Pandora's Box (1) Act 1 Scene 1. [ At curtain rise the stage represents the drawing room of Dr John Weslayer. Period furniture. On the wall, some family portraits. Dr Silas Voller is seen with his back turned to the public. He is examining with a magnifying glass a small portrait hanging on the wall. He spins around briskly, to face the public.] Silas Voller: I am terribly sorry! I really don't know what to say! You caught me red-handed as I was checking out the portraits of John Weslayer’s family. [In a confiding tone] You cannot be too prudent with John. I should tell you that John Weslayer, fourteenth count of Westonvale, or something like that, pawns the portraits of his family, to pay for the expenses of his mistresses. Or he simply sells them, I mean the portraits , not his mistresses, though he could do that too, our John!…. replacing them with copies. [cocks his ear] He has to! The old lady, his mum, kicked up a terrible fuss, when she learnt that fourteen generations of Westonvales were gathering dust at the pawnshop. So ! what does our John do? He is tender-hearted, our John! He does not want to hurt his mum’s feelings. He replaces the originals with copies. Anyway! the old lady is as blind as a bat and could not tell a Playboy centrefold from a Botticelli nude. So you see, everybody is happy ! John loves it when everybody is happy. Unhappy people ruin his enjoyment of life, specially when they are vocal about it. [ A butler approaches him with a tray of glasses. Silas takes a glass, sniffs it, quaffs it…] Silas: "Hum! Bordeaux!" The butler: "Monsieur knows his wines! Château Haut-Brion 89! Silas: "Château Haut-Brion 89!" [takes a second glass and fills the first one to the top] "Thank you, thank you, my friend." [turns to the public] "Come on! you will tell me. He has just won the Nobel prize. Why would he have to sell his family heirlooms ? Well? You see, our John has very big expenses. Anyway, I doubt he has had time to cash the big chèque yet. [sip of wine]. You have probably read about it in the papers, hey? …Canadian scientist wins the Nobel prize for medicine, for work on cloning. You know by now what cloning is, don’t you? The reproduction of an individual from one of his or her body cells. You know …Dolly and all that. [sip of wine] I tell you, the media has been swinging the censers to his divinity: Dr Weslayer this , Dr Weslayer that ! Dr Weslayer’s brilliance, his originality, his genius, his relentless pursuit of excellence. Originality, my foot. The original idea was mine .. .me! Silas Voller. Relentless pursuit of excellence … my other foot. He did no more work than my leftt thumb, and I am right-handed. Now, I am not denying that he is smart… well! intelligent.. even brilliant. But the slow, dogged work… that was mine! and that of Jenny Graves ! Jenny , who slogged on, day after day, night after night, in that drafty, cold hangar that was our lab. Sweet little Jenny, that he took away from me, that he seduced, got pregnant, and then dropped, when her baby was barely one year old." [ A servant goes by with a tray of snacks. Voller grabs two.] "I can forgive him for appropriating the fruits of my work. But for taking Jenny from me! That never!. [stuffs a snack in his mouth] You will probably meet her to-night with her boy, Jonathan. [musing] He must be about 20 years old now. Jenny, [wipes his eyes]… her greatest joy was to live in his shadow, John's… I mean, to dust the ground he walked upon, so that his feet would not get dirty. How strange women are! and I adored her and wanted to give her the world." [ sprays his mouth with a freshener] "You see, in a way, John still believes in feudalism. He is a lord and exacts his seigneurial rights. I remember very well the days when we were students. John had got one of our fellow-students pregnant. He could not understand why the parents of the girl were howling for his blood, considering that he, John, had greatly enriched their genetic patrimony. He really believed this without any malice…the pompous scoundrel! In his eyes, you and I , we are trash, we are the "hoi polloi", the prolo. Now what’s incredible is that people treat him in consequence. Now! Can you believe this? [sips wine] Whereas, I , was scraping around for funds to finish my research projects, the C.E.Os of pharmaceutical companies were queueing at his door to offer him all the financing he wanted. During that time, he, John, was of course enriching the genetic pool of his lab assistants. [wipes his mouth, then sprays it again] "This is life! He is admirable, our John! a magnifent monarch butterfly, that flutters and hovers everywhere, landing and pollinating every flower of the garden. He has been at it for twenty-five years now! Honours , women, money, all drop like manna from heaven into his lap. Of course he find this quite normal! For everything is due to him. [ cups his ear] " I hear steps! I recognise those steps" [Cyrus Alperton enters by the right door. Silas announces without turning around] " Doctor Cyrus Alperton! " Scene 2 Cyrus Alperton: " Bravo! Silas , you recognised me without even seeing me. Are you gifted with extra-sensory perception? Silas: "Not at all, my dear Cyrus. The rhythm of your gait is so characteristic that it is practically a signature . Cyrus " Do you believe then that the rhythm of my steps has a genetic basis? Silas " I do not have the slightest doubt, my dear Cyrus… How is life treating you? Still head of the research lab at "Biomeris"? Cyrus: Yes. And what about you? Still in the hospital circuit? Silas: That's right, and it will probably be so till I retire. Happy with your job? Secure? Cyrus: Yes happy, and reasonably secure. Silas: Still crazy about genetic engineering? Talking about genetics, I hear that your employer " Biomeris" is having cash-flow problems. Cyrus: How do you know? This is still confidential stuff. I see that Silas' favourite position is still the prostrate posture with his ear to the ground? Well, you are right.. We are having cash-flow problems. Silas: Then I think you will be looking for a job soon. You might need a push. It would appear that the first research team of John is here in full force to-night. Cyrus " Just like in the old days. I am feeling quite nostalgic. Silas "Quite so, just like the old days. And since then, my dear Cyrus, you and I have published our little papers, here and there , in mediocre scientific journals, if they would have them. Our little papers have been reviewed by mediocre colleagues, more or less obligingly. I am not saying this to hurt your feelings, my dear Cyrus, for my quest for recognition has been no more rewarding than yours… Cyrus[ protesting] "My dear Silas. I am not complaining. It is true that I have not been the darling of fortune…" Silas "And yet, my dear Cyrus, just like me, you toiled very hard to establish the credibility of our team’s work. Just like me you invested your heart, brain and body in genetic research. Long hours, poor remuneration. You and I are due our little bit of glory, too…" Cyrus: " Suppose I agree, dear Silas, what are you getting at ?" Silas: " Well! you and I could find something to spoil his little bit of fun, could’nt we? [the butler approaches them with a tray of glasses and snacks, Silas takes a glass] Do taste some, my friend " Cyrus: " I seldom drink, but I will have some caviar…" Silas: " You are snubbing a Château Haut-Brion 89!" Cyrus: " I am not a wine connoisseur, you know. Château Haut…. you say" Silas: "At least $100 a bottle! my friend. I say some nasty things about John, but one thing I cannot say about him is that he has cheap taste in wine" Cyrus: [ to the butler who has waited patiently] " In that case, I will take a glass" Silas: "And how do you like it ? For my part, I will certainly take another glass. [ helps himself, sips. Exit butler] I was saying, you and I could could certainly find something to spoil John’s fun, hey? What do you say?" Cyrus: " My dear Silas, I will tell you something in confidence. As you know, I spent my youth in the poor neibourhoods of Dublin. I well remember one snowy winter, when one of my chums packed a nice snowball and placed it in my hands. I threw it at some big boys on his advice.As a result. I took a good licking from them for my erstwhile friend had disappeared. Since then, I have a distaste for throwing things that people hopefully place in my hands." Silas: My dear Cyrus, let us not talk of snowballs anymore. They makes me feel chilly. Tell me… do you know Jonathan Weslayer?" Cyrus: "The son of John? Of course! I have met him a few times with his mother, Jenny Graves. Do you know that he looks stunningly like John, when John was his age…?" Silas: "That does not surprise me in the least….!" Cyrus: " And that his first university years have been nothing short of spectacular" Silas: " That does not surprise me either. A true scion of John, eh?" Cyrus: "And did you know that John is bringing along his latest girl-friend, his fiancée, I am told, a financial wizard, Maria Sollenstein, that John flaunts as his most brilliant ornament…" Silas: " Yes, yes, I know all that! I know that her pronouncements send the stockmarket crashing. And yet, she was not always that glamorous, our little Maria. My cousin assures me that when she was a teenager, she wheeled her wheelbarrow, selling fish in the streets of Warsaw. Apparently, she had a rough and tough childhood." Cyrus: " I am sure you are right. Is it also true that she carries a little loaded gun in her handbag, and that she is a blackbelt judoka?" Silas: " That, my dear Cyrus, is probably pure fiction, but who knows? I doubt , however that she will agree to be worn in John’s buttonhole. It’s more likely she will wear him as her corsage.." Cyrus: "Well! I cannot wait to meet that amazon…" Silas: " I hear steps. I recognize the steps of Jenny." [enter Jenny and Jonathan] Scene 3 Silas: " Jenny! My very dear Jenny ! Give me a hug. It's been such a long time." Jenny: My dear Silas! It's a pleasure. You know my son , don't you? Jonathan! Dr Silas Voller, Dr Cyrus Alperton. Cyrus: Pleased to meet you. Silas: Certainly, I know Jonathan. The last time I met him, he was a teenager who collected all the prizes of his class. My God! He is the very portrait of John, John of the University student days… Cyrus: How remarkable! the very portrait of John, when he was his age. Silas: Not the portrait, Silas, but the very replica. [Jenny turns and stares at Silas] Silas: Is it not true that he is the replica of John. Jenny? Jenny: You are quite right, Silas. Silas: This is exactly what I thought…Where are you staying, Jenny? Jenny: We found a charming little hotel, not too expensive, and not too far from here. Cyrus: [to Jonathan] What are your projects, Jonathan? Jonathan: Get to know my father better.[ laughing] Get to know women. Silas: Then your father will be of great help to you. Jenny: I have not seen John yet. When did he get back from Stockolm? Silas: Yesterday, I believe. I am told he is terribly busy. The reporters are chasing him all over the place. John just loves it , and he has a new girl-friend. Jernny: That's what I heard ! I cannot wait to meet her.. Maria. I am told she is quite beautiful. Silas: To make all other women jealous, Jenny. Jenny: No need to hammer the point, Silas. I am really happy for John and I wish him the very best. I cannot hate him, you know that. I am so happy he got the Nobel. It's as if I had won it myself. Silas: The only difference is that you did not win it yourself. Jenny: That does not matter, Silas. You are full of mischief, as usual. John deserves the Nobel prize a hundred times. Cyrus: Another wasted snowball! hey Silas? Jonathan: I do not get it. Snowballs? Cyrus: Just a little game between Silas and myself, Jonathan. Silas: I am going to get you something to drink and eat , Jenny. Jenny: Thanks, Silas, but I have to run.. Silas: In that case, John should be upstairs talking to the reporters. Jenny: You are an awful tease… [leaves] Jonathan: See you later, mother. Scene IV Jonathan: This is very exciting. I hear that the early work of my parents, Dr. Voller and yourself did was carried out in a refurbished garage . Tell me about it. Mother does not talk much about it. Cyrus: You see, Jonathan… About 24 tears ago, your mother, Jenny Graves, your father, John Weslayer, Silas and myself got together to form the first research team on cloning. You will hear a lot about cloning to- night . So I will not bore you. Anyway I am a bad tutor. All this brings back lots of memories. It's good to see you so young, so full of promise. Seeing you is like seeing my younger self. Silas: Cyrus, do not yield to nostalgia. You are going to cry. Cyrus: It's your fault. It is the wine you spoke so highly of that is making me nostalgic… Jonathan: So? Your early work? Cyrus: Well! We were young and we had no money. Ah! here comes John with Maria. Scene V Silas: Pity that Jenny just left. I am sure she went looking for you. John: Hello Jonathan! [shakes his hand] Congratulations on your academic successes. Jonathan: It is for me to congratulate you, my dear father. Please introduce us to your charming companion. John: Sorry! Where are my manners? Gentlemen, Jonathan, my son, Cyrus, Silas, meet my fiancée, Maria Sollenstein… [Jonathan, his right hand on his heart bows to Maria] Maria, these two gentlemen, Dr Cyrus Alperton and Dr Silas Voller and Dr Jenny Graves were my first colleagues. It is to them I owe the success of my research. Cyrus, Silas and Jenny who is somewhere here, I thank you and congratulate us all. Toast. Cyrus: This is very generous of you, John. [Jonathan draws Maria aside and talks earnestly to her] John: I am so happy to have us all together here dear friends. I hope we find time to chat. There is a cosy little pub about five blocks away. Maybe on Saturday…? Jonathan: I would like so much to have a cosy talk with you, dad, find out more about what you are doing. I would love to see your lab, talk to your people. It is all so exciting! John: Yes. We must find time to get together. We have so many questions to ask. We need so much to get to know one another. I will make time for this , Jonathan. But right now , I would like to greet Jenny. Jonathan: I think she went looking for you. Maria: I would really like to met her, John. John: You will like her. Maria: I am sure. Meanwhile, I am starving. John: Well! Come with me Maria. I will get you something to eat. [Exit John and Maria] Cyrus: I am coming too, John. John; Yes, do come along Cyrus. I did receive your letter. I am offering you the direction of my new lab. Cyrus: [effusively] Thank you John. John: We will talk further about it. I know your capacity for work. I know I can count on your loyalty. Cyrus: Indeed, you can. John: Then, that's a deal. I saw you chatting with Silas. He had his conspiratorial mask on. What were you talking about? Cyrus: Well! he had packed a lovely snowball, which he wanted me to throw for him. I refused. John: And you will be well rewarded, my dear Cyrus. [Exeunt together, except Jonathan] Jonathan: See you later, my beautiful step-mother. Scene 6 Silas: My young friend, you look rather shaken. Are you feeling O.K? Jonathan: Me? I feel just fine. Silas: That's re-assuring. You look like a lobster just out of a boiling pot. Jonathan: It's probably the wine. I seldom drink. Silas: Ah! Youth acts with restraint.! A dangerous sign! Maybe you are in love… Jonathan: Me? What are you talking about? Silas: These are things that happen, my young friend, especially at your age. Jonathan: To tell you the truth, Silas. I am rather blasé about love. Silas: So much the better. She is very beautiful, Maria. Jonathan: Of course! but what's the connection? Silas: Well! I thought that maybe you were smitten by Maria's beauty. Love at first sight.You are so much like your father. Naturally, you could be attracted to the same woman. Jonathan: You are joking, Silas. Maria is the fiancée of my father. Silas: That's where you are wrong, my friend. Jonathan: What do you mean? Maria is not the fiancée of my father? Silas: I never said that. Maria is certainly the fiançée of John.. Jonathan: Then , what are you saying? Silas: I am saying that John is not your father. Jonathan: What? Everybody, yourself included has remarked on the great resemblance between my father and myself. I have photos of him when he was my age. We look as alike as two identical twins. Silas: Precisely, my friend, precisely. Jonathan: For heavens' sake. Could you explain yourself? Silas: Since you ask me. Jonathan. A few months before your mother, Jenny, told us she was pregnant, she was admitted to hospital for a mysterious abdominal operation. It was all hush hush. But I dug through hospital charts and found out that the purpose of the operation was to harvest ova from Jenny's ovaries. A few weeks later, Jenny had a second gynecological operation. Two or three months later, we heard the happy news: Jenny was pregnant. Just before Jenny's hospital admissions, we had succeeded in producing totipotential cells from injecting nuclei from skin cells into enucleated ova. To be more precise, John had succeeded. Put two and two together. What would Jenny need these operations for? But she is a true scientist and she loved John. I knew John when he was your age. As you say you look like his idendical twin. You do not look like John. You are John! Jonathan: Silas, are you saying that I am John's clone. Silas: You already suspected it, did not you? Jonathan: Yes, I did. Silas: And you love Maria. Jonathan: Yes. I do. [ leaves, holding his head in his hands] Silas: Looks like we will have a snowball fight yet. [Exit] Act 2 Scene I [Enter John and Maria, followed by a reporter] Maria: What you are telling me John is fascinating. Suddenly, biology which seemed so dull becomes alive and thrilling. But tell me, darling. What happens to these sweet little mice after your experiments? John: To tell you the truth, I don't know, sweetheart. The lab attendant looks after that. My guess is that he kills them off. Maria: He kills them off. They have been used; they have suffered, and he kills them off! John: Well. I can't see how we can keep them, darling. There are hundreds of them.. Maria; Hundreds? John: Darling, let's not get emotional over these little creatures, however sweet they are. [turns to the reporter] Sir! [turns to Maria] Do you want to stay for the interview, darling? You might find it boring. Maria: You are right. I have a slight headache. I will go upstairs and rest for a while. Is that alright, darling? John: Sure, darling, I will be up in a few minutes. Scene 2 John: [to the reporter] When you are ready, Sir. [ The reporter motions a photographer to the stage. Various manoeuvres etc…] The reporter: Dear televiewers, to-night we have the pleasure of interviewing Dr John Weslayer, Nobel laureate for Medicine. Dr Weslayer's achievement has been on the front-page of the world's newspapers, and we now have the opportunity of talking to him face to face. [turns to John] Good evening Dr Weslayer. Allow me in the name of all Canadians to congratulate you for the prestigious prize that has just been awarded to you, and that honours the whole of Canada. John: Thank you. I would like to thank as well all those who have helped me during these long years of arduous research. The success of this enterprise is in large measure due to them. [Jonathan has entered the stage unnnoticed and is listening] The reporter: Dr Weslayer, you have been awarded the Nobel prize for Medicine for your work on cloning. Tell us: What is cloning? John: Cloning, my dear sir, is the asexual reproduction of an animal from one of that animal's non-reproductive body cells. To make it simple a nucleus is extracted from one of the body cells and injected into an ovum from a female of the same species. This ovum, which is a totipotential cell, that is one capable of re-creating a new individual, is then implanted in the uterus of the same female. The reporter: And which animal did you use? John: For our experiments we have used rabbits, mice, guinea-pigs and other mammals. We have collected eggs from the female of the species, enucleated them… The reporter: Pardon me. John: I mean, we have removed the nucleus from these eggs, that's the part of the egg that contains the information of heredity. Then we have replaced that nucleus with the nucleus of a body cell of the animal we desired to clone. In many cases, the implanted female has progressed to full gestation and given birth to an exact replica of the animal we wanted to clone. The reporter: I would like to ask you about the technique that underlies this exploit, but I guess it is very complicated. John: Indeed, it is. The reporter: Let us get back to the central theme. Don't you think that what you have achieved raises moral issues. John: Of course, of course. All the strides made by science have raised great moral questions…Galileo, Darwin, Einstein…I could go on, but these considerations should not retard the progress of science. There might even be problems of legal import. However on the plane of the individual, one must think of the increase of the human potential. Soon we will be able to realise this age-old dream, to live our lives again, a second chance, avoid the mistakes we made the first time, in effect fulfill our genetic potential in another being. The reporter: An interesting, I would say, a metaphysical thought! John: Having grown wiser, we will watch the progress, the development of this other self, of our double… The reporter: You speak with passion, Dr Weslayer, but human cloning is only a mere possibility. John: I have sound reasons to believe that human cloning is acquired to science, Sir. [ Jonathan, head bent, slowly crosses the back of the stage and exits ] The reporter: I will not argue with an expert, but may I ask you if you yourself have attempted that experiment, Doctor? John: Well! If I had tried it, I would not be talking about it. The reporter: On this bold promise, we will leave Dr Weslayer for a brief publicity pause. We invite you to stay with us. After the pause, we will visit Dr Weslayer's famous laboratory Scene 3 [ We are in a boudoir. Maria is drumming the table with her fingers. A knock at the door] Maria: Come in. [Jonathan enters the room] Maria: You ! Jonathan? Jonathan: You were expecting John. He is gone with his reporter and his paparazzi to show them his lab. I heard you complaining of a headache a while ago. I brought you some aspirins. Maria: That's very sweet of you. I am feeling much better. My migraine is almost gone. I do not need anything. Jonathan: [moving near her] Not even John. Maria: I will see John later. Jonathan: Let's hope, much later. Maria: What do you mean, Jonathan? Jonathan: I mean, I hope his interview takes a long time, for I have lots of things to tell you. Maria: I confess, Jonathan. I am surprised and apprehensive. Jonathan: Surprised, I can understand, but why apprehensive? Do I frighten you? Maria: Oh, not of you, but of myself, maybe. Jonathan: Of yourself, Maria? You are not the type of woman to be easily frightened, and certainly not frightened of yourself… Maria: Do you know women that well, Jonathan ? Do you think you know me that well ? Jonathan: This may sound impertinent, but I feel I have known you a long time. I hope you forgive me. Maria: There's nothing to forgive , Jonathan. I have the same impression. Maybe, it's because you look so much like your father. Jonathan: John is not…But let's not talk of John. Maria: But what do you want to talk about, Jonathan? Jonathan: About us, Maria. Maria: About us. I don't understand.
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