I apologize for the post being weird....I don't know why it formatted like this.
Title Ideas:
Cover Up
Unmasked
Transferred
Character 1:
Female
On her knees
[possible masks as costume]
Desperate for someone to prove her wrong
At the end of her rope
Too many failed relationships
Too many second place finishes
She’s been lied to and used
She trusts too easily, therefore she has been hurt
She is a romantic; a poet; a dreamer
She lives in books and stories
She doesn’t want to give up, but she sees no other way out
No one knows how hurt she is because she wears a mask for her friends
This character will have a dance number, performed on her knees
[her pain is hidden by the mask that she puts on]
She wants someone to be genuine towards her, expecting nothing in return
Character 2:
Male
Standing, facing the audience
He stands in a very defensive stance
He is “arguing” or “explaining” to God that he doesn’t know what to believe
anymore
When he asks questions, his family and mentors scold him
The books he has read and the lessons he has been taught by professors has made
him question what he has been told
Now he is trying to figure things out on his own but he is looked down upon for
this
He will perform his dialogue towards the ceiling
This characters dialogue may possibly be presented in Shakespearean dialect.
[he hides his anguish and confusion with a good, Christian boy attitude; he does
the routine and says the right things; he never questioned anything; he just took
everything he was told as truth.]
He wants someone to tell him that it’s alright to ask questions and that one
day, there will be an answer
Character 3:
Male
[actor must have long hair]
Standing, with their back towards the audience
He suffers from self-destruction in the form of cutting.
His dialogue will be presented as spoken word poetry
He has been ignored his entire life
His family ignores him because he is “different” from them
No one at his school seems to notice him
He has never felt or understood love, therefore religion has no interest to him
He feels alone
He does not feel abandoned because he has never felt wanted before
He has never been made fun of or hurt by others, he’s just never been noticed
He cuts so that he can feel a different kind of hurt than emotional
His heart can’t take any more pain, so he transfers that pain to his physical body
[his pain is hidden within his words that he shares with no one]
He wants someone to smile at him, so that he knows he does exist outside of
his own head
Character 4:
Male
Begins sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.
He ends lying face down on the floor, as if he has jumped from a window or
building
This character will never speak. All of his dialogue will be presented as film noir
by an offstage voice accompanied by dark jazz music and the sound of rain
He is a “Jesus” like character or martyr
His purpose is to make others happy
He is drawn to those suffering, publicly or privately
He can sense their pain and knows what they need
For the moment that he offers that comfort that others need, he takes the pain that
they feel and suffers for them
So for one hour or one day, those who normally know nothing of pain, can
breathe and smile for possibly the first time in years
On this certain day, he encounters 3 different people with 3 different types of pain
His burden becomes so heavy, that he cannot bare it for even a day
He takes his own life, in order to rid those 3, that he has met, of their pain, so that
they may have a better life
Theme:
Sometimes, we are all so wrapped up in our own problems that we forget to acknowledge the suffering of others. If we would just stop for one day, worrying about ourselves and look out, we may see someone screaming out to us. Sometimes, a smile, a hello, a helping hand, and kind word is all it takes to turn someone’s life around. Sometimes, the person who makes a difference in our life is the same person who needs our help in return. But again, we’re all so consumed with our own lives and problems, we often times never return such a simple, yet life-altering favor.
Structure of the Play”
They begin by telling of their suffering, in their own different way, and how they have masked it. Then, they tell of their encounter with a stranger one-day. Lastly, they express how that one encounter changed the way they thought about themselves. The 4th character explains his 1) purpose in life, then 2) his encounter with each person, then 3) his consumption and death for their pains.
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