the middle classes! I will never accept them and they will never deny me anything again. My father's other family were middle class, and we were kept out of sight, hidden from view-- It seems crazy but you must believe There's nothing calculated, nothing planned Please forgive me if I seem naive I would never want to force your hand But please understand-- CROWD A new Argentina! The chains of the masses untied! A new Argentina! The voice of the people cannot be and will not be and must not be-- PERON High flying, adored, so young, the instant queen, a Rich beautiful thing of all the talents, a cross between a Fantasy of the bedroom and a saint-- CROWD Santa Santa Evita Madre de todos los ninos... CHE Sing you fools but you got it wrong Enjoy your prayers because you haven't got long Your queen is dead, your king is through She's not coming back to you! CROWD ...de los tiranizados De los descamisados De los trabajadores De la Argentina 23. LAMENT EVA The choice was mine and mine completely I could have any prize that I desired I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire Or else--or else I could choose time Remember I was very young then And a year was forever and a day So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be? I saw the lights and I was on my way And how I lived! How they shone! But how soon the lights were gone! Oh my daughter! Oh my son! Understand what I have done! (The moment EVA dies, EMBALMERS move in to preserve her fragile body) EMBALMERS Eyes, hair, face, image All must be preserved Still life displayed forever No less than she deserved CHE Money was raised to build a tomb, a monument to Evita. Only the pedestal was completed and Evita's body disappeared for seventeen years. THE END