Mel C Thompson

Reconciliation Island Mel C Thompson

Gracia di Romanique, an idealistic UN official gets appointed temporary governor of a failed state. But her lofty ideals are challenged by intractable problems on the ground. She also led into temptation by a charismatic, authoritarian, international fugitive named George Summers, a former ICC prisoner. He and his friends, global money launderers and weapons dealers, have very non-idealistic views about how to run a government.

Meanwhile, the perennial receptionist, Antoine, has been holding down the fort through three successive administrations. He is not shy about sharing his strangely logical and stoically perverse view of the chaos around him. He remains poised as the people around him face death, imprisonment and betrayal. Neither moved by greed nor given to importunate flattery, he tells the mundane truth in almost every situation.

Various nations invade, or threaten to invade. There are battles with Marxist guerrillas, negotiations with theocratic, right-wing insurgents, discussions with Russian and Chinese oligarchs. Weapons and money are moved around like chess pieces. Tax cheats, shell corporations and gun runners, all looking for a home, converge on this controversial island as it struggles to become a country.

No nationality, culture, religion or gender comes out unscathed as, in the end, no one turns out to be above ruthless calculation. There is no scenario in this story where anyone can avoid lesser-of-evils choices.

This text is designed as a streaming-audio play, and it reads very much like a script. (For old-worlders, this would be considered a radio play.) It comes complete with stage directions, set directions and short character descriptions. It can be performed by voices alone and therefore the work is completely portable and need not be reliant on support from any venue or platform.