CHARACTERS:
| The Sage of the Green Ears | } | Futurist Sages |
| The Sage of the Purple Hair | ||
| The Sage of the Blue Face | ||
| The Sage of the Yellow Hat | ||
| The Sage of the Red Sword | ||
| The Sage of the White Heart | ||
| The Woman |
SCENE:
The Council Room of the Futurist Sages, decorated in brilliant colors to suggest a battle of the minds at some far future date. The Sages are seated about the walls in a parabolic curve. They are costumed with appropriate inappropriateness. Green ears is in present day evening dress; Purple hair in fiery green robes; Blue face in a pink business suit; Yellow hat in a conventional futurist costume of mingled colors; Red sword in a black monk’s gown, with a sword in his rope girdle; White heart, who is young, in football armor.
Blue Face. Shall we give the woman a chance to defend herself?
Green Ears. Why should we? If her defense is good, we shall be prejudiced against her. And as we admit the rule of prejudice, the defense will lose its judicial character.
Red Sword. Judicial? Who wants to be judicial? I abolished that word last year.
Green Ears. That’s just the point. We hate the judicial; therefore if the defense loses its judicial character we may be forced to decide both ways at the same time. Acquit on the ground of illogical defense; convict on the grounds of prejudice against good defense.
Purple Hair. Red sword has abolished judicial. Well, we have also abolished the past; we have abolished all abolishments!
Yellow Hat. Above all, we must guard against precedent. Let us look up all previous trials, and take care to do the opposite.