The Plays
Utopia Parkway [sample]
by Charles L. Mee
The doctor/apothecary enters quietly
and begins to set out his herbs
and other medicines neatly.
He speaks to us as though to a customer.
DOCTOR
How do bad things happen
(when most people are so good)?
[he sets out his herbs]
Nobody I know gets out of bed in the morning and says:
now, today, I am going to do something bad.
No.
[he sets out his herbs]
The worst a person might say
sometimes
is: today
I may have to choose the lesser of two evils.
And who can blame us for that?
This is the human condition.
Nothing comes without a price
and so on and so forth as they say.
We live a balanced life.
[he sets out his herbs]
The good
is a wonderful thing.
The generous
is a wonderful thing.
The benevolent
the charitable
the compassionate
the tolerant
these are all things we aspire to
even though we know
from day to day
for the most part
we must live without them
because
we have come to know who we are.
