4000 Miles and After the Revolution by Amy Herzog

Author:Amy Herzog [Herzog, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781559367165
Publisher: Theatre Communications Group

Scene 6

Vera’s apartment. Emma reads to Vera.

EMMA (Reading): Dear Friends of The Joe Joseph Fund. Uh . . . (To Vera) I’m gonna skip the introduction. Okay. You okay?

VERA: So far you haven’t said anything.

EMMA (Reading): The first order of business is that it has come to light that my grandfather, Joe Joseph, passed classified government information to Soviet agents during World War II. This fact came as a shock to—

(To Vera) You know this part . . .

(Continuing to read) I realize your support for the fund may have been intimately connected to Joe’s legacy, and because of that I’d like to offer you the chance to have your donations returned. An anonymous donor has offered to make up for any lost funds, so your decision to have your contributions returned will not negatively impact our work.

That said, I urge you not only to let your past contributions stand, but to continue to make The Joe Joseph Fund a financial priority. We have reached a crucial juncture in the fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal. This fall we expect the Supreme Court to hear our petition for—

(To Vera) And I go on about Mumia for a while . . . um . . .

(Reading) It turns out that my grandfather’s legacy / included—

VERA: Louder.

EMMA (Loudly): It turns out that my grandfather’s legacy included activities that I consider to be dishonest and dishonorable. But it is his greater legacy, his belief in a society where regardless of your race or political persuasion you may speak out without fear, that I hope you will continue to uphold with your contributions and your support.

The other piece of news is that I am resigning as executive director of the fund. You can direct any questions to Miguel Roja, our interim leader whose wisdom and passion will guide us through this period of transition. I will retain my position on the board, and I will never be far from this organization in my heart and mind.

(To Vera) That’s it.

(Pause.)

VERA: Well I think I know who the anonymous donor is. And I hope he’s not expecting a date out of this.

(Emma laughs.)

I don’t agree with a lot of it, but you know that.

I don’t agree with your decision to leave it in someone else’s hands. It’s a family thing, or that’s what I thought. And I don’t know what you’re going to do with yourself, besides.

EMMA: I don’t know either, Grandma.

VERA: And I don’t agree with what you said about, uh. Dishonorable. I don’t agree with that at all, and I wish you’d change it before you send it out.

EMMA: I’ve already sent it out.

VERA: Oh. Then you’re not asking for my advice.

EMMA: No.

VERA: Then I’m not sure why you read it to me.

EMMA: I wanted to share it with you. The conclusions I’ve reached.

VERA: Well. The fact is you weren’t there back then so you can’t ever really know what it was like. You can look back and say we did this wrong, or we did that wrong, but the point is it was for something.

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