A one-act play inspired by the photo...
The Father
Characters: Daughter (mid-forties, reserved); Policewoman (early thirties, patient); Father (late sixties, ill)
Setting: A sad suburban sitting room, open on a
kitchen-dining room at the back. Father,
on centrally placed easy chair, watches a Nature programme. Large sofa on left.
Doorbell rings.
Daughter: (In kitchen, back turned) Shall I get that?
(Short pause, she goes to door, opens it)
Policewoman: We got an emergency call
from a woman at this address. Was it you? She didn’t give her name, didn’t say
what the danger was…
Daughter: Come in. (Policewoman walks in)
Policewoman: So, what’s the problem? (Daughter points to Father) Good evening, Sir. (Policewoman
walks towards Father)
Father: Sit down. (Policewoman sits on sofa, Father
switches off TV, short pause) I’m going to commit a felony. I asked my daughter
here to call you so that she doesn’t get arrested for conspiracy. She has
nothing to do with what I’m about to do; she has tried to dissuade me. I alone
am responsible for my acts and, yes, I am sane in mind, if not in body.
Policewoman: Are you in possession of
the criminal implements? I can arrest you now for attempting to commit a crime
and save you the trouble of doing what you say you are about to do…
Father: I will use the contents of this suitcase for
the deed.
Policewoman: “Contents”, meaning?
Father: (Laughs) Meaning, indeed! It’s viral, a
poison in the right dose. I’ve named it “Logos”. It is the ultimate logical argument.
It will give meaning to our pitiful existence. The end justifies the means,
right?
Policewoman: If I pick up the suitcase,
and just walk out of here, would that be possible?
Father: It would save me the trouble…
Policewoman: (Sighs) I know I’m on
duty, but is there any chance of coffee?
Father: (To Daughter)
Make the lady a cup, would you?
Daughter: Milk, sugar? (She goes to kitchen)
Policewoman: Milk, no sugar. (To Father) You say “argument”, but doesn’t
argument suppose, like, dialogue? Your virus sounds more like a definitive
solution…
Father: Well, aren’t you going to try and dissuade me
from… broadcasting Logos?
Policewoman: If you want me to… How
dangerous is it?
Father: It will probably put an end to all human
kind.
Policewoman: Painfully?
Father: No, but there will be sadness and regret.
Policewoman: Meaningful but not mean,
then. I’ll spread the word…
Father: Aren’t you pleased you can arrest a mass
murderer?
Policewoman: I thought you were a
terrorist.
Father: No, I’m not going to scare people into
changing their ways; I am going to get rid of the cause of all our problems.
Policewoman: Radical. Is there no hope
then?
Father: “Hope is the most evil of evils because it
prolongs people’s torment”. Nietzsche.
Policewoman: What have you got against
people?
Father: “To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten
thousand”. Shakespeare.
Policewoman: “Honest” meaning good? So,
most people are bad, but some are
good!
Father: “We are each our own devil, and we make this
world our hell”. Oscar Wilde. People are destroying the planet. I have to get
rid of people.
Policewoman: Ah, a mad eco-warrior
scientist, makes a change… The FBI will profile you as a neglected child!
Father: My parents were overbearing. They wanted me
to become what they had failed to be. I would say they felt mostly shame, a
kind of anger, because they were incapable of filling the void of their
existence… There was no joy or beauty. Love was out of reach; they could not
find the right words to express it. They were like most couples are.
Policewoman: You will die, and your
daughter also.
Father: I’m dying anyway. My daughter will not.
Policewoman: Why?
Father: Logos will make humans sterile. The species will
disappear within a generation. Global warming will at last radically slow down.
Policewoman: I’m no expert, but that
sounds far-fetched population control! What does your God say about your crime?
Father: “The violence that exists in the human heart,
wounded by sin, is also manifest in the symptoms of illness that we see in the
Earth, the water, the air and in living things…” The Pope said that. Is it a crime
to want to stop criminal negligence?
Policewoman: So you are God, then, the vengeful judging type… (Pause) Can’t you
just kill the super-rich? I mean, most people don’t intend to mess things up; they’re
just fumbling about, trying to make ends meet, to make sense of it all. The fat
cats, on the other hand, they are guilty, in my view, of gross negligence.
Their indifference to us, to the planet, is extreme, don’t you think?
Father: I’m for life.
Policewoman: Some mass-killer you are!
Father: Well, this is not about revenge; I’m not actually
going to kill anybody, just stopping them from being conceived. It is so irresponsible
to bring kids into this wicked world, and kids grow up to become as selfish and
desperate as their parents.
Policewoman: I’m a good parent, I
think. (Calls to Daughter in kitchen)
Do you have kids?
Daughter: No. (Aside) It is my father’s replies that
are sometimes pregnant…
Policewoman: (To Daughter) Is you father a good man, a decent dad?
Daughter: He has been.
Policewoman: (To Father) Don’t you want grandchildren?
Father: I do, I care for kids, conception is a
blessing, normally, but we have to think of the greater good. Logos is the
means to a just end: the dignified disappearance of our species and the survival
of the planet!
Policewoman: Makes kind of sense,
though I can’t approve your method. Ok, a necessary evil, but…
Father: No more war, famine and poverty, no more
madness, suffering and despair, no more failure, indignity and loneliness…
Policewoman: But it’s an evil act
nonetheless. And, think about it, if people can’t have kids any more, they’ll
just go apeshit! They’ll have nothing to live for: it’ll be rape and pillage, no
reason for respect!
Father: But there’s no respect for reason! Hundreds
of scientists announce the end of the world, but our leaders do nothing, they continue
to ransack the environment and let people suffer, kids drown, be gassed or bombed!
And do individuals change their ways? So few! Respect, you say? But where are
the words of kindness now? There’s no
trust, no generosity, no imagination, and so little sense of responsibility towards
future generations…
Policewoman: There’s no logic in
throwing the baby out with the bathwater! We aren’t all irresponsible and you
want to get rid of us all!
Father: We are primates capable of giving meaning,
but our shared stories are ones of horror, of technological terror destroying
resources and lives… We have the means to communicate with anybody, anywhere,
anytime, but all we spread are lies and loathing.
Policewoman: It’s never too late… What
about those young people fighting for gun control? They are trying to build a
better future; they are spreading the love, man!
Father: I’m not sure many of your colleagues share
your opinion… And do you honestly think that we can count on kids to save the
world? My God, we are the adults; it
is up to us to take charge!
Policewoman: But there are many activists doing good work,
fighting for solidarity, for peace, for the planet!
Father: I’m an activist too. No, the world is weary
and the life of the individual is once again becoming “solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish and short”. We could have become like gods, happy and eternal, but
instead we seek quick solutions to the problems of our own making by turning to
hate-filled megalomaniacs who exploit our fears. Now “the condition of man...
is a condition of war of everyone against everyone”.
Policewoman: Ok, ok, you have a point! Things
do look bad right now, but I’m sure we can stem the tide. Listen, I have a
friend who writes for the local rag. What do you say to her coming round so you
can explain your point of view; let people know your arguments… Can I call her?
Father: I was a journalist for forty years,
a good one. No, we’ve had our chance. Wildlife has to be saved from the
frenzied crowds and Logos is the only answer to our outrageous fortune. People
have to stop selfishly procreating… “I must be cruel only to be kind”.
Daughter: “Thus bad begins and worse remains behind”.
Shakespeare again. Your coffee, milk, no sugar.
Policewoman: (Sighs) Thanks, you are more than kind.
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