In a dictatorship, a condemned clerk asks a student the way to the Municipal Abattoir. The student tells him to save himself but the clerk can’t because he’s been a Municipal Employee too long to disobey. The student changes tack and orders the clerk to shoot the general as his motorcade passes by. But the clerk is too cowed and asks the audience the way to the abattoir.
Part of the collection Mister Paradise and Other One Act Plays
The Municipal Abattoir was first presented by the Shakespeare Theatre at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. on April 22, 2004. It was directed by Michael Kahn.