The CTR Anthology

by Alan Filewod

  Evangelist: You ridicule me, but you fail to see a half century of misguided freedom and arrogant pride – in the guise of civilization.

  You think you are immune –

  Infallible.

  But who have you loved?

  How many have you loved?

  Now that love becomes a curse:

  Your eyes – shall know true darkness;

  Your ears – the scream of marriage vows;

  And your children, your poor children –

  PM: This is intolerable. Your rantings are lunacy.

  Evangelist: Your past speaks differently.

  PM: What do you know of my past?

  Evangelist: Only what I sense.

  PM: Oh, intuitions, not intelligence.

  Evangelist: You are the famous ‘man of reason’ – use your reason.

  PM: I will – to save this country from you and your kind. Only then will I be satisfied.

  Evangelist:

  The killer, the disease

  Lies dormant

  Among your thoughts –

  Your base desires.

  What you think you see,

  Hides truth to be known.

  Lover

  And killer

  Have become one.

  (Evangelist and Prime Minister exit.)

  Com:

  What will be his fate?

  How can we judge?

  We must know. We must understand. We must decide.

  Not through fervent prophecy,

  But through facts and wisdom.

  Be wary of words

  Until they are as real as things.

  SCENE ELEVEN

  (Newhouse and Baker meet in Ministry of External Affairs. Hallway.)

  Newhouse: Baker – in my home and native land?

  Baker: I thought you were in Guyana?

  Newhouse: Family business.

  Baker: I’m here … for a while – re-assignment.

  Newhouse: I thought you were more politician than diplomat.

  Baker: Negotiations – we’re tightening continental immigration.

  Newhouse: Let me show you around. To the outsider it’s a boring, bureaucratic town, but there’s an underside –

  Baker: I imagine you know all about it.

  Newhouse: My hometown. I’ll buy you a drink across the street.

  Baker: Later – after my orientation meeting.

  Newhouse: Leave the orienting to me, pal.

  (An intercom buzz.)

  MEA: Good. Send him in. I want to welcome him personally.

  Baker: I hope I’m not interrupting?

  MEA: Not at all.

  Baker: I just ran into your son. We’re meeting for a drink.

  MEA: You know my son?

  Baker: We knew each other in Washington. (pause) I hadn’t expected to see you so quickly.

  MEA: We’ve heard a great deal about you, Robert.

  Baker: I understand.

  MEA: Excellent reports – from the highest office in your country. I understand you’re a natural.

  Baker: Is that what the President said?

  MEA: We’ve been informed about the unfortunate incident. Contrary to the President’s belief, Ambassador Peters claims you’ve been wrongly accused. I propose to do everything in my power to minimize the effects on your reputation. You must realize, Robert, that you are presidential material. Why else were you sent here? As punishment? No, to protect you from further tarnishing – away from the media’s rather harsh glare. I intend to take good care of you, candidate Baker.

  Baker: And I thought this posting was –

  MEA: Well, you’re not in exile. I want to make absolutely certain that when you do return, you’ll think of this country as your second home. We can always use friends like you.

  Baker: Thank you for your confidence. Some day your hospitality will be repaid.

  MEA: Good. We’re having a small reception for you upstairs – I’ll introduce you to some of our national treasures.

  SCENE TWELVE

  (Parliament. Thumping.)

  Crane: Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, my ministry is paralysed by innuendo. If the Prime Minister, this house, the nation thinks I would subvert our unity in a time of crisis, then let it be said now – before me and the people.

  Members: (loud thumping)

  No to Anger!

  No to Confusion!

  No to Lies!

  Crane: Did you, Prime Minister, accuse me of collusion with the religious radicals?

  PM: You violate the solemn agreements of this house – and solely to grasp at power. I only defend myself against you.

  Crane: Mr Speaker, we can attack each other, charge and countercharge, but what I have to say in simple, honest, and needs an unbiased ear.

  PM: Your malicious actions speak louder than simple words.

  Crane: I don’t attack you.

  PM: Was it not your commission that proposed mandatory testing?

  Crane: I would not hesitate to do the same again.

  PM: Did you not recommend that test results be made public – that carriers be publicly identified?

  Crane: That was my opinion, given the findings.

  PM: Opinion? It was a calculated political tactic.

  (Thumping)

  Crane: A tactic – how absurd.

  PM: How long did you deliberate before making recommendations?

  Crane: Weeks of public hearings with many concerned parties –

  PM: Including the churches.

  Crane: All denominations were surveyed.

  PM: Equal weight was given to all voices.

  Crane: Yes, of course.

  PM: But beyond the formal inquiry, were there private discussions?

  Crane: No, none. Everything was public.

  PM: No backroom meetings, no private solicitations, no strategy sessions?

  Crane: No.

  PM: Then why the sudden attacks on my character? – flimsy accusations? – calls for me to be tested? – a media blitz demanding that my private life become public?

  (Thumping)

  Crane: That has nothing to do with with me. Your questions judge me. May I question you?

  PM: The Conservatives recently received substantial contributions from Fundamentalist organizations.

  Crane: Am I to ask the affiliation of every citizen who donates a dollar?

  (Thumping)

  PM: You and your evangelical friends conspire to defame me, to dismantle this coalition – to force an election over hearsay.

  Crane: I do not bend to their demands, nor submit to their influence. Haven’t we agreed to coalition in the crisis?

  PM: Yes – we have a written agreement.

  (Thumping)

  Crane: And you gave me a voice in Cabinet affairs?

  PM: Your voice has been heard.

  Crane: And despite differences of opinion, I united behind your single voice.

  PM: Initially – but you unwittingly revealed your party’s private agenda and poisoned our trust.

  Crane: No. Consider my position rationally. What astute politician would want to be leader? Given the current health crisis – it’s political suicide. I had your confidence. My advice was acknowledged, debated, and sifted by your judgement. I enjoyed the privilege of power, without becoming a target.

  PM: You try to sidestep blame, but these “anonymous” donations undermine our coalition.

  (Thumping)

  Crane: My offices are open to your inspection. Put me, and all I value, to question, but don’t convict me on suspicion. If you purge my voice, you throw away the strength of our unity, and destroy our only hope. I ask you for your trust.

  (Thumping)

  PM: I cannot believe these protestations of innocence. You are baiting and frightening the public with scandals. You call for trust and force an election.

  (Crane leaves.)

  PM: Today I reluctantly dissolve this government. Let the people judge.

  (Thumping)

&nbs
p; SCENE THIRTEEN

  (Ottawa.)

  Newhouse: Baker’s been reassigned – demoted to Ottawa. The Dragon Lady fingered him – instead of me – and Pop must know all about it.

  Chambers: You’re gloating.

  Newhouse: And why not – things are working out wonderfully.

  Chambers: Don’t you have a conscience? You broke the law and you broke Isabel’s heart –

  Newhouse: Our desire rose from slightly lower.

  Chambers: -you abandon her to be punished and betray a friend – you won’t get away with it –

  Newhouse: Chambers. Chambers. You are dangerously naive.

  Chambers: – and you’re a cynic.

  Newhouse: – a realist –

  Chambers: – you should be punished.

  Newhouse: But I am free – even though I was caught breaking an American law by the President of the United States. Chambers, the law, the government – the whole system – needs me. We all know that politics is nothing more than insider information, old-boy favours, and back-room lies – all disguised as good intentions. Well, I oil that machine. I have given the President, my father, and our Dragon Lady a wonderful new relationship – interlocking iou’s – because they serve themselves by conspiring to protect me.

  Also I serve the electorate who think they want to love and deify their leaders. But as soon as scandal such as I can offer cracks the reputation of their beloved statesmen, they experience the exquisite joy of watching them crumble. Ah yes, it’s the stuff of myth – and it fills their papers, their speakers, their screens. So you see my humble efforts promote the only real passion in the political process.

  Chambers: Well … I just don’t like the way you live or anything you say and I should turn you in myself.

  Newhouse: And defy the wishes of dear old Dad and the prez? Listen, if they wanted me arrested, they had ample opportunity.

  Chambers: Your father’s protecting you because he loves you –

  Newhouse: Ha!

  Chambers: Don’t you believe in virtue?

  Newhouse: There’s only boredom in virtue. Virtue mortifies the flesh and denies every human desire.

  Chambers: And what about love?

  Newhouse: I didn’t love her. She didn’t love me. And yet there was a real passion that you’ll never feel –

  Chambers: Gratuitous excitement. You were strangers – she could be a carrier or you could be a carrier –

  Newhouse: Desire is all we have, Chambers. We are desiring machines.

  SCENE FOURTEEN

  (Tabloid headlines and simultaneous news conferences)

  Headline: Snap Election Called During Bitter Government Battle.

  Prime Minister’s Wife (Wife): It’s the first I’ve heard of this. I’m not prepared to comment.

  Headline: Conservative-Fundamentalist Conspiracy.

  Wife: Of course our family has been deeply hurt by these rumours. When people are dying, how can so-called Christian people add to the misery?

  Crane: A coalition government, rife with animosity, cannot govern with the nation’s trust and confidence. The Prime Minister created an impossible situation for me and my party.

  PM: I recognized the need to co-operate, I initiated a working coalition, and then I was stabbed in the back. The Conservatives plot against the very policies they endorsed.

  Crane: Look at our finances. We’re not ready for an election, and he knows that. He’s simply seeking a majority because he’s tired of compromise – tired of listening to people who aren’t yes-men.

  Headline: PM Accused Plague Carrier.

  Wife: Why is the media creating this storm? My husband is being judged without a trial.

  Com:

  Political battle.

  Unwanted election.

  We need unity not division.

  (Computerized headlines are projected simultaneously throughout the remaining scene: “Polls Find Election Useless”; “I Made Love to PM”; “Political War of Accusations”; “PM Linked in Plague Chain”; “Christian Party Points Finger”; “Carrier Claims She Loved PM”; “PM’s Health?”; “Majority Reject Election”)

  PM: I agree. This is an unwelcome, but necessary, election. You must make a choice. I seek a mandate to govern effectively.

  Com:

  Heal this rift.

  PM: I cannot as long as these lies about my health persist. Only the people’s confidence can restore my authority.

  Com:

  Bound by common dilemma –

  Cast aside suspicion and

  End this war

  Of accusation.

  PM: I will not retreat. Crane will do anything to topple me.

  Com:

  Those were not

  His words.

  PM: Slander and libel rob me of any ability to lead, and strip me of my rights as an individual. If he would do this to me, when I hold the highest office in the land, what would he do to the sick, the suffering, the powerless.

  Crane: Where there is faith, he sees hate; where there is loyalty, he sees betrayal. He yields to these slanderous attacks by calling the vote. He defames himself.

  PM: The election date is set.

  Crane: This is paranoia. The Prime Minister is not fit to govern.

  SCENE FIFTEEN

  (Private.)

  Wife: How can I comfort you?

  PM: No comfort until I have destroyed him.

  Wife: One injustice will lead to another.

  PM: Are you saying I am unjust?

  Wife: Yes … you may be.

  PM: I am defending my reputation.

  Wife: Enough of this fighting. The country is in torment – and now we are. You must rest.

  PM: Rest! – their accusations infuriate me.

  Wife: I am not turning against you, I’m here to help. You’ve given your life to this country – fifteen years. You’ve done things no other man could do and people still have faith in you. Lead us back to safety and security. That’s all I want, they want. Let your anger go.

  PM: But these lies about me –

  Wife: Ignore the rumours. What do they know … how do they know? It’s gossip – prophecies by a lunatic.

  PM: How am I to lead?

  Wife: You don’t actually think he sees into the future, or conjures up the past.

  PM: I can’t go on until my name is cleared.

  Wife: Prove them wrong. Take the test. Publish the results. This dread disease can’t touch us. We’ve been married for years – in devotion to each other.

  PM: I know that. But I can’t not think about it.

  Wife: They can root through your past, bribe witnesses to make any sort of claim, but don’t let them create doubts inside you.

  PM: I know I know I know – but I’m obsessed – I just can’t help it.

  Wife: People indulge and paralyse themselves by thinking endlessly about the disease, and forget the actual sick. You remember my friend Susan Redstone. She knew someone who tested positive, and all she could talk about was herself – whether she had it, how it gets transmitted, and on and on. So little was publicly known about the disease – she was in utter panic. She believed all those myths about dirty taps and toilet seats – worried that it was carried by mosquitoes. I asked about her friend, and she said something about the look on his face – life had left his eyes – and then went right on about herself and her worries that she got it by living next door to him. Her friend Lawrence lived on and went on – knowing he would one day die – living with the terminal. But Susan cut herself off from Lawrence. She started seeing doctors every week. She trapped herself in a state of paranoia – for nothing. Nothing ever happened to her. What do we have to be afraid of? Fear never changes the future, it only destroys the present.

  PM: This Lawrence has the disease?

  Wife: He died recently.

  PM: Who told you? Susan?

  Wife: They hadn’t seen each other in years. She read about his death in the papers.

  PM: When did he find out?


  Wife: What’s wrong?

  PM: When? Tell me?

  Wife: Susan told me … five years ago.

  PM: Were they lovers? Did Susan make love to Lawrence?

  Wife: I don’t think they were lovers – they were friends and neighbours –

  PM: – do you know, or don’t you –

  Wife: Women didn’t interest Lawrence except as friends. What’s going on?

  PM: I should see Susan.

  Wife: Why?

  PM: My God, I can’t believe that …

  Wife: What is it?

  PM: If I tell you –

  Wife: Tell me.

  PM: Seven years ago I slept with – made love to – Susan Redstone. I was on the west coast campaigning for the leadership and we swept the local delegates. There was a celebration. The media was there – the hacks, the bagmen – everybody. But we somehow managed to slip away to her house. I was so scared and so excited. I felt like a kid. It was my reward. That was the only time I have every been unfaithful to you. One night.

  Wife: Why are you telling me this now?

  PM: About three in the morning, as I was preparing to slip back to the hotel, Susan answered her front door. I overheard what sounded like a lovers’ quarrel. I asked her, but she didn’t want to talk about it. She said it was her neighbour – they hadn’t been getting along – and dismissed it as platonic –

  Wife: – I think that’s true –

  PM: – I didn’t believe her. I remember that night very clearly – Susan shouting his name over and over again … Lawrence … Lawrence. If they were lovers, then you and I may be linked in a chain –

  Wife: You can’t allow some incident in the past – whether they made love – to obsess you –

  PM: – some absurd modern curse –

  Wife: – even if they did, it does not necessarily mean that you are a carrier –

  PM: – the consequence of betrayal – a judgment –

  Wife: You and I will not be infected.