ACT V
THE COURT OF TWO STORIES
A decision is not the same thing as discovering the truth.
A courtroom. THE RAAD sits above everyone. THE FATHER stands on one side. ORPHEUS stands on the other. THE REPORT stands between them.
THE COURT
State your position.
THE FATHER
I am a father who wants his child.
THE COURT
And you?
ORPHEUS
I am a mother whose child has been separated from her. I say there is a larger history that must be examined.
THE COURT
What evidence do you have?
CORNELIA steps forward.
CORNELIA
My statement.
SIBE steps forward.
SIBE
My letter.
THE DOCTOR steps forward.
DOCTOR
Medical records.
THE POLICE OFFICER.
POLICE OFFICER
A police record.
THE LAWYER.
LAWYER
Documents.
THE REPORT.
THE REPORT
Reports.
THE COURT
And what does the father say?
THE FATHER steps forward.
THE FATHER
I say there was a struggle. I say she took my phone. I say I want my daughter.
THE COURT
And the mother?
ORPHEUS
I say everything must be examined in context.
THE COURT
The court must make a decision.
ORPHEUS
Yes. But a decision is not the same thing as discovering the truth.
Silence. THE FOOL whispers:
THE FOOL
Careful. They may write that down.
THE PAPER MACHINE
A sentence repeated often enough begins to look like a fact.
The filing cabinets begin moving. One report is passed to another. One official reads another official’s words. One sentence becomes another sentence.
THE FATHER
I said—
THE REPORT
It was reported that—
THE RAAD
The report states—
SAMEN VEILIG
Previous concerns indicate—
LAMIA — HEAD ONE
We observed—
LAMIA — HEAD TWO
It has been alleged—
THE FOOL
And suddenly—
ALL
THE FACT IS—
Silence. THE FOOL smiles.
THE FOOL
What fact?
Nobody answers. He turns to the audience.
THE FOOL
That is how the Kingdom works. A person says something. Someone records it. Someone reads the record. Someone quotes the record. Someone quotes the quotation. Then somebody writes: “Historically, it has been reported.” And now— everyone has a fact.
THE CHILD
Everything stops.
Everything stops. LANTHE enters. She carries her drawing from Act I. Nobody sees her at first. THE COURT continues.
THE COURT
The interests of the child—
LANTHE
Stop.
Silence. Everyone turns.
LANTHE
Can I speak?
THE REPORT looks at THE RAAD.
THE REPORT
Of course.
LANTHE
Really?
THE REPORT
Your voice is important.
LANTHE
Then listen.
Silence.
LANTHE
I don’t understand the papers. I don’t understand the meetings. I don’t understand why adults keep talking about me when I am sitting right here.
ORPHEUS begins to cry.
LANTHE
I know Mama loves me. I know Daddy loves me. Maybe everybody says they love me. But— I want people to stop fighting over me. I want people to stop making me choose. I want people to ask me what I feel. And I want them to listen to the answer.
THE COURT shifts uneasily.
LANTHE
If everybody is protecting me— who is protecting me from being the reason everybody fights?
No one speaks.
THE LAST REPORT
For the first time, the institutional voice is uncertain.
THE REPORT approaches LANTHE. For the first time, its voice is uncertain.
THE REPORT
Your words have been noted.
Lanthe looks at it.
LANTHE
No.
She takes the paper. Tears it in half. The audience gasps. She tears it again. And again.
LANTHE
I said listen.
She walks to ORPHEUS. Takes her hand.
THE LAST WORD
Orpheus stands alone before the audience.
ORPHEUS stands alone. The Kingdom is behind her. The filing cabinets are open. Inside each one is a child’s drawing.
ORPHEUS
I know what they will say. They will say I am angry. They will say I cannot let go. They will say I am difficult. They will say I ask too many questions. Perhaps I am angry. How could I not be? But anger is not proof that a story is false. And calmness is not proof that a story is true. So I am not asking you to believe me. I am asking you to investigate. Investigate every account. Read the police reports. Read the witness statements. Read the contemporaneous letters. Read the medical records. Read the financial documents. Read the immigration documents. Read the court filings. Then read what the institutions wrote about all of them. And ask one question.
Pause.
ORPHEUS
Did the system see the whole story before it decided who should hold the child?
Silence.
ORPHEUS
Because my daughter is not a prize. She is not leverage. She is not a line in a report. She is not a statistic. She is not an institutional outcome. She is a child. And before she became a case— she was my daughter.
Lanthe squeezes her hand.
LANTHE
Mama?
ORPHEUS
Yes?
LANTHE
Are you coming?
ORPHEUS looks at the audience. Then at the Kingdom. Then at her daughter.
ORPHEUS
Yes.
LANTHE
Where?
ORPHEUS thinks.
ORPHEUS
Somewhere the truth is allowed to be complicated.
LANTHE
Is that home?
ORPHEUS looks at her.
ORPHEUS
It should be.
They walk forward together. The filing cabinets begin closing. One. Two. Three. THE FOOL remains behind. He takes one final sheet of paper. Reads it. Looks at the audience.
THE FOOL
Final question.
He turns the paper over. Blank.
THE FOOL
Apparently— there is no box for that.
Blackout.
This is a work of fiction. Characters, events and circumstances have been fictionalised.