Conclave
CONCLAVE, the new, shorter, tighter, faster-moving version is now available on Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Smashwords.com etc. And all the better for my editing during the past several weeks – even if I say so myself!
Set against the backdrop of the first Good Friday, the storyline is uncannily familiar – and relevant: the High Priest, Caiaphas, and his Inner Circle meet behind closed doors to plot and plan their defence of the status quo against the threat from Galilee posed by the Nazarene – even if that means resorting to bribery, putting a certain spin on given facts/events…
As such, it transcends a particular time and place, could be set just about anywhere in the world – wherever politicians, power-brokers, meet in cabinet, conclave… (I have intentionally maintained “neutral speech patterns” throughout…)
And though it is based on the gospels – with particular emphasis on the Passion narrative of Matthew – it can be seen as a drama about men anywhere, at any time, willing to go to any lengths to protect their status quo. Taste and see! – S W
Here is a play that while set in the context of the passion of Jesus belongs to any and every age. A group of men used to power work to ensure that they remain in power and that an individual who threatens their power is eliminated.
They are so committed to their own version of the truth that they will stop at nothing to suppress any challenge to their truth.
The one member of their group who raises the possibility that this Jesus of Nazareth may be revealing a more disturbing version of truth is dismissed out of hand.
Yet in spite of all the clever maneuverings the play suggests that, in the end, God’s truth will out. The death of Jesus is not the end of the matter after all.
Sean Walsh’s writing is pruned back to the essentials which heightens the sense of drama and ensures that the reader is carried along by the flow of the marvelous dialogue.
A wonderful addition to this playwright’s portfolio.
– Martin Hogan.
Amazon. 5 star.