Hamlet and Othello, When the Walls Fell
Suppose, then, that it is much later in our future, but not so far ahead that we are totally different from now. We are still looking for the proper way to frame what has happened; how we came to where we are, but we definitely like some narratives more than others, and we like a few not at all. Suppose the “Technological Singularity” we were told to expect never happened, and we still rely on the media for information. Well in that case, it seems we can suss out a few things that hint at what happened, without ruffling too many sleeping birds. How does that saying go?
We know from the Bureau of Ed that, unlike the ancients, our society only voted out the leader, rather than making him drink poison publicly, or crucifying him, or secretly stabbing him when he least expected it. We are peaceful and democratic. A Prosaic Leader was chosen, after years of Elitists, one who claimed no sensitivity and applied basic standards. It's the way things should be, according to the News Bureau.
This is what we talk about as we file peacefully into the hall to see the new Shakespeare Fusion Number. My gender-neutral partner and I would have gone to the theatre but, since Hollywood fell under the red scare, the movies have been pretty lame. Live theatre is now all the rage, and these Fusion Plays are the bomb. This one, “Hamlet and Othello: When the Walls Fell” is a mix of two Shakespeare plays and some tv show from the 1990s. Very risque for our times, and the writer is deliciously subversive.
Only just subversive enough, though. We still file into our gendered sections. Heaven forbid a guy might enjoy a show with a girl. That would just be plain Trotskyist.
In this show, which I've been to with several gender neutral friends now (It's not yet safe at this time to refer to them as 'Newts' because it's diminutive), Hamlet and Othello both behave according to their traditional characters, but have been whisked away to a distant planet, where a creature of some hostility, who is ingeniously hidden from their vision, “cloaked” they call it as if with a technocratic device of some sort, attempts to kill them.
Hamlet, being Danocrat, and Othello being a Muslocrat, they have significant language barriers. But both are clever, and obviously Educratical. After the initial shock, they begin to work together, and even form a common language made of other languages they have in common. The truly subversive part of the play is when they begin using the old bibliophite tongue to speak with. At one point, they fall into a discussion about Othello's trusting nature.
Hamlet asks, “Matthew, 5:10?”
Othello replies, “Delilah, and Samson, with the Philistines.”
Hamlet nods, “Hebrews, 12:15.”
Othello puts the question back to Hamlet, “Yeshua, in the desert?”
Hamlet looks away and says, “Job 19.”
Othello winces gravely, replying, “Job, and Elihu my friend. Job and Elihu.”
Eventually, the two heroes devise a dangerous plan to kill the beast, and succeed, but at the cost of Hamlet's life. The last scene fades as Othello reassures him,
“Hamlet, and Othello, when the walls fell.”
The next day we read the news that the writer of the plays has been arrested under suspicion of High Marxism. His Theatre has been seized, and all of his works banned. And then, as if out of the wood-work, come the people who pretend to have known all along that the writer was a criminal, probably a Commucratic. We have to suspect that they are paid to do this, and directed by the Bureaucracy, but the truth is probably more ordinary.
And you, of course, have secretly been delving into the Forgotten Library across town for years. You even once assisted the Underground with the transfer of all the books and cached computer files on to Crystal Chips, back before it was officially a crime. Only the books are left now, so its safe. But you know the history, and you can see how we ended up here.
It was the same before. A large portion of the people actually wanted an autocratic government, and defended the kind of militant control that comes with it. That is what they understand as 'stability' and 'progress'. In their minds, the sacrifices were acceptable before-hand, and after the fact, they accepted most any rationale to validate their choices. They're people, that's what they do.
On this day, there is some resistance to the cat-calling and rabid slandering of the writer, but it is quickly shouted down because, as it is said now, “Acceptance Is Righteous”. You can see that, actually, it is just safer to shout down those who speak up than it is to challenge the society on something important. Not only that but, given the choice between doing what is right and following a brute who may kill you, most will choose the latter. That, is how we ended up here. The history, which you must never mention out loud, is clear.
Almost as in the Fusion Play, the time came when the heroes of the past had the opportunity to come together and learn to slay the cloaked beast. In reality though, they never learned to speak a common language. No matter how similar their lives were, of how much they truly had in common, they fell separately before a creature so cowardly disguised.
The only difference in this time, is that the choice was made far more peacefully than it had been before. In your mind the Jurocrats are still divided on the value of that. History looks at it like one of the major turning points. It was the chance to come together or remain divided, and the choice was a clear one. We can only wonder how long it will be before the point comes again. Five hundred years seems to be the average turnaround.
On this day, however, your dilemma is closer to home. After having another Theatre closed down, you have to find another intrepid soul who is willing to play the role as the Writer.
