The Last Judgment
A Play
CAST
The Instructor
Octavian
Napoleon
The First Student
The Other Students
Pope Julius II
(The Sistine Chapel. Folding chairs are arranged in rows. The students sit. The Instructor stands slightly off-center. Napoleon sits at the back, admiring the ceiling. Octavian enters.)
(The students rise.)
OCTAVIAN
Good morning. Please, sit.
THE INSTRUCTOR
What an honor, Caesar.
OCTAVIAN
Isn’t this a splendid place? I often wished Michelangelo had been around at my time.
NAPOLEON
I would have taken him as well.
(Octavian turns to the Instructor.)
OCTAVIAN
Your institute must have deep pockets.
THE INSTRUCTOR
Our director can pull strings.
OCTAVIAN
Naturally.
THE INSTRUCTOR
Today’s lesson concerns the acquisition of power. Some of them will inherit it, others will have to take it.
OCTAVIAN
I took it.
(Napoleon examines his nails.)
NAPOLEON
Me too.
OCTAVIAN
But you did not keep it.
NAPOLEON
I retook it.
THE FIRST STUDENT
Only once. Sadly.
(Napoleon removes a fleck of dirt from under one of his nails.)
THE INSTRUCTOR
Caesar, tell us how you acquired power.
OCTAVIAN
I ended a civil war in stages, one enemy at a time.
THE OTHER STUDENTS
One enemy at a time.
THE FIRST STUDENT
Some of them had been your allies before.
OCTAVIAN
Poor Antony.
THE FIRST STUDENT
You betrayed him.
OCTAVIAN
Of course I did.
(He looks at the Instructor.)
OCTAVIAN
I thought that was a lesson about how to seize power.
THE OTHER STUDENTS
Seize power.
(Napoleon stares at the Last Judgment.)
NAPOLEON
I never betrayed people.
OCTAVIAN
You betrayed ideas.
THE FIRST STUDENT
The idea was the vehicle.
(Octavian laughs.)
OCTAVIAN
Republics have to end. In my case, my father had already done much of the work.
THE INSTRUCTOR
We had him recently. It was another great honor.
OCTAVIAN
Was he talking about the Rubicon again? I don’t know how often I’ve heard that story.
THE OTHER STUDENTS
The Rubicon.
THE FIRST STUDENT
It’s about commitment.
OCTAVIAN
Yes. My father did something exceptional on that 10th of January.
THE FIRST STUDENT
It set things in motion.
OCTAVIAN
Motion with direction.
THE INSTRUCTOR
Are there rules?
THE OTHER STUDENTS
Rules for rulers.
OCTAVIAN
There are none. Trust your instincts.
THE INSTRUCTOR
How many of you will inherit power? Raise your hands.
(A little more than half of the students raise their hands.)
OCTAVIAN
Good for you.
THE FIRST STUDENT
Seizing it is so much more interesting than inheriting it.
OCTAVIAN
To be honest, I would not have minded inheriting it from my father.
NAPOLEON
My father was a lawyer…
THE FIRST STUDENT
Mine as well.
OCTAVIAN
He is deceased?
THE FIRST STUDENT
He is.
OCTAVIAN
My condolences. I take it he left you enough to be here.
THE FIRST STUDENT
I have a scholarship.
(Octavian turns to the Instructor.)
OCTAVIAN
A well-connected, yet charitable institute.
(The door beneath the Last Judgment creaks. Pope Julius II enters.)