THE HUES OF LOVE (Initially fashioned as a radio play)

THE HUES OF LOVE

(Initially fashioned as a radio play)

By

Augustine Oritseweyinmi Oghanrandukun Olomu(St.Ifa)

Characters

1.     Stanford  – the major character

2.     Audu – the major antagonist

3.     James – the lover of Stanford

4.     Pinnick – the pastor

5.     Joy – a female inmate

6.     Jane – the lover of Joy

7.     Peter – an inmate

8.     Paul – an inmate

Act 1

Scene 1

In a room

A lone voice is heard reciting a poem. It is a baritone, reciting a poem in the form of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The monotonous baritone recites –

“Love shall conquer everything,

All the songs we like to sing;

All the works we love to do,

All will shine in perfect hue.

Peace is saner side of love,

Full like light from songs above,

Ever perfect, jolly so,

Full and fair as heaven’s bow.

Joy shall come, when peace is full,

Full with love beyond the rule;

Bringing love to fill our hearts,

Blotting all the Satan’s darts.

As the voice of Stanford recites this poem in his room, steps of people are heard moving towards the room. One is a smart brisk step, marching down like a hurried soldier, which is James, a sharp man who seems to be always in a hurry. Another footstep is a sluggish one, drawing like a lazy millipede on the floor, that is Audu, a daft head always been pulled along by James. Peter and Paul are two normal steps moving along the line.

James coughs in mockery of Stanford.                                         

James – “Won’t you repent?  The hands of the law have caught up with you.”

Stanford ignores him listening to his poem.

Audu moves forward pointing an angry finger and then, snapping his finger at him.

 Audu – “You, idiot, you will roast in hell. The Almighty will poke your soul with a thousand spokes”.

Stanford keeps mute for some time and bursts out

Stanford – a derisive laughter “ha, ha, ha, ha”.

There is silence for some time, except for the sound of the poem which Stanford has saved in the radio, echoing repeatedly in his baritone

Peter – “Why don’t you want to defend yourself, are you truly gay?”

Again, silence fills the whole room.

Paul – “They are making very bad remarks about you; you might die here in prison.”

The silence is now broken

Stanford – “I don’t want to talk. I have committed no crime. The laws of this country have made me into a crime. (He clears his throat for a while and continues). The law is moved forward like a sheep, it has no mind of its own, were it a goat, it would be able to ask questions and defend itself. No, the laws of this country are a silly sheep. It is totally dumb. It is an automaton. This wicked law has made me a criminal”.

(He sobs and bursts out in soulful crying).

James – “You have the audacity to say all these things after your great crime. You are a candidate of hell fire. You are a destroyer of families, you a dreg of the human race. If we with our little offences are here in the prison, I wonder how a dark sinner like you should be here. (He draws a long hiss). “They should look for a way to kill you immediately, lest you pollute this place, pollute this land; pollute this country”.

Audu – “A lover of your fellow man, you are a sinner of no mean order, hell condemns you. May Eberus – the darkest part of hell – be your home for eternity.”

Stanford (with a shaky baritone) “love is all I ask for, love is all I need. May peace be with you all. I pray that the light and love of God our father will be with you all”.

Peter – “Despite our condemnation of this man, he is still composed. Perhaps he is not a criminal and sinner as he claims.”

Paul – “For some days now I have been watching him. He only chants verses that resemble those of Catholics, Ifa adherents, Muslims and Hare Krishna members – very beautiful poems”.

James – “These beautiful poems are gifts from the Devil.”

Audu (Following the prompt from James) – “A devil, a very devil, there is no place for truth in him. Hell is his home; condemnation is his name.”

Stanford – “Did not your Holy Books tell you not to condemn anyone? What right have you to condemn me? We are all condemned by the law. You all have your offences, I have none; I was jailed for who I am. You are jailed for offences you commit”

James – (to Audu) – “Let us leave this place; this man is possessed by the Devil!”

Audu – “He is possessed; may the Lord of the universe deliver him from all evil”.

Coughs of derision, hisses, and derisive laughter fill the room. Then, steps are heard. And the steps move out of the room. As they move, the radio of Stanford is heard reciting the poem he has recorded in it.

Act 1

Scene 2

A football field. The shouts of excitement are heard as the inmates are playing their game.

As the match plays in the background, James, Audu, Stanford, Peter, Paul, are all seated outside the field, lamenting on how they will eventually become free from the prison.

Peter – “This world is wonderful. Do you know I came to this place because of a very minor offence?”

James – “You mean it. Cruel things are all over the place. Some people are here for very little offences.

Audu – “Even me, I am here for a very tiny offence. Very little things are what drag people to this place. God will save his children”

Paul – I can’t believe that I am here. It is just so unfortunate.”

James clears his throat for some time, totally oblivious of the match at the background. “Tell me Peter, why are you here?”

Peter – “It was quite an ordinary thing. It is quite a small thing. There was this girl who I thought loved me. She is very tricky, taking so much from me. I bought a gold chain for her, paid her house rent for two years, and even paid her school fees. Later, I discovered, she had no single liking for me .I tried to make love to her but met a hard wall. I devised a technique. I dated her, unknown to her, I drugged the drink I gave her, and made love to her to get my money’s worth back”.

James (cutting in) – “Is that all?”

Peter – “One thing led to the other, and at the end, I was arrested for rape and brought to this place”.

Paul – “Such a sad news; I came here because of a common venture. I made a second class upper degree in Philosophy and for fifteen years of my graduation, I had no single job. Some young men, who have been doing some burglary around my area, saw me and took pity on me. They introduced me to a deal they had that night. We went, unfortunately, I seem not to be fast enough when hot legs chased us. I was caught. I confessed some of the other guys, who went with me.  Luckily for them, they have godfathers, who bailed them. I have none, hence I am here.”

James – Paul and Peter, your cases are really bad. You Peter, you are cheated, and you wanted to even up with your adversary, and the next thing – gbam – (he bangs his legs) you are caught”.

Peter – “The power of women and all their charm. Do you know I could not defend myself during the proceedings? I was always shouted on at the police station. My lawyer was totally dumfounded in the court.”

James – “You should have known that there is no force in love, whatever you spend because of love is either a gain or a loss, there is no market in it”.

Peter – “What do you mean by that?”

James – “Exactly what I say. Love spending is never an investment. When you meet someone who loves you, you always gain; with a deceiver, you always lose.”

Paul – “You fell in the hands of a deceiver, with all the expenses and expectations, see where you now came. You are now in your dungeon of love.”

Peter – “It is terrible my brother”.

Paul – “You are complaining about your plight; what about me that came here because of the terrible hardship in the country. Your own is still good.”

James – “The country is such a mess my brother. Small criminals are in the cells. The big ones are all about the place, moving freely.”

Peter – “How; how is that?”

Paul – “You shame me to ask such a question. Can’t you see the bold writing in the sky? The answer is there for all to see.”

UM , um , um , um James clears his throat

James _ “The big thieves are in government. They are the presidents, the governors, the senators, the local government chairmen and all that represent government positions in Nigeria.”

Paul – “If not for their thievery, we won’t be here by now.”

Audu – (with a shaky surprised voice) “I can’t understand”.

Paul – “How will you understand, just listen, when others were schooling, you taught it was a fun pursuing cattle”.

Audu – “I do not blame you; you can say anything you like because you went to your so called useless schools.”

Paul – “If you are pained go to school”.

Audu – “If you talk more than this, I will make sure I …”

James cuts in “Remember, I am the president of this commune. My order is final here. I say all must keep silent and embrace peace. No more quarrelling. Now to the topic at hand, Paul why do you think I call the rulers of this country the biggest thieves?”

Paul – “They steal our money, our mission and our vision”.

Audu – “But they have not stolen anything from me”.

A prolonged laughter by James. All others except Audu join in the laughter.

Audu – “Why are you laughing? I say they have not stolen anything from me. Only Allah knows why you are spoiling his messengers by calling the men he put in government thieves?”

Peter – “Forget this man, he is a short one. He cannot understand anything.”

Peter – “He cannot flow with the joneses.”

Audu – “I won’t blame you. They are your mouths you can use them to eat dung”. As he says that he hisses at the guys.

James – “I was really dealt with by the police. It was a fighting scene. I was so angry I stabbed a man who had being owing me for almost two years. ‘Come today, come tomorrow’, was his usual excuse. I went trying to reclaim my debt, all, to no avail.  D day came. I decided to fight him. The fight was fierce and cruel. He tried to hit me. I dodged, using his own sword to strike him back. Before I knew it, I was trampled by the police, taken to the station and given a beating of my life. I was charged for attempted murder. If not for my lawyer that struggled it out, I would have passed for a murderer. Thanks be to my lawyer. I am now serving a term for attempted homicide and street fighting.”

Audu – “This country is indeed cruel. The man who owed you money is now walking the streets free, while you are here languishing.”

In a quiet part of the field, Stanford is removed from the others reciting a verse.

“Love shall heal this pain one day,

Loving men in God’s own way;

Loving all and sharing all;

Love shall heal this evil thrall”

James – “The recluse is over there. Let’s go tease him”

Sounds of legs shuffle along.

James – “We have come to you, you; son of the Devil”.

Audu – (amplifying James) “Allah will roast you in hell”.

Peter - “I don’t even know why you should be here.”

Paul – “Unjust laws in the country, how can such a sinner be allowed to walk the face of the earth?”

Stanford – “Why are you all against my person? I have committed no crime. They brought me here because of who I am. I am innocent.”

James – “Holy shit! You have the audacity to call yourself innocent?”

Audu – “You are the worst form of a sinner”.

Peter – “Haven’t you read the Holy Bible? Don’t you know Sodom was destroyed because of devils like you?”

Audu – “Fornication is a sin against ones soul, so is adultery, but nothing compares with your type of evil – one who exchange sexual pleasure with his fellow man”.

Paul – “Hell and death will be your eternal damnation!”

Stanford speaks in a shaky and dejected voice – “I say I have committed no sin. May the Gods of your religion grant you the grace not to discriminate against your fellow man”.

Voices of laughter fill the air.

James – “You still have the mouth to be claim innocence. We are coming for you. Now the recess is almost over.”

Audu – “We shall deal with you. You are the polluter of our land.”

As the angry voices talk and hiss at the great sinner, the bell rings at the background. The feet shuffle away.

Act 1

Scene 3

 In the refectory (sounds of spoons and forks hitting plates, eating)

James (to Audu) – “Don’t you think this boy has a soul?”

Audu (with a mouthful) “What do you mean; who do you mean?”

James – “Stanford of course, he is almost a perfect being if not for this thing that is plaguing him.”

Audu – “Ehen (his voiced stress in great surprise) since when has the Devil become an Angel of Light?”

James – “We should always try to be a little objective in anything we do. This man despite his great pollution is a man with soul. In fact, I have not seen anyone as kind.”

Peter and Paul move from their table to join in the discussion.

Peter – “Hail presido, (he cuts in) I overhead your discussion and I feel, it is right for me to say something.”

James – (with an imperial voice) “carry on my boy”.

Peter – “I am beginning to feel this boy is truly innocent as he claims.”

Paul – “I feel so too”.

James – “I see that myself. Look at his generosity for instance. His parents are a little well to do. His father is a lecturer in a reputable university, the mother too, a medical doctor. Look at how he shares his goods with everybody”.

Paul – “Even now the maggi sauce and the ketchup I am using in eating this rice is from him.”

Peter – “As he gave to Peter, he also gave to me. He did not even wait for me to ask”.

James – “On more than one occasion, he has come to give me money, even when I was not aware that his parents have brought anything for him”.

Audu (he bursts into a derisive laughter) – “Can’t you understand that he is doing all that for you because he sees that you are the president, and he wants to curry your favour so that he will have no problem in this prison? Nothing good can come from a devil.”

Paul – “I do not agree with you Audu, he has also come to give me money. He gave the money on his own volition; I never knew his parents brought anything for him. This man is extremely good and has a heart of pity for us the children of the downtrodden”.

Peter – “Once he came to me and asked me how I was doing. He noticed I was so sad, before I knew what was going on; he dipped his hand in his pocket and gave me five one thousand naira notes. I am not a president, so what do you say Audu?”

Audu – (In great admonishing) “I have warned you, beware of the bread of the Devil! This son of Satan has also tried me with his gift and money. I totally rejected him and renounced his gifts.  Any gift that comes from the Devil is polluted from the beginning”.

James – “Why are you so critical Audu? If a man does something good, admit it. We know he is plagued with this sin, but that does not remove the fact that he is generous, kind and truthful. Haba! Let us face some simple facts. Prejudice will not help us give a better analysis of a situation.”

Audu – “I can see, you are being bought over by his so called kindness. Continue, hell will roast you all.”

Paul – “Please Audu, don’t claim to be too righteous oh, did I not catch you the other day?”

Peter – “Did we not catch you playing with yourself? Is that one not also condemned?”

James – “You see Audu, I have warned you against being critical. The sin of this young man that sent him here, is it not what all of us are now practicing, except for you who decides to just be playing it solo with himself? Defend yourself now you Son of God”!

Audu shuffles his legs in shame and cannot utter a word.

Peter – “Yes oh, the authorities are making a very big mistake by sending gay people to the prison. You are jailed for a crime and you are placed in a place you can have all the chance in the world to commit the same crime”.

Paul – “It is like punishing a thievish cat by locking him in the room and putting a whole bunch of roasted fish there for him. That will be great enjoyment rather than suffering”.

As they continue in their discussion, the bell rings. The inmates, who have long finished their food, made a short prayer and leave the refectory.

Act 2

Scene 1

In a room in the prison – Audu, James, Peter, Paul, present

James – to Audu – “Have you noticed that the tales of rape and all sorts of brutality is being reduced in the prison”?

Audu  - “ I noticed it, but what can be the cause? The atmosphere is getting better now”.

Peter – “I think it is due to the sermons of Stanford. Are we not all hypocrites? What we are condemning Stanford for, is what all of us are now practicing.”

Paul – “Strange my brother, when you don’t have clean water to drink, you can make do with dirty water.”

James – “How do you mean? Is gay sex dirty water?

Paul – “Yes, you can’t compare it with the real thing. It is like drinking dirty water.”

James – “ And you fight to drink dirty water by force?” look at all the brutal cases of stronger boys forcing the weaker ones to have sex, and the weaker ones having no place of succor. What with all the tales of rape of girls by girls that filter to our ears from the female section of the prison. I think there is some joy in gay sex.”

Audu – “No matter what you say, gay sex is evil. The Quran says so and that settles it”.

Peter – “Where was the Quran when you were masturbating yesterday? Please say the truth and shame the Devil”.

Audu – (with a surprised voice) “You mean you saw me…”

Peter – “Yes I saw you. I saw you in the bathroom. You spent more than normal thing. So I called Paul and we peeped at you. You were caught hands down masturbating using your soup as a lube.”

There is silence. Audu clears his throat in shame and refused to say anything.

James – “It is only now I start seeing the good that this young man, Stanford is dong. The very alarming rate of homosexual rape is dying down in the prison. More people are now having more mature bonding than the homosexual power tussle. Even from the female cells, Joy, the wild girl, notorious for rough handling her fellow inmates and using force to have sex with them is using a more friendly approach. She is now bonding with Jane, a fellow inmate”.

Paul – “The love songs of Stanford contributes to all this. He always circulates his leaflets charged with his highly romantic poems”.

Just then Stanford walks in… the sound of his poem coming in before him

Love is life and life is gay,

Joy is hanging on a spray,

Ever singing true of love,

Tunes as sweet as lovely dove.

Gay is now like precious bead,

In the valleys in the mead,

Sweetest love is all I give,

Singing tunes that hearts believe.

Rain shall make our love grow strong,

Wetting us with heaven’s gong.

Joy shall sing in love’s full day,

Making life so doubly gay.

Silence everywhere except for the sound of the poem.

.

Stanford – “Good day my friends, I hope all is well?”

Again there is silence.

James – (with an air of authority) “I need to talk to you in private, Stanford”.

The steps of James and Stanford are heard walking out.

Act 2

Scene 2

In the open – Stanford, James, Paul, Peter, etc are present in a room. The poem of Stanford echoes from the radio.

Wisdom is the guide of men,

Let it guide your glorious ken;

Men will love and some will hate,

Love will come from heaven’s gate.

Wisdom is the song of hearts,

Shooting with its lovely darts;

Joy is love and love is gay,

Let love shine its peaceful ray.

Wisdom is the song we know,

Pretty as the olden foe;

Love is Cherub’s shining bar

Twinkle, twinkle little star.

Sounds of chairs are heard all about. The people are sitting or struggling to sit.

James – “You said homosexuality is not different from being left handed”.

Stanford – “I have said that time without number”.

Peter – “But our ancestors punished all those using left. It was an offence in those days”.

Audu – “Yes, it was really an offence in those days – those primitive days”.

Stanford – “Thank God, you agree that those days were primitive. How can you now carry the religion written for people of those days and use it today without proper modification?”

Audu – “In the case of the word of God, you don’t need adaptation; you take it as it is”.

Stanford – “But you use cars and telephones, those are not mentioned in the words of God”.

Audu – “That is a different ball game. Those are just ordinary things we can make do with”.

James (with full authority) “Please, Audu, do not divert our attention. I asked a question which has not been answered. How is homosexuality related to being left handed?”

Stanford – “Both are a brain thing and not a mind thing”.

James – “Brain? Mind? How do you mean?”

Stanford – “The brain and the mind are different. We can control the mind, we can’t control the brain.”

James – “Expantiate!”.

Stanford – “The brain is the biological entity that is located between one ear and the other. The functions and workings of the brain make up the mind. So, if the brain is structured one way, we cannot make it the other way. But the mind which has to do with our thinking can be controlled.”

Peter and Paul – “Interesting “.

James – “Are you trying to say that the brains of gays and lesbians are structured differently? Are the brains of left handed people also structured differently”?

Stanford – (Clearing his throat) “Yes, their brains are structured differently.  Left handed people use the right hemispheres of their brains. No amount of beating will make them change to being right handed. The hypothalamuses of gay men are structured like those of women, the hypothalamuses of lesbians – the part which controls sex – is structured like those of men. So you see my friends, the gays and lesbians are not doing what they like to do, they are doing what nature has forced on them to do.”

Audu – (breaking a silence)”May Allah forbid your wicked teaching”.

James – “Audu stop your holier than thou attitude. You were caught more than once now, masturbating the full length of your rod. You have no moral justification to chastise anybody here. If you misbehave here again, you won’t sleep throughout the night, you will be at my corner fanning me till break of day.  Stanford, please continue.”

Stanford – “What I am saying is not new. All the great biologists on earth have carried out this searching into the functionalities of the brain. Remember that the brain is a biological entity like your face. Can you just change your face because somebody doesn’t like the look of it?”

James – “This is interesting. So what is your take now?”

Stanford – “My take is that gays and lesbians should be given a go in so far as they do not involve minors in their acts.”

James – “I see with you”

Peter – “If this is the thing, then they should be allowed to do what is right to them according to the constitution of their brains”.

Paul – “So be it. It is enough of this useless criticism of what we do not know, since I have been in this prison, I have been doing the thing and I see nothing wrong with it.”

James – “This is a strange teaching. But my mind agrees with you. I believe you are saying the right thing.”

Peter, Paul, etc all except Audu, - “We agree with you”

Stanford brings a crate of soft drinks and some short bread. He shares it among the inmates. Sounds of bottles can be heard and the inmates eating, laughing and jubilating. As they are doing that the voice fades away.

Act 2

Scene 3

The tape of Stanford reciting in his baritone

Tales are hanging in the air,

Tell the tales and tell them fair;

Stories come and stories go,

Love is all we need to grow.

Girls are good and girls are sweet,

Do not beat them up like wheat;

Girls are jolly good to be,

Love is all that we can see.

Girly love is all by choice,

Add me up and make your voice,

Force is not the way of love,

Love must play like jolly dove.

Paul – “I hear that Joy and Jane are now lovers.”

Peter – “You mean it?”

Paul – “Of course I do. Do I look like I am playing? Do I even sound that way?”

As they talk James and Stanford enters the room holding hands and whistling with love in their tone.

Peter and Paul pay obeisance to James “Good morning mister president.”

James – “Please get up, stop prostrating before me. I am a human being like you, I am only in love.”

Peter – “In love, with whom?”

James – “With my friend Stanford, of course”.

Stanford – “Love is a thing of the mind, it knows no gender, it knows no colour “.

Paul – “This is terrible! How do we explain this?”

Stanford – “You can’t explain what goes on in the deeper recesses of the mind. It is mystical it is magical.”

Stanford – “I have given my heart to James. He deserves it. He is man enough. He is the man of my dreams, a man after my heart – handsome, macho, educated and sympathetic.”

Paul – “We were just talking about Jane and Joy being in love, before you just entered.”

Peter – “Now Stanford and James are now in love. Wonders shall never end.”

James - “Is it the love of Jane and Joy that is a wonder or how Joy the bully has been softened by the message of Stanford to become a lover rather than a bully?”

Paul – “So you mean she no longer bullies the girls and force them to have sex with her as she was wont to?”

Stanford – “No, she no longer does any of such things. She has read my leaflets and agreed to be more moderate and humanly in her approach. She has decided to toe the path of love and not the path of power. She is now an emblem of love.

Paul – “So you mean your leaflets were smuggled to the female cells?”

Stanford – “Of course! It is a small world. If my leaflets of love and peace are scattered in the male cells, you should be sure that they will also be scattered in the female cells. It is a small world.”

James – (in a happy voice) “When we leave here, we shall be getting married.”

Peter – “Getting married? Are you not afraid of the fourteen year jail term?”

Stanford – “Bullshit! If they jail us we will come back here and continue our love escapade without hindrance.”

A dull shifty step is heard from the background, Audu approaches…

Audu – “The love of man to man; the love of woman to woman is here, repent for what befell the children of Gomorrah will befall you”.

Stanford – “Ignorance again, the source of all misinterpretation of history and religion. The children of Gomorrah and Sodom were not condemned for homosexuality, but for attempting to rape a handsome looking angel.”

Audu – “Blasphemy! You mean you can interprete the scriptures the way you like?”

James – “You are the blasphemy. You refuse to read the scriptures and then give an interpretation of only what you hear from hearsay”.

Audu – “I will leave you in your folly. But the wrath of Allah is cruel on the unbelievers”.

Peter – “Get out of here you masturbator. Pretence is your middle name.”

James – “Let us love who we want to love. Go and make love to your soap. Your soap is your lover. Go away! Stanford is my heart throb.”

Audu – “Well, I have given my warning. When you roast in hell do not blame me.”

“Get out. Get out!” all the others yell at Audu. Sounds of the boys pushing him and his struggles can be heard as chairs are displaced in the process. The struggle continues and the sound dies out.

Act 3

Scene 1

James and Stanford are on the bed. They overhear two warders discussing about their activities.

 Stanford  “Your kisses are so sweet. It seems you learnt from the book”

James – “I did not learn from anywhere except from you.”

Stanford – “You mean I am the only source of your inspiration in learning this life?”

James – “Of course you are. You are now the love of my life.”

Sounds of kissing can be heard as they embrace each other. But the attention of the lovers is cut short as they hear two voices.

James – “Can you hear that”?

Stanford – “They are warders.”

1^st voice – “We shall free James and Stanford. We must grant them amnesty immediately.”

2^nd voice – “I agree with you. Stanford started the show, but James has since repented from the ways of crime and become a good citizen”.

1^st voice – He has no more reason to remain in the prison. They have no more reason to remain in the prison.”

2^nd voice – “If all inmates learn as fast as they are learning, we will have no need to have the prison. The prison is a place of rehabilitation, not a place to punish our neighbor.

1^st voice – “We must recommend them to the state authorities for amnesty”.

2^nd voice – “I tell you that is the priority for now”

The sounds of their legs are heard moving away.

Stanford – “My love did I not tell you we are not going to serve our full term here?”

James – “You have always said so. Now, I believe”.

Stanford – “Time and place will settle everything.”

James – “just as time and place is doing now. Come nearer my sweet babe.”

Sounds are heard as the two lovers move towards each other. Then a long, long kiss is heard in the background. The sounds gradually fade away.

Act 3

Scene 2

Peter, Paul, James, Stanford are listening to the FM morning g news. The radio echoes –

“The presidency has just agreed to repeal the fourteen year jail term slammed on homosexuals in Nigeria. In the Okere maximum prison we have noticed the good works that a man – Stanford, educated young and from a middle class family – has done to rehabilitate the inmates. Despite the fact that he is a prisoner, he did not take it with grudge. He patiently teaches the people the true meaning of love. Stanford is a man with soul. Because of him, Peter, Paul, James, Audu, Joy and Jane and some other thirty inmates with more than five year jail term each have been granted presidential pardon. The president has sent another bill to the National Assembly pleading with the legislators to allow same sex couple who love each other to marry, in so far as one of them is not insane or a minor. The amnesty of the young inmates – all less than twenty eight – begins with this announcement.”

James – “Hip, hip, hip!”

Peter , Paul , Stanford – “Hurray”.

James – “Hip, hip, hip!’

Peter, Paul, Stanford – “Hurray!”

Stanford – “I told you; the works of love know no bound. I have patiently served my term and knowing that I have committed no crime, I do not grudge anybody who made me come here. It is a learning process.”

James – “Why did you say so?

Stanford – “Without coming to this place, I wouldn’t have known love, I wouldn’t have known you; I wouldn’t have been the hero I am today. I am now the light that has made it clear that same gender sex is not a sin after all.”

Peter – “Every occasion has its blessings. If not that I came here, I have thought all gays are devils sort of”.

Paul – “I thought they were all mad or possessed by the Devil”.

James – “Speak all the grammar you can, I have benefitted one great thing in my sojourn here. I have learnt that love has no gender, it has no race, it has no colour, it has no shape. Love cometh and goeth wherever it willeth. Stanford has shown me love; he has filled the void in my life.”

Just then the sound of the slugging steps, Audu approaches

Audu – “Happy faces everywhere, what is the secret?”

James (in great excitement) “We have been free, the good works of Stanford has set all of us free”

Audu (with a surprised voice) “You mean the son of the Devil”?

Peter – “Say whatever pleases you, Stanford has saved us all.”

Paul – “Including you, Audu.”

Audu – “So the son of the Devil can grant me freedom? Allah is great. Praised be his holy name.”

James – “What are we waiting for; everybody should pack his belonging and go home.”

Steps start fading away

Act 3

Scene 3

A double wedding ceremony in the church. James and Stanford are getting married while Joy and Jane are also getting married.

Pinnick the priest reads his sermon

“In the beginning God created them male and female. The Holy book also made it known that the soul of David was weaved to the soul of Jonathan; the soul of Ruth too, was weaved to that of Naomi. This day are standing before the altar of God two wonderful couples – a male and a male like David and Jonathan, and a female and a female, like Naomi and Ruth. May the Lord grant them peace and rest all the days of their married lives. Marriage is more a union of souls than a cross gender bonding”

Coughs, sighs, signs that the congregation is not too satisfied with the new teaching or they don’t even know the new teaching. After the hesitation of the congregation as could be heard in the background the reverend calls.

Pinnick – (to an altar boy) “bring the rings.”

Pinnick – “Before I go on with this ceremony, anyone who has a reason except for their gender why these two couples should not be joined in matrimony should come and say so, or forever remain silent.”

There is a brief moment of silence.

Pinnick – (To Jane and Joy) “Are you ready to live with each other as soul mates, for better or worse, until the day of death?”

Joy and Jane “We will”.

He fixes the rings in their hands

Pinnick “With this ring, I now declare you soul mates.”

Pinnick (to James and Stanford) “Will you be a loving couple for better or worse, until death parts you?”

James and Stanford – “We will”.

Pinnick fixes the ring in their hands.

Pinnick – “By the powers conferred on me by the church, I now confirm you – SOUL MATES!

Shouts of joy fill the whole church. Then the chant from the radio of Stanford concludes the story.

“Love is neither black nor white,

It flows free like humblest kite;

Ever faithful, ever true,

Singing in its pleasant hue.

Love is flowing in the air,

Piping with a passion rare;

Growing tall and growing wide,

Taming all with wicked pride.

Love is always true and gay

This is such a happy day;

Rhymes shall cure the olden scar,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.