From the Play: Triffina and the Queens of Conomor, Act I Scene 1
Character: Conomor, King of Cornwall and Usurper of Domnonée. A ruthless man in his 40s.
Setting: A clearing in the woods beyond Castle Domnonée in Brittany, France, 540 CE.
Background: After hearing his future from Dame Destiny, herself, Conomor plots his next course of action in an attempt to circumvent his dire fate.
CONOMOR
I am to die by my own son’s betrayal?! There must be a way to circumvent this fate! Dame Destiny has ruled the world too long! – Well, you will not rule me! She wants me to turn from my intended path that she, herself, called reasonable. She threatens me with a murderous son so that I’ll condemn myself to a life of celibacy and produce no heir to defend me in my old age! How simple it would be, then, for Judwal to regain the Throne of Domnonée, and from there, the High Kingship of Brittany, itself! That shall not be! I’ll proceed on my plotted course, Madame Grotesque, as if we had never met. Place me at whatever coordinates you like upon your Cryptic Map of History in the Making; Conomor will chart his way to his chosen destination! (Pause) Yet what if the Hag speaks true? If I do have a son, he could someday destroy me. Reason as I will, that can’t be denied! Suddenly, a host of doubts to which, before this hour, I would have given no audience do now appoint themselves the foremost counselors of my mind! (Pause) No, Oedipus! Continue on the road to Corinth; don’t change direction for Thebes! And yet, as that ancient traveler learned long before my journey’s start, once we have encountered Destiny, the course of our lives we can never wend oblivious to Fate’s designs again!
© Justy Fairfield 2007, 2025
Stage Pagan 