Spring Will Not Die: a short play

Characters

The King:  A dictator, angry, cold, insensitive

Thaer: The revolutionary, a young driven, impatient dreamer of freedom. Passionate with his people, tough with his enemies.

Khaled: a young man, hesitant but quietly driven.

Maria: A very strong young woman, who impacts the people around her in a powerful way.

Lara:  Hesitant, always afraid.

Rama:  Adamant, insisting on her way, strong and passionate.

Lana:  A young woman who loved modern conveniences and the advantages of modern life. She has drive and passion but is soft.

Fatima: Always hides her feelings.  The revolution engaged her after she realized its essence. Then embraced its meaning.

Welcome to all our guests.  Revolutions, and especially the revolutions in the Arab lands today, aren’t simple events that can be conveyed in a play of less than half and hour.  The reality is the blood of the people.  It’s not easy to fully portray their pain and suffering.  This play may not be 100% accurate or an exact mirror of reality, but it seeks to present the way in which the demonstrations brought to the streets the youth who were driven by their passion for freedom.

Thank you for attending.

Scene One –

A procession through the kingdom as the King and his entourage pass through.  Sitting on his throne, he exudes power.  Next to him are his courtiers.  The poor people in tattered clothes walk by, cursing the procession.

Thaer (quiet and afraid) :  Oh, people, we need to start the movement now.  Enough of silence and fear.  We’re fed up.  We should no longer tolerate the oppression.  Don’t you see the transgressions of this ruler?

Maria (in a very soft voice): What are you doing, Thaer?  Do you want to get us all killed?  This is forbidden in the realm.  The king has forbidden us to even think about democracy.  Stop this.  You don’t know what will happen to us.

Fatima:  You may tempt fate and survive but what about the millions of people who will be implicated and caught up in what you do?  If you’re killed what about all those who see you as their hero – what about them?  Do you know what will happen?

Lana (fearful):  Stop this!  This only creates fear, and if someone hears this talk, it will be the end of us.

Scene Two –

An alley in the kingdom.

From afar, someone speaks.  A suspicious gathering.  In a secret location, young people come together and then disperse.

Thaer:  Friends, enough of fear.  Let’s prepare to claim our rights.

Lara:  You’re going to get us killed!

Khaled:  This is not our business.  Let’s talk about something we can actually accomplish, something realistic.

Thaer:  My loved ones, my friends, my family – what’s wrong with you?  You hear and see and don’t speak out.  Is it worth it for you to lose the dignity which you only claim to have?  Or your honor and pride which you are burying with your own hands?  Your conscience is drugged while you sleep.  Answer me, for the sake of this life that you dream of.  Is it for you to applaud empty idols and worship gangsters and obey ignorant thugs.  Don’t you believe in yourselves?  I swear to God who is generous of spirit and who makes all things right that you will be shunned by his mercy.  I want you as I knew you – free and with self-respect – revolutionary.  Don’t be like animals, without a sense of purpose and destiny.

Silence.

Scene Three –

The King’s minions collecting taxes by force from the poor merchants.

Rama:  With all this oppression and aggression, I’m beginning to understand Thaer’s words.

Khaled:  Me, too.  I can’t tolerate this stealing from the people while they are in their palace, surrounded by flatterers and covered in gold.

Fatima:  We need to work together hand in hand and not let each other down.  We need to regain the balance of our lives.  This is our mandate.

Lana: I completely agree with you.

Maria:  I’m with you, too, and I will stay with you until my last breath.  And this will be the pin of the grenade – we will rekindle the conscience of the people.

Thaer:  What about you, Lara?

Lara (waiting for everyone, speaking hesitantly):  I’ll be with you.

Rama (stepping forward and speaking):  Tomorrow will be our first outcry against their arrogance.

Scene Four –

In front of the King’s palace.

Everyone is approaching the throne and glancing at each other.  Then Thaer speaks.

Thaer:  Who are we and who are you?  We are the hidden voice of justice and you are the voice of oppression.  We are the driving force and you are steering us without knowing where you’re going.  We are the light and you are extinguishing us.  Let’s all repeat:  This kingdom is ours and not the possession of the sycophants and minions of the king.  We are the owners of the kingdom, not the bootlickers like you.

More and more people pick up the chant.

While the crowd is shouting, the throne begins to quake and the king gives the order to his minions to attack.  Lara is killed and everyone withdraws from the square where they were assembling.  The curtain closes.

Scene Five –

The curtain opens on the same hiding place.  There are new members of the group but all are downcast over the death of Lara.  Rama stands in the center and cries out “What’s wrong with this ruler?  Does he want to kill the people for simply asking for their basic rights.?  What would he do if we went further – to demand his removal?

Thaer (after thinking):  I think this is our new slogan.  Everyone now prepare the movement to instruct the people to demand their rights.

The curtain closes.

The curtain opens on the square.  Rama starts by claiming power for the people and an end to the tyranny and oppression and the oppressor.  Everyone begins to chant the slogan and then spears start to fall all around them.  Khaled and Lana are killed, and Rama is captured.  She appears with her face bloodied, saying:  I know I will never be freed from this prison, but my hope is you will continue what we started.

Everyone disperses.

Scene Six –

The people gather publicly for the funeral of the martyrs.  Thaer and Maria are among them.

Thaer:  Do you think you will get away with what you did?  Do you think the people’s lives are the pillars of your throne?

Maria:  You can kill all the people but you cannot kill our ideas.  And you cannot escape the day of reckoning.

Thaer:  We will not kill you because to kill you would change nothing.  We all know you are only a puppet.

The King:  I’ve had enough.  You’ve gone too far.  I’ve heard enough from you but I’m going to give you a chance to be civilized. I made you. You were nothing.  Yes, it’s now your end.  Now, yes, now – we will not be merciful to any of you.

Thaer:  Kill us, but before you do, you need to know that when we started this uprising against your oppression, we were soaked in blood for speaking against injustice and oppression.  We are not afraid of losing our lives for the sake of these ideals.  Yes, you can kill one or two of us, but today we, as the people, claim that sovereignty is ours.

Maria:  I will say it again – Freedom from oppression is an idea that will never die.

The King:  Kill them.

They all gather with the people and line up in front of the king.  The people say “Oh guards, who are you?  Our children, our brothers, our family, wake up before it’s too late.  Take off this uniform of weakness and humiliation.”

The guards, crying and quietly saying “We are the weakest”.

The people:  "No, we are the strongest.”  They take the hands of the guards and together they seize the King so that he is alone in a circle of the people.  It is the end of the time of oppression and tyranny and the start of the time of justice and equality.