the great bear: synopsis and extracts

 

characters:

 

Kravchenko       Male

Chikatilo        Male

Chernatsky       Male

 

And additional parts that can be played two actors (one male, one female)

 

approximate running time:

 

40 minutes

 

synopsis:

 

Based on a true story.  A young girl is violently raped and murdered in a small Russian mining town, bringing together the lives of three men: a detective, a disgraced teacher, and a former convict.  One will make a dreadful decision, one will be found guilty of the crime, and one will go on to become one of the world’s most notorious serial killers …

 

extract:

 

Darkness.   Slowly people appear.  They move across the stage portraying life in a Russian town.  As they freeze a Voice addresses the audience.

 

Voice   Comrades.  Friends.  Brothers.  Welcome to Russia.  Welcome to the motherland.  A land of hope, but a land of shattered dreams.  All around me, fellow countrymen anxious for the future, fearful of the past.  All living for today.

 

Alexander Kravchenko...

 

Kravchenko     A good man.  I try my best to support my wife and family.  I do try.  And it isn’t easy when money is short and your child is crying because he hasn’t eaten all day.  But I do work hard and hope for the future.  Yes, I am a good man.

 

Voice   In 1970, when Alexander was seventeen years old, he raped and murdered a girl of his own age, out of juvenile frustration perhaps.  He was caught and given the maximum sentence for a minor, ten years.  After six he was released on parole to perform labour useful to the state.  Hard Labour.  To keep him busy for the remainder of his sentence.  A good man?  Perhaps. 

 

Andrei Chikatilo ...

 

Chikatilo   I’ve got two children, and a good marriage.  And a steady job working at one of the local mining schools as a dormitory attendant.  And an apartment comes with the job.  I’ve got time for my own pleasures though, my books and my newspapers.  Reading about the world, and about here, Russia.  I am so proud to be Russian.  It hasn’t been the same since Stalin died, but I’m still proud.  And I’ve got my newspapers.  And my family.  What more could I ask for?

 

Voice   When Andrei was young he studied hard.  He knew exactly what sort of man he wanted to be, something for Russia and for Stalin to be proud of.  He went into teaching and believed that he could really make something of himself.  But like Alexander here, the path was not smooth.  Desires that his wife could not fulfil got the better of him.  And rumours spread when he was seen in the playground with little girls.  When staff reductions hit the school where he worked, Andrei was the first to go.  And reputations like that stick.  Why else would a trained teacher be working as a dormitory attendant at a school in a small mining town?  Why else?

 

Victor Chernatsky...

 

Chernatsky   When I was born into this country I had nothing.  My family had nothing.  My mother died when I was young and my father struggled to raise us.  Three brothers, three sisters and me.  But my father worked hard and taught us to work hard.  Which I did.  I studied in the day and earned money at night.  When I joined the police academy, I wanted my father to be proud of me.  My father, my family, my town, my country.  I wanted them all to be proud of me.  And when I finally returned as Chief Inspector, they were.

 

Voice   Chernatsky’s rise through the ranks was swift.  He worked hard and believed he deserved it.  But sometimes he believed justice had to be sought and rules had to be broken.  His methods were crude, but they got results and got him noticed.  He returned home as Chief Inspector.  As a hero.  Justice?  Maybe. 

 

Three men.  Three lives.  All living in one town.  One small town.  But soon, very soon, three men who will change the lives of each other.  Forever.

 

Pause.  It is early morning and although both Kravchenko and Chikatilo can be seen, they are clearly at their own homes.

 

Kravchenko (silent at first)   Galina?

 

Galina   Alex?  Is that you?

 

Kravchenko   I’m through here.  I couldn’t sleep.

 

Galina   What’s wrong?  Are you sick?

 

Kravchenko   No.  Just worrying.

 

Galina   Worrying?  About what?

 

Kravchenko   Things.

 

Galina   Things?

 

Kravchenko   The future.  Money.  The family. 

 

What are we going to do?  I don’t think we can cope if things stay as they are.  What can we do?

 

Galina   What we’ve always done, Alex.  Work hard, and hope. 

 

You’ve got me.

 

Kravchenko   I love you, Galina.  I love you.

 

Galina   And I love you.

 

Chikatilo   Fenya!  Fenya?

 

Fenya   Coming, dear.

 

Chikatilo   My papers.  Have you seen my papers?

 

Fenya   Papers?  You have so many papers ...

 

Chikatilo   The papers I was reading earlier.  I left them on the side.

 

Fenya   And I put them away.  In the cupboard.

 

Chikatilo   Thank you, dear.  Thank you.  I’d be lost without you.

 

Fenya   Yes, dear, I know.

 

Pause.

 

Kravchenko   I was so scared when my young stepson came running into the house on that cold December morning.

 

Stepson (calling)   Daddy, daddy, they’ve just pulled a little girl out of the river.  There’s a lot of people standing there.  And policemen.  Daddy, daddy, do you think that she’s dead?

 

Kravchenko   Of course she was dead.  Raped too, as I had suspected.  It was only a matter of time before the police came to speak to me.  Where had I been?  Who was I with?

 

And what should I tell Galina, my wife?  She never knew, you see.  I never told her about my past.  What could I tell her?

 

 

© Matthew Wilkie
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