Fear in the Post-Truth Age: Representing Difference and Ethical Response in Cordelia Lynn’s One for Sorrow

Lynn's One for Sorrow, set against the backdrop of a terrorist attack in London, delves into the (im)possibility of extending "unconditional" hospitality toward a stranger/neighbor fleeing from a terrorist bombing scene. Exemplifying the turn to ethics in 21st-century British drama, Lynn's play tackles the ethical dilemmas that arise when a call to hospitality clashes with fear of the stranger. The play centers on the generational conflict emerging within a white middle-class family hosting John, a guest of Asian background, who embodies difference and thus becomes an object of fear. This family serves as a microcosm of British society in the post-9/11 era, representing the crisis of cosmopolitanism and "fear culture" that permeates their existence and is perpetuated by post-truth media. Imogen's direct address to the audience at the end of the play functions as an urging for bearing witness not only to the issues unfolding on stage but also to the underlying truths about their society and for confronting the significance of ethical responsibility towards the suffering Other.