Veil

By Sean Walsh

Veronica. The young woman who reputedly made her way through the crowds lining the way to Calvary and wiped the face of Jesus with a cloth. Later, she found the facial image of the Nazarene embedded on it.
Traditional? Indeed. Devotional? Doubtless. But without foundation in Scripture.

Was there such a person? Unlikely. Her very name – True Image - Vera from the Latin, Icon from the Greek – suggests a fiction.
But popular devotion – and mankind’s basic urge to reach out to the Suffering Saviour, offer Him some gesture of solace, however inadequate, along the Via Crucis – ensures that the legend of Veronica lives on to this day.

So... I placed her in the context of a family unit in Jerusalem at that time, began to stir the ingredients!
Her mother, Ruth, a good living, hard working jewess.
Her father, Azarias, a cleric, legalist, member of the Sanhedrin.
Her brother, Misach, diabolically possessed, who speaks not a coherent word right the way through the drama until the climax.
Her suitor, Benjamin, an impulsive young man with leanings towards the Zealots.
Sadoc, another member of the Sanhedrin who seeks to manipulate Azarias at an opportune moment...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sean Walsh
• Release date: Feb 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463089958

Sean Walsh

I've worked and lived in communications all my life: journalist, subeditor, editor, actor, director, producer - here in Ireland and abroad.I fell in love with Hiberno-English a long time ago - English as it is spoken and written in my country - and have been in love with it ever since.I love the challenge of pen and blank paper: creating characters, storylines, drama.If I may share with you some of the gems that have influenced me down the years; I've tried to abide by them but didn't always succeed!"You make your way by taking it..."It does not just happen, you have to make it happen..."Sometimes in stooping down to pick up two pennies one can lose a fortune..."InterestsFriendship - when it is not possessive, controlling...Quiet. Silence - a positive value completely overlooked by many today...Reading - carefully judged. If I'm not hooked by the first sequence - the first paragraph - I won't read any further...Trying, day in day out, not to spill any more milk... and to stop crying over milk already spilt.Not suffering fools gladly...Analysing Casablanca, frame for frame, line by line...(TBC...)PublicationsMy scripts have been broadcast on RTE, Radio One, BBC 4 and, in translation, on European networks; televised on RTE One, BBC One and Channel 4; staged at the Peacock by the Abbey National Theatre, at the Project, the Eblana, the Liverpool Playhouse and on the London Fringe...Credits include The Night of the Rouser. Earwig. The Dreamers. Fugitive. Veil. Penny for Your Travels. Far Side of the Moon. Three for Calvary. Jenny One, Two, Three... The Circus. Centre Circle. Where Do We Go from Here, My Lovely? At The Praetorium. Conclave. Assault on a Citadel.Has conducted many workshops on Creative/Script Writing in Dublin and at various centres around Ireland.Favourite authorsA D Sertillanges. John Henry Newman. Waugh. Greene. Hemingway. Hans Kung.LikesGood conversation. The company of my fellow searchers... Con pane... meaning, with bread... hence company...DislikesArrogant, self-opinionated prigs... Controlling, bullying clerics...Favourite Quote"I passionately hate the idea of being with it. I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time." (Orson Welles (1915 - 1985))

Book preview

V e i l

Sean Walsh

Published by:

Sean Walsh

© 2020 by Sean Walsh

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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"And which of your colleagues

in the Sanhedrin gives s whit for your plight?

And even if they cared what could they do?

"Will Sadoc cure our child?

Can Caiaphas exorcise our son?!"

Copyright © 2020 by Sean Walsh

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

No production of this play, amateur or professional, may be undertaken without the written permission of the playwright or his agent.

www.sean-walsh.me

Dedication

To my daughters, Siobhan and Joanna,

by way of ‘compensation.’

When they were wee girls, in pyjamas, ready for bed,

they sat at the radio to listen to their Dad’s play -

and got such a fright they dived under the bunk beds,

wee hands cupped over their ears!

Author’s Note

Veronica. The young woman who reputedly made her way through the crowds lining the way to Calvary and wiped the face of Jesus with her veil.

Later, she found the facial image of the Nazarene embedded on it.

Traditional? Indeed. Devotional? Doubtless.

But without foundation in Scripture.

Was there such a person? Unlikely. Her very name - True Image - Vera from the Latin, Icon from the Greek - would indicate a fiction.

But popular devotion - and mankind’s basic urge to reach out to the Suffering Saviour, offer Him some gesture of solace, however inadequate, along the Via Crucis - ensures that the legend of Veronica lives on to this day.

So… I placed her in the context of a family unit in Jerusalem at that time, then began to stir the ingredients!

In a word:

the Passion of Christ

as it affected a member of the Sanhedrin

and his family...

C A S T

AZARIAS

Late forties, early fifties. A legalist, traditionalist, set in his ways.

A strict observer of the Law. A scribe, member of the Sanhedrin.

In his own home, quite the disciplinarian.

RUTH

Younger than her husband, Azarias. A devoted wife, loving mother to Misach and Veronica. In awe, somewhat, of her husband…

VERONICA

Early twenties. ‘Lives at home, subservient to her parents – up to a point. Like her parents, she is torn, stricken, by what has befallen her brother. A lovely, lovable girl reduced to tragedy...

MISACH

Younger than Veronica - but that is academic. Gaunt, grotesque, slobbering, incoherent - a caricature of the young man he once was.

In a word, possessed.

SADOC

Pompous, corporeal, a member of the Sanhedrin, a status quo yes-man, manipulative, about the same age as Azarias.

BENJAMIN

In his twenties, in love with Veronica. A hot-head with a big heart. He is anti-establishment, anti-Roman, anti-orthodox Jewry.

A GUARD

One of the Sanhedrin militia. Two, three lines.

VOICES

Off stage. Calling from the street below... Several one-liners.

Voices from the front row... Male, female.

TIME

The past, the ever present... Two thousand plus years ago - or Today?

THE SET

The living area in the home of Azarias and his family,

somewhere in Jerusalem.

A table... chairs/seats... A door (?) leads in from outside...

Another door(?) leads into the inner house.

Utensils, beakers, an oil lamp... A side table.

A "window in the fourth wall of the set

opens out unto the street below."

COSTUMES

Traditional? Costume drama? Conventional? Modern?.. ‘Hard one to call... A play of Yesteryear or a play for Today?.. Or both?!

N B: the bloodied cloth that Veronica uses in the exorcism scene is quite distinct from the veil – white, unstained – with which she scarfs herself on her final exit…

Catholics