GOTTZDANK

This is a 1-act pseudoplay (meant to be read, not seen on stage or screen) about major philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God. The setting is the house of the Philosopher, where a dozen old friends, representing various professions, gather for a meeting. However, another friend, the beloved Teacher, is missing; he is in hospital due to a serious, perhaps fatal accident. While the friends anxiously await news of him they decide to debate the problem of God in order to better appreciate his saintly character. The neutral Philosopher chairs and arbitrates the debate which soon deteriorates into faction fights and insults. In the middle of a brawl a layman gets involved, but refuses to take sides. This aggravates the situation to the point of a clash, at the crescendo of which the Teacher appears in a quasi- 'deus ex machina' fashion and provides resolutions of the dilemmas by moral beacons and glimmers of hope for the future. This work was written in 1985, published in 2007.