The Anarchist by David Mamet

Laws made by whores, thugs and thieves who bribed their way to office. How many times must you see it?
    ANN : What replaces it?
    CATHY : It’s long been replaced. (Pause) We were looting an empty house.
    ANN : The Officer was there.
    CATHY : Yes, that’s too bad.
    ANN : And you shot him.
    CATHY : He was carrying a gun. He would have done better to use it.
    (Ann walks to the conference table and presses a switch on the intercom.)
    ANN (Into the intercom) : Did you hear that? Have it transcribed. I’ll come out now to see Mrs. Anderson.
    (She hangs up.)
    CATHY : You have just sentenced me to a life in prison.
    ANN : Yes?
    CATHY : For speaking my mind.
    ANN : Is that what I did?
    (Pause.)
    CATHY : Do you believe in mercy? What have you done in your long “service” to the State that was a human act.
    ANN : I’ve done this. (Pause) They’ll take you back to your cell.
    END

DAVID MAMET ’s numerous plays include Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (winner of the Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award), American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, Boston Marriage, November and Race . He wrote the screenplays for such films as The Verdict, The Untouchables and Wag the Dog , and has twice been nominated for an Academy Award. He has written and directed ten films, including Homicide, The Spanish Prisoner, State and Main, House of Games, Spartan and Redbelt . In addition, he wrote the novels The Village, The Old Religion, Wilson and many books of nonfiction, including Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose and Practice of the Movie Business; Theatre; Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama and the New York Times best-seller The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture . His HBO film Phil Spector , starring Al Pacino and Helen Mirren, will air in 2013. He was co-creator and executive producer of the CBS television show The Unit and is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company.