I wrote the following play for performance by ENCG students of Agadir, Morocco. It portrays a dilemma taking
shape due to
language and
culture. I hope you would enjoy every excquisite word it may offer. It is entitled Spare the Rod and Spoil Walid.
Act one
Scene one
( Walid is peacefully asleep long after eleven o''clock in the morning. His mother comes shaffling along the corridor, determined to get her son Walid go to the faculty. She starts knocking at the door)
Mother: Walid! Walid! Wake up my little child! Is everything all right with you?
(Silence)
Walid! Open the door honey! It is your mom again, coming to wake you up!
( Walid wakes up, sits up right in bed, rubbing his eyes. He yaawns, comfortably stretching out his eyes and legs before he wears a pyjamas and rushes to pen the door
Walid: I wish you had not awaken me up!
Mother: Your father could have made a fuss about you being still asleep! I was obliged to lie and let him know you went to the faculty
Walid: The faculty! The faculty! A mass of nerves. That''s what I call it! A place full of dirty knaves and infernal fools, roaring, quarrelsome! Hard boys and girls! ( Silence). Is there anything else I can do apart from feeling obliged to greet persons I cannot connect with. ( mimicks students): " hello! How are you? Is everything all right with you?"
Mother: ( takes him from the chin and she stares at him in almost childlike wonder and pity): You are a lovely child!
Walid: .....( embarrassed). Hum, I just wish father could come and visit me there, at that whore of "faculty", breathing hard and feeling powerless and helpless, surrounded by boys and girls....mere prospective carpeners, builders and shoe-makers!
Mother: Hush with you!
Walid: I am a man of art and not of trade.
Mother: Come on! Infirnal fool!
Walid: ( his throat is full of knobs and sobs): Students are like flies, insolently sucking at my blood.
Mother: ( Rushes to the table to help Walid with breakfast): To your health my little baby!
Walid: I cannot stand it any more. ( He stands up raving): I''ll go to some better land where my abilities would be recognized and encouraged. There is no motivation in here, nothing but death and misery! I miss free meadows, cool brooks...., you know, an existence of soft, eternal peace.
Mother: ( Kidding): You are a child to kidnap! ( She catches him from the chin, and she raises a cup of milk up to his lips) Help yourself with whatever you like my little doll!
Walid ( embarrassed again): I do not like anyone in this land!. I shall head up ( stands up raving) a much better place fit for artists like me, ...paradise on earth, you know, a miniature paradise is what it is!
Mother ( stares sadly at him): You will be going very soon, then!
Walid: I mean to open my eyes to some new ways: Illinois University is my real place. In three months only, I shall be a guest in a paradise-like setting.
Mother: ( Struggles against tears): You are a child to be missed.
Walid: ( Raises a glass of milk up to his mouth): To your long life! ( He immediately goes back to bed)
Mother ( Joins him): Is everything all right with you Walid?
Walid: I mean to sleep and to dream, nothing but that!
Mother ( She pauses for a while looking admiringly at Walid far asleep. Then, she staggers back to the door)
Act one
Scene two
Father: ( Gives vent to shouts of irritation and agony): You''ve spoilt the child quite enough for him to be able to use his right mind. ( Violently): All our Walid could do now is sleep, sleep sleep like an old ass.
Mother: I understand your provocation, but it cannot excuse your conduct. The child is under hard stress. He blisters and he sweats in the heat and in the pain of a miserable life.
Father:( His breath comes out hard and wheezing): Where is the donkey? I''ll teach him a lesson he''ll never forget. ( He waves a stick in the air and makia Walid''s sleeping room): Spare the rod and spoil Walid! Where is the donkey? Tell me where the ass is!
Mother: Moha! Moha! I beg you let the child alone!
Father: Who the hell does he think he is? He''ll starve to death as soon as I am wiped out of this existence.
Mother: At Illinois University, he''ll get free from this desperate life.
Father: Illinois shit! I''ll throw him over board and thus, I''ll finish with him! Now, where is the ass? I mean to struck him against the shoulders. I mean to teach him manners. ( He rushes into the corridor, waving his stick).
The curtain falls
Act two
Scene one
( Three months later, Walid has packed up for illinois university)
Walid ( Mumbling): Well, I guess I must leave. I am determined never to come back.
Mother ( Smiles faintly): Is it not possible for you to change your mind about leaving? I''ll miss you terribly
Walid ( Laughs loudly):You make it sound as though you would never see me again!
Mother: We could obviously collect, call but I wish you could stay home.
Walid:( Feeling guilty and insecure): Do not worry too much about me mom! I''ll be back very soon
Mother ( Sobbing, she gives him a hug): Oh Walid! Walid!
Walid (Loses self-control. Quivering, he looks at the distance). I must go now, otherwise, I shall miss the ship.
Mother: Is it not too late to change your mind my little doll? Do you consider coming back?
Walid: I shall be back sooner than you can imagine!
The curtain falls
Act two
Scene one:
( Two months have elapsed)
Father: ( Frowning): Who is there?
Walid: ( Puts down his heavy suitcase, feeling uncomfortably conscious of his unwashed, unshaven appearance. His hair is missy and full of dirt and his clothes are in rags. He limps a little, though leaning upon a long stick, sustained by a young foreign lady? Sonia)
Father: ( Still frowning, he looks at Walid up and down): Tell me I''m just under the grips of a nightmare! Is that Walid coming back to poison my world?
Sonia:( Taking a strong grip of Walid''s hand): Slowly, Slowly honey! Mind the steps! That''s it, that''s brave!
( Silence)
Father: ( Looks at Sonia and at Walid with an expression of anger and astonishment): Who is there?
Sonia: ( She puts out her hand to touch the mouth of her companion, completely unmindful of the father)
Father: ( Swings round to face Sonia with a bad, tempered grunt): In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful. Who is She?
Walid: ( In a quivering state): Sonia. She is........ my wife.
Mother: ( draws closer to Walid and Sonia, weeping): She...I mean....Sonia, saved our Walid.
Father: ( with goggling and angry eyes): She saved the donkey from what?
( Silence)
Father: She saved him from what, I say!
Mother: Well, you know, he is still a child and......
Father: ( Stares frowning at Walid): She has saved you from what?
Walid: ( on the verge of a sob): She saved me from that hell out of which I have come back. I fell sick in circumstances you cannot imagine.
Sonia: ( embarrassed): Is everything all right with your father, Walid?
Walid: ( tries to restaure his dignity, shrugging his shoulders): I do not know.
Sonia: ( Makes for Walid, looking admiringly at him): I love you.
Father: ( Hands up, invoking Allah''s pardon): Ustaghfiru Ahhah Al Athim
Sonia: ( Looks back at Moha with an expression of hatred): I met Walid three days afer his arrival at USA. I realized he was left in the lurch and so, I ventured to save him. He was lonely and looked miserable,.....he was left in the hands of a terrible destiny....Thus, I decided to get thoughouly in charge of him to guarantee his survival in that land.
Father: ( In a state of rage, looks down at the mother): What the hell does this Kafira say? What reward have got?
Mother: Let us forget about it! It is the generation gap, you know? You and I would not understand the little