Played Three Ways

Roman civilisation may be gone but it's not forgotten. There are those that hanker for bread and circuses even to this day. The roar of the distracted crowd driven wild by the ultimate competition - gladiatorial combat, but how to sell it to the public? So a think tank is asked in the 1980s to recommend how to bring the game of death to life.

In the near future the recommendations have borne fruit, not only in the arena but in a far more egalitarian, socialised society....
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Roman civilisation may be gone but it's not forgotten. There are those that hanker for bread and circuses even to this day. The roar of the distracted crowd driven wild by the ultimate competition - gladiatorial combat, but how to sell it to the public? So a think tank is asked in the 1980s to recommend how to bring the game of death to life.

In the near future the recommendations have borne fruit, not only in the arena but in a far more egalitarian, socialised society. Cleaner, safer, more clockwork, once a few sacrifices were necessarily made. Safer for most, but not all, especially for those who choose to play The Game by choice and those who play through their own bad decisions or the wrong individual choice.

Played Three Ways follows the lives of Avril's family, whose aspirations seem to be in the hands of oldest son Hiram. Is he the key to privileged existence and a way out of one that only caters to their needs and back to healthy, country living?

Hiram has many supporters, Nicolas Collins for one. Despite being a society of equals there is still the need for administrators and high officials with good breeding, wealth and taste. Mr Collins has it all and dares to dream he might be the guide-stone for young Hiram as well as society at large; one of his best laid plans, he feels.