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Hello,
Never even considered writing a stage play before. Don't know if this works. Anyone interested in performing this, (amateur of course) is welcome, although I would like some feed back about how it went. I would love to involved with a production. See how it goes for myself, maybe do some changes. I have left the main character ambiguous so anyone of any nationality or gender can play part. Please let me know of any spag errors or improvements. It is rather long at 3800 words.
Last Train To Clarkesville
A One Act, One Scene Play.
The Audience enters, and settles down.
The Lights go down.
Suddenly loud machine gun shots come from the rear of the
auditorium. Flashing and strobe lighting
accompany the shots.
The lights go back up to reveal armed guards dressed in camouflage gear, spaced around the
perimeter.
The curtains open to reveal the stage is occupied by a backdrop,
One chair and one table.
On the table is a lumpy jacket and a bottle of water.
Standing there is the leader of the armed guards, dressed in
camouflage uniform, with a side arm.
LEADER
Well, this makes a change from the advertised show, doesn't it ?
For your information, We Are The Peoples Liberation Army Of Everystan. And tonight you are our
hostages. Just sit quietly, and if your hostage rescue team is any good, most of you will be going
home safely.
Right, now a lot of you are thinking ' why me?' I will tell you. First of all, as callous as it may seem,
you were just plain unlucky. Secondly if you had cared about the way things are, we would not be
here.
Some of you are thinking, 'what do we want ?' Well believe it or not, we just want to be left alone.
You see, we don't want you running our lives, any more than you would want us to run yours.
But thanks to your stupidity, greed and callousness here we are. Now where do we go from here?
It is an interesting question, no? The answer is 'it all depends.'
Just yesterday, hundreds of my fellow countrymen died, gunned down in cold blood, by a dictator
and his criminal government. One that you keep supplied with arms. One you treat with respect, just
because of 'The Oil.' Just because you are too lazy to wean yourselves off the black stuff. Just like
any other junkie you demand your fix, and everyone else suffers.
Day after day you work, watch TV and go on foreign holidays, all at the expense of people in a land
far away. Out of sight, out of conscience. People who die of starvation, who are kept as cattle,
without law, without hope.
While you moan about the cost of living, that your bills are too high. The true cost of your living is
the death of babies. Every mile you drive costs a life. Every trip in a plane costs lives. Your holidays
are steeped in blood. You buy the oil, and to get some of the money back you sell him bullets. You
sell bullets to the mad men in charge of the oil rich country's. I ask you, which is the most evil, a
dictator, or his friends? The mark of a man, is the friends he keeps.
So here you are, unknowing, uncaring, busy with your little lives, living in blissful ignorance,
not even bothering to question the government you could not be bothered to vote for in the first
place. And here we are, the few who can and will stand up, we say 'Not On My Conscience .'
You did not listen to use when we were polite, we became rudely insistent, and you told us to go
away. We protested, and you laughed at us, we became a few seconds of novelty on a news
programme.
Finally we are trying violence. Now we are called terrorists. We have become criminals to be hunted,
tortured, killed. You are just like the dictator. You tell us your way of life is so much better than ours,
because you are righteous. Righteous! Pah. How can you take the moral high ground, when it is you,
with your money keeping the citizens of my country oppressed. Yes you, you and your money. Look
at what you do to yourselves, how you fail to look after your vulnerable. The weak, the sick, the
elderly. They are only there to be exploited. You say we treat our women badly, well just you look
how you treat your own, try googling porn, the internet is a real eye opener.
what about those poor countries, where you pay criminals with money and guns to make drugs.
Drugs you take just so you can feel good for five minutes. The violence, killings, corruption, the
suffering and lawlessness. Your bad behaviour, your money ruining other peoples lives. Will you
change your behaviour ? Will you insist that your government will change it's ways ? Do you think
the business's that get rich selling arms ever question the blood on the money ? How many Swiss
bank accounts exist, just because of this 'pragmatic way' of 'dealing with the Devil?'
You call me a bad man, and yet you have murdered and enslaved many more people than me. I kill to
free my people, you kill for a tank full of petrol.
In the pursuit of more and more money you have abandoned your own people. You would rather
employ sweat labour in other countries, where their own governments oppress their own people.
Where children do adults work and adults have no work. Where great fashion house's get rich
and the children live in squalor, earning pitiful meaningless wages.
Charity is no good, it just sustains the the status quo. What they need is an honest government,
proper trade and the will to improve the way their people live. Not to use them as just
another way to stuff another Swiss bank account.
Your everyday life is only sustainable by ruining others. No wonder some of us fight back.
Now enough of my lecturing, it is now time to deal with the reason we are here. Lord Credence, it is
time for you to come on down.
No one moves in the audience.
LEADER
OK captain, find him and bring him here.
In pairs the armed terrorists search the audience.
Two of them find the Lord, and drag him out of his chair.
His wife joins in the struggle.
There is a lot of begging and pleading.
LEADER
Ah Alice, Alice Alice Alice, in a way this concerns you too. Captain, bring her to the stage as well.
The terrorists hand cuff the lord, hands behind his back.
They hand cuff his wife, hands in front.
They drag them to the stage.
He is pushed to the floor, she is sat on the chair.
LEADER
Good evening my Lord, my Lady.
LADY ALICE
Leave us alone, let us go, we have done nothing to you, he's a good man, Leave us alone.
The leader perches on the edge of the table
LEADER.
This is one of those life changing moments Alice, and you really should pay attention.
The leader pulls the pistol from it's holster
LADY ALICE
Please don't, please please please.
The leader gently rubs the gun barrel up and down Lady Alice's cheek.
LEADER
This is important Alice, the wrong decision can have serious consequences, disastrous consequences.
It is your choice.
Lady Alice goes very quiet.
LEADER
Well thought through. Now, Lord Credence, tell everyone who you are.
LORD CREDENCE
Mumbles.
LEADER
Now now my lord speak up, after all this is the theatre, you must project yourself.
LORD CREDENCE
(Defiantly) I am the permanent under-secretary to the secretary of defence.
LEADER
You are part of the team that decided to invade our middle eastern neighbours.
LORD CREDENCE
I took no active part in those decisions.
LEADER
No active part in stopping them either.
LORD CREDENCE
I just work there, I didn't start these wars, you did. Terrorists. You destroyed the twin towers.
LEADER
Ahh, you see I was just a humble teacher then, I am only a terrorist now because when your country
invaded our neighbour it gave our beloved president the chance to oppress us even harder.
The fall out of such harshness was the sudden increase in what I like to call, 'freedom fighters.'
LORD CREDENCE
Murderers, indiscriminate killers. Butchers. Religious nutters. As God is my witness, you will be
hunted down.
LEADER
Puts the gun muzzle to Lord Credence's forehead.
People die everyday. To be born is to die, and yet the threat of death still holds attention.
Will you die today ?
Pushes Lord Credence's head gently with the gun then puts the gun onto the table.
It is simple physics, action and reaction. You push us and we push back.
Why did you invade Iraq ?
LORDCREDENCE
What ?
LEADER
Why, did, you, invade, Iraq ?
LORD CREDENCE
That wasn't us, that was the previous government.
LEADER
Are you telling me it was George Bush and Tony Blair's fault ? It was nothing to do with oil?
Nothing to do with keeping your economy running? Nothing to do with the tax it brings in?
LORD CREDENCE
Absolutely not, it was, all those weapons of mass destruction. He was a mad man with a large army
and no morals. He even gassed some of his own people for gods sake. And my god he was really
good at killing his own son-in-laws. There is no way you can tell me the world is not a better place
without him. All we did was make it a safer place. A place where women could be as good as men, a
place where you could vote for your own government.
We are showing the whole of the middle east how democracy is the best way to run a country.
Do you know how many British service men and women have died to this bring freedom to those
whom he oppressed ?
Every day we spend millions of pounds, and many lives to battle against the terrorists. Everyday,
terrorists like you threaten our lives, our way of living, our green and pleasant land.
Why do you want us all to pray to Mecca? What is it abut Christianity you find so bad?
You come over here and live off state handouts, you bomb our underground and then you have the
effrontery to complain we don't respect your religion enough. You build Mosques, and start riots.
If you don't like it here, why don't you just go back home ?
LEADER
So it was nothing to do with oil then ?
LORD CREDENCE
Oil! Oil! All that has happened since we went into That Damned Country is the price has risen to silly
money. If we just stayed away then we would be a darned sight better off.
LEADER
So your once close friend Saddam. The one who stood up to the Iranians suddenly becomes your
enemy. You blockade his country and use sanctions against his regime. Then when there is no way
he can get his hands on weapons of mass destruction, you invade.
LORD CREDENCE
Well what do you expect? We couldn't just nuke him.
LEADER
Nuclear weapons. Weapons of mass destruction. How are they supposed to used defensively? Hold
them up and use them as a shield? Watch the enemies rockets bounce back to where they came
from?
is it some sort of modern magic to ward off evil? Didn't you learn a lesson from Chernobyl?
Radiation doesn't stop at borders, it poisons the entire neighbourhood. If England wanted to bomb
France it might as well bomb itself at the same time. You could bomb North Korea, but it shares one
border with the good guy's in South Korea and another with China. There's a a recipe for
international tension. How about Russia? We could poison Northern Europe at the same time.
Why are the British spending a fortune on something that can only be used aggressively, and only if
they fall out with entire world?
It makes you sound like a mad dictatorship, with paranoid delusions of grandeur and lots of oil.
Why did George Bush and Tony Blair decide it was necessary to invade Iraq?
LORD CREDENCE
How the hell should I know? I've told you I'm not a politician, I'm not part of the government, I am
a civil servant, I just work for it. What ever else you think of me I did not have any part in the
decision to go after Saddam.
There was a lot of other people pushing for it. We in the civil service are neutral. I personally never
had an opinion either way, but all these years down the line I can see what a disastrous decision it
was. It makes me sick to see the chaos over there, but even if I knew then what I know now it would
not have made the slightest difference, bigger guns than me were determined to have their way. The
whole bloody mess is just the way things are. You suffer, I suffer, everyone on all sides suffers, just
because Osama Bin Laden wants to be the leader of an oppressive regime.
You see at the heart of it all, people just want to get by, to have a roof over their head, food on the
table, a loving family. In this country you can have it. Try a little harder and you can have those little
extras, a better car, nicer holidays, a bigger house, gold, diamonds, there is no reason at all why you
have to become a terrorist. All this killing is totally unnecessary, it just ruins peoples lives. Parents
losing children, children losing parents. Simple everyday life takes a turn for the stupid, searches at
airports, checking under your car for explosives, using controlled explosions on the abandoned cases
in the shopping centre.
All because you cannot accept that most people are happy with the way things are.
You have to change things, using violence, you have no problem with terror to force your argument.
Killing your way to power, running the country by gun point. Making the majority of peaceful
citizens live in fear.
This is a democracy, if you are dissatisfied with the way things are, you set up a political party, tell
everyone about the alternative government you could provide, appeal to the public and get voted in.
You don't need guns and bombs to effect a change. That's the beauty of this country, get enough votes
on your side and you can run the whole damned country. Do it well enough and they will even keep
you in power. It is the best way to get the power you crave, without it, it will all end in blood.
LEADER.
What a twisted outlook you have on life.
LADY ALICE.
We have money, we can pay.
LEADER.
I'm sorry my lady, but despite money being at the root of this problem it is not going to be the
solution.
Today, my family, my friends, my fellow countrymen are being starved, tortured and killed by their
own president. The excuse for this is 'a global war on terrorism.' It does seem strange that this war
seems to be taking place mostly in country's with despotic leaders and lots of oil.
The oil that keeps your country moving. The oil your economy depends on.
It puts unbelievable fortunes in a few rich men's bank accounts.
It poisons the planet and brings suffering to so many people.
You are blind to the damage it does. All you can see is the money, not the people.
Now, I think it is time our audience knew a little more about your Lordship.
Tell us something about your life.
LORD CREDENCE.
No!
No, you are going to kill me anyway, why should I give you the time of day ?
THE LEADER.
Mmm. Fine, I will tell them for you, you will see we have done our research well.
You are sixty two years old, married for twenty three years. Second marriage.
First one broke up because of your affair with Alice here.
You play golf and like to dine at expensive restaurants.
You have had an affair with your secretary for longer than both of your
marriages. You attend a friends sex parties, and enjoy the company of prostitutes.
You selected Alice because she had children from a previous marriage.
Tell me Alice, did you ever wonder why your first daughter left home so early
and what she is seeing a counsellor for?
And why your youngest daughter spends so much time staying over with friends?
This honest upright citizen has a few dark secrets.
LADY ALICE
Henry tell me this isn't true.
LORD CREDENCE.
No, it's all lies. Our children are very important to me, I would never ever hurt them.
THE LEADER.
Fishes a piece of paper out of his pocket and puts it on the table.
When this is all over take a look at this web site, his user name and code is printed on there
for your convenience.
LORD CREDENCE.
It's a trick. They have made this all up.
THE LEADER.
Take a look Alice.
Now my Lord, it is never a good idea to commit perjury. Courts take a very dim view of liars.
LORD CREDENCE.
Court?
THE LEADER.
Yes. I am your judge and your jury, and if necessary your executioner.
LORD CREDENCE
You cannot possibly equate yourself with our judicial system. You have even
discarded your own morals and ethics, nowhere in your religion does it say
kill thy neighbour.
THE LEADER
True, but I have had something of a personal crisis over this situation.
On the one hand I must not kill, but on the other, evil flourishes if good men stand
idly by. You will flourish and many more will suffer. So I must break the rules
and hope my God is merciful.
So now we reach the part where you have to defend yourself. Tell us
why you should live.
LORD CREDENCE.
Why I should live? Why should I die? In your religion, and my religion all life is sacred.
It is not up to you to damage Gods work. You seek the moral high ground by threats and
lies. You use violence and death as tools to attack our freedom.
Everyday some youngster with suicidal tendencies is persuaded to strap a bomb to
themselves and find a nice crowd of innocent bystanders. You promise them
a way into heaven, and so in their own minds they have nothing but a life they
don't want and the best future they could possibly want. And they become a hero as well.
What a sick way to wage a war. Exploit the damaged individual, get them to do your dirty work.
None of the people in here could point to your country on a map. None of them harbour
your people any ill will. None of them have raised a finger to cause you and your country any harm.
Yet here we are, waiting for the bullets to start flying.
You are no judge. You pretend to have reasons for what you do, but really all you want is to
kill. Not in the name of God, in the name of evil. You do the devils work.
You don't want to make your country a better place, you just want to be the one in charge.
Without the twin towers and other attacks, there would be no British soldiers
anywhere in the Middle East. You started this, killing me or anyone else
wont stop it. It will just make matters worse. You say want to win respect, or freedom.
All you will get is more hate, more soldiers. Keep us alive and I promise you, I will do everything I
can to bring our army home. There is already a strong public desire to do so,
it will be a bit like pushing at an open door.
THE LEADER
A good reply, although I notice it has very little to do with you personally. It also
fails to mention the lies your government has told, all the cash it has
embezzled, all the exploiters you have cosied up to. The failure to fix all the nagging
little problems that make people's lives so miserable. You want the top job, but not for
any reason more important than your own self aggrandisement.
LORD CREDENCE.
I have no need to defend myself from the likes of you, self justifying murderers and
destroyers of good things. Killing is against the law.
THE LEADER.
So is slavery, yet you are willing to let other countries provide your goods made by
what can only be likened to to slave labour. Torture, killing and false imprisonment is against
the law and yet you make friends with those who do both. Double standards.
LORD CREDENCE.
Hypocrite.
THE LEADER.
Believe me, I can see myself all too clearly and I don't like what I see. I look at
you and I like it even less.
The Leader picks up the gun.
THE LEADER.
I have sat in judgement. The jury has retired. What verdict do you think I will provide?
LORD CREDENCE.
After all this, I know you are going to kill me. It is the wrong thing, the bad thing to do.
THE LEADER.
All of that and so much more.
There is a brief squeal and the sound of a megaphone amplified voice.
NEGOTIATOR PATRICK.
Hello in the theatre, I am Patrick and I am here to talk to you.
THE LEADER.
My cue.
The Leader puts gun down and puts jacket on, it has sticks of explosives and wires attached to it.
The Leader then picks up gun and shoots Lord Credence.
Lady Alice leaves the chair and goes to her husband, where she rests his head in her lap.
LADY ALICE.
(To The Leader) You are an awful, awful man. If I had a gun I'd kill you.
(To her husband) Oh my love don't leave me.
THE LEADER.
You are so right and yet, I have done you a big favour. With his death the gambling
debts are written off and you will keep the house.
The Leader waves his arm in the air.
Fellow freedom fighters, it is time for our finale.
As the lights dim all the hostage takers make their hasty way
down to the stage and out through the wings.
There is a brief pause, then the sound of gun fire and shouts and screams. Then a loud explosion
and a bright flash, small debris drops from stage ceiling,
part of the stage scenery falls over.
Lights up, cast take bow.
The End
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