Near and Far
Characters
Hope, 17
Saiko, 16
Caitelynne, 16
Time
The present
(Lights rise on HOPE,
17, somewhat overweight, plain looking, in a school blazer, seated. She types
into a laptop.)
HOPE
Name. Hope Horrishall. (she deletes it and retypes it.)
Minerva.
Age. Seventeen (she deletes it and retypes it.)
Twenty-one.
School.
Thwaite State Women’s Penitentiary.
Body Type. (She hesitates) Athletic.
Sign: Capricorn.
Occupation: Lunch Lady at the Hospital for Ruptured Children.
Interests: Music, throat singing, Goth boys, 420, and cheese.
Quotation: I am da shitt!
(Hope clicks several times. Saiko appears far across the stage. She is Japanese, teenaged. She speaks halting English in a high voice and smiles, sadly yet continuously.)
SAIKO
Name: Saiko
Hometown:
School:
Likes: Poem
Quotation: If everyone in the world become friends for one lonely person no one will be lonely.
HOPE
(She’s IM’ing and not seeing Saiko)
Hey, I liked your profile and your picture. But Wardsley? I mean, what are you doing there? And
SAIKO
No understand. Do you have a picture?
HOPE
I think there’s like a translator on this thing. Try English
to Japanese.
SAIKO
No understand. Do you have a picture?
HOPE
Why are you in
SAIKO
My parents mad.
HOPE
Do you mean “my parents are angry” or “my parents are crazy”?
Because my parents are crazy.
SAIKO
Do you have a picture?
HOPE
No...I...I don’t (pause) But I have poems! Would you like to read a haiku I wrote? Here:
Disapproving glares
Unconditional love? NO!
Don’t eat so much, Hope!
SAIKO
Mist from a whisper
My lips part succulently
And there is wedding.
In “interests” you say throat singing. What is throat singing?
HOPE
Throat singing? It’s kind of hard to describe. I’ll demonstrate and I’ll send you a wav file.
(HOPE sings a somewhat nasal tone on one pitch.) HONNNNNNGGGGG. (She repeats the tone.) HOONNNNNNNGGGGGG. (She sings the tone one more time. Caitelynne is there, right next to Hope. She is sixteen, blonde, thin athletic looking.)
CAITELYNNE
What are you doing?
HOPE
Nothing.
CAITLELYNNE
Are you sick or something?
HOPE
No.
CAITELYNNE
Like the whole dorm can hear you.
HOPE
Sorry. (Caitelynne
turns to go.) It’s called throat singing. There’s these
people in
CAITELYNNE
No.
HOPE
Do you want to...do you want to try?
CAITELYNNE
Uh, not really.
HOPE
You’re new, aren’t you?
CAITELYNNE
Yeah. Kind of. I mean I like know everyone from lacrosse camp and stuff, but -
HOPE
I’m Hope.
CAITELYNNE
Oh hey. I’m Caitelynne. C-A-I-T-E-L-Y-N-N-E. Don’t forget the E’s!!
HOPE
OK. I...I won’t.
CAITELYNNE
(noticing her computer) Oh cool, you have a mysite? Me too.
HOPE
Cool. What grade are you in?
CAITELYNNE
Tenth.
HOPE
I came in tenth. Do you have Mr. Wagner for Bio?
CAITELYNNE
You mean Fagner? Yeah.
HOPE
So like where are you from?
CAITELYNNE
Um,
HOPE
Sure.
CAITELYNNE
Thank you so much. Hey, it was really great meeting you...
HOPE
Hope.
CAITELYNNE
Right. Bye! Feel better!
(Caitelynne moves away
from Hope. Hope types in her computer and is looking up Caitelynne’s
profile, and before Caitelynne exits...)
CAITELYNNE
Name: Caitelynne W. (see Mom, just like you said, no last names!)
Age: um, 22, yeah
Hometown:
Body Type: you wish!
Ethnicity: Blonde
Sign: Parking for LAX players only!!
Smoke: ew, gross!
Drink: um....
Occupation: Professional Biatch and Boy-buster! No, seriously - Student at THWAITE! Thwaite ROX!!
Interests: LAX! Hockey,
Animals, Boys (same thing??)
Quotation: JOX ROCK!!!!
HOPE
Whatever. (And
Caitelynne is gone. Saiko reappears, far across the
stage.)
SAIKO
Minerva? You have a pretty voice.
HOPE
Really?
SAIKO
Can you call me? So I can hear your voice? Your whole voice, not just your song.
HOPE
You know...I just...I finally got a picture. (She clicks.) Here.
SAIKO
You are beautiful. (Hope is speechless.) I would like to meet you.
Would you like to read more and produce Near and Far? Email the
playwright.