SYNOPSIS: A delicate venture into the deepest corners of a fifteen-year-old girl’s soul. Emma is in a painful relationship with her parents. Her mother is sick and her father has left the family, for which Emma cannot forgive him. She accuses him of having caused her mother’s disease. Emma spends her time at school and with her father in Australia, where she meets her step-sister, Whitney. But most of her time is spent with her mum. She is grateful for each time her mum smiles, she cherishes every happy moment together. Emma is aware that her mother‘s illness is getting worse. The day comes when she has to be placed in a mental hospital and this has a great impact on Emma, who feels devastated. She feels lost at school, lost at home with her grandmother, lost when visiting her mum at the hospital. Finally, when Emma’s mum chooses suicide, Emma collapses. She refuses to eat, she is completely apathetic, and she ignores the therapeutist. It is the relentless persistence of her grandma that pulls her up on her feet again. Emma begins to seek the meaning of life and with the help of her grandma, she gradually reaches her goal.
NUMBER OF PAGES: 10
CAST: 4 women, 2 girls, 1 boy
GENRE: drama
CHARACTERS:
EMMA
MOTHER
GRANDMA
MARTIN
THERAPIST
TEACHER
WHITNEY
VOICES
(The poems used in the play were written by Alica Bednáriková.)
SAMPLE TEXT
SCENE 1
EMMA: It’s raining again. I’m sitting in my room, looking out of the window, trying to empty my head of thought, but it’s useless. Raindrops are rolling down the glass of the window. The skies I see are cloudy and grey.
VOICES: Emma, if your school grades don’t improve, I really don’t know.
Just forget her, she’s an idiot.
Can I borrow your pen?
Are you sure about that?
Hey, I’m Martin. What’s your name?
D’you want to go get a drink or something after school?
Guys, I’m never going to learn all of this.
Can’t, we’re going shopping with mum.
I don’t understand why English is such a problem for you.
Another fail. Why, man? I honestly don’t get what’s wrong with me.
No, I have to go straight home after school.
Thanks so much for your help.
I’m pulling another all-nighter for maths tonight.
Don’t worry, there’s really nothing to it…
MOTHER: (Off-stage.) Emma, dinner’s ready.
EMMA: Not hungry, mum.
MOTHER: (Enters.) Come to the kitchen, then. I’ll eat and you can keep me company.
EMMA: Alright then.
MOTHER: How’s school?
EMMA: Same old. – Mum.
MOTHER: Mhm? – Yum, this is really good, sure you don’t want some?
EMMA: I dunno, later, maybe. Mum, do you think about dad often?
MOTHER: Hm, can’t say that I do, really. Can I tell you a poem, d’you you want to hear it?
EMMA: I do.
MOTHER: It was on a Thursday
on October twenty third
And on that day you spilled my heart
Into corners
Never before revealed
(Pause.)
EMMA: Is that it?
MOTHER: It’s a short poem. Didn’t I say?
EMMA: No, you didn’t. (They both laugh. Pause. Then seriously.) Dad wrote to me on Facebook. He wants to see me in Sydney this summer. Is it ok with you if I go?
MOTHER: Of course, if you like.
EMMA: But he wants me to stay for the whole of August. Will you be alright here by yourself?
MOTHER: Don’t worry, we’ll keep in touch over the phone. Are you excited? Your first time in Australia!
EMMA: There’s still plenty of time for that.
MOTHER: You’re right. (Pause.)
EMMA: Look, Emma, you’re a big girl now. And soon you’ll be an adult. Sometimes people realize that they don’t understand each other anymore. Later they find out that they’re not able to live together like they thought they could. I know it would be the great if mum and you and me lived together like nothing’s wrong. But that’s just a dream. It simply didn’t work out for us. You’ll get it when you’re older. I’d love it if you came to Sydney this summer. Can’t wait to see you. Love, dad. P.S. Whitney can’t wait to see you either. – Who’s Whitney?
MOTHER: His daughter. She’s about your age. And she’s pretty. You’ll have a new friend.
EMMA: I threw away an apple today
I’d kept it for you as a gift
It’s gone bad and mouldy
(Pause.)
MOTHER: I guess the potatoes are a little overcooked. My bad.
SCENE 2
WHITNEY: Hey, I’m Whitney. Welcome to Sydney.
EMMA: Whitney from Sydney, hm.
WHITNEY: Eh?
EMMA: Just kidding, I’m Emma, hey.
WHITNEY: I can’t wait to get to know you better. Mate, I just know we’ll be friends.
EMMA: Excuse me? What did you say? – I had a bit of trouble understanding Australians for the first few days. But you get used to it.
WHITNEY: That you’re nice.
EMMA: You too. So pretty.
WHITNEY: Thanks. You too.
EMMA: Thank you. (They laugh.)
WHITNEY: I have to tell you, your old man is great.
EMMA: My old man?
WHITNEY: Your father’s great.
EMMA: Oh, I get it. Show me the city. “OK,” she said and we went exploring. I’d never seen anything like it before. The tall buildings, the traffic jams and the people – so many colours, so many languages, so many styles. Everything was so confusing. Sydney is huge. Then we met with my dad and Whitney’s mum. The month passed faster than the blink of an eye. I’m flying back home tomorrow. Can’t wait to see mum again.
SCENE 3
MOTHER: It’s such a lovely day today.
EMMA: It is.
MOTHER: The weather hasn’t been this good for a while. After school we could head outside for a bit.
EMMA: Where to?
MOTHER: Dunno, anywhere. Mitcham Reserve?
EMMA: Sure.
MOTHER: You can tell me about Australia again. I feel so good today. I’m so excited.
EMMA: Me too, mum, see you.
MOTHER: Bye, Emma.
EMMA: We had a great time at the reserve. It was one of the last times I saw mum feeling happy. After that day, everything started falling apart.
SCENE 4
EMMA: Who’s there?
MOTHER: (Pause.) It’s me.
EMMA: Mum…
MOTHER: Don’t worry, love.
EMMA: Why aren’t you sleeping, mum?
MOTHER: I can’t sleep. I’ve written a poem, listen.
I’ve seen a lot;
Tiny streets turning straight ahead,
Reason measured in dollars,
Sometimes in coins,
Little flies circling around a sour expression,
Delight, revenge, love and anger,
Booze in jars of clay,
With your pinky finger raised
And the middle one too,
Full bottles and empty promises,
The baby teeth of humanity
Fenced in by a five o’clock shadow
But I haven’t seen a light at the end of the tunnel.
For if you are the light
I’m the tunnel
And each of my beings has its end in you.
Good, isn’t it? Or this one.
And when I dream
I dream of cities
Covered in darkness
Full of brightly lit cafés
And lives.
EMMA: And she kept talking, on and on for hours, until she finally fell silent – Mum, say something. Come to your room, here, I’ll give you a hand. Mum, tell me another poem. Mum… (Pause.)
MOTHER: I’m scared.
EMMA: So am I, I’m worried about you.
MOTHER: I’m sorry I’m so much trouble. But I’m so exhausted. Completely drained out, I can’t fight the black thoughts in my head anymore.
EMMA: Maybe you should see a doctor, mum…
MOTHER: They’ll… they’ll put me in a mad house.
EMMA: Mum, don’t…
MOTHER: I tried to describe you to someone,
can’t remember who it was,
EMMA: Mum, come to bed.
MOTHER: neither what he was asking about,
nor if he was asking about you at all,
but what I know is
that he walked the way you do
with a strange accent,
EMMA: Mum…
MOTHER: and a long pause after every word
as if waiting, waiting for something
or someone,
while I was waiting for you.
I might have screamed your name out loud.
EMMA: You need some rest, mum.
MOTHER: I’m going, give me a sec.
The accusative, the locative, the instrumental of my being.
A violin bow stabbed deep into my neck
Trying to finish the tune that’s already ended
Hoppipolly
Do I have everything? I’m going to bed, Emma, love.
Such was the pain of that solitary thought. (Exit mother.)
EMMA: This happened on Thursday night. Mum finally fell asleep. The following morning, on Friday, the ambulance came and took mum to hospital. Grandma’d called them. I was late to school. The English teacher started yelling at me.
TEACHER: Emma, you’re late again!
EMMA: I’m sorry, Mrs Hatheway. My mum was taken to the hospital this morning.
TEACHER: Oh, no, I’m sorry to hear that. Is everything ok?
EMMA: I don’t know. I sat down at my desk. Felt like crying my eyes out.
TEACHER: Right, guys, textbooks on page 35, please. Open your exercise books and let’s get into it.
EMMA: What’s wrong with you, mum?
SCENE 5
EMMA: I went to see mum on Sunday. Alone. Grandma told me which topics I’m allowed to talk to her about. Be positive, she said, don’t talk about the illness and sadness and how much you miss her. – Mum, I miss you at home. – That was the first thing I told her when when she came out of her ward.
MOTHER: I miss you too, love. How’s school?
EMMA: I got A from my Geography test.
MOTHER: I’m proud of you, Emma. I feel a bit better today. I’ve even asked the doctor when they’re going to let me get out of here. He said soon. I just need a few days to relax. – I’ve got a nice poem for you.
EMMA: Tell me, mum.
SCENE 6
EMMA: On Thursday, grandma got a phone call from the hospital. She picked me up from school. We went to the clinic together, into the cold building, passed along the empty corridor until we found the head doctor’s office. I sat down and grandma went in. I felt tense. Worried about mum. A nurse walked past me, pushing the wheelchair of an old lady. I stood up and looked out of the window. A few people in a blue hospital gown were walking up and down the park. Mum, my dear mum. God please make her…The doors opened and grandma appeared. I saw tears in her eyes. She closed the door and just stood helplessly in the hospital corridor. I moved towards her. – Grandma….
GRANDMA: I hope that one day, you can forgive me for that I’m about to say.
EMMA: Grandma…?
GRANDMA: Emma, my little girl… Your mum isn’t with us anymore.
END OF SAMPLE TEXT
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