OLD SOUTH, NEW SOUTH, NO SOUTH
by
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BETTY: Die with dignity? That’s still death, isn’t it? DR. FRANKLIN: Yes, it is still death. BETTY: And what gives you or Carl and me the right to choose between life and death for my mother? DR. FRANKLIN: Because your mother can’t decide anymore. BETTY: So doesn’t that make us all the more responsible? Shouldn’t we be all the more certain that we are not just snuffing out a life because it is inconvenient, or expensive, or just unnecessary? CARL: Betty, please. Get off your moral high horse and look at the reality down here. Mother’s a vegetable, not a person. She’s a plant that we’re giving food and water to so she continues to survive for our own selfish ends. BETTY: Selfish! Who’s selfish here? You, the one who can’t see mother suffer? Or me, who has the courage and conviction to stand by her in her most vulnerable hour? CARL: Don’t be ridiculous. Why are you doing this? Dr. Franklin and I are trying to help end this useless suffering. BETTY: Stop it! Stop spouting this drivel! You’re trying to kill her because. . . . (Stops.) DR. FRANKLIN: (To BETTY.) Killing is forbidden by the Hippocratic Oath. But letting nature take its course is not. BETTY: Nature! What’s natural about starvation? What’s natural about euthanasia? What’s natural about two men ganging up on a helpless, old woman and snuffing out her life? DR. FRANKLIN: (To BETTY.) Please get a hold of yourself. No one is talking about euthanasia here. BETTY: (Yells at FRANKLIN.) God! You’re just playing God and you’re so full of yourself that you don’t even see it. DR. FRANKLIN: Perhaps, but God shows mercy and compassion in the face of suffering. At least I hope he does. BETTY: Do you? Is killing old ladies showing compassion? CARL: Shut up! You’re insulting the doctor and you’re insulting me. BETTY: You! I haven’t even started on you. You’re nothing more than the sorcerer’s apprentice. You don’t even have the balls to take the decision. You need to hide behind Dr. God here. Yes, you’re his archangel lapdog. His ball-less little lap dog. CARL: And you have the balls, eh? Is that it? Is that why you’re still an unmarried old maid, or maybe a closet dike? Is that more like it?
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About the Book
"OLD SOUTH, NEW SOUTH, NO SOUTH" contains an exciting collection of short plays by the relatively unknown playwright, Dr. David Holcombe. Issues as diverse as human cloning, imperial watches, date rape and hoarding are addressed with the same magical combination of professional knowledge and artistic sensibility. This is must read for those who think they know the South and Southern writers. The diversity of length and subject matter make it a perfect source for those directors looking for something new and unexpected. Although Dr. Chekhov might role over in his grave, medicine and drama still offer an irresistible combination for the aspiring actor, director or even medical student with a love of theater.
About the Author
Dr. David J. Holcombe was born in San Francisco and raised in the East Bay Area in the shadow of Mount Diablo (in Contra Costa County). He received a BSA from the University of California in 1971 and a MSA from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1975. He subsequently graduated with an MD from the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium in 1981 and completed his residency in internal medicine at Johns-Hopkins University in 1986. After twenty years of work as an internist with a large multi-specialty group in Alexandria, Louisiana, Dr. Holcombe changed professional orientation and continued in public health. During his academic training and subsequent professional career, Dr. Holcombe has continued to write, paint and folk dance. His self published works included “Like Honored and Trusted Colleagues,” “Cappuccino at Podgorica,” and “Beauty and the Botox.” Eight of his short plays have been produced in the context of the Spectral Sisters Productions Ten Minute Play Festival in Alexandria. He and his wife, Nicole, live in Central Louisiana, where they contribute to the cultural life of the city and state. Dr. Holcombe regularly submits medical articles to local publications and serves as the volunteer Vice President and Medical Director for the Community Health Worx, a local free working people’s clinic.