The
Covenant
By
Justin Aclin
(Fifth
Draft)
(Scene
1: The top floor of a London townhouse, November 14th, 1940.
There is a bed over toward stage right, in which are lying two small
children, Winston and Mary. Sitting
on a stool next to their bed is Winston Churchill.
There is a door leading to a washroom stage right, and a door leading to
the hall stage left. Winston is
reading to the children out of a book of Children’s Bible Stories.)
And so, The Lord put the rainbow in the sky, as a covenant between…
Winston
What’s a covenant, Grandpa?
Churchill
It’s a promise between a ruler and His people. Where was I? A covenant between Himself and man, that he would never again flood the Earth as punishment for their sins. (He closes the book.) The end.
Read us another one, Grandpa.
Yes, read us another one. We’re not sleepy yet.
Good heavens, children. If I ran about half as much as the two of you do during the course of a day, I’m quite sure I should fall down dead.
That’s because you’re old.
Yes. I am an old, tired man who is unable to read any more stories.
Please?
Just one more?
Oh, very well. You know I cannot resist the pleas of children. How about I read to you of Abraham and Isaac? (He reopens the book and searches for the page). Now where is that page? Here we are. Abraham and Isaac. One day, as Abraham was working in his field, the Lord came unto him and said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Well, that’s strange. He says, “thine only son Isaac” but Abraham has another son, Ishmael. Perhaps they mean he only has one son named Isaac. Well, no matter. “Offer him for a burnt offering.” That’s the relevant part.
Mary
What did Abraham do? He didn’t kill his son, did he?
Churchill
I shall get to that presently, child. Have patience. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.”
Winston
He’s not really going to kill his son, is he Grandpa?
Churchill
Why shouldn’t he?
Winston
Because God says that killing is wrong.
Churchill
But God also says that Abraham should offer his son as a burnt offering. And that was said to Abraham directly. Which should he believe?
Mary
But why would God want him to kill his son?
Churchill
Did not God offer His only Son as a sacrifice for all of our sins? You both ask a lot of questions for children who claim to want a story read to them.
Mary
Yes, but…
(There is a knocking from without. Enter Sir William Stephenson, stage left.)
Sir William
Pardon my intrusion, Minister, but your wife told me I might find you up here. Good evening children.
Churchill
No problem at all, Sir William. (Crossing to him) How may I help you this evening?
Sir William
If you please, Minister, it’s a bit of a sensitive matter.
Churchill
I see. Children, go brush your teeth and bathe. I will be done here shortly.
Winston
But you didn’t tell us if Abraham kills his son or not.
Churchill
Well, I wouldn’t be much of a storyteller if I gave away the endings, now would I? Off you go. (The children exit stage right.) Now, Sir William. What is this sensitive material you have for me?
Sir William
We received a coded Ultra message tonight. The Germans are to attack Coventry tomorrow.
Churchill
Excellent. Well, sound the air raid sirens, evacuate the city, all that. Good night, Sir William. Sorry you had to come out all this way to deliver the news.
(Churchill begins to cross back.)
Sir William
Forgive me for saying so, Minister, but aren’t you forgetting something?
(Churchill stops, center stage.)
Churchill
The code. Ultra. Of course, Sir William. You must forgive me. It’s been a long day.
Sir William
Of course, Minister. It’s been long for all of us.
Churchill
Yes. Well, this raises some interesting problems then.
Sir William
Exactly. Ultra is our one ace in the hole against the Germans.
Churchill
I couldn’t agree more, Sir William. We cannot jeopardize the integrity of what may win the war for us. Very well. What is our constituency plan in a situation like this? (Silence) We do have a constituency plan, don’t we, Sir William?
Sir William
We never planned for this eventuality, Minister. The bombings have been so random prior to this and we have always been unprepared. To mount a full-scale evacuation of Coventry would call attention to our intelligence that we don’t want scrutinized.
Churchill
But what are our options, Sir William?
Sir William
As far as I can tell, Minister, we can either evacuate Coventry and risk Ultra, or we can… not evacuate.
Churchill
Not evacuate and what?
Sir William
Simply… not evacuate, Minister.
Churchill
You mean, leave them to die.
Sir William
In so many words, yes. Leave them to die.
Churchill
And what is your judgment in the matter, Sir William?
Sir William
I… well… I had not given it much thought, Minister. I had assumed…
Churchill
You had assumed I would make the difficult choice for you.
Sir William
I may be a high-ranking advisor, Minister, but I am simply an advisor. This sort of decision… it is beyond my ken. I cannot arbitrarily decide the fate of all those people.
Churchill
And yet, that is what we are here to do, isn’t it, Sir William? I ask you again. What is your judgment in the matter?
Sir William
If I were the one making the choice, Minister… I suppose I would choose to evacuate Coventry.
Churchill
I see… Tell me, then, what happens in the rest of the war.
Sir William
The rest of the war, Minister?
Churchill
Yes. We evacuate Coventry tonight. Tomorrow the Germans go to bomb an empty city and back in Berlin someone starts scratching his head. Soon their code is changed and we’re back at square one. What then?
Sir William
It’s not necessarily the end. England has come back from worse before. We will survive.
Churchill
I was a warrior before I was a statesman, Sir William. War is a funny thing. You fight, and you risk your life for very abstract concepts: Country, freedom, justice. And you are never sure if it’s worth the risk. This war has been different. This time we are fighting evil, unquestionable evil. There is no doubt. These men are fighting with all their hearts. And we are still losing, Sir William. Without this code we will lose.
Sir William
You can’t know that…
Churchill
I know it. Call it an old soldier’s instinct. So what then? Why save Coventry only to subject her to a lifetime under Nazi rule? My people chose me to lead them because they believed I would do what is best for them. Best for them all.
Sir William
Forgive me for saying so, Minister, but how is leaving them to die best for them? If you have a chance to save a life you must take it. There are children sleeping peacefully tonight in Coventry, not knowing that miles away their fate is being decided and there is nothing they can do about it. That’s not democracy, Minister. You butcher your people and claim it’s for their own good. How far from Nazi rule are we really?
Churchill
(Calmly, coldly) Get out.
Sir William
Minister, I’m sorry, I’m…
Churchill
If the choice is so easy, you make it. God knows I don’t want to. Go ahead. You go back to intelligence and make the choice and know that, no matter what you do, lives will be lost. Know that no matter which choice you make, it’s the wrong one, and it will weigh heavily on your conscience for the rest of your days. Because, mark my words, Sir William, there is no best choice in this matter. Either Coventry dies, or thousands of soldiers and, eventually, England herself will die. There is no best choice. There is only the right choice. And since you have such a highly developed sense of right and wrong, you can make it.
Sir William
If I were making this decision, I would have to think about the effect upon myself as well as the effect upon my country. I would realize that I have to make speeches tomorrow, and public appearances. I would realize that I would know that thousands of my people were awaiting fiery death, and that I could stop it with a word. And I would have to remain silent, and remain smiling, and I think that would kill me.
Churchill
That’s the difference between you and I, Sir William. You serve England. I am England. I’d sooner cut off my finger than sacrifice my entire body.
Sir William
Very well, Minister. I’ve made my case. Ultimately, the decision is yours. I may feel that it is murder…
Churchill
War is murder, Sir William. And I am a warrior.
Sir William
As I said, the choice is yours. (He hands a piece of paper and a pen to Churchill) Here is the order. Sign it however you choose. However you feel is right.
(Churchill takes the paper, signs it, and hands it back to Sir William, who looks at it and nods.)
Sir William
(Cont’d) Very well. I had better take this back to intelligence. Will you… will you be all right, Minister?
Churchill
It’s just a finger, my boy. England survives. I will survive.
Sir William
Good night, Minister.
(Sir William exits stage left. After he leaves, Churchill, previously upright and strong, seems to collapse under his own weight. He drags himself to his chair and sits, his confident façade dropped. He is a shattered giant of a man. The children reenter from stage right in their nightclothes. They get into bed.)
Mary
We finished our bath early so we said our prayers in the washroom. Is that all right?
Churchill
Of course. Who did you pray for, children?
Mary
I prayed for Mommy, and Daddy, and Grandma…
Churchill
Did you pray for me?
Winston
Should we have?
Churchill
Perhaps. Perhaps.
Mary
Grandpa, you never finished the story.
Churchill
Story?
Winston
The story of Abraham. Does Isaac die?
Churchill
(Absentmindedly) Yes.
Mary
(Horrified) He kills him?
Churchill
Oh, no. Abraham is about to sacrifice him. He has his arm poised, ready to strike, when God calls out to him and tells him it was all a test. So Isaac is spared and Abraham is proven worthy.
Winston
That didn’t happen. Do things like that really happen, Grandpa?
Churchill
No. I don’t imagine that they do.
(Lights out)
The End
