Welcomeby Richard Stuart Dixon
© Richard Stuart Dixon, 2006
(Note: Performance of this play requires the author’s permission. Please contact Good School Plays for details.)
Production Notes:
• running time: approx. 50 minutes
• style: ensemble drama
• suitable for general audiences
• 19 characters (18 female, 7 male)
• most roles are gender interchangeable
• black-box staging (no set required)
Summary of Script Content:
• “Refugee Camp 25” is an ensemble play featuring five brief, ironic tales about fictional refugees.
(This play was first performed on January 27, 28, 30, 31 & February 1, 2006, at Gleneagle Secondary School in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.)
∗Published Online by Good School Plays, March 28, 2017.
Go to:
Prologue
Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
Scene 4
Scene 5
Epilogue
CHARACTERS:
GROUP 1
Anna Leena, 20,
Katya Mattisse, 19
Arash Hamedani, 27
Lilya Delange, 30
Natasha Peshkova, 35
GROUP 2
Lydia Samara, 22
Sujin Heung, 35
Marina Stasia, 23
Jano Rubin, 31
Karin Larno, 25
GROUP 3
Carlos Silvaro, 24
Arturo Ballini, 24
Marta Veronova, 41
Min Chen, 22
Lisbeth Alveera, 22
GROUP 4
Angelina Mollini, 38
Isabella Delafleur, 21
Kirsten Sarranina, 25
Laleh Madani, 31
Tomas Renzo, 35
GROUP 5
Alina Savros, 33
Arno Henriksen, 34
Lorena Mori, 26
Masao Kuriyama, 34
Sarla Lenya, 20
Refugee Camp 25 by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
Prologue:
(The actors are in tableau groups and address the AUDIENCE.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
We are the people of Refugee Camp 25.
REST OF CAST
Refugee Camp 25.
ANNA LEENA
Six weeks ago, the war ended.
REST OF CAST
The war is over.
LYDIA SAMARA
Now we wait for transportation home.
REST OF CAST
We want to go home.
CARLOS SILVARO
Our towns and villages have been destroyed.
REST OF CAST
We must rebuild them.
ALINA SAVROS
Many have died. Some of us lived.
REST OF CAST
Life goes on.
KATYA MATISSE
We arrived in this camp as strangers to one another.
REST OF CAST
Strangers.
SUJIN HEUNG
But now we are friends.
REST OF CAST
Friends.
ARTURO BALLINI
The food here is bad.
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
But at least it is food.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
The blankets here are rough.
ARASH HAMEDANI
But at least they are warm.
MARINA STASIA
The guards here are strict.
MARTA VERONOVA
But at least they’re on our side.
FULL CAST
Here, we can survive.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
There’s a fence around the camp.
LORENA MORI
But the gate is always open.
LILYA DELANGE
Our camp is one of many.
JANO RUBIN
We are victims of the war.
MIN CHEN
So many homeless people.
LALEH MADANI
How did we get here?
MASAO KURIYAMA
Where did we come from?
NATASHA PESHKOVA
What happened to our families?
KARIN LARNO
No one wants to be a refugee.
LISBETH ALVEERA
But one thing leads to another.
TOMAS RENZO
We didn’t think it could happen to us.
SARLA LENYA
But it did. And it could happen to you.
FULL CAST
It could happen to you.
ANGELINA MOLLINI
We are poor. We have nothing.
ANNA LEENA
But we are alive.
LYDIA SAMARA
That’s all we ask for.
CARLOS SILVARO
We could spend our days complaining.
ALINA SAVROS
And feeling sad.
KATYA MATISSE
But we don’t.
SUJIN HEUNG
Sometimes we sing.
FULL CAST
(singing)
One shot, two shots, three shots,
Danger!
Four shots, five shots, six shots,
War!
Seven shots, eight shots, nine shots,
Murder!
What do you think a gun is for?
Rat-a-tat, the rifles fire!
Rat-a-tat, the dead are piling higher!
ARTURO BALLINI
Sometimes we dance!
(The cast dances to the tune of “One shot, two shots”, a “one-two, one-two, one-two” cadence.)
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
And sometimes we tell jokes:
GROUP 5
What do you call a refugee who doesn’t want something to eat?
GROUP 1
Dead.
GROUP 4
What do you call a refugee who isn’t running away?
GROUP 3
Dead.
GROUP 2
What do you call a refugee who lies, cheats, and steals?
REST OF CAST
Alive!
ARNO HENRIKSEN
But when we’re not singing, dancing, or joking, we tell stories.
MARINA STASIA
Every one of us has a story to tell.
MARTA VERONOVA
But we’re only going to tell you five.
Refugee Camp 25 by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
Scene 1:
FULL CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Story Number One:
GROUP 1
(to AUDIENCE)
The Silver star.
(ANNA LEENA goes downstage centre and addresses the audience.)
ANNA LEENA
In the first days of the war, the enemy advanced quickly into my region.
ANGEINA MOLLINI/ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
(standing)
The enemy will be here before morning.
LALEH MADANI/SARLA LENYA
(standing)
We must leave at once.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA/TOMAS RENZO
(standing)
If they catch us, they’ll kill us!
ANNA LEENA
(to AUDIENCE)
My family snatched up a few possessions and ran down to the river to escape.
(The rest of GROUP 1 mime gathering a few things and running, then freeze, with KATYA close to ANNA, and the other three further away.)
ANNA LEENA
(to AUDIENCE)
But when we got to the river, it was getting dark and everyone else was there, too!
(The rest of the cast get up and pose as though moving towards the river to escape.)
ANNA LEENA
(to AUDIENCE)
My younger sister Katya was sick and weak. She and I became separated from my parents and older sister.
(The other members of GROUP 1 move among the frozen cast, calling for ANNA and KATYA.)
ARASH HAMEDANI
(playing ANNA’S and KATYA’S father)
Anna! Anna! Where are you?
LILYA DELANGE
(playing ANNA’S and KATYA’s mother)
Katya! Katya! Help me, Natasha!
NATASHA PESHKOVA
(playing ANNA’S and KATYA’S sister)
Anna! Katya!
(ARASH, LILYA, and NATASHA freeze. ANNA and KATYA, played by KATYA MATISSE, search together, but cannot find the others.)
ANNA LEENA
(calling)
Mama! Father!
KATYA MATISSE
(calling)
Natasha! Where are you!
(ANNA and KATYA freeze. Then ANNA leads KATYA downstage with her.)
ANNA LEENA
(to AUDIENCE)
But it was no use. There was too much panic, too many people.
(ANNA and KATYA move about with the cast, who move around quickly shouting one of the following lines, over and over, to create the effect of panic and disorder.)
-How much to take us across in your boat? I’ll pay anything.
-We must find some way across…look for a raft or boat that’s not full.
-Do you have room for two more? You must have room for two more!
-We must get something that floats, anything…even a log or plank.
-The enemy will be here before we can cross. They’ll arrest us and put is in a camp.
-Can you help me find my family! I must find my family!
-Quick, there’s room on that raft for three more! They’ll take us if we can pay!
-I can’t swim…I must find a boat of some sort!
-We must get across or we’ll be caught!
-How can we cross the river without a boat or raft?
-I don’t want to go…I’m afraid of the water…
(The CAST freezes. ANNA and KATYA go downstage.)
ANNA LEENA
(to AUDIENCE)
Somehow, I found two places for me and Katya on a raft full of refugees. We got to the safety of the other bank, and for the rest of that night and all the next day we walked eastwards across the fields and through the forests. Katya was getting sicker and sicker.
(GROUPS 2,3,4,5 from circles as if sitting around campfires, with GROUP 3 furthest downstage centre. ARASH joins GROUP 2, LILYA joins GROUP 4, and NATASHA joins GROUP 5. They all freeze while KATYA and ANNA speak.)
KATYA MATISSE
I’m cold and hungry, Anna, and I’m so tired.
ANNA LEENA
I know, Katya. Perhaps we’ll find shelter soon.
(to AUDIENCE)
But it was as if everyone else in the world had disappeared. Then we saw the glow of campfires in the distance.
KATYA MATISSE
(pointing towards the AUDIENCE)
Look, Anna! Campfires! Perhaps they’ll give us something to eat!
ANNA LEENA
(to AUDIENCE)
So we made our way to the campfires, and went from group to group asking for a bit of bread.
(The GROUPS around the campfires quietly come to life as if eating, or resting, or watching the flames. ANNA and KATYA go to GROUP 2.)
ANNA LEENA
Could you spare a little food for me and my sister?
SUJIN HEUNG
We have barely enough for ourselves!
LYDIA SAMARA And tomorrow we’ll have nothing.
MARINO, JANO, KARIN
Ask someone else!
(ANNA and KATYA go to GROUP 4.)
KATYA MATISSE
My sister and I haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. Could we have a crust of bread?
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
Can you pay?
ANNA LEENA
No…we’ve lost our parents…
LALEH MADANI
Well, don’t expect us to help you, then.
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
Soon, even those with money won’t be able to get food.
ANGEINA MOLLINI and TOMAS RENZO
So get used to being hungry.
(ANNA and KATYA go to GROUP 5.)
ANNA LEENA
We know you don’t have much food, but my sister and I are starving.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
That’s a shame, but begging won’t help you.
LORENA MORI
I must share my food with my sister Alina.
MASAO KURIYAMA
Try those people over there.
ALINA SAVROS and SARLA LENYA
They’ve got more than us.
(ANNA and KATYA go to GROUP 3.)
ANNA LEENA Those others said you might be able to spare some food for us.
KATYA MATISSE
Could we have a bit of that bread?
MARTA VERONOVA
Well, now, that depends.
MIN CHEN
We don’t give away bread for nothing.
LISBETH ALVEERA
What can you give us in exchange?
KATYA MATISSE
Just our gratitude.
ARTURO BALLINI
Gratitude? We can’t eat gratitude, or wear it, or sell it.
CARLOS SILVERA
(standing, and going up to ANNA)
Wait a minute…what’s that shiny necklace you’re wearing?
ANNA LEENA
It’s nothing…just a silver star my mother gave me when I was a child.
ARTURO BALLINI
Looks like real silver.
ANNA LEENA
So what if it is?
CARLOS SILVERA
Give it to me, and I’ll give you this bread.
ANNA LEENA
Just one bit of bread?
MIN CHEN
That silver star can’t help your sick sister.
MARTA VERONOVA
But bread can give her strength.
KATYA MATISSE
No, Anna…don’t give up your star. I know how much it means to you.
ANNA LEENA
But you are my sister, Katya. You are more precious than all the silver and gold in the world.
CARLOS SILVERA
Well? Are you going to stand their talking all night or are you going to give me that star?
ANNA LEENA
(taking off the star)
All right…
(ANNA hands CARLOS the star)
Here you are.
(as CARLOS takes it)
Now give me the bread.
CARLOS SILVERA
Why should I?
ANNA LEENA
Because you said you would. you made a deal with me.
CARLOS SILVERA
No I didn’t. You gave me this star because you think I’m handsome.
(The others in his GROUP laugh.)
LISBETH ALVEERA
Then she doesn’t have very good taste.
ANNA LEENA
I want it back.
CARLOS SILVERO
No. It’s mine now, and I’m going to keep it to remember you by. That is, until I need to trade it for food.
ANNA LEENA
Give it back!
ARTURO BALLINI
She’s getting angry, Carlos.
CARLOS SILVERO
I don’t take orders from little girls like you.
ANNA LEENA
(she pulls out a knife she has hidden)
I said, give it back!
KATYA MATISSE
No, Anna!
(The other groups, who have been watching, form curious tableaux when they see the knife. There is extreme tension.)
MARTA VERONOVA
She means business, Carlos.
CARLOS SILVERO
She hasn’t got the guts to use that thing.
ANNA LEENA
Give me my star. I won’t ask you again.
CARLOS SILVERO
Just over there is a cliff, and fifty meters below is a river. I think I’ll give this necklace to the river. It’s more polite than you!
(CARLOS throws the necklace offstage.)
(ANNA strikes, driving the knife into CARLOS’S gut, causing him to slump forward over her shoulder. She holds the knife in him as he dies.)
ANNA LEENA
You won’t cheat anyone ever again!
(ANNA pulls out the knife and pushes CARLOS away. He falls dead. ANNA throws the knife down.)
(ARTURO BALLINI and MARTA VERONOVA hold ANNA by the arms. LISBETH ALVEERA holds KATYA. The other groups step closer. MIN CHEN goes to CARLOS.)
MIN CHEN
She killed my brother! You all saw! She killed him!
ANNA LEENA
I’m sorry, Katya…I’m sorry.
LILYA DELANGE
That girl murdered him. What are we going to do?
MARINA STASIA
Justice must be served, or we are no better than animals.
GROUPS 1, 2, 4, 5
Justice must be served!
MIN CHEN
She killed Carlos, so she must die too! That’s justice!
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
Yes, that’s how it must be. One life for another.
GROUPS 1, 2, 4, 5
One life for another!
LORENA MORI
But if she is to die, who will carry out the execution?
KARIN LARNO
And how is she to die? By her own knife?
MIN CHEN
(standing)
No! Throw her off that cliff into the river!
GROUPS 1, 2, 4, 5
Yes. A quick death is best!
MIN CHEN
Let her die near that silver star she loves so much!
ANGELINA MOLLINI
The man she killed cheated her. If justice is to be done, then she should receive the bread he promised her.
GROUPS 1, 2, 4, 5
Justice must be served!
LALEH MADANI
Give her the bread. Then she can have a last meal before she dies.
(MIN CHEN picks up the bread and places it in ANNA’S right hand.)
MIN CHEN
There. Now everything is settled.
KATYA MATISSE
No! It’s not settled!
ANNA LEENA
Katya, don’t. You must save yourself. Take this bread. Do your best to stay alive!
KATYA MATISSE
No, Anna! If justice requires one life for another, than I will be the one who dies, not you.
ANNA LEENA
Stop it, Katya, please…
KATYA MATISSE
Anna, I’m sick. Very sick. I’m going to die anyway. yYou know that. The war has already killed me, Anna, but you have a chance…you have a chance.
ANGELINA MOLLINI
If the sick girl wishes to die on behalf of her sister, that is in accordance with the demands of justice.
GROUPS 1, 2, 4, 5
A life for a life; that’s all we ask.
KATYA MATISSE
Good. I am ready.
(Everyone freezes except KATYA and ANNA.)
KATYA MATISSE
Goodbye, Anna.
(KATYA kisses ANNA on the forehead and walks to the right as if going to the cliff. ANNA is released.)
ANNA LEENA
(to AUDIENCE)
And so my sister threw herself off the cliff, and gave her life for me. The bread gave me strength to get through one more day, and somehow I got through all the other days and survived the war. But always I will carry inside me a hard knot of guilt and grief for keeping the bread and letting Katya be punished for me. Katya died; I lived; but in some ways, living is harder than dying.
(The GROUPS address the AUDIENCE.)
GROUP 1
(except ANNA and KATYA)
Anna lived. Katya died.
(GROUP 1 and KATYA go back to their original tableau.)
GROUP 2
Who was right? Who was wrong?
(GROUP 2 go back to their original tableau.)
GROUP 3
Who was weak? Who was strong?
(GROUP 3 go back to their original tableau.)
GROUP 4
Katya was weak with sickness.
(GROUP 4 go back to their original tableau.)
GROUP 5
Anna was strong and full of life.
(GROUP 5 go back to their original tableau.)
FULL CAST
Katya died so Anna could go on.
ANNA LEENA
In some ways, living is harder than dying.
(ANNA joins her group in the tableau.)
Refugee Camp 25 by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
Scene 2:
FULL CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Story Two:
GROUP 2
(to AUDIENCE)
Kindness Repaid.
(LYDIA SAMARA goes downstage and addresses the AUDIENCE.)
LYDIA SAMARA
When the war began, it wasn’t long until our village was occupied by the enemy.
GROUP 5
(standing)
We are taking over this village.
LORENA MORI
Co-operate and you live. Resist and you die.
LYDIA SAMARA
(to AUDIENCE)
One day we were all ordered to go to the village square to hear a speech by the commandant of the enemy garrison.
(SUJIN HEUNG, MARINA STASIA, and KARIN LARNO go to LYDIA.)
MARINA STASIA
(playing a neighbour, speaking to SUJIN HEUNG, who plays LYDIA’s mother)
Mrs. Samarra, soldiers are coming down the street, going from house to house.
KARIN LARNO
(playing another neighbour)
They’re making us go to the village square.
LYDIA SAMARA
(to SUJIN HEUNG, who plays her mother)
What are they going to do to us, Mother?
SUJIN HEUNG
Whatever it is, we must hope they will be merciful.
LYDIA SAMARA
Can’t we hide somewhere?
SUJIN HEUNG
The soldiers would find us and punish us. We must do as they say.
(They return to their tableaus.)
(GROUP 5 and JANO RUBIN,playing the troops occupying the village, force the other groups to assemble as if for a meeting.)
ALINA SAVROS
(going to GROUP 1)
All right, get moving!
LILYA DELANGE
Where are you taking us?
ALINA SAVROS
To the village square.
NATASHA PESHKOVA
Why must we go there?
ALINA SAVROS
Don’t ask questions. Just get going.
(GROUP 1 stands.)
ARNO HENRIKSEN
(going to GROUP 2)
I’m sorry, but I must order you to go to the village square.
MARINA STASIA
You say you’re sorry, but your apology won’t change our fate.
KARIN LARNO
You’re a soldier. Why pretend to be a gentleman?
MASAO KURIYAMA
(going to GROUP 3)
Get up!
MARTA VERONOVA
No need to shout when you have a rifle and we are defenseless.
(GROUP 3 stands.)
SARLA LENYA and JANO RUBIN
(going to GROUP 4)
On your feet!
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
(to her GROUP)
Do as the soldiers say if you want to live a little longer.
LALEH MADANI
We cannot win an argument with a gun.
(GROUP 4 stands, and the SOLDIERS herd all the GROUPS as if assembling them for a meeting. They guard the COMMANDANT as she makes her speech.)
LORENA MORI
(as the commandant)
People of the village! Partisans have blown up the railway tracks again. My superiors suspect that you have been giving them assistance. In retribution for this criminal activity, your village is to be destroyed and you are to be placed in a prison camp for the rest of the war!
(Everyone freezes and LYDIA returns to downstage centre.)
LYDIA SAMARA
(to AUDIENCE)
And so in a blink of an eye our lives were turned upside down. The soldiers rounded us up and marched us out of the village as our homes burned to the ground.
(The CAST create the image of the VILLAGERS being herded along by the SOLDIERS. LYDIA joins them.)
ALINA SAVROS
Keep moving! Don’t straggle.
(The VILLAGERS stop and turn to look back at their burning homes.)
SARLA LENYA
Don’t look back! There’s nothing left for you to see.
(The VILLAGERS turn back and freeze in positions of being forced to march to a camp.)
LYDIA SAMARA
(stepping out of the tableau to speak to the AUDIENCE)
We marched all day, and when night fell, they made us sleep in the ditches alongside the road.
LILYA DELANGE
Last night, I slept in my warm bed. Tonight I sleep in a ditch.
ARASH HAMEDANI
Your bed is nothing but ashes.
NATASHA PESHKOVA
But you are alive. Be grateful that you can sleep at all.
(The VILLAGERS arrange themselves as if sleeping. The COMMANDANT addresses her TROOPS.)
LORENA MORI
We will resume the march at first light. Private Rubin, you will take the first watch.
JANO RUBIN
Yes, Commandant.
(The SOLDIERS arrange themselves as if sleeping. JANO RUBIN walks among the villagers, then stops and kneels by LYDIA.)
JANO RUBIN
(touching LYDIA’s shoulder and whispering)
Wake up! Wake up!
LYDIA SAMARA
(sitting up and whispering)
What do you want?
JANO RUBIN
I want to help you. I am giving you a chance to escape.
LYDIA SAMARA
Why me? Why not someone else?
JANO RUBIN
You remind me of my fiancee.
LYDIA SAMARA
Your fiancee?
JANO RUBIN
She was killed when my town was bombed by your air force.
LYDIA SAMARA
I’m sorry.
JANO RUBIN
Don’t waste time being sorry. Just take this chance to escape.
(LYDIA’s mother sits up.)
SUJIN HEUNG
What are you doing, Lydia…
LYDIA SAMARA
Sshhh, mother.
(to Jano)
Can my mother go with me?
JANO RUBIN
No. If one escapes, they might not notice. But two is too many.
LYDIA SAMARA
(to her mother)
This soldier says he’ll let me escape. What should I do?
SUJIN HEUNG
Go. Do your best to survive. Your chances are better out here than in a prison camp.
JANO RUBIN
No more talking. You must go now.
LYDIA SAMARA
Goodbye, Mother.
(to Jano)
Thank you.
(LYDIA gets up and quietly moves downstage. JANO and SUJIN freeze.)
LYDIA SAMARA
(to AUDIENCE)
And so the enemy soldier made it possible for me to escape. I moved from place to place, seeking work or begging for food and shelter. Years later, as the tide of war turned and our side began to win, I met the soldier again. He and his comrades had been captured by our own soldiers.
(GROUPs 3 and 4 now become SOLDIERS. They guard the SOLDIERS of GROUP 5 and JANO RUBIN. GROUPs 1 and 2 become BYSTANDERS watching the events that unfold.)
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
(playing the commander of the TROOPS)
We have captured enemy soldiers who burned down our villages and drove our people into the misery and death of prison camps. For their crimes, they are to be shot.
LYDIA SAMARA Commander!
(she points to JANO RUBIN)
That one! He helped me!
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
Helped you? How?
LYDIA SAMARA
When we were being marched to the prison camp, he let me escape.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
One act of kindness does not make up for a thousand acts of brutality.
MARINA STASIA
Grant him a final request, Commander, in recognition of his kindness to this young woman.
GROUPs 1 and 2
Yes, yes, grant him a final request.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
Very well.
(to JANO RUBIN)
You may make a brief request. I will decide whether or not it will be granted.
JANO RUBIN
(taking a ring from his pocket)
If the young woman is willing, let me place this ring on her finger.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
Why would you want to do that?
JANO RUBIN
So I can die knowing I have left a part of me with her.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
(to LYDIA)
Do you accept?
LYDIA SAMARA
Yes.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
(to her troops)
Allow him to give her the ring.
(JANO RUBIN steps forward and places the ring on LYDIA’s finger, then goes back. LYDIA turns to the AUDIENCE.)
LYDIA SAMARA
(to AUDIENCE)
Then they marched him away with his comrades. Moments later, we heard gunshots.
(GROUPs 1 and 2 turn their backs on the arrested soldiers. GROUPs 3 and 4 become a firing squad. Gunshots fire, and the SOLDIERS of GROUP 5 fall along with JANO RUBIN. The firing squad and GROUPs 1 and 2 turn to face LYDIA.)
LYDIA SAMARA
(to AUDIENCE)
And to this day I have this ring. Even if I marry another, I will never take off this ring, because in some way I do not fully understand, the young soldier lives on in this thin metal band.
(The GROUPS address the AUDIENCE.)
GROUP 1
The firing squad fired their guns.
GROUP 2
The young soldier fell dead.
GROUP 3
But the woman with his ring remembers him.
GROUP 4
Sometimes kindness helps us live.
(GROUP 5 stands.)
GROUP 5
Sometimes kindness helps us die.
FULL CAST
His kindness helped her live.
LYDIA SAMARA
My kindness helped him die.
(The CAST return to their original tableau positions.)
Refugee Camp 25 by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
Scene 3:
FULL CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Story Three.
GROUP 3
(to AUDIENCE)
A Romantic Visit
(ARTURO BALLINI goes downstage and addresses the AUDIENCE.)
ARTURO BALLINI
When the enemy occupied our town, my friend Carlos and I ran off to the forest and joined a partisan group.
(GROUP 4 stand and pretend to be PARTISANS. CARLOS and ARTURO join them.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
Fellow partisans, we have two newcomers to help us fight the enemy.
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
I hope they know how to kill without fear or regret.
GROUP 1
The enemy must die.
GROUP 2
It doesn’t matter how.
GROUP 5
It only matters why.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
Can they live off the land? Can they make a fire with wet wood?
LALEH MADANI
Do they know how to set trip wires and explosives and land mines?
TOMAS RENZO
Can they strangle a man with nothing but a thin piece of wire wrapped around his throat?
GROUP 1
The enemy must die.
GROUP 2
It doesn’t matter how.
GROUP 5
It only matters why.
(GROUP 4 freezes.)
CARLOS SILVARO
(to AUDIENCE)
We learned all that and more.
ARTURO BALLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
We partisans made surprise attacks on the enemy at every opportunity, and showed them no mercy.
(GROUPs 2, 3, and 5 become a forest of TREES. GROUP 4 hide among the TREES. GROUP 1 pretend to be ENEMY SOLDIERS and go centre stage.)
LILYA DELANGE
Troops, we’ll rest here for a moment.
KATYA MATISSE
What about partisans?
ANNA LEENA
They say they prowl the forest hereabouts.
ARASH HAMEDANI
You can’t see them until it’s too late.
NATASHA PESHKOVA
And then they strike.
LILYA DELANGE
Partisans are nothing but half-starved criminals who have no chance against well-armed troops like us.
(The PARTISANS pop out from behind the TREES and shoot down the enemy SOLDIERS of GROUP 1. CARLOS and ARTURO go downstage and speak to the AUDIENCE.)
CARLOS SILVARO
(to AUDIENCE)
It was a violent life, and a hard one, full of discomfort and danger.
ARTURO BALLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
So it made sense that we would sometimes yearn for the comforts of home.
(GROUP I stands, the “TREES” become neutral, as do the PARTISANS. The GROUPS address the AUDIENCE.)
GROUP 1
Where is home?
GROUP 2
Is it in the bombs and the bullets?
GROUP 3
Is it in the dying and the dead?
GROUP 4
For those who fight, home is a dream…
GROUP 5
But the war is always a nightmare.
CARLOS SILVARO
(to AUDIENCE)
We had a couple of girlfriends, a pair of sisters who lived in our old hometown, but it was risky to visit them.
ARTURO BALLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
That didn’t stop us from sneaking into town under cover of darkness, looking for a bit of fun.
CARLOS SILVARO
(to AUDIENCE)
They were a pair of sweet girls. We certainly didn’t expect to find them fraternizing with the enemy.
(The CAST reassembles and sit to make a U-shape, with two actors standing up right to represent a door, three actors arranged up left to represent a window, four actors arranged to represent a closet down right,and two actors who serve as chairs, upon which MARTA VERNOVA and MIN CHEN sit in the middle of the U. ARTURO and CARLOS go upstage left behind the U; LISBETH ALVEERA, ARNO HENRIKSEN, and MASAO KURIYAMA go upstage right.)
MARTA VERONOVA
I hope Carlos and Arturo are safe and well.
MIN CHEN
Don’t worry about them. We’re in more danger than they are.
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Here comes the landlady.
(LISBETH ALVEERA goes through an imaginary door with ARNO and MASAO.)
LISBETH ALVEERA
Marta and Min, I’ve brought a couple of guests for you to entertain.
MARTA VERONOVA
Yes, Mrs. Alveera.
LISBETH ALVEERA
They may wear the uniforms of our enemies, but all men are the same underneath their costumes.
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
If they’ve got money to spend, it doesn’t matter who they are.
MIN CHEN
Of course.
LISBETH ALVEERA
Good. These two have offered to help pay your monthly rent in exchange for a pleasant evening with you. Be sure to show them a good time.
(LISBETH goes back upstage right through the “door”.)
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
They want more than a “good time”.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
(to MIN CHEN)
Does it make you feel guilty to pass the time with an enemy soldier like me?
MIN CHEN
Like Mrs. Alveera says, all men are the same no matter what uniform they wear.
MASAO KURIYAMA
We’re glad you feel that way, ladies.
ARTURO BALLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
We made our way quietly to the building where our girlfriends lived. We didn’t want Mrs. Alveera to see us, because we knew she couldn’t be trusted.
CARLOS SILVARO
We’ve got to sneak in through their window.
ARTURO BALLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
So Carlos threw a small pebble at it to let them know we were there.
(CARLOS mimes throwing a pebble.)
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Someone’s at the window!
MASAO KURIYAMA
What was that?
(MIN CHEN goes to the imaginary window.)
MIN CHEN
Nothing…just a branch tapping at the window.
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
He doesn’t believe her.
(ARNO HENRIKSEN goes to the window, careful not to be seen, takes a peek, and draws back quickly, grabbing MIN by the shoulders.)
ARNO HENRIKSEN
A branch? There’s two partisans out there.
MARTA VERONOVA
Don’t worry. We’ll make them go away.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
(taking out a pistol)
No you won’t. Let them come in. We could get medals for capturing two partisans. Now call them up here. Disobey, and we shoot you all.
(ARNO and MASAO, who also pulls out a pistol, stand on each side of the “window”.)
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Do what they say, and perhaps you’ll live to see another day.
MARTA VERONOVA
(going to the imaginary window and miming opening it, and speaking to ARTURO and CARLOS)
Come on in, and be quick about it!
(ARTURO steps through the window and goes to MARTA.)
ARTURO BALLINI
Marta…it’s good to see you.
(ARTURO embraces MARTA. CARLOS comes in and goes to MIN.)
CARLOS SILVARO
Min…
(CARLOS embraces MIN.)
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Look who’s behind them!
ARNO HENRIKSEN
Well, isn’t that charming.
(CARLOS and ARTURO turn and see the two enemy SOLDIERS.)
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Caught!
ARNO HENRIKSEN
Put your hands in the air.
(CARLOS and ARTURO raise their hands in the air.)
ARTURO BALLINI
Well, girls, this is a fine way to reward us for risking our lives to see you.
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
It’s not their fault!
MASAO KURIYAMA
Shut up and keep your hands up!
ARNO HENRIKSEN
We’re going to turn you two over to our commander. No doubt you’ve got lots of useful things to tell him about your comrades in the forest.
(LISBETH ALVEERA enters.)
LISBETH ALVEERA
Well, what have we here.
CARLOS SILVARO
I should think that’s obvious, Mrs. Alveera.
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
One bit of sarcasm deserves another.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
We’ve caught a couple of tomcats out on the prowl, Mrs. Alveera.
LISBETH ALVEERA
(to ARNO and MASAO)
If you’re thinking of turning these two over to your commander, I’d think again if I was you.
MASAO KURIYAMA
What do you mean?
LISBETH ALVEERA
You’ve got a good thing going with these two lovely sisters. But those two partisans will squawk to your commandant, and tell him all about the girls. It would be a shame if they got sent to a prison camp.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
War is war, Mrs. Alveera.
LISBETH ALVEERA
And business is business.
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
If they’ve got money to spend, it doesn’t matter who they are.
LISBETH ALVEERA
Why don’t you take these two down the street and shoot them. Then these women won’t be compromised, and you’ll still get a reward for killing a pair of partisans.
ARTURO BALLINI
Yes, take us down the street and shoot us. If we’re going to die, we’d rather die quickly, and there’s no point involving these two sisters.
CARLOS SILVARO
They’ll forgive you for killing us because you’ll be keeping them out of prison camp.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
All right. Get moving.
(ARNO and MASAO herd CARLOS and ARTURO through the imaginary door and upstage, where they freeze. MIN grabs LISBETH.)
MIN CHEN
Help me lock her in a closet, Marta.
LISBETH ALVEERA
Don’t be stupid! I’ve saved your lives!
MARTA VERONOVA
Shut up! You think the only thing that matters in life is business.
MIN CHEN
You’ve forgotten about love. And love’s worth risking death.
SEATED MEMBERS of the CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
War is strong, business is stronger, but love is strongest of all.
(MINA and MARTA push LISBETH in the “closet” and close the “ door”.)
MIN CHEN
Let’s get out on the street and find a couple of stones to throw at those soldiers.
(The CAST now go upstage to form a line, representing a wall along a street. The two SOLDIERS drag the PARTISANS along the imaginary street. MIN and MARTA pick up imaginary stones.)
THE WALL
(to AUDIENCE)
They’re picking up stones!
(Min and MARTA throw the imaginary stones. The two SOLDIERS react as if hit by the stones.)
THE WALL
(to AUDIENCE)
They hit the soldiers on their heads!
(ARTURO and CARLOS take the opportunity to grab the SOLDIERS’ pistols and reverse the situation. They hold onto the SOLDIERS with the guns to their heads as MARTA and Min join them.)
ARTURO BALLINI
Well, I suppose we can forgive you girls for hustling these two pigs and getting us arrested.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
If you shoot us, every sentry in this town will hear, and they’ll hunt you and these women down!
CARLOS SILVARO
You’re right, so we’ll have to do something else. Take off your clothes.
THE WALL
(to AUDIENCE)
An unusual request.
(CARLOS and ARTURO push the two SOLDIERS away, keeping their guns pointed at them.)
MASAO KURIYAMA
What?
CARLOS SILVARO Take off your clothes!
ARNO HENRIKSEN
Why?
THE WALL
He doesn’t have to tell you.
CARLOS SILVARO
My friend and I need to buy a little time.
THE WALL
He’s going to tell you anyway.
CARLOS SILVERO
It’s going to take you a while to get help if you’re naked and hanging from a rope at the bottom of a well. And we could use those uniforms.
ARTURO BALLINI
Do what he says, and you live. Refuse, and we’ll kill you right here and take our chances.
MARTA VERONOVA
(to the soldiers)
Consider yourselves lucky. These two could easily kill you with nothing but a length of wire, and make no noise while they do it.
THE WALL
(to AUDIENCE)
Then why didn’t they do that in the first place?
MIN CHEN
I guess they want to give you a break, though I don’t know why.
CARLOS SILVARO
Don’t have to have a reason.
ARTURO BALLINI
Let’s just say we don’t want to upset our lady friends.
THE WALL
(to AUDIENCE)
That’s a good reason.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
All right, you win. We’ll go down the well. But these two women won’t be able to live in this town any longer.
MARTA VERONOVA
We’ll go with our boyfriends.
MIN CHEN
The partisans could always use a couple more fighters.
MARTA VERONOVA
Anything’s better than entertaining pigs like you so we can pay our “rent” each week.
(The CAST freezes, except ARTURO, who goes downstage.)
ARTURO BALLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
And so Min and Marta joined us, and together we suffered the hardships and enjoyed the adventures of war. But everyone’s luck runs out in the end. And one by one, Carlos, Min, and Marta were killed. I am the only survivor of that group of partisans. I alone carry the memory of those days.
(The CAST go back to their tableau positions, except ARTURO, and address the AUDIENCE.)
GROUP 1
He suffered the hardships.
GROUP 2
He enjoyed the adventures.
GROUP 3
But everyone’s luck runs out in the end.
GROUP 4
Carlos, Min, and Marta were killed.
GROUP 5
But he’s not the only one who remembers.
FULL CAST
We all know the story, and now you do, too.
Refugee Camp 25 by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
Scene 4:
FULL CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Story Four.
GROUP 4
(to AUDIENCE)
The War Party.
(ANGEINA MOLLINI goes downstage and addresses the AUDIENCE.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
Our village was surrounded by the enemy. We had only a small garrison of troops to protect us.
(The rest of GROUP 4 become the SOLDIERS assigned to guard the village, and form a line behind ANGELINA.)
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
(as the commander)
We will defend this village to the death!
KIRSTEN, LALEH, & TOMAS
To the death!
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
But I was the mayor of the village, and I still had my duties to perform.
(The SOLDIERS go upstage and form a line.)
ANNA LEENA
(standing)
Mayor Mollini, my neighbour stole firewood from my shed!
LYDIA SAMARA
(standing)
Mayor, I don’t see why I should pay taxes when the enemy is about to destroy the village!
ALINA SAVROS
(standing)
The well on the corner has run dry, Mayor Mollini.
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
Even in wartime, a mayor has her hands full.
The REST of GROUP 1
(standing)
How are we supposed to get through winter without firewood?
The REST of GROUP 2
(standing)
The storekeeper gives extra rations to his friends.
The REST of GROUP 5
(standing)
All pets should be killed to preserve food.
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
And the enemy prepared to make their final attack.
(GROUPs 1, 2, and 5 go upstage and form a line behind the SOLDIERS of GROUP 4.)
GROUP 3
(standing and forming a line downstage behind ANGELINA)
Soon, we shall attack the village and burn it to the ground!
GROUP 4
We shall defend the village to the death!
GROUPs 1, 2, and 5
War or not, the mayor must do her job!
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
And so, in this impossible situation, exhausted from the complaints and the danger, I came to a decision, and called the villagers together.
(GROUP 3 goes upstage and forms a line on stage right. GROUP 4 forms an opposing line on stage left. GROUPs 1, 2, and 5 go downstage and form an audience for ANGELINA.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
People of the village! I have decided to hold a big party this very night!
GROUP 1
A party?
GROUP 2
But we can’t afford a party.
GROUP 5
The enemy is at the gate!
ANGELINA MOLLINI
Precisely! The enemy is at the gate! We will hold a big party, and use up the last of our luxuries, the last of our food and drink and firewood, because the enemy will take everything anyway!
GROUP 1
The mayor is right! The enemy will take our food!
GROUP 2
They will burn the village!
GROUP 5
They will put us all in a prison camp!
ANGELINA MOLLINI
Why should we deny ourselves pleasure today when we know tomorrow will bring only hardship?
GROUPs 1, 2, 5
We will have a party! Hurray for the mayor!
(CAST freezes.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
And so everyone went home to put on their finest clothes and gathered up the last of their food and drink and firewood for the party.
(GROUPs 1, 2, and 5, go into tableaux of gathering together the things for the party.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
But the commander of the garrison got word of the party, and became very angry.
(GROUPs 1, 2, and 5 go upstage left and form a big tableau. GROUP 4 goes downstage to confront ANGELINA.)
GROUPs 1, 2, and 5
Mayor Mollini, the commander won’t let us have our party!
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
(as the commander, to ANGELINA)
What’s this nonsense about a party?
ANGELINA MOLLINI
You’re the commander of the garrison, but I’m still the mayor of the village. And I think it’s best that the villagers have one last chance to enjoy themselves.
GROUP 1
She’s the mayor!
GROUPs 2 and 5
Let her do her job!
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
We have been ordered to defend this village
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
We must hold out as long as possible.
LALEH MADANI
We must not squander our resources on some ridiculous party.
TOMAS RENZO
A wasteful party is foolish and irresponsible.
ANGELINA MOLLINI
Commander Delafleur, you know as well as I do that the enemy is about to crush this village whether you defend it or not.
GROUPs 1, 2, and 5
We don’t stand a chance!
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
You may have already given up, Mayor Mollini. But I haven’t, and neither have my troops.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
We will defend you against the enemy. We will do our duty.
LALEH MADANI
Must we die defending a village that has already given up?
TOMAS RENZO
Must we give our lives for nothing?
ANGELINA MOLLINI
My villagers may have given up on the war, but we have not given up on life!
GROUPs 1, 2, and 5
We have not given up on life!
ANGELINA MOLLINI
Every moment of life should be enjoyed to the fullest, especially when hardship is just around the corner.
GROUPs 1, 2, and 5
Live well today, for tomorrow we might die!
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
Mayor Mollini, I’m arresting you for aiding the enemy.
(KIRSTEN SARRANINA and LALEH MADANI take ANGELINA by the arms.)
GROUP 1
No! The enemy will be here by morning!
GROUP 2
We will have our moment of happiness!
GROUP 5
We will have our party!
(GROUPs 1, 2, and 5 move into a downstage line. ANNA LEENA and KATYA MATISSE arrest Commander Delafleur. ARASH HAMEDANI and LILYA DELANGE arrest KIRSTEN SARRANINA. NATASHA PESHKOVA and LYDIA SAMARA arrest LALEH MADANI. SUJIN HEUNG and MARINA STASIA arrest TOMAS RENZO. GROUP 3 march across upstage and form a line. The CAST freezes.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
And so the villagers took matters into their own hands. They locked the soldiers of the garrison in the cellar beneath the village hall.
(The VILLAGERS who arrested the SOLDIERS of GROUP 4 take them upstage centre and mime opening big cellar doors, and throw the SOLDIERS down, as if placing them in the cellar.)
GROUP 4
What are you doing? We are your protectors!
GROUP 1
You must stay in there until the party is over!
GROUP 2
Then you can go and fight the enemy all you want.
GROUP 5
You can die with empty bellies.
GROUPs 1, 2, 5
And we will die with full ones!
(The CAST freezes.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
So the villagers had their party.
(Music plays. GROUPs 1, 2, and 5 celebrate. The music stops. The groups freeze.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
And just as the party was nearing its end, the enemy attacked.
MIN CHEN
Open fire on the village! Spare no one!
(GROUP 3 starts firing at GROUPS 1, 2, and 5 until all have fallen, then GROUP 3 freezes.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
Undefended, my villagers were killed, but at least their bellies were full. The hungry soldiers in the cellar were not so lucky.
MIN CHEN
There might be enemies in the cellar. Throw grenades down there.
(GROUP 3 tosses imaginary hand grenades into the cellar. GROUP 4 slump into mimed death. GROUP 3 freezes.)
ANGELINA MOLLINI
(to AUDIENCE)
I was visiting the outhouse when the enemy attacked the village hall, so I alone survived for the simple reason that I had to pee. I often feel bad about the massacre of the villagers, and the soldiers dying in the cellar with their empty bellies. But I feel better when I remember that happiness and disaster can share the same bed, and that luck can be a mischievous little devil at the best of times and the worst of times.
(The CAST go back to their original tableaux, except ANGEINA MOLLINI. The GROUPS address the AUDIENCE.)
GROUP 1
Did the mayor do the right thing?
GROUP 2
Should she have held the party?
GROUP 3
She alone survived.
GROUP 4
Luck is full of mischief.
GROUP 5
Happiness can end in disaster.
Refugee Camp 25 by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
Scene 5:
FULL CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
Story Five.
GROUP 5
(to AUDIENCE)
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
(ALINA SAVROS goes downstage.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
My husband and I lived in a large town not far from the border. When the war started, the enemy moved quickly to take our town, bombing and shelling us without mercy.
(A siren goes off…the rest of the CAST takes cover.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
My husband was a foreman in a boot factory. His manager gave him an important task.
(ARNO HENRIKSEN stands up. KATYA MATISSE stands and goes to him along with the rest of GROUP 1.)
KATYA MATISSE
Arno, I want you to take this group of workers and smash as much machinery as you can.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
Why, Miss Matisse?
KATYA MATISSE
We do not want the enemy to capture equipment that can be used for making boots.
The REST of GROUP 1
Let the enemy fight in bare feet!
(CAST freezes.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
Because I worked in the main government office, I also received important orders.
(MARINA STASIA and the rest of GROUP 2 go up to ALINA.)
MARINA STASIA
Mrs. Savros, you and these other clerks must destroy as many government files and documents as possible.
ALINA SAVROS
Without exception?
MARINA STASIA
Without exception. The enemy must not gain access to any public records.
The REST of GROUP 2
Let the enemy drown in confusion!
(GROUP 2 freezes.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
And so, as the bombs and shells fell, the people of the town assisted in the destruction, so as to leave nothing for the enemy.
(All the GROUP now come to life and mime smashing and destroying things as asiren sounds, freezing when the siren stops.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
Then came a moment of stillness that meant the enemy was about to enter the town. The people of the town gathered a few unbroken things and fled to the east.
GROUP 1
The enemy is almost here!
GROUP 2
The time has come to leave!
GROUP 3
There’s nothing here to stay for!
GROUP 4
Everything has been destroyed!
GROUP 5
Everything except our lives…
FULL CAST
(to AUDIENCE)
The most precious thing of all!
(All the GROUPS now form a straggling column of groups and individuals that faces right, as if they are leaving the town.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
In the confusion, I could not find my husband.
(The COLUMN begins moving counter-clockwise around the stage. ALINA runs among them.)
ALINA SAVROS
Arno! Arno!
(asking random refugees)
Have you seen my husband? Have you? Has anyone seen my husband?
(The column freezes.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
But it was no use. So I fled with the other refugees, and went from camp to camp searching for Arno.
(The CAST now forms “Camps”, each GROUP making a camp. ARNO stands by himself, downstage left.)
ALINA SAVROS
(going to GROUP 1)
I am looking for a man named Arno Henriksen.
LILYA DELANGE
No one by that name here.
NATASHA PESHKOVA
Don’t waste your time.
ANNA LEENA, Katkya Mattisse, and ARASH HAMEDANI
We all gave up our names when we became refugees.
(Alina goes to GROUP 2.)
ALINA SAVROS
Has anyone seen a man named Arno Henriksen?
KARIN LARNO
Who knows? Hundreds pass through here every day.
SUJIN HEUNG
None of them have names worth remembering.
LYDIA SAMARA, MARINA STASIA, JANO RUBIN
In the camps, all names sound the same.
(ALINA goes to GROUP 3.)
ALINA SAVROS
I’ve got to find my husband…
MIN CHEN
Me too, but it’s no use.
ARTURO BALLINI
No one’s keeping a record of that sort of thing.
LISBETH ALVEERA, MARTA VERONOVA, and CARLOS SILVARO
Who can find anything in this chaos?
(ALINA goes to GROUP 4.)
ALINA SAVROS
Is there anyone in this camp answering to the name of Arno Henriksen?
LALEH MADANI
So many people come and go, they don’t bother with a role-call.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
I don’t even know the name of the person sitting next to me.
ANGEINA MOLLINI, ISABELLA DELAFLEUR, and TOMAS RENZO
We don’t know you; why should we know your husband?
(ALINA goes to GROUP 5.)
ALINA SAVROS
Is there any chance of finding my husband here?
LORENA MORI
About as much chance as finding a pot of gold..
SARLA LENYA
Your husband is probably dead like mine.
ARNO HENRIKSENand MASAO KURIYAMA
Forget your husband. Look after yourself.
(The CAST freezes.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
No matter how hard I searched, I could find no trace of him. In the end, I decided to start back into enemy-held territory, under cover of darkness, to see if he had joined a partisan group.
(GROUPs 1, 2, and 3 form a line upstage to downstage, facing left and lying down prone, as if they are on the front lines of a battlefield. GROUPS 4, and 5 do the same, facing right, as if they are the other army. Alina goes to the left and kneels by LALEH MADANI.)
ALINA SAVROS
Thank you for bringing me to the front lines.
LALEH MADANI
I must be crazy. I could get shot for letting you come up here with me.
ALINA SAVROS
I’ll never forget you for taking this risk.
LALEH MADANI
I hope you find your husband.
ALINA SAVROS
How do I get through their lines?
LALEH MADANI
Stay low and move quietly. As long as they don’t turn on any searchlights, you might make it.
ALINA SAVROS
All right. Bless you for helping me.
(The CAST freezes and ALINA goes stage centre.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
And so I crawled across no-man’s land. Halfway over, I felt more lonely, more lost and alone, than I’d ever felt before. I was in a place where the host was Death, and even the thought of being amongst the enemy was more comforting than staying there. And so, I passed over into the safety of a forest on the enemy side. Moments later, the enemy launched an attack. Even with my ears covered, I could hear the dreadful sound of war.
(All in slow motion, to flickering light, GROUPs 1, 2, and 3 rise up and move towards GROUPs 4 and 5, who get up to meet them. There is gunfire and hand-to-hand fighting until the siren sounds, and the CAST freezes.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
Deeper and deeper I went into the forest, to escape those awful sounds.
(The CAST now form trees in a forest, except ARASH HAMEDANI, LILYA DELANGE, KARIN LARNO, and LORENA MORI, who play PARTISANS hiding behind some of the trees.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
I walked through the trees, hoping to find a partisan camp, though I knew they were experts at staying well-hidden.
(She walks among the TREES. )
THE TREES
(to ALINA)
Beware, beware, there’s trouble everywhere!
(Suddenly, ARASH. LILYA, and KARIN grab her. LORENA MORI, the leader of the group confronts her.)
LORENA MORI
What are you doing here?
ALINA SAVROS
Searching for my husband.
LORENA MORI
A likely story.
ALINA SAVROS
It’s true. His name is Arno Henriksen.
ARASH HAMEDANI
Arno Henriksen!
LILYA DELANGE
He’s well known around here.
KARIN LARNO
Can you prove you’re telling the truth?
THE TREES
(to ALINA)
Show them your passbook!
ALINA SAVROS
My passbook is in my pocket. It lists him as my husband.
(KARIN finds the book and gives it to LORENA MORI.)
LORENA MORI
So perhaps you are telling the truth. Your husband is the leader of another group of partisans in this region. We will fetch him for you.
ALINA SAVROS
He’s alive?
LORENA MORI
Oh yes, very much alive.
(to the other PARTISANS)
Keep a tight hold on her.
ALINA SAVROS
But I’m on your side!
LORENA MORI
What makes you think there are “sides” here? Bring her, there’s work to be done.
(The PARTISANS begin to drag her to the right then freeze. ALINA steps away from them.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
They took me deeper into the forest, where other partisans joined us.
(GROUPs 1, 2, and 5 become LORENA MORI’S partisan camp on the left.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
I stayed there for several hours while a small group of them went to find my husband. Finally, the group returned, and with them was Arno, with his small band of partisans.
(GROUPs 3 and 4 become ARNO’s partisans on the right. The two groups face each other with hostility. ALINA is being held by ARASH, LILYA, and KARIN)
LORENA MORI
Here he is, alive and well.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
Alina! How did you get here?
ALINA SAVROS
It was the only place left to look.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
(to Lorena Mori)
Let her go.
GROUP 1
Listen to him!
GROUP 2
He thinks he’s the boss.
GROUP 5
But there’s more of us than them!
LORENA MORI
Let her go? Now why would I do such a foolish thing?
ARNO HENRIKSEN
Because she’s no use to you.
GROUP 3
You’ve got plenty of partisans.
GROUP 4
We need new fighters to replace our casualties.
LORENA MORI
I’ll let her go on one condition.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
Name it.
LORENA MORI
She can go free if you and your group lay down your weapons and leave this region.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
But we’re on the same side as you.
GROUPs 3 and 4
We fight the same enemy.
LORENA MORI
There are no sides any more.
GROUP 1
And there are no rules…
GROUPs 2 and 5
…except the ones we make up as we go along.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
So you’ve stopped fighting for your motherland, and started fighting for yourselves.
LORENA MORI
That’s right. We’re going to do whatever it takes to survive as long and comfortably as possible. And that means you’ve got to go, because you’re still full of dangerous ideas about loyalty to the so-called motherland.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
And if we don’t lay down our weapons and leave?
LORENA MORI
Then you’ll never see your wife again.
(The CAST freezes and ALINA addresses the AUDIENCE.)
ALINA SAVROS
But Arno’s partisans refused to lay down their arms.
KIRSTEN SARRANINA
(to Arno)
Arno Henriksen, don’t expect us to give up our weapons and run away just to save one woman.
GROUP 3
She can be replaced. Our guns can’t.
LALEH MADANI
(to Arno)
Without our weapons, we are weak and defenseless.
ISABELLA DELAFLEUR
(to Arno)
Up ‘til this moment, you have been a good leader. But we won’t follow you if show sentimental weakness now.
GROUP 4
Sentimentality makes us weak!
(GROUPS 3 and 4 raise their weapons. LORENA MORI’S PARTISANS also raise their weapons. A standoff ensues.)
ARNO HENRIKSEN
(to LORENA MORI)
My troops are not prepared to give in to your demands. Give me until tomorrow morning to change their minds.
LORENA MORI
All right. Tomorrow morning. But if you don’t show up, your wife dies.
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
And so my husband was forced to leave me with Lorena Mori and her band of cutthroats.
(ARNO’S group goes upstage right, and form a tableau as though resting or sleeping.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
That night, Lorena Mori took me to their camp and tied me up for the night, leaving the camp well-guarded.
(LORENA’S group go to sleep around ALINA, leaving KARIN LARNO, ARASH HAMEDANI, and SUJIN HEUNG to guard her. The three GUARDS take up positions on stage left, stage right, and upstage centre. While they are sleeping, ARNO creeps up and using an imaginary wire, kills KARIN, ARASH, and SUJIN, then cuts ALINA’S ropes.)
ARNO HENRIKSEN
(whispering)
Come one, we’ve got to get away from here as quickly as possible.
(ARNO leads ALINA down left and then across to centre stage, as if taking her to safety.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to ARNO)
Now that you have saved me, where will we go?
ARNO HENRIKSEN
You will have to go your way, and I will have to go mine.
ALINA SAVROS
But we’ve been through so much, and we’ve finally found each other again. I won’t let anything but death separate us.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
That’s just it. Death. I don’t want you to die. But I’m a liability to you now. My own men will kill me if they find me, because I deserted them.
(GROUPs 3 and 4 come out of their sleep.)
GROUP 3
Arno Henriksen has run away!
GROUP 4
He has deserted us!
GROUPs 3 and 4
If we find him, we kill him!
ARNO HENRIKSEN
(to ALINA)
Lorena Mori’s partisans will kill me for murdering three of their own and helping you escape.
(GROUPs 1, 2, and 5 come out of their sleep and sit up, seeing the dead GUARDS.)
GROUP 1
The guards were murdered in the night!
GROUP 2
The hostage is gone!
GROUP 5
Arno Henriksen is responsible.
LORENA MORI
We will hunt him and his wife down and kill them both.
ARNO HENRIKSEN
And the enemy wants me dead, too. As for our government, there’s every chance they’d throw me in jail or execute me rather than trust me.
ALINA SAVROS
Why?
ARNO HENRIKSEN
You saw what Lorena Mori has become. Some partisans are no better than outlaws. None are trusted. And so you and I must say goodbye forever.
(ARNO hugs her and walks a few steps, then freezes. Then, ARNO and the GROUPS go back to their original tableaux, all except ALINA SAVROS.)
ALINA SAVROS
(to AUDIENCE)
And so I found myself alone again. The months and years have passed, the war has ended, and there is no sign of my husband anywhere. I no longer search, because something inside me knows he is dead. He gave his life to save me, and, in a sense, I’m responsible for his death because I tried so hard to find him. I thought love could be stronger than war. I was mistaken.
(The GROUPS address the AUDIENCE.)
GROUP 1 & 2
She thought love was stronger than war.
GROUPS 3, 4 & 5
Was she mistaken?
FULL CAST
You must decide!
(ALINA rejoins her GROUP.)
Refugee Camp 25 by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
Epilogue:
FULL CAST
We are refugees.
GROUP 1
How did we get here?
GROUP 2
Where did we come from?
GROUP 3
What happened to our families?
GROUP 4
No one wants to be a refugee.
GROUP 5
But one thing leads to another.
GROUPS 1 and 2
We didn’t think it could happen to us.
GROUPS 3, 4, and 5
But it did. And it could happen to you.
FULL CAST
It could happen to you.
FULL CAST
(singing)
One shot, two shots, three shots,
Danger!
Four shots, five shots, six shots,
War!
Seven shots, eight shots, nine shots,
Murder!
What do you think a gun is for?
Rat-a-tat, the rifles fire!
Rat-a-tat, the dead are piling higher!
END OF THE PLAY.