Title: “Being made fun of, doesn’t define you”.
Author: Silvina Carrasco
9 Characters:
- Juan: He is a boy of about ten years old. He is teased by his schoolmates for being ¨different¨.
- Eric Harris: Rock star of whom Juan is a fan.
- Security 1: A burly man dressed in black. He is the rocker’s security.
- Security 2: Big man dressed in black. He is the rocker’s security.
- Marisa: Juan’s mother.
- Classmate 1: Juan’s classmate; part of the group that bothers him.
- Classmate 2: Juan’s classmate; part of the group that bothers him.
- Classmate 3: He is Juan’s classmate; part of the group that bothers him.
- Teacher: Teacher of Juan’s grade and his classmates.
ACT I
Characters involved in this act: Juan, Classmate 1, Classmate 2, Classmate 3 and Teacher.
Scenario: A typical elementary school classroom.
The students are seated in their places. Juan sits alone on one of the front benches and the classmates who are bothering him sit together in the back.
(While the teacher corrects tests at her desk, the group in the back throws papers and erasers at Juan’s head while laughing. Juan can’t manage to do anything. The teacher finishes grading).
-Teacher: We got to review the homework I left for you yesterday. Juan, will you start with the digestive system?
-Juan: “The digestive system is made up of the organs that are in charge of…”.
-Classmate 1: (Quietly, addressing Juan) Nerd.
-Classmate 2: Nerd (Simulates coughing).
-Juan: ¨…the digestion¨. (Nervous) ¨Those organs are the mouth, the pharynx, the…¨.
-Classmate 3: Weird.
(All classmates laugh at the repeated interruptions).
-Teacher: Guys, that’s enough.
-Juan: ¨The esophagus…¨
(Bell rings to go to recess.)
-Teacher: We will continue after recess. You may leave.
(Juan gets up to leave, passes by classmate 1, pushes him back into his chair and walks out the door. Juan stands up again, passes Peer 2 and also pushes him back into his chair, and does the same with Peer 3. Finally, everyone leaves for recess, except Juan, who remains alone and sad in his seat).
ACT II
Characters that intervene in this act: ¨Eric Harris¨, Marisa, Security 1 and Security 2.
Scene: A sort of living room/camerin where Eric Harris rests backstage after the concert attended by Juan and Marisa is over.
Eric rests sitting on a sofa, Security 1 and Security 2 are standing interrupting the only possible access. Marisa appears, wanting to approach the singer.
-Security 1: (To Marisa) Ma’am, you can’t be here.
-Marisa: (Shouting for Eric to hear her) Eric please, I need to talk to you just for a moment!
-Security 2: Ma’am, step back.
-Marisa: (Shouting at Eric and trying to avoid being removed from the place) You always say that your fans are very important to you and I need to talk to you about one who admires you very much and is a very special fan: his name is Juan, he is ten years old and he is my son!
-Eric: (Approaching and addressing Security 1 and Security 2) All right, let her through.
(Marisa and Eric stay talking).
ACT III
Characters involved in this act: Juan and Eric.
Stage: A dimly lit stairway of the venue where the concert has been held.
(All the attendants to the concert have already left. Juan waits alone, sitting on the staircase. Eric arrives and sits down next to him.)
Eric: Juan?
-Juan: (His face lights up with excitement and surprise) Wow, Eric!
-Eric: Your mother told me about you. It seems you’re having some problems at school.
-Juan: (Ducking his head in shame) Yeah, there must be something wrong with me, I’m not like the other kids, I can’t get them to accept me, they just make fun of me and tease me.
-Eric: I understand you.
-Juan: I don’t think you understand me; you’re Eric Harris, everybody loves you.
-Eric: Well, not everybody. Besides, it wasn’t always like that. When I was little I didn’t have any friends and my classmates at school picked on me and even beat me up.
-Juan: Really?!
-Eric: Yeah, they said I was weird because I listened to weird music and because I was more creative. I don’t know, I liked other things and I felt different.
-Juan: I feel different too. I don’t understand my classmates’ jokes, or the things that amuse them, or some of the words they use, and I can’t integrate. That’s why I think there must be something wrong with me.
-Eric: You know, over time I realized that those things that made me different, “the weird kid” when I was little, were my greatest treasures later on. To stand out in music I needed to be different and creative.
-Juan: I heard Justin Timberlake say something similar.
-Eric: And you know Cristiano Ronaldo?
-Juan: Yes, of course.
-Eric: And do you like Leo Messi?
-Eric: Yes, of course.
-Eric: And what about Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato?
-Juan: That they are all recognized in what they do and talented.
-Eric: And they have all been bullied as children for being “different”. And there are many, many people in the world who have been bullied, even non-famous people who as adults live happy and peaceful lives.
-Juan: You mean I have to wait until I grow up to solve my problem?
-Eric: I mean that with time you will start to see things differently. Even if the teasing and mistreatment really hurts today, it’s important for you to know that we are all different and that there is nothing wrong with you for being different. Being made fun of does not define you, but rather an intolerant society, and with time the situation you are living today will become a bad memory that you will be able to overcome.
THE END