A Convenient Lie

Scene Three

(Enter Nurse and the Friar.)

Nurse: Soon is the time we shall make our move, friend, for I think Lady Capulet has caught on to some aspect of our plans.
Friar: But how?  We have been so careful.
Nurse: She is insane, wracked with pain and guilt after the death of her lover and nephew Tybalt.  She has become paranoid in her old age and sorrow, and it is this that urges her to make assumptions about everyone around her.  It only stands to reason that one will be true.
Friar: I see…does she know of my part in the whole scheme?
Nurse: She suspects you, yes.  We fought briefly, and I fled, but watched from behind a window as she spoke to her servants.  She seems to be turning them against each other, and no longer does she even trust Capulet.
Friar: Yet Capulet is her husband!  She has to trust him!
Nurse: Aye, thou stole the words straight from the tip of my tongue!  But as he walked away from her, she whispered that she would have to kill him, dispose of him too.
Friar: This is much, much more serious than I thought.
Nurse: And ‘tis all because of a silly grudge that goes on for generations.  Do you know the story behind the Capulets and the Montagues?
Friar: Nay, but pray, tell me if you do.
Nurse: It all began long ago, on a cold winter day
Hard did the rain pour down from skies of melancholy gray
And ‘twixt the water did walk two people, two friends
They had no knowledge that their friendship was about to end
See, they both loved a girl, the same one in fact
And it was this love that made their bond crack
It all came down to a solid truth
When both were drinking some vermouth
In she walked, and both they turned
They looked at each other, and their anger churned
Chaos broke out, into a fight
And that is what, caused today’s plight
Friar: Ah, the story of our past
It’s strange how even love cannot last
How actually it is love, love that cast
Lights so dim upon our life
So odd how love, the bond that can’t be broken
Echoes the very words that we have spoken
That is causes everything to be unwoven
Nurse: Yes, yes, and yet the most curious of all
Is how love is so uncontrollable
Like a memory flitting through our subconscious mind
Like a thought on wings that we cannot catch
Love is like a dagger, double-edged indeed
Friar: Words truer have never been uttered, my friend.
Nurse: Ah, yes, my friend, and let love not come between us either.
Friar: ‘Tis too late, Nurse, I am stricken.
Nurse: As am I.
Friar: Ah, again, ‘tis too late, I fear, love has cast its spell, or shall I say its curse.
Nurse: But if it is too late to stop it, then worry shall only inhibit enjoyment.
I say, embrace it, love the love, love the dagger, love each other.
Friar: Aye, ‘tis easier said than done.  I have watched my charge fall in and out of love countless times, and each time is a harder fall.
Nurse: Last was the hardest of all.
(Footsteps are heard approaching.  The voice of a servant is heard offstage.)
Servant: You, Nurse, and you, Friar, the Montagues require your presence!
Nurse: Dear Friar, the Montagues, now?  Is there anywhere safe we can hide?
(Servant enters, along with three armed followers.)
Friar: Let us go, let us flee, let us vanish into the receding night
Let the gray of dusk whisk us away into safety
Let the stars of night wrap around us
Let us go!
(Nurse starts to run away from the servants, but more enter on opposite side.)
Servant: You can come quickly
That is best to avoid injury
Or you can fight
For you cannot run, you cannot hide
And in that way, dying is your plight
Nurse: O heartless saint, you cruel benefactors, you double-edged love!  See, see, why do I even live?  What is my purpose?
Servant: Come and you shall have a purpose.
Friar: Yes, yes, to die!  Run, Nurse, maybe you can flee.
Nurse: Go I shall not if in danger stay you!
Friar: One must survive!  One must live!
Nurse: It will not be me.
Friar: Nor me, so go!
Nurse: Please, I don’t want–
Servant: Charge!  Kill them both!
(Servants charge the Nurse and the Friar.)
Friar: Please…go.
(Nurse hesitates, then runs backstage.  Two servants go after her.)
Servant: That was noble, Friar, very noble.
Friar: Thank you, friend.
(The Friar pulls out a short sword and slays the nearest servant.)
Servant: Now I kill you without further delay.  You know, I hate to kill a man of my own house, but alas, it is my duty.
Friar: Now we clash, and may the loser’s blood spill upon the ground, forever staining this spot as a reminder of how foolish this escapade is.
Servant: Your words mean nothing, but let me fight before they do ring true.
(They fight.  The Friar falls.)
Friar: Before…before I go, remember this, friend.  You, you, you have no personal grudge against the Capulets.  ‘tis all…’tis all a mindless charade…
(Friar dies.  Exit all servants except the Friar’s killer.)
Servant: Alas, what blood hath my deadly sword spilled?
(Kneels down next to the Friar’s body.)
I understand now, friend, I understand!
(Places his sword over the Friar and exits.)

Trackback URI | Comments RSS