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• Condemned Squad : ACT ONE Scene One , ACT ONE Scene Six , ACT TWO Scene Nine

Condemned Squad, translated by Gwynneth Dowling

ACT ONE Scene One

Context:

The soldiers get to know one another. Each man has been sent to the lodge as a punishment. Brash Adolfo asks the more thoughtful Pedro why he has been assigned to the squad.

Sample text

ADOLFO:

What did you do to end up here? We all know we’re here for something. This is what I think they call a ‘punishment squad’. A dangerous posting, very little chance of us living to tell the tale. So, what was it? You’re not here for being a saint, isn’t that right, little angel?

PEDRO:

Of course not. I mistreated some prisoners. Or at least that’s what they say.

ADOLFO:

What did you do to them? Rip their skin off? Tear out their eyes … very slowly?

PEDRO:

Nothing like that. What’s it to you anyway? Leave me alone.

ADOLFO:

You hate those people, don’t you? The enemy. The mysterious enemy. Oriental souls … cruel and refined. You hate them.

PEDRO:

With all my heart.

ADOLFO:

I’m sure you’ve … your own personal reasons.

PEDRO: (Forcefully.)

Yes, very personal. Really, very personal.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation Condemned Squad by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT ONE Scene Six

Context:

The soldiers are celebrating Christmas Eve. They have grown tired of the Colonel’s tyranny and decide to get drunk. The Colonel confronts his drunk soldiers. A fight ensues, which will ultimately end in the Colonel’s murder.

Sample text

COLONEL:

What’s going on here?

PEDRO: (Stepping forward a little, hesitant. He speaks confidently.)

Nothing.

COLONEL:

Adolfo, come here. (He takes his rifle from his belt.)

ADOLFO: (He steps forward, pale.)

Yes sir.

COLONEL:

You’re all drunk.

ADOLFO:

You see … believe me … no …

COLONEL:

You can’t even string a sentence together. You’re like a bunch of whores! You don’t deserve to wear those uniforms. You deserve to be spat at in the street, and you’d probably enjoy it.

PEDRO:

Colonel, we thought we’d celebrate …

ANDRÉS:

That’s right. Happy Christmas, Colonel. Don’t get angry today. Today’s a day for forgiveness and … happiness. Peace on Earth … glory to God on high … All that jazz. Let’s celebrate Christmas Eve. ‘Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others’, etcetera.

ADOLFO: (Smiling cynically.)

Religion gives the orders round here tonight, Colonel.

ANDRÉS:

I’ll forgive you the kicking you gave me the other day if we can have a good time tonight. Okay? (He goes towards the drink in the barrel.)

COLONEL:

Stay where you are, Andrés. Don’t go near that barrel.

His voice is threatening. ANDRÉS stops.

ANDRÉS:

I’ll beg if you like. I’m begging you …

COLONEL:

That’s enough. Get out of here.

ADOLFO:

There’s no need to beg, Andrés. This ends here. Does anyone want a drink?

ANDRÉS:

I do.

PEDRO:

You bet.

JAVIER: (Supporting the others.)

Yes.

ADOLFO approaches the barrel.

COLONEL:

Adolfo, keep your distance. You’re going too far.

He goes towards ADOLFO. The COLONEL holds his rifle by the shaft and the trigger. ADOLFO pours some cognac. The COLONEL brings his rifle down on ADOLFO’s neck and throws him to the ground. He turns to the others, threateningly.

COLONEL:

From now on this is how it’s going to be. Get up, you. That was nothing.

ADOLFO gets up painfully. He grabs his knife. But when he goes for the COLONEL he passes out, falling to the ground. Then PEDRO takes out his knife. Instantly, ANDRÉS does the same. JAVIER, watching his colleagues, does the same. The COLONEL is cornered. Nobody moves.

PEDRO:

You shouldn’t have done that, Colonel. There was no need for it. We just wanted to celebrate Christmas.

ANDRÉS:

That was a mistake. (He takes a step forward, as do the other two.) There’s no way we can live with you anymore.

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation Condemned Squad by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

ACT TWO Scene Nine

Context:

The soldiers react in different ways to the murder of the Colonel. Adolfo wants to make up a lie that will mean he and the others will avoid the firing squad. Pedro wants the men to confess.

Sample text

PEDRO:

It’s odd, Adolfo. Odd that you think that your hands are clean. That you can go on and live a happy life. As if nothing ever happened. There’s still something hanging over us, Adolfo. Something that we can’t forget.

ADOLFO:

You mean the Colonel?

PEDRO:

Yes, the Colonel. I don’t know if enough time has passed for us to stop feeling guilty for what each of us did to get stuck here. But I know that now we’ve something else to feel guilty about: the death of a man.

ADOLFO:

Do you regret killing Colonel Goban? That snake?

PEDRO:

No. And if I had it to do over again, I might still kill Colonel Goban. But that doesn’t change anything. I’m one of those men who believes that you can kill a man. But then you have to face up to the crime like a man. That’s what I mean.

ADOLFO:

Pedro, I’m not saying we should forget about the Colonel and live happily ever after. Let him who regrets it, regret it all his life. If he wants to. Each according to his own conscience. But right now we need to work out what to do when we get out of here. We need to think up a reason for the Colonel’s disappearance. That’s what I’m talking about. How about: ‘We don’t know what’s happened to him’. What do you think?

Copyright

The above sample taken from the translation Condemned Squad by Gwynneth Dowling is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 6 June 2011.

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