PLEASE NOTE: The opinions expressed in the YouTube commentary are solely those of Pastor James David Manning. OPERATION STORM One Act Play by Henning Botha A dark and edgy play inspired by the Pig Spotter and Gareth Cliffs letter to the Government. Henning Botha © 2014 P.O. Box 345, Trichardt, 2300 scapino.zerbino@gmail Cell: 082 440 8120 Draft 2: 24 November 2014 OPERATION STORM One Act Play by Henning Botha CHARACTERS 1. Captain Andre Stander, the leader of a local vigilante group 2. Sergeant James Balzac, the quartermaster responsible for intelligence, electronic, weapon and torture systems 3. Private Lynette Bacon, a dedicated team member who carry out orders issued to her to the best of her ability 4. Traffic Officer Wikus Koekemoer, a corrupt local traffic officer who accepts bribes 5.Businessman Thabo Mafoka, a corrupt businessman who offers bribes 6. Peter Pan, a young boy dressed in a Peter Pan costume 7. Tinker Bell, a young girl dressed in a Tinker Bell costume SCENE The action takes place in Johannes Stegmann Theatre, an old neglected municipal theatre that no one uses anymore. TIME The present. SYNOPSIS Captain Andre Stander is a member of the New Resistance, an underground, non-racial vigilante network of volunteers, who uses torture and other extralegal means of bringing people who think they are above the law to justice without actually killing them. He and his team target a specific type of activity namely police corruption. Traffic Officer Wikus Koekemoer and Thabo Mafoka, a local businessman, were kidnapped two days ago. The team will torture them with homebuilt torture devises, record it on video and post it on YouTube and other social media sites. Unfortunately two kids arrive on the scene and things get really, really ugly. SCENE 1 TRAFFIC OFFICER WIKUS KOEKEMOER, in his traffic police uniform, and BUSINESSMAN THABO MAFOKA, in ordinary business clothes, are tied up in a standing position to upright trolley devices. They have bags over their faces and safety ear muffs over their ears. They cannot see or hear anything. They cannot speak either, because red balls are strapped in their mouths. CAPTAIN ANDRE STANDER, SERGEANT JAMES BALZAC and PRIVATE LYNETTE BACON are all dressed in military clothes. They wear half face masks whenever the video camera is recording. PRIVATE LYNETTE BACON video records all the action. CAPTAIN Lights? Stage LIGHTS on. SERGEANT On. CAPTAIN Camera? PRIVATE Rolling. CAPTAIN Sound? SERGEANT Check. CAPTAIN And action! (He is facing the video camera) OK, we get it; the President isnt the only one in charge. The ANC believes in collective responsibility. So that nobody has to get blamed when things get screwed up, so I address this to everyone in government - the whole lot of you - good, bad and ugly. Thats you, Blade. CAPTAIN walks over to MAFOKA and KOEKEMOER and takes off their bags and ear muffs. They look distressed. CAPTAIN My name is Captain Andre Stander. I am a member of the New Resistance, a non-racial vigilante network that uses torture and extralegal means of bringing people who think they are above the law to justice. We are members of the New Resistance, an organised crime fighting network in South Africa, which was formed because the South African Government is ineffective in enforcing the law. We operate at local level and target a specific type of activity namely police corruption. We are all citizen volunteers and we are against South Africa’s centralized liberal-bureaucratic nation-state. We are deeply connected to the fundamental issues of morality, the nature of justice, the limits of bureaucratic authority, and the ethical function of legitimate governance. Our sole duty is to... SERGEANT (He sees something on his Google Glass) Captain, there’s someone in the foyer. CAPTAIN Cut. What? SERGEANT There’s someone in the foyer. CAPTAIN Who is it? SERGEANT It looks like two kids. CAPTAIN Hari Krishna! What are they doing here? SERGEANT I don’t know. CAPTAIN I thought you locked the door. SERGEANT I did. CAPTAIN Private? PRIVATE I double checked Captain, the front door and the back door. It was locked. CAPTAIN What are they doing? SERGEANT They are playing in the foyer. It looks like... they are wearing costumes. CAPTAIN Costumes? SERGEANT The one looks like a fairy and the other one like a Robin Hood? CAPTAIN Get them. SERGEANT What about these two? CAPTAIN walks over to MAFOKA and KOEKEMOER and covers their faces with the bags. CAPTAIN Private, bring the kids here. PRIVATE Yes, Captain. PRIVATE exits. CAPTAIN Sergeant, go help her. SERGEANT Yes, Captain. SERGEANT exits. CAPTAIN Hari Krishna! This is just what we need, two kids. (He talks over a small microphone) Sergeant, what’s happening? (Pause) What do you mean they are not in the foyer? (Pause) Find them! SERGEANT and PRIVATE enter with PETER PAN and TINKER BELL. PETER PAN Leave us alone! TINKER BELL Eina. You’re hurting me! PETER PAN What are you guys doing here? CAPTAIN What are you doing here? PETER PAN This is our Never Land. This is Tinker Bell and my name is Peter Pan. SERGEANT You look more like Robin Hood. PETER PAN I am Peter Pan, the undisputed leader of the Lost Boys. TINKER BELL I am Tinker Bell. My friends call me Tink. PRIVATE So you’re a fairy? TINKER BELL I am not a fairy! PETER PAN She doesnt like being called a fairy. She would much rather be called birdwoman because of her origins. PRIVATE Sorry. PETER PAN What is the video camera for? Are you making a movie? CAPTAIN Yes. Ja, we’re making a movie. PETER PAN So, you’re the good guys and they are the bad guys? CAPTAIN Yes. PETER PAN Who is Stanislavski? CAPTAIN What? PETER PAN Konstantin Stanislavski. Who was he? CAPTAIN I don’t know? PETER PAN Konstantin Stanislavski was a Russian actor and director. CAPTAIN So? PETER PAN He is the grandfather of method acting. CAPTAIN And? PETER PAN And everyone in the movie and theatre industry knows that. SERGEANT Kid, we’re really busy here. I think you two must leave know. PETER PAN We’re going nowhere. This is our Never Land! CAPTAIN How much do you want for your Never Land? PETER PAN It’s not for sale! CAPTAIN We don’t want to buy it? We just want to rent it for an hour. Here’s a hundred rand. PETER PAN takes the money. PETER PAN I know who you guys are? CAPTAIN We’re nobody. PETER PAN You’re from the New Resistance. CAPTAIN No, we’re not. PETER PAN Yes, you are. CAPTAIN No, we’re not. PETER PAN I know you! CAPTAIN I am nobody. PETER PAN You’re Captain Andre Stander. CAPTAIN No, I am not. PETER PAN Yes, you are. CAPTAIN No, I am not. PETER PAN My mother loves you! CAPTAIN I don’t know your mother. PETER PAN You’re her hero. CAPTAIN I am no hero. PETER PAN So what did these two scumbags do? PETER PAN walks over to MAFOKA and KOEKEMOER. SERGEANT Please don’t touch them kid. PETER PAN I’m not a kid. My name is Peter Pan? TINKER BELL And I am Tinker Bell. CAPTAIN Sergeant and Private take them and lock them in one of the dressing rooms. SERGEANT Why don’t we just shoot them? They saw our faces. PRIVATE We can’t shoot them. They’re kids. CAPTAIN We’re not going to shoot anybody. PETER PAN Youre damn right you’re not going to shoot us! Come Tink! PETER PAN and TINKER BELL run offstage. CAPTAIN Hari Krishna! Get them. SERGEANT and PRIVATE run after the kids. CAPTAIN Hari flippen Krishna! PETER PAN (Offstage) You’ll never catch us! SERGEANT (Offstage) Come here! PETER PAN (Offstage) You’re hurting me! TINKER BELL (Offstage) Don’t hurt us please! SERGEANT and PRIVATE enter with PETER PAN and TINKER BELL. PETER PAN You can’t do this. TINKER BELL I want my mommy! CAPTAIN Shut up! Hari Krishna. Take them to the dressing room. SERGEANT and PRIVATE exit with PETER PAN and TINKER BELL. CAPTAIN (He talks to the two guys on stage) You’re guys are wondering what the heck is going on here. Huh? Don’t worry. We will get to you shortly! SERGEANT and PRIVATE enter. CAPTAIN Okay, are we ready? PRIVATE Yes, Captain. SERGEANT Yes, Captain. CAPTAIN Where were we? CAPTAIN walks over to MAFOKA and KOEKEMOER and takes off their bags. PRIVATE “Our sole duty is to...” CAPTAIN Okay. Lights. SERGEANT On. CAPTAIN Camera. PRIVATE Rolling. CAPTAIN Sound. SERGEANT Check. CAPTAIN And action! (He faces the video camera) Our sole duty is to cleanse the country of impure social elements. We will not allow the people of this country to be used as cannon fodder by these criminals whose only concern is profit by whatever means available to them. We hope that our extreme actions will take us towards a better and safer future. We love South Africa, but we can no longer watch silently when the country we love is being destroyed and brought to shame because of greed and indifferences. President Jacob Zuma and everyone in government, because of your short-sightedness our country has become nearly inedible. That is why the New Resistance will save South Africa. Two days ago we kidnapped Traffic Officer Wikus Koekemoer who is from the Govan Mbeki Traffic Department and Thabo Mafoka, a local businessman. In this photo you can clearly see Thabo Mafoka driving in his car without wearing a seat belt. You will see it now on screen. In the next photo you see Traffic Officer Wikus Koekemoer jumping out of his car pointing to Thabo Mafoka to stop. In the next photo you see Koekemoer leaning with his head in the car talking to Mafoka. Next you see Mafoka giving Koekemoer something. The next photo is an extreme close-up on Koekemoer’s hand and back pocket. You can clearly see the brown leopard banknote going into his back pocket. You just witnessed a traffic officer accepting a R200 bribe from a local citizen. This is unacceptable. PETER PAN (Offstage) Help! Help! TINKER BELL (Offstage) Help! Help! CAPTAIN Hari Krishna. Cut! (To the Sergeant) Cover their faces. CAPTAIN exits. SERGEANT covers MAFOKA’s and KOEKEMOER’s faces with the bags. TWO GUNSHOTS are heard offstage. CAPTAIN enters. PRIVATE Gee, what did you do Captain? CAPTAIN Private, stand down. PRIVATE But Captain you said no one is getting killed. PRIVATE exits. CAPTAIN I said many things and not all of them true. (To the Sergeant) Take off the bags. SERGEANT takes off MAFOKA’s and KOEKEMOER’s bags. CAPTAIN Sergeant, I want you to play that YouTube video clip of Pastor James David Manning I sent you this morning. SERGEANT But Captain, it’s racist. CAPTAIN It’s not racist if a respected black pastor talks about black people like that. SERGEANT But Captain it’s not our mandate to be racist. CAPTAIN Pastor James David Manning is the chief pastor at the ATLAH World Missionary Church in New York City. SERGEANT But Captain, it’s not what the New Resistance is all about. CAPTAIN “But Captain” me one more time and I swear on Mother Teresa’s grave I’ll kill you right here in this shit smelling Johannes Stegmann Theatre. CAPTAIN takes out a pistol and points it to SERGEANT. CAPTAIN Now you start video recording these two corrupt bastards and play that YouTube video clip so that they, Zuma and the government can hear how a well respected black pastor sees things. SERGEANT takes out a video camera and records. He presses play on his iPhone. https://youtube/watch?v=t0stJkUWUyM PASTOR JAMES DAVID MANNING (YouTube video/sound clip) The worst thing that could ever happen to South Africa was when they gave it to Nelson Mandela and black folk. That was a great nation. Now I understand Apartheid was wrong. We all know it’s wrong. I’m against it. There should have been some other resolution than turning it over to Nelson Mandela. Disease, Aids and crime is running wild in Johannesburg. They are killing one another over there. They’re dying of sickness. The government is mismanaged. The people who ran the nation are now leaving the nation because black folk don’t know how to run no nation... SERGEANT presses stop on the iPhone. SERGEANT Please Captain, that’s enough. Let’s do what we came here to do. PRIVATE enters with a bloodstained, unconscious TINKER BELL in her arms. PRIVATE She’s alive. CAPTAIN (Points to Koekemoer and Mafoka) Cover their faces Sergeant. SERGEANT covers their faces. CAPTAIN Put her down Private. PRIVATE We can still save her Captain CAPTAIN Don’t let me shoot you Private. PRIVATE The other kid is not in the dressing room. CAPTAIN What? PRIVATE He’s not there. CAPTAIN I shot him. PRIVATE Well, he’s not there. CAPTAIN I swear on Mother Teresa’s grave I’ll kill you right here. Put here down and let’s carry on with our mission. PRIVATE Steven, please. CAPTAIN Don’t say my name! PRIVATE It’s just a little girl CAPTAIN Hari Krishna! CAPTAIN shoots PRIVATE dead with his pistol. PRIVATE and TINKER BELL fall to the floor. SERGEANT Must I go look for the Peter Pan, Captain? CAPTAIN No. Let’s do these two first. SERGEANT Okay, Captain. CAPTAIN I’ll record it. You can take it from here. SERGEANT walks over to MAFOKA and KOEKEMOER and takes off their masks. CAPTAIN Are you ready? SERGEANT I’m ready Captain. CAPTAIN And action. SERGEANT My name is Sergeant James Balzac. I am a member of the New Resistance, a non-racial vigilante network that uses torture and extralegal means of bringing people who think they are above the law to justice. Two days ago we kidnapped Wikus Koekemoer a corrupt traffic officer from the Govan Mbeki Traffic Department and Thabo Mafoka a corrupt businessman. Now we are going to torture them. In my hands I have two anus projectiles. The one is 30cm and the other 15cm long. We call the 30cm one “Shaka Zulu” and the 15cm one “Dingane”. SERGEANT talks to MAFOKA and KOEKEMOER. SERGEANT Under your legs are 12 volt compressors with 12 volt batteries. The compressor is like the ones you use to pump your car tyres. It’s connected to a tube that holds these anus projectiles. As soon as I place Shaka Zulu and Dingane in these tubes and presses the controls here the compressor slowly pushes them up into the opening at the end of the alimentary canal through which solid waste matter leaves the body. The Shaka Zulu projectile will actually kill you. You will basically bleed to death. The Dingane projectile will not do as much damage. You will survive. Now to decide which one of you gets Shaka Zulu and which one gets Dingane. I have this dice. If I throw it and it lands face up one to three then mister Mafoka gets Shaka Zulu and if it lands face up four to six mister Koekemoer gets Shaka Zulu. Are you guys ready? SERGEANT throws the dice. SERGEANT Congratulations mister Koekemoer you’re the lucky-unlucky winner. Shaka Zulu is yours. Mister Mafoka you’re the unlucky-lucky winner. Dingane is yours. To make it more bearable for you guys I will inject you with AX101. You will not feel anything from your chest down after I have injected you. SERGEANT injects them with AX101. SERGEANT You will feel from your toes up that your body is getting numb. This stuff kicks in really fast. By now both of you won’t feel a thing? SERGEANT shocks MAFOKA with a stun gun. SERGEANT You see. No pain. Well, Koekemoer. We’ll start with you. A LOUD BANG is heard backstage. CAPTAIN Hari Krishna, what was that? SERGEANT It’s the kid. CAPTAIN Robin Hood. SERGEANT Peter Pan. CAPTAIN Whatever. Let’s get the little bastard. SERGEANT covers MAFOKA’s and KOEKEMOER’s faces with the masks. CAPTAIN and SERGEANT exit in different directions. TWO GUNSHOTS are heard offstage. CAPTAIN runs on stage. CAPTAIN Hari Krishna. PETER PAN enters with SERGEANT’s pistol in his hand. CAPTAIN Were the hell is Sergeant Balzac? PETER PAN Dead. CAPTAIN Put the pistol down kid? PETER PAN I am not a kid. CAPTAIN Robin Hood. PETER PAN Peter Pan! CAPTAIN Sorry. Peter Pan. Give me the pistol. PETER PAN No. You’ll have to fight me, if you want the pistol. CAPTAIN I am not fighting you. PETER PAN A knife fight. I see you have a knife. And I have mine. CAPTAIN I’m not fighting a kid. PETER PAN I am not a kid. I am Peter Pan, the undisputed leader of the Lost Boys and Never Land is my home. CAPTAIN Peter Pan, can we just finish these two guys off and then we can fight? PETER PAN No, we fight to death. The winner can finish them off. CAPTAIN Okay. CAPTAIN and PETER PAN fight. PETER PAN kills CAPTAIN. PETER PAN walks over to TINKER BELL. He takes out a small bottle. He opens the bottle and throws some sort of powder over TINKER BELL. She wakes up. PETER PAN Are you okay Tink? TINKER BELL I am fine. PETER PAN Let’s get rid of these bodies. TINKER BELL Yes. PETER PAN We can throw them in Never Land’s basement. TINKER BELL The crocodiles will be happy. PETER PAN Yes, they will be happy. PETER PAN and TINKER BELL first drag PRIVATE off stage and then CAPTAIN. PETER PAN and TINKER BELL enter and walk over to MAFOKA and KOEKEMOER. TINKER BELL What about these two? PETER PAN Well, they are corrupt. TINKER BELL Yes, they are. PETER PAN There is no place for corrupt people in South Africa. TINKER BELL Yes, you’re right. PETER PAN I will just press the controls and finish them off. We can come back later to get rid of the bodies. TINKER BELL That’s a good idea. PETER PAN Oki Doki. PETER PAN presses the controls. SOUND OF COMPRESSORS is heard. PETER PAN and TINKER BELL exit. LIGHTS fade to black after a minute. THE END
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 12:43:53 +0000
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