Innocent
A one-minute play for Gone in sixty seconds - A theatre quest
The PRISONER sits crumpled on the floor, almost
broken but clinging to sanity through sheer force of will. The GUARD enters - a person with a cruel, vicious nature just barely concealed behind a veil of civility.
Guard: So, Prisoner Two-Four-Seven, do we find you in good spirits today?
Prisoner (automatically) : I didn't do it.
Guard: Yes, you said that on my last visit. And the one before that. And the one before THAT. You "didn't do it".
Prisoner: I didn't do it.
Guard (ignoring the prisoner): I don't want this session to be like our last. Look! (gestures) I haven't brought Citizen Jones and the... instruments.
Prisoner: I didn't do it.
Guard (ignoring the prisoner): I just want to talk, this time, Prisoner Two-Four-Seven. To talk about your crime and perhaps come to some kind of understanding.
There is a pause. A beat. Two beats. Is the prisoner considering what the guard has said, or just too dazed or drugged to respond? The guard looks expectant.
Prisoner: I didn't do it.
Guard (losing the thin veneer of patience maintained thus far): You're a PROBLEM, Prisoner Two-Four-Seven, did you know that? I can't have you killed because Our Glorious Leader has decreed that no-one is to be executed without a trial. I can't release you because that would mean you were wrongly arrested, and Our Glorious Leader is never wrong.
I can't send you to trial because you won't admit your GUILT, and you ARE GUILTY, Prisoner Two-Four-Seven, because you were arrested on Our Glorious Leader's authority, and OUR GLORIOUS LEADER IS NEVER WRONG!
Prisoner: I didn't do it.
Guard (almost talking over the prisoner): Didn't do WHAT?
Prisoner: I didn't... I don't...
The prisoner loses focus and trails off for a second, but then focuses, the previous conviction returning.
Prisoner: I didn't do it.
The guard sneers.
Guard : I'll see you NEXT year.
END