MR. CASKET
A One-Act Play
by
Francine Louise Clemente
CHARACTERS
Sue – A housekeeper at the Mendoza Museum
Fernando – Late dictator whose corpse can still communicate with Sue
TIME
The time is the present.
PLACE
The Mendoza Museum, Philippines.
Scene 1
Night. There is a casket in the middle of the room. Inside is a lavishly preserved corpse, Fernando Mendoza’s corpse. The room is filled with darkness, the ceiling lights only gleaming at the glass casket.
The minimal glint of the lights towards the wall shows pictures of Fernando Mendoza during his presidency.
Footsteps are heard.
Sue enters from the left side with a mop and a pail and faces the audience.
SUE
Is he awake? (Heads towards the casket and curiously looks.) Oh, not yet. But he will be in a few minutes. He will wake soon and it’s another night of looong explanations and narrations. I will get my work done before he wakes up.
(SUE starts to mop the floor, near the casket.)
There’s not much work to be done today. Everything is clean. No one ever visits this place. I mean, not every day. But his wife wants it clean always. I mean.. cleaner. Yes, his wife. Do you know his wife? Yes! The one with thousands of shoes! That’s his wife. A very supportive wife, isn’t she? Supported even his very inhumane atrocities. Some were even ignited by her.
(FERNANDO groans.)
SUE
Oh.. He’s awake now. I would be preparing a long narration now but I have other plans tonight. I brought him something.
(FERNANDO wakes and the glass casket makes a clinking sound.)
FERNANDO
Are they gone? (Slowly stands)
LIGHTS on the center.
SUE
They are. It’s Saturday today. Everyone went home early.
FERNANDO
Saturday? Really? Is it Saturday today? How long have I been sleeping?
SUE
How long were you sleepi- Oh! Very very long now, Mr. President.
FERNANDO
President? Am I still the president? Oh! The people must’ve liked me so much!
SUE
Uh.. A lot did.
FERNANDO
A lot.. But you seem unsure about that, Sue.
(SUE drops the mop in annoyance. The drop makes a loud sound)
SUE
You don’t seem to remember, Mr. President. No matter how hard I try, how many nights I spend trying to make you remember. You just always seem to be oblivious.
FERNANDO
Oblivious about what? You’re acting very weird today, Sue!
SUE
See! (Drops the mop in annoyance. The mop makes a loud sound.)
(FERNANDO is stunned.)
SUE
I tell you every night. I tell stories. But you seem to forget about the atrocities! You remember your life and your luxury but not the lives you took and the properties you robbed! You just seem to skip the bad parts. And your familiarity with me makes me feel very weird.
FERNANDO
(Walks away.)
Oh, I don’t believe you! Will you stop this nonsense! That’s not true!
SUE
Oh, how I wish it wasn’t true! I wish everything’s a lie. How I wish no one was killed, abused, and lost. How I wish, Mr. President!
FERNANDO
(Walks towards Sue.)
Killed? Abused?! I need to talk to my wife about this!
SUE
But you’re dead, Mr. President! You’re just a corpse. A dead but- An alive corpse. Speaking and moving every night inside this room. You can’t leave. No one even knows you’re uh.. Alive? I’m the only one who has knowledge about this. Or maybe the kid too. The one who once got lost in the museum and saw you open your eyes. A very careless move, Mr. President! But no one believed him anyway! Not even your wife.
FERNANDO
(Sits at the edge of the casket)
So.. No one knows about this then?
SUE
Yes. And you don’t remember so much about your life. (Starts wiping the wall surface of the room.)
FERNANDO
I don’t?
SUE
The last thing you remember is your wife and the three officials you said were the reason for your effective presidency. And interestingly, me! You remember my existence each night but I have to keep reminding you of yours!
FERNANDO
Yes! The three cabinet members. They were the reason why I was the president in the first place. They told me I could and so I did. I did with the help of my wife. She encouraged me with everything! Oh, I miss her!
SUE
Yes, yes, your wife. Your wife was an accomplice too. She still enjoys the robbed wealth up to now. And you’re here, stuck in a museum, only awake at night and oblivious about your own atrocities. What a sad life. I mean, death.. (Continues cleaning every surface of the room.) And you have to deal with me every night! During your prime, you only spoke and socialized to high-ranking officials. Well, look at you now! You have no choice but talk to a housekeeper like me. Karma, maybe.
FERNANDO
Was I really a bad leader?
SUE
Yes. Evil, actually. A dictator. You caused so much troubles. People were fighting each other. All because of you!
(Walks to the left part of the stage. Lights point towards a black backpack. SUE grabs something from the inside.)
But I brought you something. I’ve tried every way to make you remember permanently, but every time you wake up you just don’t seem to remember. You’re oblivious of your crimes. (Walks towards a small television at the right corner of the room as she holds a small square case. The stage light follows her.)
(SUE grabs a chair.)
SUE
Sit.
(FERNANDO, confused, sits on the chair.)
(SUE starts to operate the television. She opens the small case and it shows a disk.)
SUE
You will watch this for the whole night. Just to give you a sense of the harsh realities during your regime.
FERNANDO
Will that work?
SUE
I’m not sure. We’ll see, Mr. President. We’ll see, Mr. Casket.
(SUE leaves him and heads to the left stage. She grabs the mop and continues mopping while facing the audience.)
SUE
I hope after this, he remembers. He just seems to turn into a soulless corpse as days pass by. He must remember. He deserves to remember. He deserves to be haunted by his actions!
(Lights turn off and focus on the seated FERNANDO. The sound of the film he was watching fill the entire room.)
BLACKOUT
Photo from: https://serpent-kiss-blog.tumblr.com/post/47987400238/morgue-based-preparatory-painting-for-raft-of-the