Voir Dire

a chamber opera

libretto by Jason Zencka

Libretto

CHARACTERS

in order of appearance, main roles in bold

Judge Dodsworth, bass­baritone
Woman (Mrs. Schumacher), soprano
a 911 dispatcher, mezzo
a cop (Johanson), tenor
an ambulance medic, baritone
four judges, SMTBar
a criminal (James Klasinski), tenor
a bailiff, baritonea prosecutor (Donna Redfield), soprano
Alycia Simpson, mezzo
Jeffrey Schumacher, an empty chair
a prosecutor, baritone
a psychiatrist, mezzo
a defense attorney, tenor
Kathy Jones-Morganson, mezzo
Kathy Morganson-Jones, soprano
a mediating judge, tenor
a macaw parrot (Gilead, a.k.a. Norman), baritone
The Mother's Ghost, soprano, plus voices of MTBar
Professor Milton, baritonea policeman, tenor
a prosecutor, mezzo
three clerks of court, soprano, mezzo and tenor
Timothy Kalcek, tenor
a defense attorney, baritone
a state prosecutor, mezzo
Julie Kalcek, soprano

setting: a small-town county courtroom

Scene 1: Judge’s Chambers

Judge Dodsworth: It’s time to end this!

Months and months of kicking the can
of making excuses
of changing the calendar.
Trial is over and yet to a man
(points concedingly at unseen defense attorney) or a woman
you’ve put this thing off.

Jeffrey Schumacher, jury trial,
Guilty verdict months ago,
Bludgeoned his mother to death and yet
lest we forget,
he’s sitting here at the county jail
treading water,
awaiting sentence,
perched atop the fence that separates
the past from present,
the just from bedlam,
just pretending, I expect,
contentedly daydreaming, I expect,
that he’s trapped, happily trapped,
a fly in amber,
where he’ll sit till next November
cause the promised hammer won’t descend.

I know we have a full docket.
But damn it all
we'll get something done today.
If we’re interrupted, so be it. We’ll plow forward.
Mr. Schumacher will be sentenced.
It’s not for us to fix anything
But we can finish something.
It’s not for justice to repair,
To ameliorate, to compensate
But let’s keep an orderly queue.
Of course I wish we could repair.
I think we’d all like to repair...

Let’s get started.

Scene 1: a 911 call

Dispatcher (mezzo): 911, what is your emergency?
Woman: Help.
Hello? I need help.
Dispatcher What's your situation, ma'am?
Woman My son Jeffrey is attacking me.
No, stop! No!
Jeffrey!
Oh my God!

Dispatcher: Ma'am, where are you?
Ma'am, are you being hurt?
Ma'am, can you tell me where you are?

Cop (tenor): This is car 112
Officer Johansson
reporting from 1942 Burnham Road
We need medics. We need an ambulance
A woman is dying.

Medic (baritone): Time of death: 3:05
Cause of death:
Blunt force trauma, and third degree burns
Help - get me the coroner
Get me the coroner
This woman was on fire

Cop: We have arrested Jeffrey Schumacher Age sixteen
He is being held as a suspect
in his mother's death by murder

Cop, dispatch, medic:
The murder weapons include: a glass ashtray
six ceramic dinner plates
two silver candlesticks
a wooden curtain rod a metal chair
one gallon of gasoline and a match

beating music (instrumental)

Scene 2: A Bond Hearing

Judges (bar, ten, mez, sop in removable robes)

Let me take a moment to explain the routine here.
For one of you it may be new, even frightening.
You have been accused of a crime, which, in legal terms, means
you face the possibility of losing some liberty --
a modest fine perhaps, perhaps a stay in jail or even prison
but in your place you're each entitled rerresentation.
in other words the state can pay for an attorney.

Judge Dodsworth (bass-baritone):
A prospect that I think you all should strongly consider, assuming you cannot afford your own.
Finally,
To those of you for whom this feels like old hat, I'm sorry.
from time to time this courtroom will evince -- how do I say it?
A Moebius stripp-y kind of atmosphere, sestina-like
a hash of drunken drivers, petty thefts, disorderly conducts,
prescription peddlers, child abusers, moms, addicts, little brothers,
we really get all kinds of stuff in here.

Klasinki, a criminal defendant (tenor): This guy here is an asshole.
Bailiff (baritone:): No shit
K Could be worse, though – Judge Dodsworth is a fucking prick
B Don’t tell me! He once gave me twelve weeks for a drunk and disorderly!
K Man.
B Well, I did hit a cop.
K Ha ha ha. You dumb shit
B Yeah, fuck you.
I was drunk, plus the cop was a dick.

Dodsworth: ...the innocent, of course, as well. But I digress.
Bailiff: All rise for the Honorable Judge Dodsworth!
Klasinski: SHIT!

(Judge Dodsworth enters with Bailiff, baritone, in tow)

Judge Dodsworth :
All right. We have some bond hearings. Ms. Redfield, the facts,
for Mr. James Klasinski?

Klasinski: shit, it’s my turn!

(enter Donna Redfield, soprano with stack of papers)

Redfield (soprano): . Your honor, yes. I’m sorry that I’m late – (shuffling papers)
Ahem – excuse me

(she drops her papers everywhere, a comedic moment ensues as she attempts to pick them up)

A-ha, here it is. (looks confused, shuffles papers)
Officers Zenner and Grant were dispatched to a hundred and six Adams Boulevard, (bailiff pantomimes officer Grant)
for a re... (turns page)
-port of some kind of disturbance phoned in by a neighbor complaining of noises.
In fact they were animal noises specifically howls of a dog or puppy,
Upon...
entering 106 Adams Street Officer Zenner then saw the defendant, James
(looks down at paper) Kla-…kla-…kla-…kla-
(Klasinksi pantomimes himself, clerk (mezzo) pantomimes his wife)
sinski, who was without clothes except boots and the top of a set of pajamas,
The defendant was holding a dog by the scruff of its neck and was swinging it clockwise.
Mrs. Klasinski was screaming and crying and saying, ‘no, not Mr. Fuzzy.”
Mr. Klasinski was screaming and saying, “you cunt, you’re a cunt, watch me smooch him.”
--I’m sorry, that’s, that’s “watch me smash him.”—
Officers Zenner and Grant then told Mr. Klasinski to put down the canine.
Mr. Klasinski then loosened his grip on the animal, sending it flying
in the direction of Officer Grant, who was struck on the face by the canine.
Officer Zenner then took out his Taser and threatened to shock the defendant.
Mr. Klasinski attempted to flee through the kitchen when Officer Zenner,
using the Taser subdued the defendant, arresting him shortly thereafter.
Officer Grant sustained minor abrasions when struck by the canine projectile.
Interviewed afterward Mrs. Klasinski said sometimes her husband gets angry
after the Packers game, usually she hides the alcohol, but she forgot to.
Mr. Klasinski was booked and was charged with one count of assaulting an officer,
One count of animal cruelty and several counts of disorderly conduct.
Your (coughs)
Honor the state is requesting a bond of one thousand and five hundred dollars.

Klasinski: Your honor, I can’t pay that.
Dodsworth: Mr. Klasinski, don’t interrupt. What do you have to say for yourself?
Klasinski: Well, I’ve always been more of a cat person.
Dodsworth: How much can you pay?
Klasinski: 200 dollars?100 dollars. 100 dollars.
Dodsworth: And you can pay the $200 today?
Klasinski: My wife will pay it.
Dodsworth: The bond is set at $1000 dollars
Klasinski: Aargh! I should have drowned that bitch when I had the chance!
(Bailiff shoves Klasinski)
...Hey, I meant the dog! It wasn’t even my wife’s dog...
(exit Bailiff and Klasinski)

Dodsworth: Who’s next?
I have an Alycia Simpson, video conference from the jail. What’s this all about?
(Enter Redfield with “TV screen” set piece, Simpson, mezzo, in orange jumpsuit)
Redfield: Nothing much. Illegal possession of prescription drugs and public intoxication.
Officer Ramirez confronted Ms. Simpson publicly urinating.
Simpson: Your honor?
Redfield: Though initially Simpson denied any drinking, later she failed a breath-test. Her blood alcohol concentration was point-one-two.
Simpson: Your honor?
Redfield: Upon testing Ms Simpson, Ramirez discovered several vials of –
(she drops her stack of papers)
Oh shit. I’m sorry, your honor, the court’s indulgence.
Simpson: Your honor, I just want to say
Redfield: Of, prescription drugs, I think.
Simpson: how sorry I am for everything.
Redfield: Of (grabs piece of paper) of peanut butter!
Oh, wait, that’s my grocery list. The court’s indulgence
Dodsworth (aside): I’m never going going to get out of here.
Simpson: I just came here from down south.
My fiancé left me two weeks ago,
and I had a...a...a...your honor?
Redfield: The court’s indulgence, the court’s indulgence..."
Simpson: I don’t have a place to stay,
Klasinski: I can’t afford to get out of here.
Redfield: The court’s indulgence, the court’s indulgence.
Judge: Redfield, pull yourself together!
Redfield: Aha! Of prescription drugs.
The state wants her released.
Simpson: I’d like to ask...to…
Dodsworth: Fine. Released.
Klasinski: Lucky woman!

Simpson: To be allowed to stay in jail.
I’d like to stay in the jail, your honor.
I don’t have a place to stay.

Dodsworth: Ms. Simpson, I’m sorry,
That’s not how it works.
I can’t put someone in jail,
Just because they want me to.
Klasinski: Or vice versa! (yells) Give her my spot! (Exit Klasinski)
Dodsworth (yells during exit): Perhaps Redfield here can put you in touch with social services!
(Exit Judge)
Redfield (loses papers during exit): Oops! (Exit Redfield)

(Jailed woman, Alycia Simpson, mezzo, on video screen/setpiece)

Alycia Simpson

I've never been so cold before,
as in this jailhouse corridor.
Remember, I'm from Florida.

Wisconsin isn't like the South
The winter turned me inside out
It took my fingers in its mouth.

It's not like I'm some kind of whore,
But I was pregnant once before.
I didn't want a kid, you know.

But Daniel said he'd marry me,
The words were planted like a seed
We drove for seven fucking days.

His kiss
A taste of cigarettes and breathmints
Not bliss
But I was pregnant and afraid; I was
messed up -
So when my sister asked I called it "love"

Why’d I go? I don’t know. Far from home, warmth won’t find me.

He had a cousin here, he said.
But someone caught him selling meth.
We got a motel room instead.

I can’t explain what made me stay,
my love began to seep away,
the days were endless, cold, and gray

But Daniel wouldn’t let me leave –
He called me 'bitch,' I begged him, “please”
He punched me in the stomach.

One hit
I was pregnant, maybe five months...
One punch
My lungs were emptied.
Still drunk,
Daniel drove me to the hospital, then left

My skirt became a bed of blood.
They took my baby out in clumps.
Each wore two pairs of latex gloves.

Why mourn? 
The world is cold, we're better off
Still-born,
before our aching hearts become
forlorn,
before our grief begins to seem boring.

I think I'd rather be alone
I have no other place to go
I know I've never been so cold before

pavane for a dead infant (instr.)

Scene 3: The Preliminary Hearing

Jeffrey is an empty metal chair, downstage center, under a spotlight. He is surrounded by the figures of the court – prosecutor, psychiatrist, DA – who are unlit until their introduction by The Judge (conductor)

Judge Dodsworth: Now, back to Mr. Schumacher’s sentencing. Present in the court are the defendant (Jeffrey is an empty chair), the prosecutor (baritone) the court psychiatrist (mezzo) and the attorney for Jeffrey’s defense (tenor). Mr. Schumacher has made no statements to date, either to police or to the court...

Prosecutor (baritone): “On October 6, Jeffrey Schumacher murdered his mother in cold blood (with an ashtray and six dinner plates, two candlesticks, a curtain rod, a metal chair), beating her to near death, then setting her on fire. When asked if he had killed his mother, he simply answered, “yes.”

Psychiatrist (mezzo): “Munchhausen by proxy is an insidious form of child abuse, in which a parent, usually a mother, causes illness to her child to gain attention from others.”

Defense (tenor): “Jeffrey Schumacher, age 16, is a quiet boy who enjoys...baseball and video games.”
Jeffrey. Talk to me. I’m trying to help you
“Jeffrey Schumacher, age 16, is a quiet boy who enjoys...reading, drawing, and computers.”
“Jeffrey Schumacher, age 16, is a quiet boy who enjoys...staring out the window. Staring out the window. If there’s no window, the wall.”
All three: Talk. Talk!
Prosecutor: Jeffrey Schumacher, when asked by police whether he killed his mother, answered...
Defense: In a meek, wounded voice
Psychiatrist: His reticence suggests trauma but does not preclude the possibility of malingering
Dodsworth: Why not speak, son? Are you hurt? Are you listening? Are you evil? Do you belong to us?
All: Yes.

chasing music (instr)

Scene 4: A Custody Debate

(Women fighting, screaming at each other, a mediating judge (tenor, in chair,) bangs gavel at end)
Kathy Jones­Morganson (JM, mezzo, churchgoer): How dare you talk to me like that?
Kathy Morganson­Jones (MJ, soprano, daytime TV fan) It’s not my fault you’re such a bitch! 
JM: You thief!
MJ: You bitch!
Judge (tenor): Quiet!!! We return to the case of Kathy Jones-Morganson versus ... Kathy Morganson-Jones? Sisters?
Kathys: -in-law.
Judge: That’s right.
When we last met I had urged you to reach a settlement. Have you?
MJ: Your honor,
He's mine!
JM: No he's mine!
MJ: He loves me more!
JM: He loved me first!
MJ: He's happier without you!
JM: You stole him from me!
MJ: You took him for granted!
JM: But I bought him!
JM (aside): Here's my receipt
Judge: What is this case about again?Looks around, sees piece of paper, he reads it. Ah yes. A custody dispute over a bird?
MJ and JM: (aside) an exotic and expensive bird! 
Judge: Kathy here bought the bird.
JM: Yes, that’s right.
Judge: And when she was momentarily beset by financial troubles...
JM (aside): My husband isn't rich
MJ (aside): I told her not to marry my idiot brother!
Judge: ...she gave it to Kathy here.Looks up from paper
.Judge: Right. Now remind me,
what kind of bird was this?
MJ: An exotic bird
JM: An expensive bird
MJ: Expensive to keep
JM: But beautiful, and so smart,
Kathys: And so sweet.
Kathys: A macaw.
JM: His name is Gilead.
MJ: (angry) His name is Norman! (brief screaming on names until Judge holds his hand up. Points to Kathy Jones-­Morganson).
Judge: Kathy, state your case.
JM: Your honor, it’s quite simple...
MJ: She’s a bitch!(screaming resumes)
Judge: QUIET! (Looks at Kathy Morganson-­Jones)
Kathy! I’m sorry, I meant the other Kathy. (to JM)

JM: When I had Gilead, I would read him Bible verses.
MJ: (aside) Can you believe this?
JM: But when she had Gilead, they Watched TV for hours! Inundating him with filth! MJ: hahahahaha
Judge: QUIET!
I’d hoped it would not come to this.
It seems we must call in our witness to testify.
I give you...your bird.
(Bird comes out (baritone in falsetto), somehow, maybe a sheet is pulled off a cage.) 
JM: Gilead...

Bird (baritone, sung in falsetto): Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek,

MJ: Norman!

Bird (spoken like an announcer): These are the American Gladiators And the events that they compete in are fast paced,
Exciting, confrontational,
Action oriented and capable of producing
emotional moments!

JM: Your honor I have fed this bird.
MJ: Your honor I tend to this bird.
JM: Your honor I read to this bird.
MJ: Your honor I spent for this bird.

Judge: Pobrecita guacamaya ay! Qué lástima me das
Ay qué lástima me das, pobrecita guacamaya
Te voy a condenar a una loca, cuál va a ser?
Pobrecita guacamaya ay! Qué lástima me das!

[Translation: Poor macaw, oh what a pity
Oh what a pity, poor macaw
I am going to condemn you to a crazy lady, which will It be?
Poor macaw, oh what a pity]

I have come not to bring peace, but... one million dollars!
Ma’am, please answer in the form of a question.
I am the light of the world.
Same bat time, same bat channel.

14

Judge and Macaw (Judge releases bird, which escapes from Kathys, now flying out of cage): 
Vuela, vuela, vuela, como yo volé
Cuando me llevaron preso señorita por usted
Vuela, vuela, vuela, como yo volé
Cuando me llevaron preso señorita por usted

[translation: fly, fly, fly, oh how I flew
When I was taken prisoner, señorita, all because of you
fly, fly, fly, oh how I flew
When I was taken prisoner, señorita, all because of you]

Scene 5: Justice

Judge Dodsworth: Do they see it?
The public urinator, looking for his lawyer? The bored retiree, trolling
for gossip?
Justice – if they squint, do they see it?
Do I see it?
The dead do not return.
Rent hearts are not mended.
The days are all the same.
The anger never wanes.

It’s not for justice to repair,
To ameliorate, to compensate
But let’s keep an orderly queue.
My robe’s a hazmat suit,
I head the cleanup crew
I mop the blood from the floor
And the next day there’s more

Of course I wish we could repair.
I think we’d all like to repair...

Scene 5: The Witness

Dodsworth: The following is taken from the confiscated jailhouse diary of Jeffrey Schumacher, post-trial, and is meant to be taken into consideration during sentencing...

(Mother’s ghost appears, portrayed by soprano. She is covered in blood. Sung by all singers, 3 hidden)

Mother:

Poor demon boy.
You don’t look well.
Mother is here
She can always tell

Sit in your chair
I’ll make you well.
I think you’re sick
Let mother help

I have your pills
Take all your pills
Don’t you want your pills?
I have your pills

This one for your chickenpox
This one for your tears
This one for your sour tummy
This one for your ears

Dinner at six
Drink up your piss
Don’t you like piss
Dinner at six

Doctor at eight
Good for your head
Your sad, aching head
Doctor at eight

This one for your chickenpox
This one for your tears
This one for your sour tummy
This one for your ears
This one for your fever
This one for your aches
This one for your dizzy head
This one so you wake!

Poor demon boy
So young and fair
Mother is here
Sit in your chair

My little boy
You need my help
But you killed mother.

Scene 6: A Plea

Professor Milton (baritone): Guilty.
Judge Dodsworth: What’s that?
Milton: Guilty, I plead guilty.
Dodsworth: At intake? It’s someone’s first rodeo. (bailiff, tenor, laughs)
But wait – is there a complaint for Mister – (shuffles papers) Mister – Mister –
Prosecutor (soprano): Doctor Henry Milton, your honor, professor of religion at the University.
Milton: Please, your honor, let me enter my guilty plea.
Dodsworth: It’s just intake, doctor. Is your lawyer –
Milton: But I’m guilty.
Dodsworth: Justice is a marathon, Mr. Milton, not a sprint. Is your lawyer here?|
Milton: I’m guilty now, your honor.
Dodsworth: Is anyone here from the public defender?
Milton: The leak from my heart has flooded the house of my soul! Warped, the stench of my –
Dodsworth: All right all right. That’s enough of that. Lordy. Send him back to wait with the others and get him an attorney.
(hold up a paper) Wait – is this the complaint?
Prosecutor: Three months ago, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children forwarded a tip to the Wisconsin Department of Justice that several illicit photographs had been uploaded from Dr. Milton’s computer to the image-sharing Web site Photo Dump. Many of these images were, in fact, child pornography.
Milton: (sings over above paragraph) I am a sick man. I am a wicked man.
An unattractive man. (At "child pornography," he stops and looks at them both). I think my stomach hurts.
Bailiff (tenor): That makes two of us, professor.

Dodsworth: Inventory -- illegal images found on the hard drive of a computer owned by
Dr. Henry Milton, age 55, 229
Laketown Drive, town of Keene, Wisconsin.

three clerks of court (soprano, mezzo and tenor):
Image23.jpg is a depiction of a prepubescent boy, lying on a bed, holding a doll, wearing a shirt, without underwear. His legs are spread so as to show his exposed genitalia.

Image44.jpg is a depiction of a prepubescent boy sitting on a chair naked from the waist down. His legs are spread so as to emphasize his genitalia.

Image 45.jpg depicts a nude 9-year old boy being fondled by his stepfather, who is also the photographer. The boy, whose name is Blake, will not remember this moment until years later, when his stepfather is arrested for unrelated sexual crimes. The moment captured in this image will create nightmares that will haunt Blake for decades, until, after a sudden change in psychiatric medication, he hangs himself at age 42. His teenaged son finds him in the basement of their home.

Image Danny2.jpg depicts the locus interneticus for the argument against a benevolent, all-powerful God. An adult male, his age unknown, is having intercourse with a 12-year-old boy. The little boy has curly, red hair and is wearing a periwinkle blue shirt with an orange racecar on it.

Milton: Guilty! I did it!!

Dodsworth: Doctor Milton! I’m going to advise you to wait on that plea, Doctor Milton, at least until you speak with an attorney. Would someone please assign him an attorney?(all exit, judge resumes conducting, Milton is left alone in his orange prison suit, sitting in the chair)

Milton: You know,
there was a time
I maligned myself, then resigned myself
to the way I would
unwind myself.
(I have a thorn in the flesh)
I find, myself,
In a special hell
reserved for those cannot
help themselves.
(I have a thorn in the flesh)
I try but fail
to self-correct,
to resurrect,
a steely will
a different thrill,
but find their spirits
flaccid still.
If I’m a dump of
rot and swill, which garbage was the first to spill?
Which impulse did I fail to kill?

There must have been something I did,
A momentary burst of id.
Pandora-like I flipped the lid.
And went from a wife to a pixilated kid.

And as that moment slid
to bliss, mutatis mutandis,
did a breaker switch inside my head?

(three other singers return, this time in orange jumpsuits.
We are in the waiting room at the courtroom while people go to intake)

Inmate 1 (tenor): So this is the child pornographer. Inmate 1 & 3 (sop): Fucking degenerate.
Inmate 2 (mezzo): Shut up. (sits next to professor) You’re a teacher, right?
Milton: Yes. Well, a professor. At the university.
Inmates: What do you teach? 
Milton: My specialty is religious experience.
Tenor: No shit. Like, church?
Mezzo: No, asshole. Like, mystics. Plotinus and shit.
Tenor: Shut up, asshole. You’re
probably a sicko, too.
Fucking pla...plo...plah....fucking “platypus”.

Mezzo: I’m no pervert.
I’m in here for holding up the Burger Barn on Division Street.
And I didn’t even do it.

Milton: Mystics, that’s right. (everyone turns at him, look blankly)
I study those who seek
communion with God.
who climb the ladder
I climbed the ladder too
It’s the same ladder
I just climbed down

T,M,S: Hahahahaha (laughing)
Tenor: Pervert!
T,M,S: Pervert!

Milton: Why are you here? (professor is weary, resigned, though he gains a wicked, spiteful energy as he goes on)

Mezzo: He beat up his dad.

Milton: Interesting.
At what point did you become
a common father-beater?
(women snicker)
Was it yesterday day, the oldest son,
Today, a bottom feeder?”
Did your morals just combust
Or did you let them teeter?
Did you choose to be
a reprobate?
Or did your action incubate
for weeks, months years
no, three decades?

(ooooooh! women scream)

Milton (to mezzo): And you? Take your robbery –

Mezzo: Well, I said I didn’t do it.

Milton: You just decided to up and go?
“Now I’m a crook,” ex nihilo?
Or can we trace the domino –
To some prime mover, long ago?
Did a parent’s absence
Turn you to a life of theft?
Has your conscience disappeared
Because your Daddy left?

Milton: And you? Why are you here?

Inmate 3 (soprano) (first as aside, then to Milton)
I killed a man. I killed a man.
I was driving drunk.
He was 23. Some kind of graduate student.

Milton: Why don’t you stop drinking?

sop: I want to.

Milton: But you don’t do what you want –
You do the thing you hate.
You want to be good, pure, innocent
but you are not.

T, M, S: So fucking what?

Milton: (no longer sarcastic, but pained)
So, can we claim a will that’s free,
A basic human agency?
Are we just machines then?
Or machines-cum-ghost?
And which answer should we we fear the most?

Tenor: Let’s kick his ass.

(They rush him, lift him up, and carry him to a seat, which they hurriedly make into a courtroom.
They change; one of them becomes a bailiff, one an attorney, one a reporter, scribbling at a notebook. Milton sits with a bloodied nose and mussed hair. The judge talks furiously at him as he sings.)

Milton (dazed and beaten, during Dodsworth’s monologue):
You know there was a time I maligned myself
Then I resigned myself
To the way I would unwind myself –

tenor, mezzo, sop: O miserere mei, Deus.

Dodsworth: Dr. Milton, are you ready to move this thing along? Talk to your lawyer, she’ll tell you. It’s just a formality, you could waive the prelim and go directly to a plea, I suppose, but you might want to see if you can make some kind of deal...You see, Doctor Milton, the state of Wisconsin has issued a mandatory minimum of three years incarceration for possession of child pornography...possession of child pornography is a serious crime. Every instance of child pornography is an actual record of a child sexual assault. I’m not saying you’re not guilty, but you need to talk this through with your lawyer. This isn’t a confessional booth, Doctor, you’re in a court of law. There’s a difference.

Milton: No!
I chose my guilt. I chose it then. I choose it now. I am guilty, and so I plea.

Dodsworth: No.

Milton: But your honor –

Dodsworth: No Dr. Milton.
There are rules here.
There’s a procedure.
We here, have work to do.
It is a busy day. You are a pain in my ass!

Milton: I am guilty! I am rotten and despicable – my crimes stain the world’s imagination!

Dodsworth: Oh, it’s not all about you. Bailiff? (Bailiff drags Milton away, screaming “guilty! guilty!”)

Dodsworth: Now. What’s next?

death music (instr.)

Scene 7: The Confession

Mother’s Ghost (sop to empty chair (Jeffrey), bar ten and mez offstage, or behind sop): 
It started small,
when you were small,
at night, the nights
I’d sing in the kitchen while I washed the dishes.
You’d sit in the chair, yes,
 that metal chair.
I’d bring you the poison,
In food on a plate.

Sick, sick, sick! Fever, infection,
seeps of your sores,
and pills in small bottles.

And doctors, the doctors, the nurses, you,
Making me feel important, needed!

This one for your chickenpox
This one for your tears
This one for your sour tummy
This one for your ears
This one for your fever
This one for your aches
This one for your dizzy head
This one so you wake.

A child’s rage is small when he is small,
but it grows tall
tall enough to kill.

A dinner plate for my head
An ashtray for my nose
A candlestick for his suffering
A chair which goes to show
that when you keep a child too long
he’ll turn, and burn, like you.

brutal music (instr.)

Scene 8: “You see, I’m not too good with words.”

(Tenor, alone, in chair, singing to audience, intimately)

Timothy Kalcek (tenor)
You see, I’m not too good with words. With Jules, I never had to be.
I can’t explain exactly but
she heard me anyway.

You see it’s something bout a girl The way she takes ahold of you
A softer kind of holding but
A holding all the same

she held me like she’d hold a little child - I can’t explain
you give your wasted day to her,
she gives it back,

but different where she held it.

There is a kind of need.
I can’t explain exactly
what she took away from me. There is a kind of duty.

There’s something ‘bout a girl. A movement to her words. They slip your grasp like birds. You try to lay ahold of them.

I needed to explain.
I’ve never been too good with words. She took ahold of me.
If I could just explain.

Scene 8: A Trial

Lights up on the courtroom. The state prosecutor (mezzo) and defense (tenor) examine their clients: Tim and Julie Kalcek (tenor and sop). This occurs simultaneously onstage but at different points in time. As a result, both attorney/client pairs should be unaware of the other.

Prosecutor (mez): Your honor, the state calls Julie Kalcek.

Defense (ten): Your honor, the defense calls Tim Kalcek.

(Tim and Julie go to their respective chairs, both nervous, Tim masking his fear with a swaggering nonchalance, Julie a mouse)

State: Say your name for the court please, and spell your last name.
Defense: Say your name for the court please, and spell your last name. 

Julie: Julie K-A-L-C-E-K.  
Tim: Tim K-A-L-C-E-K..

State: On (looks at notes) October 13, where were you?
Defense: Where were you on October 13?
State: ...at 3 p.m.
Defense: ... at 3 p.m.

Tim: I was in my house, our house, you see, we just got separated.
Julie: You see, we... got separated my husband and I
Tim: and I was watching the ball game, disappointing, no surprise.
Julie: No surprise, he was watching the ball game when I went to meet him.
Tim: …the Brewers. My team never wins!

State and Defense: Mr/Mrs Kalcek. Please just the question.

Julie/Tim: Right.
Tim: What’s the question?
Julie: I went there cause he wanted to talk.
Tim: Well she wanted to talk to me.
Julie: When I came to the door he said
Tim: At the door I said
Both: “Cayenne pepper.” It was a nickname that I/he gave her/me back in high school.
Julie: I guess he thought it was funny.

State: Please, Julie, what happened next?
Defense: Please, Tim, what happened next?

Julie: I went in.
Tim: I let her in.

State: Were you nervous?
Julie: Yes. A little.

Defense: And?
Tim: Nothing. I got to talking. Feeling each other out,

State: Why?
Julie: I don’t know. Just a feeling.

State: What then? .
Julie: We had a fight. About getting back together.

Tim: I thought maybe she’d want me back

Defense: And did she?
Tim: Hell if I know.

State: Did Mr. Kalcek get physical at this time?
Defense: Did the argument get physical?

Tim: No. Absolutely not.
Julie: No, not yet.

State & Defence: What happened next?

Julie: He asked me to come downstairs to get some of my mother’s things.
Tim: We went downstairs to get some of her mother’s things.

State: Where exactly?
Defense: In the basement?

Julie: Downstairs. The basement.
Tim: The basement. Downstairs. We have a finished basement. Cost a fortune.

State & Defence: What then?

Julie: He hit me.
Tim: Hell if I know.

State: Louder for the court, please.
Julie: He hit me.

State: Then what happened?
Defense: What then?

Tim: I don’t get this woman.
I love her and I needed her back. She left me.
No warning, she just left. Why? Because I drink?
Hell if I know. I thought she loved me. I love her.
Julie: He hit me. I fell to the floor.
I was on my hands and knees.
He pushed me onto my back.
I tried to leave but he hit me again
He took off my pants and forced himself inside me.
To think I used to love him!

Defense: Mr. Kalcek!

State: Mrs. Kalcek, did you give Mr. Kalcek permission to have sex with you?
Julie: No.

Burning Music (instr.)

Scene 9: The Voir Dire

(Judge’s chambers)

Judge Dodsworth: Four-forty-five. Almost through another day. (looks at watch)
I’ll bump Schumacher just once more. Deliver a sentence tomorrow. Put a bow on it then.

How did I let it slip away?
I’ve given sentences before when I had no answer.

Not every story gets justice. Some stories just end.
You mop the blood from the floor
and the next day there’s more. (Steps out from behind desk. Alycia Simpson approaches.)

Dodsworth & Simpson: What do I/you want to offer? 
To soothe, to renew?
Simpson: Do you think you’re a savior?
Dodsworth: I don’t.
Simpson: Do you think you are just?
Dodsworth: I’d like to be.
Simpson: Let me stay.
Dodsworth: It doesn’t work that way.
I’ve never been so cold before.
Simpson: You’re so unaffected. You don’t even care.

Dodsworth: What do you want?
I’m not a shelter, I’m not a friend.
What do you want from a bureaucrat? (enter Professor Milton)

Dodsworth & Milton: What do I/you want to give? Absolution? Forgiveness?

Professor Milton: Do you think you’re a wise man?
Dodsworth: I don’t.
Milton: Do you think you are just?
Dodsworth: I’d like to be.
Milton: Let me go
Simpson: Let me stay
Dodsworth: It doesn’t work that way.
I’ve never been so cold before.
Milton: You’re so sure.
Simpson: You don’t care.

Dodsworth: What do you want?
I’m not a priest, I’m not a confessor.
What da you want? (enter Kalcek)

Kalcek: I want her back!
Dodsworth: What do I want to offer?
Dodsworth & Kalcek: To punish, to avenge?
Kalcek: Do you think you’re a hero?
Dodsworth: I don’t.
Kalcek: Do you think you’re just?
Dodsworth: I’d like to be.
I’ve never been so cold before.
Kalcek: Bring her back.
You have no idea. You don’t understand. Just let me explain!
Bring her back!
Simpson: let me stay
Milton: let me go
Dodsworth: I’ve never been so cold before.
What do you want?
You are a monster!
You are deluded!
How can I shake some sense into you?
What do you want from me? (enter Mother’s Ghost)

Mother: What do you want to offer?
To repair, to correct?
Dodsworth: I’m a judge, not a wizard.
Mother: I do not care.
Dodsworth: You think you’re just?
Mother: That means less to me than you’d think.
Dodsworth: What do you want?
Mother: Bring me back.
Dodsworth: It doesn’t work that way.

Mother: Jeffrey’s mine
I love me son
I need Jeffrey
He needs me
His mother
to care for him
my little Jeffrey
I’ll never leave him.
Judge: What do you want?
You’re a memory. A nightmare.
You tortured in life and you haunt in death.
Mother: You can’t see.
You have no idea.
Just bring me back,
And bring me justice.
Judge: What do you want? What do you want from me?
Mother: I want it all back.

Judge: You can’t have it!

I’ve never been so cold before
as in this frayed and filthy robe remember I’m a frail, imperfect man.

It’s not like I’m some kind of saint,
or I don’t have my own complaints,
or I’m more sure than any of you here.

I’m just a man who knows the law
and that will take you just so far
Of course, I wish I could repair. (exit Judge Schumacher)

Simpson, Milton, Kalcek, Mother:

You scrutinize, but do you see?
You listen in, but do you hear?
You speak, you speak, you speak the truth
Forget the truth. Remember me.

Look, my family turns away from me,
The bailiff yawns.
You twirl my entrails on your pen
I keep my head down, my head down

You scrutinize, but do you see?
You listen in, but do you hear?
You speak, you speak, you speak the truth
Forget the truth. Remember me.

I feel the pincer touch
A hand upon my elbow – an officer is here
Truth is cold and strange – no home for me there Who will recognize my face?

You scrutinize, but do you see?
You listen in, but do you hear?
You speak, you speak, you speak the truth
Forget the truth. Remember me.