The Pestilent Silent Peril of Looming War – Act I

Act I, Scene I: The Pestilent Silent Peril of Looming War

[Enter NARRATOR]

NARRATOR:
In the land where choices loom, mere three weeks hence,
Where candidates do clamour, with ardent sense,
A threat, unseen, lies coiled in shadows dark,
Most vital for our future’s hallowed mark.

[Enter CHORUS]

CHORUS:
What systemic bull’s-pizzle peril dost the people face,
Under democracy’s fragile grace?
An axis new of states totalitarian,
Like ghosts of tyrants past, barbarian.

[Enter SPIRITS OF DEMOCRACY and TYRANNY]

TYRANNY:
Lo, China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran,
Lead this fearful, dark and dreadful clan.
Yet with them march others of ilk severe,
Syria, Myanmar, and states most drear.

SPIRITS OF DEMOCRACY:
Russia’s crimes in tomes of infamy be writ,
Putin’s ambition knows no limit.
From Georgia’s war to Crimea’s stolen shore,
And Ukraine’s bloodied fields of war.

TYRANNY:
His fist doth crush dissent within his land,
Cyber shadows reach the West’s fair strand.
With Beijing’s froward and unable worms’ aid,
His war machine they stoke,
North Korea’s arms in darkness cloak.

[Enter SPIRIT OF CHINA]

SPIRIT OF CHINA:
In Xinjiang’s fields, a genocide unfolds,
Uyghurs’ cries in iron grip hold.
Hong Kong’s treaty by their hand is torn,
Freedom’s champions jailed, forlorn.

SPIRITS OF DEMOCRACY:
Slave labour doth their Empire’s wealth amass,
Forced organs taken, as prisoners pass.
Their eyes on Taiwan’s freedom cast,
In South China Sea, their shadows vast.

[Enter SPIRIT OF IRAN]

SPIRIT OF IRAN:
Iran, with Russia’s and China’s hand,
Supports terror, sows fear across the land.
Hamas’s shadow darkens Israel’s skies,
Distracting West from Ukraine’s cries.

TYRANNY:
The West, though in this war unaware,
Pigeon-liver’d loses ground in freedom’s lair.
Since Cold War’s end, democracy doth wane,
Autocracies rise, their power plain.

[Enter SPIRIT OF DEPENDENCE]

SPIRIT OF DEPENDENCE:
On China’s goods, the West doth feed,
Batteries, wind turbines, all their need.
In Net-Zero’s rush, they turn a blind eye,
To Xinjiang’s slaves under darkened sky.

CHORUS:
Universities, with gold from East, do swell,
Dependence grows, a silent knell.
China’s police in foreign lands do creep,
Yet G7’s voice is muted, fast asleep.

[Enter SPIRIT OF HYPOCRISY]

SPIRIT OF HYPOCRISY:
Here in the UK, TikTok’s government devices banned,
Yet, election campaigns in its grip stand.
Berlin Wall’s fall brought triumph’s cheer,
Yet now EU appeasement’s echoes near.

[Enter WISDOM]

WISDOM:
The end of history, they once declared,
Yet history repeats, its lessons bared.
Rudyard Kipling’s words do ring so clear,
The fool returns, his path austere.

CHORUS:
“That the dog returns to its vomit and the sow returns to her mire,
And the burnt fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the fire.”

[Exeunt]

NARRATOR:
Thus, heed the call to stand and fight,
Against the creeping catastrophe tickling,
Shadows of the villainous night.
For in this peril, we must find our might,
To safeguard democracy’s beacon bright.