Title: “Be kind”.
Author: Silvina Carrasco
5 Characters:
- Daiana: She is a fifteen year old teenager. She has a scar that covers and deforms the entire left side of her face. She has an introverted and antisocial personality. She sits with her back bent forward and her hair covers most of her face.
- Mauricio: An adolescent of about sixteen years of age. With a cheerful and relaxed personality, he is the one who will have the “kind gesture” of talking to Daiana as an equal.
- Sonia: Daiana’s mother. She accompanies her to the park to read.
- Miriam: Daiana and Sonia’s neighbor.
- Voice-over: Reproduces what Daiana thinks but does not say.
ACT I
Characters that intervene in this act: Daiana, Mauricio, Sonia, Miriam and Voice-over.
Scenario: A park/green space.
Daiana and Sonia are seated in a seat a little far from the center of the park.
-Sonia: Are you sure you want to stay alone?
-Daiana: Yes.
-Sonia: Are you going back alone or shall I come and pick you up?
-Daiana: I’m going back alone.
-Sonia: Well, I’ll see you at home.
(Sonia stops and crosses the park. At a considerable distance from Daiana she meets Miriam).
-Miriam: Sonia! How you been? (Looks towards the bench where Daiana is sitting reading) How is Daiana? Is she still as isolated as always?
-Sonia: She’s getting worse and worse. She doesn’t do anything but read anymore. She would like to do things but she doesn’t dare to interact with people; she says that the only thing everyone talks to her about is her scar and the way her face looks. The other day he even told me he felt like a monster.
-Miriam: What about those theater classes he wanted to take?
-Sonia: She went a couple of times, but she says that everyone looked at her in horror and only approached her to ask her why she has that scar. (Sighs) She is convinced that she will never be able to do what the others do; she thinks she is inferior to the rest because of the way she looks.
-Miriam: Poor girl. Tell her to go get some books I have for her.
(The neighbors greet each other and go their separate ways. Daiana continues reading. Mauricio sits to her right on the bench).
-Mauricio: (Looks at the book Daiana is reading) What are you reading? The Little Prince! It’s one of my favorites.
(Daiana hardly moves. She is afraid of being rejected or judged again because of her scar).
-Mauricio: (She keeps on talking without giving any importance to the scar) I read it many times and I love it so much…
Voice-over: What’s the trick? What does this guy want, why doesn’t he freak out? Could it be that he didn’t see my face?
-Mauricio: … At first I read it just as a fiction story and that’s all, but then I started to find more meaning in it. Don’t you think these stories have more meanings?
-Daiana: (Still doubtful) Yes.
Voice-over: Of course he saw it, it’s impossible to disguise… Could it be that… he doesn’t care?
(Mauricio continues gesticulating/simulating a relaxed conversation. Daiana looks at him with less and less distrust).
ACT II
Characters that intervene in this act: Daiana and Mauricio.
Scenario: The same scenario of the previous act.
Daiana and Mauricio are still talking on the same bench and in the same position as in Act I, but Daiana’s attitude is totally different: she is relaxed and happy and no longer covers her face with her hair.
-Daiana: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer!
-Mauricio: Yes! This game is very easy for you, you guessed them all.
(The teenagers laugh)
-Daiana: You guessed a lot of them too.
-Mauricio: (Looks around) It’s already too late.
-Daiana: Yes, it’s late, I have to go back or my mother will be worried.
(The teenagers stop)
-Mauricio: It’s been nice chatting with you. I have learned a lot from stories and novels.
-Daiana: It has been a pleasure for me.
(They greet each other and each one goes their own way)
ACT III
Character who takes part in this act: Daiana.
Stage: A lectern with a microphone on a stage.
Daiana is giving a speech of thanks because she has won a storytelling contest: with a confident attitude, her hair up and her whole face in full view.
Daiana: ¨… Finally I want to thank a person I only met once and whose name I only know: Mauricio. His kindness during a chat made me dare to write the story for which today I win this award… Therefore, if you allow me to give a message…: Let’s be kind. You don’t need a revolution to change the world; sometimes a small act of kindness like a smile or a kind word to a stranger can make a difference in their life that we don’t even imagine¨.
(Daiana raises her award)
-Daiana: I dedicate my award, then, to kind people.
THE END