THE UNCOMPROMISED
A Very Short Play
Cast
Seneca
Medea
The Stranger
Seneca
I obeyed.
Medea
I avenged.
The Stranger
I planned.
(Pause.)
Seneca
I killed myself.
Medea
I killed my children.
The Stranger
I killed myself and many others.
(Another pause.)
Seneca
(turning to The Stranger)
Did you know them?
The Stranger
That was not necessary.
Medea
I loved my children.
The Stranger
I loved the idea.
Seneca
I preserved myself.
Medea
How can the self be preserved if it is dead?
Seneca
In the same way your love survives.
The Stranger
In the same way the idea survives.
Medea
It is not the same.
Seneca
Where is the difference?
Medea
They are dead.
The Stranger
My idea thrives.
Seneca
Mine endures.
The Stranger
What is yours?
Seneca
That which could not be compromised.
Medea
I certainly went through with it.
The Stranger
So did I.
(Pause.)
Seneca
What came of it?
The Stranger
Fear.
Medea
Pain.
Seneca
Fear and pain are trifles.
(Silence.)