"A Change of Venue" by John Donald O'Shea

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An Excerpt from
"A Change of Venue"

Hoffman. How did your experience in Haiti affect you?

Slavin. I had read that the smell of death on the battlefield made life
in the trenches during World War I, hell on earth.

Hoffman. We've all read about death, and we all understand what it must be like.

Slavin. But you really don't know death until you have stumbled over a dead body, ripe with decay.

Hoffman. Are you speaking of your own personal experiences?

Slavin. Haiti is in the tropics, and death is quick to announce its arrival there. I would see the dead baby, and I'd want to gather it up, but I couldn't.

Hoffman. Why was that?

Slavin. I could never get used to to the smell of death. I came to realize I am not made from the same stuff as Sister Theresa.

Hoffman. Not many of us are.

Slavin. And I came to realize I much preferred laughing children to dead ones.

Hoffman. So what did you do?

Slavin. So I ran away.

Hoffman. What did you do after you returned from Haiti.

Slavin. I began to study for the priesthood and eventually I became a priest. If I couldn't care for physical hunger, I thought perhaps I could alleviate spiritual hunger.

Hoffman. Is that how you became involved in the anti-Abortion movement?

Slavin. Well, it's more complicated than that, but, yes.

Hoffman. What did your involvement consist of?

Slavin. At first not very much. I prayed that the government of the United States would reverse its policy of abortion on demand.

Hoffman. You're right. That's not very much.

Slavin. I attended some meetings of various abortion groups and I inveighed against abortion from the pulpit.

Hoffman. Is that all?

Slavin. In timeI came to realize that the American people had come to approve the convenience of Roe v. Wade.

Hoffman. What was the significance of that discovery?

Slavin. I came to see that pro life forces had no hope of overturning Wade by amending the Constitution.

Hoffman. So what did you do?

Slavin. I watched as millions of unborn children were killed.

Hoffman. Did that change with time?

Slavin. Yes. At first those of us who opposed abortion looked to the democratic processes to change things.

Hoffman. And?

Slavin. As each piece of legislation was struck down, as hope of amending the Constitution faded, and as the Court adhered to it precedents, things changed.

Hoffman. Why was that?

Slavin. When I came to realize that the doors of the courts had been slammed shut in the faces of all fetuses, and that further appeals to reason were futile, I decided to turn to militancy.

Hoffman. And exactly at what point was that?

Slavin. When I learned that Doctor Green, not content with running a conventional abortion clinic, was engaged in the business of performing partial birth abortions.

Hoffman. Why at that point?

Slavin. I was appalled by the the notion that we indict for first degree murder a seventeen year old high school girl who gives birth to baby at her prom, and then strangles it and discards it among the dirty paper towels, while at the same time proclaiming that another seventeen year old girl has a perfect legal right --- without any notice to her mother and father --- to allow her doctor to induce partial birth of her child, and to constitute her doctor as her agent for killing her fetus and placing it in a trash can labeled "medical waste."

Hoffman. What is a partial birth abortion?

Slavin. At a point, after the child is four and a half months old ...

Waterman. Objection, Your Honor. A fetus is not a child under the law.

Judge. Sustained:

Hoffman. Tom, the judge is saying you mustn't use the word "child" to describe a fetus. Rephrase your answer.

Slavin. I can't. To do that would violated my conscience. I am morally certain that fetus is a child.

**********************************************

                  “A CHANGE OF VENUE”

                                     Synopsis

   When Father Thomas Slavin, a Catholic priest opposed to abortion concludes that the United States Supreme Court holding in Roe v Wade cannot be overturned in the political arena, he acts upon his belief that a fetus is a human person and takes the life of a doctor about to perform a late-term partial birth abortion.

   The play is a Court room drama in which Father Slavin and his attorney, David Hoffman, attempt to justify Slavin’s shot gun murder of Doctor Green before a jury of Slavin’s peers.

   When Doctor Green’s wife invokes a more primordial form of justice, the venue changes to a different court.

   “A CHANGE OF VENUE”

                                     THE CAST

    (A cast of 10, plus a mixed jury of 12. Hoffman, Slavin and Dr. Green
    are males. Magdalene is a female. the six remaining cast members can
    be either male or female.)

Judge Nathan Grey. The judge is a man about fifty. He is bright and competent. He understands the law, and he makes every effort to follow it. But he is capable of thinking. He has common sense. The judge could be female, and in that event her name would be Susan Grey.

Alex Waterman. Waterman is the prosecuting attorney. Waterman is not overly brilliant, but he is competent. He knows the law is on his side, and he believes that in this prosecution he is “on the side of the angels.” Waterman could be female, and in that event her name would be Ann Waterman.

David Hoffman. He is attorney for the defendant. He is a small man, with a ominous black mustache. He comes across as grumpy, overworked little man, but every so often we see sparkling wit. He takes delight in being difficult and in being correct. His Southern breeding is apparent. A Mark Twain type.

Magdalene Green. Attractive widow of Dr. Green. Intelligent and suffering from her loss.

Thomas Slavin. He is a Roman Catholic Priest. He is handsome and likable. He has a sense of humor, and is gifted with a brilliant mind and a gift of articulate speech.

Stan or Sara, The bailiff. An older man or woman. Not brilliant, but loyal to the judge. Afraid to think for himself or herself.

Court Reporter. A non-speaking role. She just uses her steno machine, or note pad. She takes everything said in court or chambers.

The Clerk. Young or old. Male or female. The clerk's function is simply to administer the oath and look busy.

The Jury. Twelve members of the audience selected at random. They sit on twelve chairs to compete the courtroom. the jurors obviously can be male or female.

Dr. William Green M. D. A physician, about 40 years of age. He is articulate and sincere. He is for all appearances a caring human being.

Devil's Advocate. A fallen angel. He has the intellect of an angel, and the cunning of a devil. Could be male or female.

                                        Don’s Other Plays

    Free previews of all of Don’s plays are available at his web site: http://www.osheasplays.com/

Don’s plays with other publishers can also be previewed as well as purchased at their websites:
Theatrefolk                                https://www.theatrefolk.com/
Big Dog Plays                                    http://www.bigdogplays.com/
Brooklyn Publishers                        https://www.brookpub.com/
Norman Maine Plays                     http://www.normanmaineplays.com/
Drama Source                                     http://www.dramasource.com/
Contemporary Drama Service       https://www.contemporarydrama.com