RESISTING FASCISM ~ I AM CHARLOTTE by Richard Conlon

Richard Lyons Conlon is a proud Lifetime Member of the Dramatists Guild and Resident Playwright Alum at Chicago Dramatists where his social satire 7 MINUTES TO LIVE just closed an extended-run world premiere. He is an O’Neill Semi-Finalist, and was selected as a 2020 Kennedy Center Playwright. Richard’s work has won several awards and has been published by Next Stage Press, Eldridge Publishing, and Smith & Kraus. His sci-fi play MEMORY, SPEAK will be produced in April in Otherworld Theatre’s Paragon Festival in Chicago. Currently, he is working on a play as part of “Uncovered Stories from Ukraine”, which matched 20 American playwrights with current residents of war-torn Ukraine to tell their stories of living under the unlawful and immoral Russian invasion.

• newplayexchange.org/users/10967/richard-lyons-conlon
• facebook.com/RichardLyonsConlon

ABOUT THE PLAY

With the overturning of Roe came a proliferation of draconian laws enacted by deeply blue states for the purpose of completing the task of destroying abortion rights, no matter the cost, ironically, including the cost of human life. “I am Charlotte” is the climatic play in a series of short plays dealing with the real-life consequences of these laws on real people. Together, the plays make up the full-length play, “The Dobbs v. Women Plays”. Three of the dramas follow sisters Char and Liz as they deal with the fascist reality that these “pro-life” laws inflict upon them.

     ~ Excerpt published by permission, all rights held by the playwright.

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                LIZ  

 

That better be your fucking lawyer.

[A middle-aged man enters, dressed vaguely urban-safari. A spotlight bounces around, stops on Char – a camera filming. The man stops. He and Char stare at each other. He speaks with a British accent.]

                MARK 

Hello, Charlotte.

                CHAR

Not supposed to have reporters in here. 

                MARK 

[Waves off the camera-person: the spot goes out.] 

Oh, I’m not a reporter.

                CHAR

Okay, so who are you?

                MARK

I’m here to help you.

                CHAR

Got a reprieve from the governor?

                MARK

I’ve just come from him, matter of fact. We were discussing your impending . . .

                LIZ

Assassination?!

                MARK

Yes, that. You’re Elizabeth.

               LIZ

So what is it you do want?

                MARK

Like I said, to help your sister.

                 

                CHAR

How?

                MARK

To be upfront, I’m here to make you a proposal.

                LIZ

First, who the fuck are you?

               MARK

Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed. Burnett’s the name. Mark Burnett.

                LIZ

Okay. What do you want? 

                CHAR

Wait. Fucking “Survivor” Mark Burnett?

               MARK

Among other things.

                LIZ

Like “Apprentice”? I’m not liking where this is going.

                CHAR

You talked to the governor. Get him to stop this.

                MARK

I don’t have that kind of influence.

                LIZ

He’s thinking about it, though, right? A stay? A reprieve? Or is that just a rumor?

                MARK

He’s weighing his options. The pros and cons.

                CHAR

And your angle is . . .?

                MARK

Simple. You are a lightning rod right now, Charlotte. For both sides. Your story would make very compelling television.

                LIZ

She’s just a woman who assumed she still had rights in America.

                MARK

As the first woman to be convicted of murder for –

                CHAR

-- for exercising my rights.

                MARK

-- for terminating a pregnancy – there is tremendous interest in you right now.

                LIZ

No shit. What does that mean for you?

                MARK

Pragmatic Liz. I’ve heard all about you.

                LIZ

I’ve heard a lot of shit about you, too.

                MARK

Thought you didn’t know who I was.

                LIZ

I’ve never watched your garbage. But I know all about you.

                MARK

Don’t believe everything you – .

                LIZ

You’re the reason we’re here. It was you propped up the bankrupt orange abomination and convinced people he was some kind of stable genius.

                MARK

I’m really not going to argue anything with you. I’m here for Charlotte.

                LIZ

Let me guess – you want to film it, don’t you? Her execution?

                MARK

Please, nothing so crass as that.

                LIZ

Meaning the governor said no.

                MARK

[A beat.] He thought it was a bit much. But, I have a proposition I think you’ll find very interesting.

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Yet another fascist atrocity: Trump administration pressures Romania to lift restrictions on Tate brothers

The Trump administration has pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the self-described misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, a champion of the US president who is facing criminal charges in Bucharest.

Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate, who are dual US and UK nationals, have become a cause célèbre in rightwing social media after having been arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged with human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, as well as starting an organised crime group. They have denied wrongdoing.