Title of the work: “Shall we finish?”
Author: María Gabriela Méndez
Theme: A monologue in her room by a girl about how she feels after the breakup of her dating relationship versus a moment of her boyfriend’s recreation with his friends.
4 Characters:
- Narrator 1 (Female Voice)
- Narrator 2 (Male Voice)
- Sam
- Nataly
Extras: Sam’s friends, they don’t speak, they only accompany him and pretend to speak.
Note: In brackets () are suggestions of non-verbal expressions, (Annotations).
Environment
In two parallel environments.
Environment 1: The girl’s room. She talks to herself about her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, how she feels, and things she might do from now on. She is terribly sad. As for scenery, you need a very messy bed with clothes on the floor, shoes, papers, all in disarray, and several pillows. Whenever something is happening in this setting there should be a musical instrumental in a minor, sad tone.
Environment 2: A night place where the boy will be with his friends.
There is an intercalation between scenes, while the other is frozen. There should be external musical support to set the mood for both contrasting situations. There should be some lights in the night place, two small but high tables, four high chairs. Whenever something is happening in this scenario there should be a low volume electronic music instrumental.
The narrators continually intervene in the play critically, and conversing with them, although they cannot hear them.
Narrator 2: – Sam and Nataly have ended their dating relationship. They are convinced that they can no longer continue together, they are very different and have had many arguments lately.
Single Act.
Nataly: (she is in her bed, reading old letters that Sam had sent her some time ago and cries) – Now, what am I going to do? I miss him soooo much.
Narrator 1: – Now you are going to say that you miss him, yesterday you were saying that you couldn’t stand him anymore.
Nataly: – I miss even his bad mood.
Narrator 1: Really? That was the reason why you didn’t leave him.
Nataly: – I’m sure we could try… and if I call him?
Narrator 1: hahahaha, if you called him right now maybe he wouldn’t hear the phone. He’s, let’s say living his own sadness.
Sam: (Sam is in a night spot, sitting at one of the tables, he has a drink in his hand and is chatting with two friends, he doesn’t seem sad) -Nataly and I broke up, we had several problems. It was for the best (the background music continues to play).
Narrator 2. – Yesterday you didn’t say that, when you were begging her not to end the relationship. You change your mind fast, don’t you?
Sam: – I believe that we will be better this way, each one by his side.
Narrator 2: – Oh yeah?…you’re thinking this right now, I’ll see you tomorrow when you remember that she was the one who listened to you while you were blowing off steam after work.
Sam: – In fact, I love my freedom, now when I get off work I can go home, calmly.
Nataly: – tomorrow, who am I going to wait for (she is crying, hugging her pillow).
Narrator 1: – Ah no girl, tomorrow you are going to party with your friends and that’s it.
Nataly: – I want to die.
Narrator 1: – The typical, go to the kitchen, there are enough knives… But you don’t go, you don’t want to die at all. You should go to the hairdresser, and make him repent. Well, I don’t know what he’s going to regret because you left him.
Nataly: (Sits on the bed) – I should make him regret it. I’ll go to the hairdresser and make myself beautiful.
Narrator 1: – What do you mean you’re listening to me? I thought you don’t listen to narrators.
Nataly: (gets up from the bed and goes to the mirror, starts to look closely at herself) – If I can’t stop her from leaving, I’ll make her regret it.
Sam: – Guys, what are you doing tomorrow night… (there is an interaction with the friends, they pretend to talk and Sam has a thought which is played through a previous recording).
On second thought, I think I’m already missing Nataly. Now, who’s going to monitor my schedule, and write me every minute of the day?
Narrator 2: – Now we are being honest. I think you need Nataly more than you realize.
Sam: (pulls out his phone and begins to look at it as he continues to think aloud through a recording of his own voice) – What if I call her, I think she might be missing me right now, crying in her room.
Nataly: (looking quite animated) – I’m going to get ready, because I’m not going to stay here crying when I imagine that Sam is not even thinking about me (leaves the scene to get ready).
Sam: (still thinking out loud) – I’m going to call her, I better get out of here because she’s going to think I’m at a party. And tomorrow I’ll go look for her, I’ll buy her flowers and chocolates (then she stops thinking to talk to her friends).
Guys, I’m leaving, tomorrow I have to go to work early and first I have to go to the supermarket. (Leaves the scene)
Nataly: (enters the scene, ready to leave, looks at herself in the mirror and leaves the scene again)
Narrator 2: – Nataly and Sam met at the Mall that night.
Narrator 1: – Here, let me do the talking. It’s up to us to tell the best parts of the stories.
Narrator 2: – Okay, you do the talking then.
Narrator 1: – That night, Sam and Nataly met, greeted each other and Sam couldn’t help but invite her for coffee and then dinner. They understood that they can’t live apart, after all they are not as different as they thought yesterday. Sam thinks that Nataly is still the most beautiful girl he has ever seen and fell in love with. Nataly is still in love with her boyfriend, and she knows that it is already difficult her life without him.
The End.