Cast
(in the order of appearance)
| Golda Meir ..... |
LISA MORGAN* |
* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States
Author's Note
When the Theatre Guild asked me two decades ago to write a Golda play, I agreed because it was a unique
opportunity to meet human beings who wield state power. Kurt Vonnegut says if we look around we'll see
we are being ruled by the people we went to high school with; still, they're different.
I went to Israel for months and talked with all the survivors of Golda's story, principally Golda, and
then wrote the play. But I was dissatisfied with it. I had, for several reasons, failed to find half of
something in me that wanted to be said.
Coming upon this in my reading two years ago I knew I'd found the other half, and I wrote this monologue.
Obviously I was concerned with Arabs and Israelis, but my theme went deeper. Cromwell in England,
Robespierre in France, Lenin in Russia; all had been on fire with the wish to "amend humanity" (the phrase
is John Adams'). And in its pursuit, all had cut off a great number of heads, with less-than-perfect results.
So, in taking a second crack at the material, the core of my theme was in the question I put into Golda's
mouth, "What happens when idealism becomes power?" It kills.
Our human make-up will not become less complex, and the "better angels of our nature" will continue to be
accompanied by the fallen ones. So, best to see our actions in their full range, not simply in the day's
banners.
Adams also said we "should be sensible of each other's ignorance, weakness, and error" - which I interpret
as being not too far from Golda's use of the word, "Shalom."
~ William Gibson
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