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    Sovereignty: A Play in Three Acts
    Sovereignty: A Play in Three Acts
    Sovereignty: A Play in Three Acts
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    Sovereignty: A Play in Three Acts

    By Anab Whitehouse

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    About this ebook

    Nine characters are cast into a set of circumstances that cannot be explained but with which those individuals must engage. The fate of humanity rides on what they do.

    Their task is to come to grips with the issue of self-governance. With no resources on which to draw except their own ideas, intelligence, moral integrity, and understanding, they must try to work out the essential principles of sovereignty.

    The challenge is time-limited, but they do not how much time is left before the final buzzer is sounded. In addition, there is a war, of some kind, that is raging all around them, and the explosions are coming closer and closer to their location.

    The discussions which ensue are far-reaching. They range from: the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, to: issues of ratification, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, constitutionality, the rule of law, judicial interpretation, sovereignty, the nature of power, education, cults, the scientific problem of origins, militarism, and more.

    Finally, a number of the characters are suspected of terrorism and treason. As a result, they must face an investigation into their activities. The truth might not be enough to save those individuals, but an unexpected decision is rendered leading to ...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAnab Whitehouse
    Release dateOct 22, 2018
    ISBN9780463675700
    Sovereignty: A Play in Three Acts
    Author

    Anab Whitehouse

    Dr. Whitehouse received an honors degree in Social Relations from Harvard University. In addition, he earned a doctorate in Educational Theory from the University of Toronto. For nearly a decade, Dr. Whitehouse taught at several colleges and universities in both the United States and Canada. The courses he offered focused on various facets of psychology, philosophy, criminal justice, and diversity. Dr. Whitehouse has written more than 37 books. Some of the topics covered in those works include: Evolution, quantum physics, cosmology, psychology, neurobiology, philosophy, and constitutional law.

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      Book preview

      Sovereignty - Anab Whitehouse

      Sovereignty:

      A Play In Three Acts

      Anab Whitehouse

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      © 2018, Anab Whitehouse

      Interrogative Imperative Institute

      Brewer, Maine

      04412

      Published by: Bilquees Press

      Table of Contents

      List of Characters and Setting

      Scene for Act I

      Act I

      Scene for Act II

      Act II

      Scene for Act III

      Act III

      Characters

      Aaron – mid-40’s; wearing Bermuda shorts and a green polo shirt

      Anne – retired; in her 60’s; wearing a red bathrobe with light purple pajamas underneath

      Cathy – early 30’s; wearing a blue blouse and matching skirt with a black-belt

      Dave – mid-to-late 30’s; wearing black corduroy pants and a white shirt

      Gloria – early 30’s, African-American; wearing dungarees with a yellow blouse

      Jake – early 50’s; wearing a plaid shirt and jeans

      Jane – early 40’s; wearing a brown-colored pants suit

      Phil – in his late 60’s; wearing a gray sport jacket

      Susan – mid-20’s; wearing a beige sweater and matching slacks

      English-speaking soldier – early 20’s– uniform is not of any identifiable country

      Foreign-speaking soldier – late teens – unidentifiable uniform; unidentifiable language

      Officer – late 30’s – unidentifiable uniform

      -----

      Setting

      Location – unknown;

      Time – contemporary

      Scene for Act I

      [The stage consists of a large room with one small, round window near the ceiling. The window is too small for a person to fit through.

      There is one door in the room that leads to a bathroom.  The walls of the main room are bare.

      A war of some kind is being waged outside – from time to time one sees flashes of explosions through the high window and one hears the distant thunder of artillery. Occasionally, the thunder of an explosion from close by reverberates through the room – shaking it somewhat, and there are small bits of debris that fall from the ceiling.

      Center stage – contains a couch and several easy chairs ... a small coffee table is placed in front with several magazines and a newspaper.  One person, a woman, is sitting on the couch reading a magazine. Another individual, a man, is snoozing in one of the easy chairs.

      Stage right, rear – a card table with four people (two men and two women) playing cards ... occasional laughter, groans and cries of victory come from the table. The table is covered by a cloth. Stage left, rear – two people (a man and a woman) are playing chess.

      An electronic noise is heard, smoke arises between the couch and the chess players. A woman appears out of the smoke and falls to the floor. With the exception of the person who is sleeping in the easy chair, the other people in the room glance briefly at the woman and then continue on with what they were doing ... as if they were familiar with the event.]

      -----

      Act I

      Gloria

      (Dazed, rising to a sitting position and looking around the room. To no one in particular and showing that she is both upset and outraged)

      What in hell is going on? ... Who did this? 

      Anne

      (Without looking away from her magazine, the woman on the couch speaks calmly)

      Your questions won’t be answered by anyone in this room ... we’ve all gone through what you’re experiencing.

      (Gloria looks briefly at Anne as she is rising to her feet and she begins to examine the room ... looking for a way out. She tries the bathroom door, examines the inside area of the bathroom, and returns to the larger room continuing her exploration. She taps on the wall looking for weak and/or hollow spots. She looks up at the small window, near the ceiling, and tries to gauge the size of the window with her hands.)

      Anne

      (Still looking at her magazine but aware of Gloria’s movements)

      You can look as long as you like. We all have. There’s no way out.

      Gloria

      (Gloria comes to center stage and stands near the unoccupied easy chair opposite the sleeping man. Speaking somewhat defiantly to Anne)

      How long have you been here?

      Anne

      (Shrugging her shoulders)

      Hard to say. There’s no clock, and, somehow, all of our watches and cell phones weren’t able to make the journey with us ... every so often we fall asleep, and when we awake meals sometimes are waiting for us, but it always seems to be night or dark outside ... it’s like we were in a gambling casino where the passage of time is hidden from the customers.

      Gloria

      (Shaking her head in an angry fashion)

      This is crazy. It makes no sense.

      Anne

      (Matter-of-factly)

      Well, it probably makes as much sense as the rest of life.

      Gloria

      (Still visibly upset)

      There are people depending on me at home. My teenagers need looking after. The only thing they know how to do is get in trouble.

      (Looking around the room, she approaches the card players. Somewhat frantically)

      Do you have anything to do with what’s going on? Does anyone here ...

      (She looks toward the chess players and takes a step toward them)

      ... know what’s going on?

      Susan

      (Susan, one of the card players, briefly looks at Gloria and then returns her attention to the table. She lays down a card, saying emphatically:

      Take that!!

      Aaron

      (Another card player, striking his forehead with his empty, open palm)

      No, No, No, don’t do this to me!!!!!

      (The other card players continue on with their game)

      Susan

      (Looking back at Gloria ... empathetically but firmly)

      We all have people back home who need us and who are probably wondering what happened to us. We all have felt exactly what you are feeling now – and still do feel that way to some extent ... upset, angry, annoyed ... perhaps a little desperate ... the situation is what it is ... your emotions are understandable but not very productive. We are all waiting for more data so we can try to figure out what to do ... that information just hasn’t arrived yet.

      [An explosion of some kind occurs outside, near the room. The room shakes. The lights flicker on and off. Everyone freezes with worry and each of the individuals in the room ducks a little. The man sleeping in the easy chair awakes with a start. Gloria nearly loses her balance.]

      Gloria

      (Regaining her equilibrium, she backs up toward center stage looking up at the windows where lights from explosions and gunfire are flickering through. She motions to the window with her head and turns toward Anne)

      What’s that all about?

      Anne

      (Finally, looking at Gloria)

      We don’t even know what’s going on in here, so how are we supposed to know what’s going on out there? ... Besides, wars are never about what their advocates claim they are.

      (Gloria is about to speak, when a loud buzzer is heard. Everyone is stunned and look at each other.)

      Disembodied voice

      (Deep, seemingly computerized ... the voice fills the room.)

      The sample is now assembled. Your task is at hand. The challenge is time-limited. When the next buzzer is sounded, you will begin, and when the following buzzer sounds, your time is up. Succeed and humanity will be spared ... fail and humanity will be eliminated. The problem before you is this: What is the essence of self-governance?

      (A piercing buzzer sounds, followed by silence.)

      Gloria

      (With exasperation and annoyance)

      Things just keep getting better and better.

      (She kicks at the floor in disgust.)

      Jake

      (One of the chess players, rising from his chair)

      This is a joke, right?

      Anne:

      And the perpetrator of the joke is who, and why is it being perpetrated?

      Jake

      (Shrugging his shoulders)

      I have no idea.

      (Thrusting his index finger several times into the air toward the apparent source of the Disembodied Voice)

      But, why should we believe anything that has been said by something or someone who won’t even show itself or himself ... or herself?

      Anne

      Unless you haven’t been paying attention, we don’t seem to be controlling the situation here. We have arrived through means unknown and for purposes unknown by a power that is beyond our pay grade. If we can be brought here and kept

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