The Fourth Nail

The Story

"The Fourth Nail" is a rich, dark comedic satire set in the year 1099, the year European Crusaders overran and sacked the holy city of Jerusalem, killing Arabs, Jews and Christians alike and thereby establishing the first Christian Kingdom in Palestine. Though the setting is ancient, the desires, human aspirations and greed are universally contemporary, the parallels with the conflicts and frictions of the present day Middle East palpable.

Two battered Crusaders return to Prague with bags of relics for sale. The widow's peak of John The Baptist, a grape from the Last Supper, bird seed from the pocket of St. Francis, and lots of thumbs. The Crusaders desire for wealth collides with their own fears of death and uncertainty, and with the piercing wit and perception of the King's Fool, Radish - not your ordinary Fool.

It may take only one thumb to get into heaven, but it takes a great deal more understanding and compassion to live "richly" and wisely on earth.