- Joined
- Jul 12, 2008
- Messages
- 4,016
- Reaction score
- 0
This was a play I wrote recently for the Spring Show at my school, an aggregation of student-written work. I don't know if it's been accepted or not yet, but I think you guys might enjoy it. I don't think I need anymore explanation.
Dissection of a Mustache
Scene 1 starts with sounds of cheering and triumphant music playing, as if from a great crowd of victorious people. The scene is a small, but decadent, office. Two chairs, a table between, a rug, one footstool and a hatrack. Pens and cigar boxes are on the table, and a picture of a mustachioed man is on the wall. Two men, Moncharmin and Valteya, enter into the scene. They are congratulating each other, rubbing backs, etc. Moncharmin is in an army dress uniform, adorned with metals. He, too, sports a mustache. He has a decorative sword at his side. Valteya is in a suit and tie and he wears spectacles.
Moncharmin: Valteya, my friend, do you hear that? The people! They are in love with us! Listen to how they cheer for you! Let me get you a cigar! (opens box on the table)
Valteya: (refusing cigar) No, no, my most esteemed General Moncharmin! The citizens of this great new state, the citizens of Lusitania, most dearly adore you!
M: (takes cigar for himself) Me? No, you are too kind! I am a mere general, a brute, a slayer of men- but you, Valteya? You are the brilliant ideologue! The mouthpiece of Les Miserables! You are a hero, a people’s champion! (sits in chair, puts feet on foot stool)
V: (removes jacket, hanging it on the rack) Let us not flatter ourselves too much, General- I think we can owe the recent downfall of the Golba Regime to the revolutionary spirit and the strength of our brother Lusitanians! (sits opposite Moncharmin)
M: True, true, but I take comfort in knowing that history will forever remember the name of General Fiodor Diega Moncharmin! (at Valteya’s surprise, quickly adds) and Legislator Huascar Valteya, of course!
V: History remembers the triumphant, it is true, but without the rightness of our revolution and the strength of our countrymen, the despicable King Golba III may himself have been the one remembered.
M: (does not agree, and stands) You speak the truth and always have, my friend. Well! The celebrations will go long into this joyous Lusitanian night, and I long to rest after our grueling push into the Capital!
V: Naturally, naturally, but let us not forget this; we have removed, rather violently, the government of Lusitania; it would do us well to make sure we do better than that which we have banished. (stands, adding) I think I shall retire early. There is much work to be done, General!
M: And I shall heartily aid you, Valteya- as soon as the bonfires have burned out and the people cease to shower me with expensive tokens of their thanks. Relax for a while, Valteya; running a government is harder than tearing one apart.
Both exit, the cheering of the crowd is once more heard, fade quickly to black. Scene 2 Valteya enters with a Peter/Petra, and both are suited. Valteya is stressed and the Peter/Petra is insistent.
Peter/Petra: (upon entering) And not only did the General refuse to sign the order to create the Citizen’s Committee, he ripped it in quarters and told me that he would never allow his country to be ruled by the common mob.
Valteya: His country?! The common mob? Back when we were simply outraged revolutionaries, the General often spoke of our need to win over the masses for change to be brought about, and how the country belonged to the aforementioned masses.
P: Perhaps we are overreacting, Mr. Valteya; the General may yet make clear his meanings and intentions in your meeting this afternoon.
V: Ah yes, my appointment with Moncharmin draws nigh, does it not?
P: He should in fact be arriving any moment.
Moncharmin enters office. His mustache is bushier now, and the merriment we saw in his character in the previous scene is nowhere to be found.
Moncharmin: Making it very clear he wants the Flunky gone Valteya-I had hoped that, as always, our discussions would be private.
Valteya: You may go, Peter.
P: Very well, sir. He exits.
M: Well, what do you wish to address today?
V: I expect you know quite perfectly what I wish to address. The Citizen’s Committee on Government and Legislature-not only did you refuse to sign it, but from what Peter tells me, you shredded it and made perfectly clear that you do not wish to even discuss it. I want an explanation. He softens. As a friend, and to a friend.
M: not mollified. You desire explanation? Fine- it shall be given. Your Citizen’s committee is a fallacy more dangerous to Lusitania as a return of the Regime. You want to give more power to the people? The common, uneducated garbage men and grocers, washerwomen and merchants? These people with no experience in the way a country is run, you want us to answer to them?
V: Of course not, but we must be accountable to them. Our government exists for the Lusitanians, their protection and well being. Really, we have the undesirable jobs, not these, as you say, washerwomen and grocers.
M: You are right, it is difficult to argue with you, but you must understand, Valteya, I am nervous about this like a parent is nervous, handing over such a hard-won trophy to a child who may break it.
V: As am I, but you and I and everyone in this executive palace must regard ourselves not as parents, but as servants, much like Peter/Petra is to me.
M: smiling slightly, clapping Valteya on the back You have won me over, my friend, but I still feel we must in some way limit who may join the Committee. Perhaps just the more educated or wealthy of the Mob we serve?
V: If this is the compromise I must make, I make it. I shall begin drafting a new charter for the committee this very day.
M: Excellent, Valteya. Now to a slightly more dangerous matter- you recall what I said about a return of the Regime?
V: worried, previous optimism gone Yes, what of it?
M: one of my advisors tells me that certain agents of the Golban Regime are at work, sowing discourse and sedition among the citizens.
V: your advisor is trustworthy?
M: I have placed more than once my life in his hands.
V: And what do you propose we do, Moncharmin?
M: If you do not mind, I have a charter of my own prepared. Takes scroll from uniform
V: Than say it now, sir.
M: Reading Whereas there exist traitors to Lusitania, her government, and her people; Whereas these traitors are, in accordance with the nature of their evil deeds, hiding among the innocent population of Lusitania; the Consulate hereby decrees that a force of counter-intelligence agents must be formed to discover, defraud, and eliminate these traitors (rolls scroll back up and begins to put away, as if hiding)…etc, etc, you get the gist of it, Valteya? For the security of the people.
V: Stay a moment, Moncharmin- this is dangerous. Forming a secret police agency? We are on a slippery slope here, my friend.
M: It is for our protection, and by your own logic, the protection of the people!
V: All the same, I am wary. A secret police so soon after our Revolution may not sit well with the citizens.
M: Shouting Because they do not know about the danger they face!
V: This is the beginning of a witch hunt!
M: And the witches want the oppression of the past!
V: How can you be so sure this is right?
M: That is not important- if you do not sign this, it is evident that you do not love your people!
V: a pause, then in a resigned tone. Very well. For the people.
M: Excellent- sign here and our security is garaunteed. Furnishes document
V: As he signs- Then our meeting is adjourned?
M: I believe so. I shall see you on the morrow.
Both exit.
Scene 3
Valteya is pacing back and forth in the office, clearly distressed. Moncharmin enters looking very angry.
Valteya: Moncharmin, we must speak at once of Lasa, your so-called Lusitanian Anti-Sedition Agency.
Moncharmin: Are you impressed with our results?
V: If, by results, you mean innocent people hurt and killed, the reports are flooding across my desk with news of them.
M: What do you mean? Lasa has captured and hanged more than a dozen documented Golban agents. So a few innocent citizens were ruffled along the way? If they were patriots, they wouldn’t complain. Turns back on Valteya
V: If they are patriots, we shouldn’t be mistaking them for enemies! And if the letters from private citizens and reports from your Lasa agents are to be believed, there are many more than a few innocents being ‘ruffled’.
M: It is all for their own good! We must press on with our investigations- we cannot put the people’s security on hold simply because they do not see the good we are doing for them!
V: sitting down, looking thoughtful I have thought much about this situation, Moncharmin, and I am of the mind that the way to suppress sedition in Lusitania is by getting the Lusitanians themselves to suppress it.
M: I do not quite understand you- do you mean that we should leave the people’s security in their own hands? Is this a continuation of your wishy-washy, ‘of the people, for the people’ philosophy?
V: Hold your tongue a moment, General- I have not finished. If the enemy agents are succeeding as much as you say they are, to the extent where a secret police force is needed, then clearly we are not doing our jobs correctly. We the Consulate must excel in our duties and responsibilities in order to win over the trust of Lusitania to the point where the people themselves will turn on sedition and treachery as it rises, and with one mind, smash it!
M: That is naivety at best, Valteya, and unachievable. Do you not see our government’s tenuous situation? We must solidify the legitimacy of the Consulate with a hot iron fist, not with foolish ideals!
V: The more you squeeze with that hot iron fist, the more the people will slip through your fingers.
M: And the more your foolish ideals persist, the more likely the entire Consulate will be destroyed!
V: Do not forget that it was my ‘foolish ideals’ that inspired the very Revolution that has given you this power!
M: You take sole credit for the success of the Revolution? What about my soldiers and tactics?
V: You win more flies with honey, General, and the sweet honey of my words persuaded Lusitania of the rightness of our cause. Without the support of the people, you would have been beheaded long ago, and your name disgraced!
M: He pauses and says Your desire is to disband the Lusitanian Anti-Sedition Agency?
V: Nothing would make me happier.
M: sighing I did not want to have to tell you this, Valteya. I did not want you to have more worry than you already have, holding this country together by yourself.
V: suspicious What are you talking about?
M: The reason I have increased crackdowns and investigations, my friend, is that the treachery of the Golban Regime has reached into the halls and rooms of this very palace.
V: You expect me to believe that members of this government that we have hand-selected want to overthrow and replace us with the old Golban Dynasty?
M: I expect you to believe it because it is true. I hear rumors of dissent every day!
V: You are quite serious?
M: I have never been more serious in my life.
V: I cannot believe that it has come to this. What course of action do you suggest we take?
M: There are certain newspapers, Valteya, that publish dissent. As well, you would be surprised to death to find the University harbors many of the Golban Regime’s supporters. To allow them to continue on such a path of destruction is inconceivable. We should shut them down at once.
V: It causes me pain to listen to this. Do you realize that these papers and schools are the symbols of free speech in Lusitania? How can we, the Revolutionaries who promised freedom from oppression to all, even contemplate something like this?
M: This is not so much free speech as it is shouting ‘fire’ in theaters and spreading lies through the land. Valteya, please listen to reason! We are doing what is best for our country! We are patriots!
V: This is insanity- no society has ever prospered that has eliminated avenues of dissent. And besides that, you and I, the leaders of the Revolution, if we do not stay true to those ideals, we are no better than the Golbans!
M: We are ten times the Golba Regime’s better! A thousand times! I am not saying to line them up in the street with their families and shoot them! By closing down the universities and censoring the newspapers, we solidify the Consulate. And the stronger we are, the more effectively we can govern the people with the ideals of the Revolution.
V: I am not so sure.
M: When will you be sure? When the traitors here in the palace organize? When riots start? When they drag us out of our chambers and cut of our heads? And another thing- we must establish an Anti-Sedition Committee to investigate the officials here in the palace! I hate that we have arrived at this, Valteya, but we can no longer afford such luxuries as trust!
V: My heart aches with this new reality. Shakes head What shall this council do when they have caught the traitors?
M: Depending on the severity of their actions, a punishment would be assigned that could range from imprisonment, banishment, or even death.
V. aside It seems that we have slid further down this slippery slope we have taken. To Moncharmin so be it, General. Keep me up to date with your council selections and their progress.
M: It shall be done, my friend.
Scene 4
Peter/Petra drags Valteya into the office, looking around and rubbing hands together as if worried
Valteya: There had better be a good reason for you leading me here, Peter/Petra. I had a very important meeting with the Chairman of the-
Petera: Mr. Valteya, pardon my interruption, but as your assistant I know all about your meetings, and I would never have taken you away from them if this matter was not of the utmost importance. Please, sir, my life is on the line.
V: shocked Excuse me?
P: My life and those of many others who serve and love you are in gravest danger.
V: In danger? From who?
P: The purge council the General Moncharmin set up a few months ago.
V: What purge council? Do you mean the Anti-Sedition Committee he and I arranged? Why do you call it that?
P: Because that is precisely what it is! If you have not noticed, Mr. Valteya, every official who has been removed from power on grounds of being ‘a hazard to Lusitania and the Revolution’ has been replaced by one of Moncharmin’s supporters!
V: Hold a moment, Peter. I know the General’s actions may be construed as overzealous, but he and I agreed to create the Committee together for the safety of all! And what is this talk of the General’s supporters? We are one, and meet daily to discuss the business of the state. His supporters are my supporters.
P: You are blind, Mr. Valteya! You may meet often, but Moncharmin is lying through his teeth. He seeks to oust you from power! He has people, many powerful people, in office now thanks to his purges!
V: So my job is in danger- this does not concern me. I plan on retiring soon enough. I have been Consul for five long years now, and to keep a government fresh and vibrant, there must be a constant change in leadership. Anyway, how does this affect your life so desperately?
P: Because the General does not want merely to remove you from office, he wants to kill you and all those still loyal to you in Lusitania!
V: Preposterous!
P: Truth!
V: I refuse to believe it. What possible reason for my execution could Moncharmin have? We are friends, brothers in arms, the same Leader in one Consulate.
P: You and the General are nothing similar. You have not heard him with his own men, talking of ambition and power, of how ‘you are the only thing standing in his way of making Lusitania great again’! I know not when it happened, but the General is no longer your friend. The purge council was set up with your death the express purpose!
Rommelaire walks into the room. He is a mustachioed shark, leashed by Moncharmin. His walk shows he means business. His entrance causes Peter/Petra to instantly fall silent.
Rommelaire: Consul Valteya, I must thank you- it seems as though you have already caught a traitor for me. And now I have the privilege of taking him off your hands for you.
P: You see now!? This is the beginning of the end!
R: My Liege, I beg you not to let him speak. Enough foul lies have spilled from his mouth already. He is... treacherous.
V: Rommelaire, I know you mean well, but what you speak of is ridiculous. I can personally vouch for Peter/Petra’s character. He was loyal to me throughout the Revolution and a faithful assistant in the early days of the Consulate.
R: I am sorry sir, but the Anti-Sedition Committee has documentation of Peter/Petra’s treachery in the form of letters to and from the Golban king.
P: He lies, sir!
V: I know he does, and I demand you stop at once, Rommelaire. I will speak on Peter/Petra’s behalf myself in front of General Moncharmin.
R: As you should be aware, the law says that any who place themselves in a representative position for traitors, as you have just done, are to be arrested and charged with the same crime.
V: What law? I am the Consul, I write the laws!
R: The document of which you speak bears your signature. Reaches for handcuffs. You are not above the law, sir, when it comes to treason.
P: Mr. Valteya forged the Consulate which you serve with his own hands, built it up from nothing! How is he under suspicion! Pulls pistol from belt. I will defend my Consul!
Rommelaire draws his sword and everyone starts shouting their lines over each other
R: Drop your weapon! This is not open for discussion!
P: You are the very corruption which you, in the days of the Revolution, fought against!
V: Both of you stand down! I am the Consul! Stop!
General Moncharmin enters, smiling slyly.
Moncharmin: bellowing Cease!
Immediate silence
M: Shouting, yelling, noise… for me it was the worst part of the Revolution. Let us have none of this.
V: No, let us have clarity! What reason in the world exists for my assistant Peter/Petra to be under suspicion of sedition?
R: General, I have told him of the proof we have, of-
M: Rommelaire speaks the truth, Valteya. There is no doubt in the council’s mind that your assistant is guilty of conspiring with the Golbans, and of- this may be of interest- poisoning you.
P: A lie, sir! You know I would never dream of-
V: I would like to see this ‘proof’ myself, Moncharmin.
M: I’m afraid that is impossible, my friend, because under the Committee’s charter that, I might mention, you signed, the Consul’s have no right to question the Committee’s authority.
V: This is madness. Peter/Petra, I will prove your innocence.
M: It seems that I have a great many phobias, Valteya, because I’m also afraid that the Committee has declared you a traitor.
V: beyond angry, just surprised- On what grounds?
M: You aroused their suspicions earlier this year, when you fought so viciously the censoring of the universities and newspapers, and today they captured a Golban agent who implicated you in a conspiracy against Lusitania.
V: That doesn’t even make sense- why would Peter attempt to poison me if we work for the same people?
M: The mysteries of an enemy regime are of no importance to me, only as far as I can stop them. Rommelaire, arrest them both! Goes to leave
V: as Rommelaire handcuffs them I see what this is about, General Fiodor
Diega Moncharmin! I see right through your lies and politic! Peter/Petra was right about you, and I see that my suspicions were more correct!
M: severe disdain What are you talking about, you idiot idealist?
V: That! Ideals! That is what I’m talking about! Back in the days of the Revolution, when we were young, we had so many ideals! We thought we could, in our foolishness, not only tear down a government, but create one! But that isn’t true, is it?
M: Take them out of my sight, Rommeliare!
V: I saw what happened, but I was blind! You won some battles, and we thought we might be able to do this! I wrote more, you fought harder, and before we knew it, the old government was dead, gone, and there we were, sitting in the middle of it! But we still thought we could govern, stay true to the ideals of our youth! And little by little, power corrupted you, Moncharmin, and you corrupted me as well!
M: Speak all you want, my old friend, but at the end of the week, I am the one will still be alive.
V: You go on thinking that, my friend, and stroking your big, powerful, Revolutionary mustache, and soon Rommelaire here will turn on you the way you turned on me! You can’t win! Viva la mustache, Moncharmin, Viva la Revolution!
Rommelaire exits with Peter/Petra and Valteya, black out on Moncharmin.
Dissection of a Mustache
Scene 1 starts with sounds of cheering and triumphant music playing, as if from a great crowd of victorious people. The scene is a small, but decadent, office. Two chairs, a table between, a rug, one footstool and a hatrack. Pens and cigar boxes are on the table, and a picture of a mustachioed man is on the wall. Two men, Moncharmin and Valteya, enter into the scene. They are congratulating each other, rubbing backs, etc. Moncharmin is in an army dress uniform, adorned with metals. He, too, sports a mustache. He has a decorative sword at his side. Valteya is in a suit and tie and he wears spectacles.
Moncharmin: Valteya, my friend, do you hear that? The people! They are in love with us! Listen to how they cheer for you! Let me get you a cigar! (opens box on the table)
Valteya: (refusing cigar) No, no, my most esteemed General Moncharmin! The citizens of this great new state, the citizens of Lusitania, most dearly adore you!
M: (takes cigar for himself) Me? No, you are too kind! I am a mere general, a brute, a slayer of men- but you, Valteya? You are the brilliant ideologue! The mouthpiece of Les Miserables! You are a hero, a people’s champion! (sits in chair, puts feet on foot stool)
V: (removes jacket, hanging it on the rack) Let us not flatter ourselves too much, General- I think we can owe the recent downfall of the Golba Regime to the revolutionary spirit and the strength of our brother Lusitanians! (sits opposite Moncharmin)
M: True, true, but I take comfort in knowing that history will forever remember the name of General Fiodor Diega Moncharmin! (at Valteya’s surprise, quickly adds) and Legislator Huascar Valteya, of course!
V: History remembers the triumphant, it is true, but without the rightness of our revolution and the strength of our countrymen, the despicable King Golba III may himself have been the one remembered.
M: (does not agree, and stands) You speak the truth and always have, my friend. Well! The celebrations will go long into this joyous Lusitanian night, and I long to rest after our grueling push into the Capital!
V: Naturally, naturally, but let us not forget this; we have removed, rather violently, the government of Lusitania; it would do us well to make sure we do better than that which we have banished. (stands, adding) I think I shall retire early. There is much work to be done, General!
M: And I shall heartily aid you, Valteya- as soon as the bonfires have burned out and the people cease to shower me with expensive tokens of their thanks. Relax for a while, Valteya; running a government is harder than tearing one apart.
Both exit, the cheering of the crowd is once more heard, fade quickly to black. Scene 2 Valteya enters with a Peter/Petra, and both are suited. Valteya is stressed and the Peter/Petra is insistent.
Peter/Petra: (upon entering) And not only did the General refuse to sign the order to create the Citizen’s Committee, he ripped it in quarters and told me that he would never allow his country to be ruled by the common mob.
Valteya: His country?! The common mob? Back when we were simply outraged revolutionaries, the General often spoke of our need to win over the masses for change to be brought about, and how the country belonged to the aforementioned masses.
P: Perhaps we are overreacting, Mr. Valteya; the General may yet make clear his meanings and intentions in your meeting this afternoon.
V: Ah yes, my appointment with Moncharmin draws nigh, does it not?
P: He should in fact be arriving any moment.
Moncharmin enters office. His mustache is bushier now, and the merriment we saw in his character in the previous scene is nowhere to be found.
Moncharmin: Making it very clear he wants the Flunky gone Valteya-I had hoped that, as always, our discussions would be private.
Valteya: You may go, Peter.
P: Very well, sir. He exits.
M: Well, what do you wish to address today?
V: I expect you know quite perfectly what I wish to address. The Citizen’s Committee on Government and Legislature-not only did you refuse to sign it, but from what Peter tells me, you shredded it and made perfectly clear that you do not wish to even discuss it. I want an explanation. He softens. As a friend, and to a friend.
M: not mollified. You desire explanation? Fine- it shall be given. Your Citizen’s committee is a fallacy more dangerous to Lusitania as a return of the Regime. You want to give more power to the people? The common, uneducated garbage men and grocers, washerwomen and merchants? These people with no experience in the way a country is run, you want us to answer to them?
V: Of course not, but we must be accountable to them. Our government exists for the Lusitanians, their protection and well being. Really, we have the undesirable jobs, not these, as you say, washerwomen and grocers.
M: You are right, it is difficult to argue with you, but you must understand, Valteya, I am nervous about this like a parent is nervous, handing over such a hard-won trophy to a child who may break it.
V: As am I, but you and I and everyone in this executive palace must regard ourselves not as parents, but as servants, much like Peter/Petra is to me.
M: smiling slightly, clapping Valteya on the back You have won me over, my friend, but I still feel we must in some way limit who may join the Committee. Perhaps just the more educated or wealthy of the Mob we serve?
V: If this is the compromise I must make, I make it. I shall begin drafting a new charter for the committee this very day.
M: Excellent, Valteya. Now to a slightly more dangerous matter- you recall what I said about a return of the Regime?
V: worried, previous optimism gone Yes, what of it?
M: one of my advisors tells me that certain agents of the Golban Regime are at work, sowing discourse and sedition among the citizens.
V: your advisor is trustworthy?
M: I have placed more than once my life in his hands.
V: And what do you propose we do, Moncharmin?
M: If you do not mind, I have a charter of my own prepared. Takes scroll from uniform
V: Than say it now, sir.
M: Reading Whereas there exist traitors to Lusitania, her government, and her people; Whereas these traitors are, in accordance with the nature of their evil deeds, hiding among the innocent population of Lusitania; the Consulate hereby decrees that a force of counter-intelligence agents must be formed to discover, defraud, and eliminate these traitors (rolls scroll back up and begins to put away, as if hiding)…etc, etc, you get the gist of it, Valteya? For the security of the people.
V: Stay a moment, Moncharmin- this is dangerous. Forming a secret police agency? We are on a slippery slope here, my friend.
M: It is for our protection, and by your own logic, the protection of the people!
V: All the same, I am wary. A secret police so soon after our Revolution may not sit well with the citizens.
M: Shouting Because they do not know about the danger they face!
V: This is the beginning of a witch hunt!
M: And the witches want the oppression of the past!
V: How can you be so sure this is right?
M: That is not important- if you do not sign this, it is evident that you do not love your people!
V: a pause, then in a resigned tone. Very well. For the people.
M: Excellent- sign here and our security is garaunteed. Furnishes document
V: As he signs- Then our meeting is adjourned?
M: I believe so. I shall see you on the morrow.
Both exit.
Scene 3
Valteya is pacing back and forth in the office, clearly distressed. Moncharmin enters looking very angry.
Valteya: Moncharmin, we must speak at once of Lasa, your so-called Lusitanian Anti-Sedition Agency.
Moncharmin: Are you impressed with our results?
V: If, by results, you mean innocent people hurt and killed, the reports are flooding across my desk with news of them.
M: What do you mean? Lasa has captured and hanged more than a dozen documented Golban agents. So a few innocent citizens were ruffled along the way? If they were patriots, they wouldn’t complain. Turns back on Valteya
V: If they are patriots, we shouldn’t be mistaking them for enemies! And if the letters from private citizens and reports from your Lasa agents are to be believed, there are many more than a few innocents being ‘ruffled’.
M: It is all for their own good! We must press on with our investigations- we cannot put the people’s security on hold simply because they do not see the good we are doing for them!
V: sitting down, looking thoughtful I have thought much about this situation, Moncharmin, and I am of the mind that the way to suppress sedition in Lusitania is by getting the Lusitanians themselves to suppress it.
M: I do not quite understand you- do you mean that we should leave the people’s security in their own hands? Is this a continuation of your wishy-washy, ‘of the people, for the people’ philosophy?
V: Hold your tongue a moment, General- I have not finished. If the enemy agents are succeeding as much as you say they are, to the extent where a secret police force is needed, then clearly we are not doing our jobs correctly. We the Consulate must excel in our duties and responsibilities in order to win over the trust of Lusitania to the point where the people themselves will turn on sedition and treachery as it rises, and with one mind, smash it!
M: That is naivety at best, Valteya, and unachievable. Do you not see our government’s tenuous situation? We must solidify the legitimacy of the Consulate with a hot iron fist, not with foolish ideals!
V: The more you squeeze with that hot iron fist, the more the people will slip through your fingers.
M: And the more your foolish ideals persist, the more likely the entire Consulate will be destroyed!
V: Do not forget that it was my ‘foolish ideals’ that inspired the very Revolution that has given you this power!
M: You take sole credit for the success of the Revolution? What about my soldiers and tactics?
V: You win more flies with honey, General, and the sweet honey of my words persuaded Lusitania of the rightness of our cause. Without the support of the people, you would have been beheaded long ago, and your name disgraced!
M: He pauses and says Your desire is to disband the Lusitanian Anti-Sedition Agency?
V: Nothing would make me happier.
M: sighing I did not want to have to tell you this, Valteya. I did not want you to have more worry than you already have, holding this country together by yourself.
V: suspicious What are you talking about?
M: The reason I have increased crackdowns and investigations, my friend, is that the treachery of the Golban Regime has reached into the halls and rooms of this very palace.
V: You expect me to believe that members of this government that we have hand-selected want to overthrow and replace us with the old Golban Dynasty?
M: I expect you to believe it because it is true. I hear rumors of dissent every day!
V: You are quite serious?
M: I have never been more serious in my life.
V: I cannot believe that it has come to this. What course of action do you suggest we take?
M: There are certain newspapers, Valteya, that publish dissent. As well, you would be surprised to death to find the University harbors many of the Golban Regime’s supporters. To allow them to continue on such a path of destruction is inconceivable. We should shut them down at once.
V: It causes me pain to listen to this. Do you realize that these papers and schools are the symbols of free speech in Lusitania? How can we, the Revolutionaries who promised freedom from oppression to all, even contemplate something like this?
M: This is not so much free speech as it is shouting ‘fire’ in theaters and spreading lies through the land. Valteya, please listen to reason! We are doing what is best for our country! We are patriots!
V: This is insanity- no society has ever prospered that has eliminated avenues of dissent. And besides that, you and I, the leaders of the Revolution, if we do not stay true to those ideals, we are no better than the Golbans!
M: We are ten times the Golba Regime’s better! A thousand times! I am not saying to line them up in the street with their families and shoot them! By closing down the universities and censoring the newspapers, we solidify the Consulate. And the stronger we are, the more effectively we can govern the people with the ideals of the Revolution.
V: I am not so sure.
M: When will you be sure? When the traitors here in the palace organize? When riots start? When they drag us out of our chambers and cut of our heads? And another thing- we must establish an Anti-Sedition Committee to investigate the officials here in the palace! I hate that we have arrived at this, Valteya, but we can no longer afford such luxuries as trust!
V: My heart aches with this new reality. Shakes head What shall this council do when they have caught the traitors?
M: Depending on the severity of their actions, a punishment would be assigned that could range from imprisonment, banishment, or even death.
V. aside It seems that we have slid further down this slippery slope we have taken. To Moncharmin so be it, General. Keep me up to date with your council selections and their progress.
M: It shall be done, my friend.
Scene 4
Peter/Petra drags Valteya into the office, looking around and rubbing hands together as if worried
Valteya: There had better be a good reason for you leading me here, Peter/Petra. I had a very important meeting with the Chairman of the-
Petera: Mr. Valteya, pardon my interruption, but as your assistant I know all about your meetings, and I would never have taken you away from them if this matter was not of the utmost importance. Please, sir, my life is on the line.
V: shocked Excuse me?
P: My life and those of many others who serve and love you are in gravest danger.
V: In danger? From who?
P: The purge council the General Moncharmin set up a few months ago.
V: What purge council? Do you mean the Anti-Sedition Committee he and I arranged? Why do you call it that?
P: Because that is precisely what it is! If you have not noticed, Mr. Valteya, every official who has been removed from power on grounds of being ‘a hazard to Lusitania and the Revolution’ has been replaced by one of Moncharmin’s supporters!
V: Hold a moment, Peter. I know the General’s actions may be construed as overzealous, but he and I agreed to create the Committee together for the safety of all! And what is this talk of the General’s supporters? We are one, and meet daily to discuss the business of the state. His supporters are my supporters.
P: You are blind, Mr. Valteya! You may meet often, but Moncharmin is lying through his teeth. He seeks to oust you from power! He has people, many powerful people, in office now thanks to his purges!
V: So my job is in danger- this does not concern me. I plan on retiring soon enough. I have been Consul for five long years now, and to keep a government fresh and vibrant, there must be a constant change in leadership. Anyway, how does this affect your life so desperately?
P: Because the General does not want merely to remove you from office, he wants to kill you and all those still loyal to you in Lusitania!
V: Preposterous!
P: Truth!
V: I refuse to believe it. What possible reason for my execution could Moncharmin have? We are friends, brothers in arms, the same Leader in one Consulate.
P: You and the General are nothing similar. You have not heard him with his own men, talking of ambition and power, of how ‘you are the only thing standing in his way of making Lusitania great again’! I know not when it happened, but the General is no longer your friend. The purge council was set up with your death the express purpose!
Rommelaire walks into the room. He is a mustachioed shark, leashed by Moncharmin. His walk shows he means business. His entrance causes Peter/Petra to instantly fall silent.
Rommelaire: Consul Valteya, I must thank you- it seems as though you have already caught a traitor for me. And now I have the privilege of taking him off your hands for you.
P: You see now!? This is the beginning of the end!
R: My Liege, I beg you not to let him speak. Enough foul lies have spilled from his mouth already. He is... treacherous.
V: Rommelaire, I know you mean well, but what you speak of is ridiculous. I can personally vouch for Peter/Petra’s character. He was loyal to me throughout the Revolution and a faithful assistant in the early days of the Consulate.
R: I am sorry sir, but the Anti-Sedition Committee has documentation of Peter/Petra’s treachery in the form of letters to and from the Golban king.
P: He lies, sir!
V: I know he does, and I demand you stop at once, Rommelaire. I will speak on Peter/Petra’s behalf myself in front of General Moncharmin.
R: As you should be aware, the law says that any who place themselves in a representative position for traitors, as you have just done, are to be arrested and charged with the same crime.
V: What law? I am the Consul, I write the laws!
R: The document of which you speak bears your signature. Reaches for handcuffs. You are not above the law, sir, when it comes to treason.
P: Mr. Valteya forged the Consulate which you serve with his own hands, built it up from nothing! How is he under suspicion! Pulls pistol from belt. I will defend my Consul!
Rommelaire draws his sword and everyone starts shouting their lines over each other
R: Drop your weapon! This is not open for discussion!
P: You are the very corruption which you, in the days of the Revolution, fought against!
V: Both of you stand down! I am the Consul! Stop!
General Moncharmin enters, smiling slyly.
Moncharmin: bellowing Cease!
Immediate silence
M: Shouting, yelling, noise… for me it was the worst part of the Revolution. Let us have none of this.
V: No, let us have clarity! What reason in the world exists for my assistant Peter/Petra to be under suspicion of sedition?
R: General, I have told him of the proof we have, of-
M: Rommelaire speaks the truth, Valteya. There is no doubt in the council’s mind that your assistant is guilty of conspiring with the Golbans, and of- this may be of interest- poisoning you.
P: A lie, sir! You know I would never dream of-
V: I would like to see this ‘proof’ myself, Moncharmin.
M: I’m afraid that is impossible, my friend, because under the Committee’s charter that, I might mention, you signed, the Consul’s have no right to question the Committee’s authority.
V: This is madness. Peter/Petra, I will prove your innocence.
M: It seems that I have a great many phobias, Valteya, because I’m also afraid that the Committee has declared you a traitor.
V: beyond angry, just surprised- On what grounds?
M: You aroused their suspicions earlier this year, when you fought so viciously the censoring of the universities and newspapers, and today they captured a Golban agent who implicated you in a conspiracy against Lusitania.
V: That doesn’t even make sense- why would Peter attempt to poison me if we work for the same people?
M: The mysteries of an enemy regime are of no importance to me, only as far as I can stop them. Rommelaire, arrest them both! Goes to leave
V: as Rommelaire handcuffs them I see what this is about, General Fiodor
Diega Moncharmin! I see right through your lies and politic! Peter/Petra was right about you, and I see that my suspicions were more correct!
M: severe disdain What are you talking about, you idiot idealist?
V: That! Ideals! That is what I’m talking about! Back in the days of the Revolution, when we were young, we had so many ideals! We thought we could, in our foolishness, not only tear down a government, but create one! But that isn’t true, is it?
M: Take them out of my sight, Rommeliare!
V: I saw what happened, but I was blind! You won some battles, and we thought we might be able to do this! I wrote more, you fought harder, and before we knew it, the old government was dead, gone, and there we were, sitting in the middle of it! But we still thought we could govern, stay true to the ideals of our youth! And little by little, power corrupted you, Moncharmin, and you corrupted me as well!
M: Speak all you want, my old friend, but at the end of the week, I am the one will still be alive.
V: You go on thinking that, my friend, and stroking your big, powerful, Revolutionary mustache, and soon Rommelaire here will turn on you the way you turned on me! You can’t win! Viva la mustache, Moncharmin, Viva la Revolution!
Rommelaire exits with Peter/Petra and Valteya, black out on Moncharmin.