- You, Sow. Not Guilty.,
- 2016
- 1 male - 1 female
Playwright: Eugenia Dagla
- It is the first of March. In a café by the sea, two people sit at neighbouring tables. She is a beautician, recently separated from a harsh Public Prosecutor who used to call her “Pig” during their arguments. He is a former pharmaceutical sales representative, recently released from prison after serving time for a crime committed by someone else — the “Innocent Man.” The two strangers steal glances at one another, while each remains absorbed in their own thoughts. They never actually speak. Instead, two parallel interior monologues unfold, occasionally and entirely by chance “clicking” into place in such a way as to create a loose sense of coherence. The two streams of thought intertwine without ever being addressed to one another. Neither of the two strangers has any formal legal education. Both, however, possess sharp critical judgement and a broad understanding of Justice, having each come into contact — in very different ways — with representatives of the judicial system and with legal thought. They reflect on the existing legal system, its shortcomings, and possible ways in which it might be improved in order to achieve a more meaningful administration of justice. At the same time, they explore the very essence of Justice as an age-old Law that stands above formally established rules. As “Pig” says: “…the Prosecutor would study and study, searching for what is just… but justice springs forth like water from a natural spring…” And the “Innocent Man” — unemployed and uncertain about his future — reflects on everything he experienced in prison as the result of a miscarriage of justice and finally decides what profession he will pursue from now on: “…he will become a judge…” The text explores the distance between the existing legal order and Natural Law, between established law and the Moral Law, which demands more than mere outward compliance with legal rules: it also requires an inner alignment with them, rooted in the individual’s moral character. The two parallel monologues are written using the stream-of-consciousness technique.