A Few Good Men

People of the Jury,

     You are about to receive a lot of information. You might be confused by some of it, but you may not ask for clarification. You may not speak, you may not raise your hand, you may not steer the conversation – you may only receive what we give you and hope it is enough. Because of that, you might not agree with the outcome of this trial. You might argue on your walks or drives or flights home with your fellow jurors over whether justice was served, but you may only draw your own conclusions, and cast your verdict. 

     Today, you will see people who are trapped. You will watch as these people struggle against the systems in which they are supposed to believe. As you witness these people come to terms with the corruption inherent in these systems, you will see the fragility of justice and honor. Among those who once believed in these systems, you will see some make it out alive, some set free, some put in handcuffs, and some dead. 

     Through all of this, you will witness the degrees to which people and systems perform their own importance, knowledge, and dedication to justice. You will see attorneys who position the truth, and marines who claim to hate casualties. You will see men who are referred to as children, and children who are expected to be men. And within this world, you will watch a confident, relentless woman do her job.  

     You may already be familiar with some of the facts of the case at hand, and thus you may have some of your own ideas about how this story should be told. Maybe you’ve brought those ideas into this courtroom with you. We’d like to ask you to put those expectations aside, because in all likelihood, you will not see those familiar representations today.

     This is a play about a lot of things – the law, the military, sexism, power – but most importantly, this is a play about two kids being scapegoated, and the one woman who was willing to put everything on the line to save them. 

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Thank you for your attention.