To help you on your way here’s an example script that our librettist Tamsin Collison has written, based on Will Self’s piece. You might choose to take your story in an entirely different direction - remember, there are no creative restrictions on what you can do with your script.
This piece is for a Chorus plus two soloists. The soloists are a Journalist and a Government Inspector, both of whom were involved exposing a piece of political sleight-of-hand which had sent the nation to war. The Chorus includes representatives of all the different parties who were involved – wittingly or unwittingly – in endorsing or questioninng the government’s official line. Reporters, Photographers, Journalists, Military Chiefs of Staff, Scientists, Politicians, Civil Servants, Conspiracy Theorists, Anti-War Activists.
A tight pack of chorus is in the centre of the stage, wielding guns, placards, long-lens cameras, microphones, mobile phones, notebooks, laptops, briefcases and folders etc, with the Inspector isolated on one side and the Journalist on the other. Each group is unaware of the others. The set is plastered with sensational headlines from the whole course of events, from the government’s initial warnings to the final verdict on the Scientist’s death.
The two main protagonists are facing the same dilemma from different angles – do you ever have the right to keep world-shaking information to yourself, even when you are bound to confidentiality by the journalists’ code of conduct or the Official Secrets Act? Both these men chose to go public, and the results were personally catastrophic. As they reflect on their actions, the double meaning of the repeated phrase ‘I was responsible’ should be made clear.
Chorus:
“The world must be protected,”
So a target was selected
And a pretext was perfected.
Though the threat was not detected
When the weapons were inspected
Which the leaders had expected
War resulted, as projected.
And the voters who objected
Had their arguments rejected
And the media were deflected
And the public misdirected,
For the world must be protected.
Inspector: Journalist:
I heard the lies I saw the lies
I saw the truth I heard the truth
I stood alone I stood alone
At the crossroads At the crossroads
I faced a I faced a
Political choice Critical choice
Chorus:
They placed their bets
They rolled the dice
Inspector: Journalist:
Should I watch Should I bury
My back? The facts?
Or raise my voice Or risk stepping into
In protest? The spotlight?
I chose to stand up
And be counted
I chose to publish
And be damned.
I was responsible.
I was responsible
I was…responsible.
I was…responsible
Chorus:
They played the game
They paid the price.
Inspector:
I broke my silence
Journalist: I told the story
I broke my cover
I told the truth
I broke my spirit
I told the nation
I broke my heart
I told the world
I was responsible
I was responsible.
I was…responsible. I was…responsible.
Chorus:
They stood up to be counted.
They stepped up to the mark
Inspector:
Whose game did I play?
Whose cause did I serve?
Destroyed by a backlash
I didn’t deserve?
Journalist:
Who did I help?
Who did I hurt?
What did I alter
By dishing the dirt?
What point did I make? What point did I make?
What good did I do? What good did I do?
What right did I have to What right did I have to
Conceal what I knew? Conceal what I knew?
Chorus:
They walked into the eye of the storm.
They shone a light in the dark.
Inspector:
When the stakes are this high
Journalist:
When the stakes are this high
Normal rules don’t apply Normal rules don’t apply
There wasn’t a doubt There wasn’t a doubt
Of the need to speak out Of the need to speak out
When in front of my eyes When in front of my eyes
Was the absolute proof Was the absolute proof
That a war had been started That a war had been started
By bending the truth By bending the truth
Chorus:
There are times when a man
Must be a man.
So publish
And be damned.
Inspector:
I made my choice
Journalist:
I saw the proof
I raised my voice
I told the truth
I was responsible
I was responsible.
I was…responsible. I was…responsible.
If I’d seen from the start If I’d seen from the start
Where the story would end Where the story would end
Journalist:
Condemned by my colleagues
Inspector:
Betrayed by my friends
The guilty unpunished
The truth unexposed
Would I do all over again? Would I do it all over again?
Well, who knows? Well, who knows?
Chorus:
Who knows the truth?
Who knows?