CONDEMNED SCRIPT

Narrator 1: Warden opens the door as Tia Chedeng runs out without looking back.
Pablo sits down, very tired. Cristina enters. She is about twenty-one, dressed in black.
She is pale but pretty; shy and quiet. She stands beside the door, staring at Pablo, who
presently notices her presence. 

Pablo: Cristina! 

Cristina: We have so little time left, Pablo. 

Pablo: What can we say to each other? 

Cristina: I just want to say….. I will always love you. 

Pablo: I’m not worthy of you, Cristina. 

Cristina: If you love me. Don’t… go… away .. without - 

Pablo: Without marrying you? Can’t you see it would be unfair to you? I should like
to marry you now, even I’m about to - 

Cristina: Let’s not think about what the next few moments will bring. 

Pablo: For the first time in my life. I know what real love is - the deep silent affection, the
quiet understanding, the feeling of gentle gratitude, the sense of being alive, yes alive.
Neither a mother’s nor woman’s love I have known. Early in life, I soiled my mind with
unworthy thoughts - my mouth with drink and dirty language - my heart polluted with
petty desires. And my hands with stealing, gambling, and now, murder! And then you
came Cristina. You came into my messy, lonely life and cleansed my mind and soul,
and brightened my world. Until that night - 

Cristina: Why? Oh God, Why? If only I hadn’t been walking alone that night - 

Pablo: When you told me the next morning how that fellow had tried to rape you! I forgot
myself - I forgot you - I forgot everything! I only knew I had to wipe away the insult - 

Cristina: But why with blood Pablo? You shouldn’t have- 

Pablo: With blood, yes. But for me, it was the only way. That insult had to be wiped
away with blood! If we get married now. What can I offer you? Nothing! Premature
widowhood- the name of a murderer. And a few memories of what might have been. 

Cristina: What do I get? Widowhood - yes, but also the assurance of your heart and
mine faithful unto the end and for always.  A few memories, I wish there had been more!
But still memories I shall cherish all through eternity. 
Pablo: After all of this, and when this is over. You’ll forget me 

Cristina: I shall not be able to forget, Pablo! 

Pablo: Someday, you should meet a better fellow - who can offer you a better future.
You’ll be glad that you didn’t marry me, that you were free. 

FR, Lim: It’s nearly time, my son. 

Pablo: Father- this is Cristina. Father could we--- 

Fr, Lim: Yes? 

Pablo: Could you marry us - now? It’s the last favor I ask you, Father! Could you? 

Fr, Lim: But- 

Pablo: Yes, I know I’m going to die in a few minutes. 

Cristina: We love each other, Father.

Fr, Lim: Have you known each other long? 

Pablo: Seven months- 

Fr, Lim: But at this moment 

Cristina: I want to marry him - even at this moment. 

Fr, Lim: Time is short, We shall need two witnesses. 

Pablo: My Tia Chedeng is outside. Cristina, are you sure you want this? 
Cristina: Surer than ever. 

Narrator 2: Fr, Lim returns with Tia Chedeng and Andres, followed by Warden. Father
Lim starts getting ready for the ceremony. Pablo and Cristina are ordered to kneel
down, Andres and Tia Chedin standing beside them. The Warden stands near the right
door. The mumbling of prayers by the priest is indistinctly heard. As the ceremony
progresses, Cristina little by little loses pose, covers her face as Pablo holds her by the
shoulders. The ceremony is over. Tia Chedeng kisses Cristina who is silently wiping her
tears. 

Pablo: I almost forgot! The bottle of whiskey! Let’s all celebrate! 

Warden: Five minutes left. 

Narrator: Warden heard something outside. So he runs to the door quickly. 

Warden: You can’t get in without a pass! 

ANGELA: Let me in! Let me in! 

Narrator4: Everybody looks towards the door when loud voices are heard outside
suddenly.

WARDEN: Who are you?

ANGELA: I am his mother! 

Narrator5: Pablo's eyes were blown wide as he heard that voice, he was stunned for a
few seconds. His expression changed from sorrowful and distant to outraged, and the
thought of his mother made him feel sick.

WARDEN: But you don’t have a pass!

ANGELA: He’s my son— and I have the right to see him so let me in!

PABLO: Warden, can you let her in?

WARDEN: Is she your mother?

PABLO: She used to be. 

FR. LIM: I will wait here outside. 

Narrator6: ANGELA GONZALEZ, 45, moves forward a few steps. Despite her old age,
she is using excessive cosmetics to maintain her faded youth and beauty. Her bright-
colored clothes, as well as her use of large jewelry, gives her an air of bad taste and
vulgarity. Her voice has a husky tone to it.

PABLO: What do you want?

ANGELA: I wanted to see you.

ANGELA. I, I was—ashamed.

PABLO: Ashamed? And aren’t you ashamed to be here now?

ANGELA: Pablo, I am still your mother.

PABLO: The woman I used to call mother died when—after Father’s death until she
lived with Marcos Table.

ANGELA: You hate me so much. 

PABLO: I don’t hate you. From that moment, I erased you from my life. You're just a
plain stranger to me, that's how I feel about you.

ANGELA: I have left him—I left Marcos for good.

PABLO: And you came all the way here to tell me that?

ANGELA: I don’t understand—

PABLO: If I’m here now—if I’m condemned to the chair if I am minutes away from dying
—it’s because of you!

ANGELA: I really tried, I—

PABLO: Did you ever tell me to fear God? Tia Chedeng taught me a few prayers, which
I soon forgot when I ran away. My faults became habits, and now I was enslaved by my
bad actions.

ANGELA: I wasn’t to blame—try to understand, my son—

PABLO: Son? Don't you dare to call me your son! And a few months after Father’s
death—I was ten, just a young kid then—you fell in love with Marcos Nable— lived with
him and abandoned me like I am not your child!

ANGELA: I left him.

PABLO: And?

ANGELA: When I read about your sentence a few weeks ago—I—I realized that—I had
done wrong--
PABLO: And what have you done to me in the meantime? You shattered my dreams,
shattered my faith, and filled me with anger — the bitterness of a son who despises his
mother!

ANGELA: Pablo! Please have pity!

PABLO: Pity! But you never had any for me, have you? You sent me out into the world
with no hope, no anchor, and no dreams! I wandered alone—and lonely—without a
home and feeling homesick with no one by my side—until I met Cristina—the girl I’ve
just married.

ANGELA: Married! 

PABLO: And now that I'm about to die, how I yearn to have my mother at my side, to be
able to tell her how sorry I am, to be able to kiss her goodbye. But that's not the case!
It’s my mother who has sent me here!

ANGELA: Pablo, my son!

Narrator7: There is a dreadful mix of sorrow and resentment resonated off the walls and
around Angela's mind. She slowly raises herself, while Pablo hides his face behind his
hands. Angela wears a determined expression on her face as she gently removes her
earrings, bangles, and rings from her ears and places them on the table, slowly and
silently. She also tries to remove the makeup from her face. Her voice is low and sweet
when she speaks.

ANGELA: Listen to what I have to say. I was forced to marry your father against my will.
I didn’t love him and he knew it. It wasn’t my fault! My family should not have opposed
me from marrying the man I truly loved. I turned to gamble and pleasure to distract
myself from my sadness and. And that was enough to keep me away from your father. I
didn't want a child, as you may have guessed, so when you arrived, I simply left you in
the care of servants. However, just a few people were aware of our unhappy marriage.
And once your father died, I needed something to do with my lonely years—

PABLO: Tia Chedeng tried to convince me that Father's death had left you lonely and
bitter—yes, but for other reasons.

ANGELA: So I left you in Tia Chedeng’s care, then. She wanted you. When you were
eleven—that was the time I met Marcos. Tia Chedeng knew about my unhappy
marriage with your father.

PABLO: She knew and never told me.

ANGELA: I’ve told you everything! Now condemn me if you dare!

ANGELA: Yes, son, let me take care of her! I’ll be a real mother to her—what I haven’t
been to you!

PABLO: If I could die with the word “Mother” on my lips—if I could call you Mother! God
in heaven, why, why can’t I call you Mother? 

Narrator8: Angela would have been content with Pablo giving her a chance to take care
of the woman he loves the most because she knew she didn't deserve more.
Nonetheless, she clings to the thread of hope she still has that his son will call her his
mother after all these years. Pablo says his words desperately, desperate to call Angela
her mother at least once before his life ends when the door opens.

WARDEN: Time’s up! The officials await you in your cell.

ANGELA: No, No, No! Not yet— please not yet! 

FR. LIM: We must start, Pablo.

Narrator: Pablo stares at the Warden and Father Lim as if in a trance. The sudden
realization dawned on him, he was just a human, just another life coming to an end. 

WARDEN: Do you want to see your wife?

PABLO: My wife? Oh, Cristina. Yes—no—never mind. Why hurt her more? Father—I
am—afraid—to die.

FR. LIM: Don’t doubt God’s mercy. His mercy is as wide and as deep as the ocean.

PABLO: Father—will you hear my confession? 

Narrator9: Father Lim nods and Pablo kneeled. The priest gave him the absolution. It
was time for him to go.

ANGELA: My son!

CRISTINA: Pablo! Wait! 

Narrator10: Pablo stares at her with compassion in his eyes, makes a gesture of leaning
towards her, then quickly turns and walks out through the back door with Warden,
closing the door behind them. Outside, bells start to ring. The door slides open. Cristina,
Tia Chedeng, and Andres rush in.

(Bell)
Narrator11: Cristina breaks down and collapses in front of the back door, a figure of
total despair. Tia Chedeng sits on a chair, with Andres behind her. Angela is standing in
the front right corner, hands folded tightly and bead down as if praying. Tia Chedeng
prays with a rosary in her hands. 

Narrator: The bells suddenly stopped chiming. When they hear footsteps, everyone
raises their gaze to the back door in anticipation. When the rear door opens, Father Lim
enters and closes it. Cristina and Angela move in closer with a pleading gesture.

FR. LIM: It’s all over. His last words were—his last words—

CRISTINA and ANGELA: Yes—?

FR. LIM: “Cristina”—“Tia” —

ANGELA: Was that—all?

FR. LIM: —and “Mother.” He whispered, like a prayer, the word “Mother”—twice.

ANGELA: Mother—twice.

Narrator: As Cristina breaks into sobs, crumpling in on herself and her chest heaves as
she sobs, Angela bends over and enfolds her in her arms. Tia Chedeng makes the sign
of the cross, And it ends. There are no grand endings, no miracles, it is a predictable
one. But then, the prisoner is free.