A
A lady in the crowd
Shouting Voices Upon My Mind.
CHARACTERS
HOPE KING : Age 6, Young girl, Mr.King and Mrs. King's daughter, As an infant she appeared to be the future Einstein of the nineteenth century. Before turning one month old she could correctly identify colors. By age one she could read. At eighteen months she was a fluent speaker of the English language.
Characteristics: Schizophrenic, aggressive, intelligent, realistic, observant.
ANGELINA KING: Age 28, Rome’s wife/ Hope’s mother, attitude changes over time. She is deeply in love with her husband Rome.
Characteristics: Emotional, panicky, negative, loving, selfish.
ROME KING: Age 28, Angelina’s husband/ Hope’s father, Is deeply in love with Angelina, his love for his daughter is stronger than his love towards his wife.
Characteristics: Assertive, impatient, hopeful, considerate, compassionate.
MISS MONROE: Age 65, psychotherapist, studied psychotherapy for over thirty years. Has dried patches of unhealthy grey hair, overly deepened wrinkles.
Characteristics: Brilliant, curious, imaginative, observant, high maintenance.
SETTING
Wilson County, Tennessee. The King household. A large one story dream home measuring 2,500 square feet. Secondly in Miss Monroe’s psychotherapy office.
TIME The 1900’s, Winter
Act I, Scene 1
SETTING: We are in the King home, an extravagant house in Wilson County, Tennessee. This one story 2,500 square feet home is specially built for children. Mr. King and Ms. Kings life seems to come out of a fairy tale. That is until life decides to morph their life into a living hell.
Hope stared into the behavior of humanity and comprehended nothing. Abandoning the room empty handed, and without a lecture learned. All surrounding her mind were the petrifying screams of insanity. Hope has many imaginary friends. The quantity of imaginary friends began to multiply. Meanwhile all of her Kindergarten friendships are divided by zero. To Hope all of her imaginary friends are real. They all have one similarity that bonds them together. They are all included in the number system.
HOPE: (Screams loudly) Mommy Daddy! 182 keeps telling me to kill myself, he’s telling me to stab myself with the kitchen knife! ( Begins to cry)
ROME: (rolls eyes in annoyance) Tell them to stop
HOPE: Daddy 17 wants us all dead. (Shouts in outrage) Why won’t you make them stop! I hate you Daddy! I hate you!”
ROME: Stop these little tantrums of yours. I’m getting tired of this attitude.
HOPE: (barks like a dog)
ANGELINA: She’s been barking like a mutt for over five hours. (sighes)
HOPE: (growls loudly)
ANGELINA: (angrily screams) Stop it Hope! (Crying, wipes tears away)
SECOND SETTING: In Miss Monroe’s psychotherapy office. Hope is no where to be found when Hope is diagnosed with schizophrenia.
MISS MONROE: What kinds of voices do you hear?
HOPE: Miss Monroe I hear voices that mimic reality. Most of the time they’re screaming.
MISS MONROE: What do they tell you? (taking notes on clipboard )
HOPE: (Ignores question) The voices make it hard to play in the playground. I feel like prey. Like I’m always being watched like every move I make is wrong. These voices are god and he hates me.
MISS MONROE: (places clipboard down on her desk) It’s all going to be alright. Only if you keep taking your medication.
HOPE: No you lying bastard! You don’t understand! I live in the borderland of my World and your World. This is my World! (points above her head)
MISS MONROE: Young child, sometimes I have this horrifying assumption. What if all of our research on Schizophrenia were to be wrong? What if you were right. Lets assume that you’re in the borderland of our World and this other World you speak of. The creatures or voices are telling you to do bad things, so they can push into their World. ( pauses) (looks at Hope directly into her eyes) One of my biggest fears is that We may simply be a figment of your imagination.
HOPE: (laughs) You’re on the right track.
MISS MONROE: (concerned) Did you take your medication this morning?
HOPE: You mean the Lithium? The ones that mommy turned into a powdery substance. The thing that Mommy mixed with my oatmeal? Of course not. (Smiles)
MISS MONROE: (loudly) Mr. and Mrs. King may you two please come into my office.
ROME: (opens door for Angelina)
ANGELINA: (sits down on a chair)
ROME: (standing up)
MISS MONROE: (concerned) She didn’t take her Lithium this morning, did you acknowledge that Mr. and Mrs. King?
ANGELINA: I know This has been happening for the past two weeks.
ROME: (nods head) She hasn’t been eating either, and when she does she purges.
HOPE: (silently gazes at the ground)
MISS MONROE: (Surprised) So she hasn’t been taking any medication for the past two weeks?
ROME AND ANGELINA: (Both shake their heads)
ANGELINA: Were trying to convince her .
HOPE: (whines) No I don’t wanna take my medication!
ROME: So far nothings working.
MISS MONROE: This is the fourth time this has happened! There are no excuses for this. If shoving lithium up her ass is what it takes to get the medication into her system, then you do it.
ANGELINA: (offended) Why, How dare you?
ROME: She’s right. We need to gain control in this situation.
ANGELINA: Absolutely not Rome. We can’t force her to take medication
MISS MONROE: I never used the word force.
ANGELINA: That’s not the point. Hope can’t take medication that she doesn’t want to take.
MISS MONROE: With all due respect Ma'am I think the least thing that matters here is what Hope wants. Hope doesn’t want this. Hope wants that. What matters is your daughter's sanity
ROME: (Claps in applause) Bravo, you see Angelina. Now she knows what she’s talking about!
ANGELINA: Why you shut the fuc- (Interrupted)
HOPE: (Breaks a glass ornament from Miss Monroe’s desk) I’m not taking my medication!
ANGELINA, ROME, MISS MONROE: (stare at Hope in awe) (five second pause of silence)
MISS MONROE: You’ve got to find another Psychiatrist. Now get out of my office.
SETTING: We return inside the King Household. Approximately one month later.
HOPE: (excited) Today I met four new friends. The first one is 19. The second one is my new best friend called 365. Then theres 2000. Last but not least 67!
ANGELINA: (patience snaps) (shouts in stress) Make them go away!
HOPE: Mommy don’t worry 17 and 90 are the mean ones. These are super friendly, I promise. Please don’t be sad.
ANGELINA: (inhales/exhales deeply) Please leave this room darling. I need to talk to daddy.
(shouts) Rome!
ROME: Yes honey?
ANGELINA: (whispers) I’m on the verge of having schizophrenia myself. I’m losing my sanity here. I think it’s for the best that we send our daughter into Lake shore's mental institution.
ROME: I refuse to dump our daughter in a place for the crazies! I know that sometimes she’s not our own daughter. She transforms into a ferocious violent demon yet she’s still ours to raise. I have Hope that our daughter will be cured someday. You need to have more hope in our daughter.
ANGELINA: There’s no Hope. We’ve tried all kinds of medications already. We’ve traveled throughout the entire Country. In search for a cure, for the right physiotherapist. For the right medication. Having Hope is absolute bullshit!
ROME: God dammit Angelina It’s not bullshit!
ANGELINA: I’ve had enough of this. I love you darling, yet I think it’s for the best that we take Hope into Lakeshores Mental institution.
ROME: Do you love our daughter?
ANGELINA: What?
ROME: As in do you give a fuck about our daughter. Do you realize how selfish you’re being right now?
ANGELINA: (Gasp) I’m not being selfish, and I do care about our daughter!
ROME: Then why would you want to send our daughter in a place for the crazies. If you loved her then you wouldn't be saying such irrational things.
ANGELINA: (regretful/apologetic) You’re right honey, I’m so sorry I’m not making sense right now. You know how stressed out I’ve been lately.
ROME: (Hugs Angelina tightly/ Kisses her on the lips) It’s alright darling. I understand you’re being this way because you’re stressed out.
HOPE: (Walks into room) Mommy,
ANGELINA: Yes sweetie?
HOPE: (Sobering) Mommy I know you’re sad but please don’t give up on me. Please have faith in me. You too daddy don’t ever lose faith.
ROME: Darling we’re never going to give up on you. We have faith in you and that one day those terrible voices are going to vanish. We have hope in you princess.
ANGELINA: We will love you under all kind of circumstances. Family sticks together and we’ll always believe in you, because we have Hope. (Kisses Hope’s forehead)
ROME/ANGELINA/HOPE: (Family embraces one another)
(END OF PLAY)
Authors Note: This play was a lot of fun to make. I hope all of you enjoyed reading this. Voices Shouting Upon My Mind will one of Calexico High Schools first performances produced by The Drama Club; on December 2014. Auditions will be held this Wednesday.
Lets hope for wonderful potential from our actors.
~Yours truly,