25By Lissie Sheeley Characters- Olivia- sixteen-year-old suffering from schizophrenia
June- Olivia's mother, an abusive alcoholic lawyer Ward- Olivia's father, an abusive alcoholic lawyer Dekin/Voice1- a hallucination of Olivia's Kate/Voice2- hallucination of Olivia's Cara/Voice3- Olivia's best friend
Valerie- a popular girl who bullies Olivia
Dr. Howard- Olivia's doctor
Liam- a cognitive schizophrenic George- has gender-identity disorder Betsy- an agoraphobic Jessica- a hallucinatory schizophrenic Napoleon- a delusional schizophrenic Dad- Valerie's dad Nurse, Teacher, School nurse, Judge, Lawyer, Bailiff, Secretary, Student1, Student2, Student3, Patient
Synopsis
The Scene-Suburbia and The Central Mental Hospital The Time- Modern
Act One- The Diagnosis Act Two- The Prognosis
Act One
Scene One
(Curtain opens on a girl sitting DC in a chair and looking to the ground in the middle of the stage. She has cuts from her elbow to wrist on both arms. Behind her is a white sheet that conceals three dead bodies.)
Olivia: (looks up) Hey, my name is Olivia and I'm a schizophrenic. Well, actually I was. You see, (rises from her seat and pulls the white sheet off the three bodies. One is a male and the other two female. She kneels over the dead bodies and continues.) I am now dead, dead because of what they did to me. (pause) My whole existence with them became twisted in our fear and distrust of each other-the only thing we had in common. (stands back up and starts to pace around the bodies) What did they really want from me? Did they want the pills and the doctor visits? Did they want the snickering and finger pointing? Or was it vengeance that they wanted? In the end I don't know, but I doubt they wanted this. (gestures to the bodies)
(pauses by the body of the young man) Someone once told me, "Welcome to the world of insanity Olivia, you'd better start liking it now because you'll never leave." (laughs and slowly starts to pace again while looking at the abrasions on her arm) I did leave, but not in the way I hoped. Looking back, I knew I was dying and with the last moments of my life fading away all I could think about was my life and what led to my death. I thought about how foolish I am, for taking the coward's way out, but then again I never was a rational person. I remember the day it started for me. I just didn't know it was the end.
Scene Two
(Scene opens with Olivia sitting at a desk with a book in hand.)
Olivia:(reading)
"From childhood's hour I have not been As others were; I have not seen As others saw; I could not bring My passions from a common spring. From the same source I have not taken My sorrow; I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tone; And all I loved, I loved alone. Then- in my childhood, in the dawn Of a most stormy life- was drawn From every depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still: From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain, From the sun that round me rolled In its autumn tint of gold, From the lightning in the sky As it passed me flying by, From the thunder and the storm, And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Voice1: Of a demon in my view-[1]
(Olivia gasps and slowly looks around)
Voice1: Olivia...
(Olivia jumps and looks around)
Olivia:(whisper) Who's there?
Voice2: (laughs) (turns furiously to find the voice)
Olivia: Are you a ghost?
Voice1: No, a demon.
Olivia: What do you want from me?
Voice2: You want to kill them, don't you?
Olivia: Kill who?
Voice2: Ward and June.
Olivia: I don't want to kill my parents.
Voice2: No, you want to kill them for what they do to you. Go on Olivia, they're asleep it'd be easy.
Voice3: Olivia, don't listen to them! They're trying to hurt you. Shut them out!
Voice2: No Olivia, we are your friends. We're here to help you get your revenge.
Voice3: No Olivia, don't listen to them!
Olivia: I don't understand! Who are you people?
(enter June)
June: (shouts) Olivia! It's twelve-thirty! Your father and I have to be in early tomorrow! Why are you making so much noise? Who on earth are you talking to?
Voice2: Do it now Olivia! Hit her, strangle her, do it! What is the fantasy? What have you longed to do? Feel it! See it! Do it! (Olivia becomes frightened)
June: What are you looking at?
Olivia: (scared) Don't you hear it?
June: Shut up and go to bed! (June exits)
Voice2: Damn it, you had your chance and you blew it!
Olivia: Why are you doing this?
Voice1: You need someone to feel with you.
Olivia: Feel what?
Voice1: Anything, that's your problem and that's why we are here.
Olivia: My problem?
Voice2: You don't feel anything. We're going to fix that; we're going to help you.
Olivia: Why would I want revenge?
Voice1: You deserve a little happiness don't you?
Olivia: I'm hoping to get that by being more passive.
Voice2: And how's that working out for you?
Olivia: (mood changes) What do you have in mind?
Voice3: (pleading) You don't want their help. If you trust them they'll only trick you. (holds her head)
Olivia: I'm going crazy aren't I?
Voice1: I don't think we're the best ones to make that call.
Scene Three
(Scene opens with a classroom with students sitting at their seats. Olivia enters and takes a seat next to Cara.)
Teacher: Let's start up our discussion about Hamlet where we left off yesterday. There is much controversy over the question of whether Hamlet was actually crazy. (teacher reads Act 2 scene 2 in monotone)
Olivia: (to Cara) Hamlet wasn't crazy.
Cara: Really, you don't think so?
Olivia: No, he had too much method, too much strategy.
Teacher: Olivia! SHHH! (talks on)
Voice1: You know why Hamlet wasn't mad. It's because you know what it's like to be crazy.
Olivia:(harsh whisper) Leave me alone!
Cara: (turns to Olivia) Olivia, who are you talking to?
Voice1: Go on; tell them what would happen if Hamlet were crazy. Tell them what crazy is really like.
Olivia:(shouts) SHUT UP! (hyperventilates)
Teacher:(shouts) Olivia! You have disrupted my lecture twice now!
Cara: It's not her fault it's mine!
Teacher: (ignoring Cara by looking past her) Maybe you should step outside and come back only when you can control yourself.
Cara:(pleading) but Ms. . . . (teacher talks on) (Olivia exits) Scene Four
(Scene opens in Dr. Howard's office. Dr. Howard sits at a desk waiting for his next appointment. Olivia enters and walks to his desk.)
Dr. Howard:(stands and puts out his hand) Hello Olivia I'm Dr. Howard. (Olivia shakes his hand) Please have a seat. (They both sit) I want to speak with you about to your recent behavior.
Voice1: Tell him you don't know what he's talking about.
Olivia: (casual) I don't know what you're talking about.
Dr. Howard: Well, the administration at your school contacted me about your conduct. They wanted me to speak to you about the problems you're having and hopefully we can find the cause of your behavior. Voice1: Okay, just act cool and do everything just like I say.
Dr. Howard: First I want to test you with a Rorschach. (pulls out ink blot) What do you see in this?
Voice1: Say it's a cloud.
Olivia: ..Cloud.
Dr. Howard: And this one?
Voice1: A flower.
Olivia: it's a.. a flower
Dr. Howard: And this one?
Voice1: A rabbit.
Olivia: A..rabbit
Dr. Howard: Okay; now lets try some word association. Black.
Voice1: White
Olivia: (pause) White
Dr. Howard: Relief
Voice1: Comfort
Olivia: Comfort
Dr. Howard: God
Voice1: Jesus
Olivia: Jesus
Dr. Howard: Death
Voice1: Alive
Olivia: Alive
Dr. Howard: Alone
Voice1: Together
Olivia: Together
Dr. Howard: (pauses while he thinks) Olivia, I have a feeling that you're not being totally honest with me. We're going to try the word association again, but this time I want you to be honest with your response. Black.
Voice1: White (pause) Say white Olivia, say it!
Olivia: (resistant) Future
Dr. Howard: Relief
Voice1: (worried) Stop screwing around Olivia and say what I told you!
Olivia: Never
Dr. Howard: God
Voice1: Jesus? Buddha? Allah? Vishnu! Anything! Just say something to make you sound normal.
Olivia: ...Nonexistent
Dr. Howard: Death
Voice1: They'll put you on pills Olivia, is that what you want? You want them poking around in your synapses and ganglions and crapping around with your wiring? You want their dirty little chemicals inside your head?
Olivia: An absolution
Dr. Howard: Alone
Voice1: Don't say it Olivia!
Olivia: (shaken) Alone, I'm never alone.
Voice1: Olivia stop!
Olivia:(scared) They're always with me. I'm never alone.
Dr. Howard: Who? Who's always with you?
Voice1: Olivia shut up!
Olivia: Them.
Dr. Howard: Are they voices?
Olivia: They're more then just voices. They control everything I say, every decision I make; they live my life for me. (a long silence with just the scratch of pen on paper)
Dr. Howard: That's all for this session, but I want to talk to you again soon. (Olivia exits and the secretary enters)
Secretary: What do think it is?
Dr. Howard: It's schizophrenia no doubt, but it's strange, she's so young, most females don't develop it until they are in their twenties. I better not make an official diagnosis just yet. Perhaps other factors are involved. Maybe there is something else there that we have not considered.
Secretary: Well, did you meet her parents?
Dr. Howard: No, why?
Secretary: Well, let me just say this: if it's not an environmental factor then it's a hereditary one.
Scene Five
(Scene opens with a Dr. Howard sitting at a desk with Ward and June sitting in front of him. Olivia is sitting in a far corner alone DL. The tension is thick. Clearly the meeting has been going on for awhile)
Ward:(aggravated) Dr. Howard, we just want to know one thing, how much will this mess all eventually cost?
Dr. Howard: Ward, as I said, I have determined that Olivia has schizophrenia. Are you really aware of what that is?
June:(snidely) Voices in the head.
Dr. Howard: Not only that June, schizophrenia is when the mind creates, as in Olivia's case, hallucinations that the victim believes are reality. Teachers at Olivia's school told me that she has been talking to herself frequently; that tends to be classic symptom of the beginning stages of hallucinatory schizophrenia.
Ward:(angry) And again, I ask how much will this cost?
Dr. Howard: Well, I think in Olivia's case we should start out with medication and weekly visits with a therapist. If her condition worsens then I would suggest her being committed to a hospital that could more intensively and aggressively monitor and treat her condition.
June: (raising her voice with anger) Yes, and you are still not telling us how much it'll cost!
Dr. Howard:(Sighs) Medication tends to run from around eighty to three- hundred dollars per month and my bill is one hundred dollars per hour per session. Ward:(huffy) Jesus, is that it?!
Dr. Howard: Yes, that's all I have to share with you today. (stands up and holds out his hand to shake with Ward and June, who refuse it, while continuing insincerely) It was pleasure to meet you Ward and you too June, but I must be off. I have other appointments to attend to.
(Dr. Howard exits L. Ward and June get up from their seats and walk over to Olivia with very angry faces)
June:(yells loudly) I can't believe this, Ward! Hundreds of dollars a month! Just because she is a stupid spoiled brat!
Ward:(raises his voice) Yeah, we're just lucky that the insurance will cover most of it!
June:(still angry) Jesus, I know, but how will the people at the office react to this when we have to tell them.
Ward: I don't know June, but we'll need to be careful. Discreet. Come on let's go. We might catch something funny if we stay here too long. (Turns and shouts to Olivia) Olivia! We're leaving! Now!
Olivia: Okay, I'll be there in a second.
(Ward and June leave L and Olivia walks to center stage)
Olivia:(sarcastic) And some people wonder why I went crazy.
My parents were big time lawyers at the law firm Freemen, Jung, Wisk and Johnson. They were very dedicated to their jobs and never intended to have a child, but when I happened along, they thought I would be useful in furthering their careers. You know, the image of the family man and the working mom. Whenever I came up among their business buddies they would tell them about a daughter who is a bright, popular student, you know, someone that they could pretend to be proud of. I'm sure if they had to tell someone about my illness they will make up some sort of cock and bull story that it's due to studying too hard or is something trendy like bulimia, anything to make us sound normal. (continues bleakly) There's never the mention of the fists, the liquor bottles, the screams, the bruises and of course never of their mentally disturbed daughter.
The way the kids at school treated me didn't help my mental situation either. To tell the truth I had no friends. Well, I take that back, I did have one friend. In the third grade a girl named Cara moved here from out of state. We were a lot alike, both outcasts, but Cara got the better end of being unpopular. You see, I've been teased and tortured everyday since my first day of kindergarten by my fellow classmates while she was the kind of kid that was just totally ignored by everyone. God I envy her for that; what I would have given to just be left alone. But there is always that stupid desire for someone to notice you. Care about you. Maybe even love you a little. You can kick the dog and beat the dog and starve the dog, but the dog keeps coming back. Hope springs eternal. You keep hoping this time it won't hurt. Maybe this time it will be good. And the sick thing is sometimes they are good. Occasionally they notice. Not often, but just enough to keep the hopes up. Just enough to make that poor dog keep coming back for more.
Scene Six
(Scene opens in a girls bathroom with a hallway outside the door. The bathroom has a sink; mirror and a trash can. Olivia enters and walks to a mirror and wipes the sweat from her face. Cara enters R and walks to her side. Olivia looks to her.) Olivia: Where've you been? Cara: I've been sick the past couple days and by the looks of it you're coming down with something too.
Olivia: It's this medicine. It makes me feel like crap. Cara: What do they have you on? Olivia: I'm not sure, some stuff to make the voices stop. Cara: Does it work? Olivia: I guess, nothing has happened yet. Cara: What's it like at your.. doctor visits? Olivia: Why do you ask? Cara: Just interested I guess. Olivia: It's nothing special. He asks me questions, I answer them, he gives me a few tests, then he talks to my parents, they yell at me, and the day ends as usual. Cara: Do you think you're crazy? Olivia: I guess, not many normal people hear voices. Cara: Why are they here? Olivia: I'm not entirely sure.
Cara:(looks at her watch) I got to go. I'll see you next class. Bye.
Olivia: Bye.
Voice2: Olivia.. (Olivia stands rigid and looks around)
Voice2: Olivia. (Olivia jumps and turns to the mirror. A hand starts to come out of the glass and stretches towards Olivia. A girl, Valerie, enters L, stops and looks at Olivia. Olivia starts to back away from the mirror.)
Voice2: Come with me Olivia.
Olivia: Stop it! Go away. Just leave me alone. (Olivia backs away more)
Voice2: Come, Olivia, you belong here.
Olivia:(shouts) Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! (Olivia backs into Valerie.)
Valerie:(laughing) Hey, Psycho, what are you doing?
(Olivia backs away from the mirror and Valerie and walks to a trash can and starts looking through her pockets. Valerie goes up to the mirror and applies lipstick and looks at herself for a moment, snickers, and leaves.)
Olivia:(pulls out her bottle of pills and shakily takes two out) What's happening to me? I'm seeing things, but I shouldn't. Doctor Howard said these would make it stop. (she stares down at the two pills in her hands) Voice2: Kinda silly isn't it? They only make you sick.
Olivia: I've been taking them for a week, but they just make things worse. (pause) What's the point? (She pours the whole bottle out into the trash can and puts the cap back on and puts the bottle back in her pocket and exits through door L into hallway full of students including Valerie and a group of friends talking loudly. Olivia walks by, but a solitary young man named Dekin, stands in her way.)
Olivia: Excuse me.
Dekin:(He stands aside and lets her by, but his eyes follow her) You threw them away.
Olivia:(Turns around baffled) What?
Dekin:(Takes a step towards her) Your pills. You threw them in the trash.
Olivia:(stunned) How did you . . . . . (drifts off)
Dekin:(Walks rights up to her and stares down at her and chuckles) I know everything about you Olivia.
Valerie:(laughing) Psycho who are you talking to?
Olivia: Who are you?!
Dekin: I'm just one of your demons.
Olivia:(stuttering) I, I, I don't understand.
Dekin:(he puts his hand on her shoulders) Let me put it this way then, 'Welcome to the world of insanity Olivia, you'd better start liking it now because you'll never leave.' (Olivia faints)
Scene Seven
(Scene opens in a nurse's office with a nurse working at a counter and Dr. Howard sitting next to a bed with Olivia lying unconscious on it.)
Olivia:(waking up and looking at Dr. Howard) Dr. Howard? (looks around) Where am I?
Dr. Howard: Your school's nurse's office. Do you want to tell me what happened today Olivia?
Olivia:(folds her arms over her head and moans) They're not working.
Dr. Howard: What aren't working?
Olivia:(sits up) The pills. I'm seeing things, Dr. Howard; a person.
Dr. Howard: A person?
Olivia: It was a guy. He talked to me.
Dr. Howard: What did he say?
Olivia: That he knows everything about me and that he's just one of my demons.
Dr. Howard: Can you tell me anything else?
Olivia: Dekin.
Dr. Howard: What?
Olivia: Dekin, that's his name.
Dr. Howard: How do you know that?
Olivia: I don't know, I just do.
Dr. Howard:(stands up and gathers his things) School's almost out. I'm going to let you rest and then you can go home. We'll talk more about this at your next visit.
Olivia:(lays back down) All right, thank you Dr. Howard.
(Dr. Howard exits L and a young lady named Kate enters R and takes the seat next to Olivia's bed and stares at her for a few moments)
Kate: You know he was wrong.
Olivia:(startled and worried) You were listening to my conversation with Dr. Howard? Kate: Now do you really think that Dr. Howard would talk about your mental state with people sitting around?
Olivia:(confused) Then what are you talking about?
Kate: Dekin, he said we were demons when we're not. Dekin just likes to astound and impress. He always goes for the shock value. He just has to make a big show of things. (Pause)
Olivia: Kate.
Kate:(excited) Amazing! We don't even have to tell you, you just know it right off the bat.
Nurse:(turns and looks at Olivia) Who are you talking to dear?
Olivia: No one.
Kate: You know she's judging you. You want to slap her across the face for judging you as a freak and a nutcase.
Olivia:(taken by surprise by what Kate said) No! No she's just trying to be nice to me so that I can feel better.
Kate:(slightly giggling) Yeah, to get you off of her bed and out of her office.
Olivia: No, she's-
(bell rings and Olivia hurries out L leaving Kate sitting there)
Scene Eight
(Olivia sits in a chair and after a few seconds Dekin enters L and sneaks up behind her and puts his hands on her shoulders.) Olivia:(jumps up in surprise) Dekin!
Dekin: Olivia!
Olivia:(rises from her chair and stands up to him face to face) Why can't you leave me alone? Dekin: You know there's no way to get rid of us. Olivia: Yes I can! I'm going to go call Dr. Howard to get a new prescription or maybe a stronger one. (starts walking off R. Dekin walks up behind her, grabs her shirt collar and throws her to the ground. He holds her to the ground while slapping, punching and beating her head against the ground. Olivia struggles against his hold on her, but the beating continues. Dekin finishes, stands up, dusts himself off and turns to Olivia who is still lying on the ground.)
Dekin: You know you can't get rid of us. We're real to you and that's why you need us. So don't try to get rid of us because you never will.
(Olivia lies on the ground moaning in pain. June storms R in holding Olivia's empty pill bottle.)
June:(shouting and waving the pill bottle) Olivia! Why is this bottle empty!?
Olivia:(Olivia gets up, walks up to her mother. She then speaks in a slightly raspy voice.) I threw them away. I was about to call Dr. Howard to get a stronger prescription.
(June slaps Olivia hard across the face and is thrown her off her feet.)
June:(yelling and slapping Olivia again) You demented psycho! You wasted almost a hundred dollars of our money on your crazy pills and you threw them away. (slaps Olivia again)
Olivia:(trying to protect herself from the blows) Is money all you care about or do I not come in the picture here!?
June:(still slapping Olivia) Of course it's the money. Do you have any idea what it takes to keep this family going? Do you have any idea what the value of a dollar is? Are you a moron or something!? You filthy human leech! (slaps Olivia a last time and then exits R. Olivia lifts herself from the ground and doesn't notice Kate enter L)
Kate: Pathetic, totally pathetic! You didn't even put your fists up or anything. Honestly you could at least have smacked her around a bit.
Olivia:(turns to look at Kate and gives an annoyed huff) Kate she's my mother; I'm not going to hit her.
Kate: Well you're her daughter, shouldn't she not be allowed to hit you?
Olivia: Some would say that, but our situation is different from other families.
Kate: Why? What gives her the right to hit you?
Olivia: She's a drunk! Day after day she deals with my father slapping her around and to deal with her domestic abuse she gets wasted and beats the crap out of me and I let her do it because... I love her.
Kate: Oh what a happy family you all are. Why your parents are practically the Clevers.
Olivia:(sarcastic) Ha, ha, very funny.
Kate: Oh by the way, I think I hear your mom calling.
Olivia: What?
June:(shout from off stage) Olivia! Get down here and wash these dirty dishes you lazy spoiled brat.
Scene Nine
(Scene opens on Olivia drying a stack of dishes. Dekin enters R walks to her side.)
Olivia:(exhausted) Dekin, I've had a bad day as I'm sure you already know, since you're the cause for most of it, so please whatever you were going to do to me tonight can it wait till tomorrow?
Dekin:(disappointed) And go to bed without having my fun?
Olivia: Dekin please-
Dekin:(cuts off Olivia while picking up one of the dishes she just dried) Tell me Olivia, how much did your parents pay for these plates?
Olivia:(wide eyed and pleading) No Dekin, please don't.
Dekin: I wonder if they're fragile. (throws the dish to the ground where it shatters. He then tosses one to Olivia, which she juggles with and drops.)
Olivia:(begging) Please Dekin stop! Dekin, they'll hear you.
Ward:(shouts while entering L holding a Jack Daniels bottle. He looks at the broken dished and then at Olivia) What is going on in here?!
Olivia:(frightened) Dad! Dad I'm so sorry. I, I, I don't know what happened. (falls to her knees and shuffles towards her father) I'm sorry, I'm so so so sorry. (takes his hand from his side and holds it in her hands) Please, Dad, please.
Ward:(slurred speech) GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME! (breaks whiskey bottle and points it towards Olivia and shouts) HOLD STILL! You miserable mistake of a child.
(Black out)
Olivia:(screams) No, please don't!
Scene Ten
(Scene opens at Valerie's house. Valerie and her dad sit at a table eating supper.)
Dad: Valerie, do you know a girl at your school named Olivia?
Valerie: Who, the psycho?
Dad: Psycho?
Valerie: Total nut case, she's always talking to herself.
Dad: Well, don't say anything to anyone, but I found out something very disturbing about her and I don't want you associating with her. Do you understand me?
Valerie:(innocently) Of course father.
Dad: Well, her parents and I work together and today they told me that she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Valerie: You're kidding?!
Dad: No, but remember this is a confidential matter. A secret. (Dad exits and Valerie picks up the phone)
Valerie:(on the phone) Hey, it's Valerie. Boy do I have a scoop. You won't believe this!
Scene Eleven
(Scene opens on a classroom full of students sitting at desks. Olivia enters limping and bruised. She takes a desk next to Cara.)
Cara:(whispers to Olivia) Olivia, what happened to you?
Olivia:(monotone) I'll tell you later, but not here there are certain people I don't want to hear about what happened. Valerie:(pointing at Olivia) Wow Psycho! What's up with the bruises? Did you get into a fight with your voices?
Olivia:(melancholy) Leave me alone!
(Kate enters R and takes a seat next to Olivia)
Kate: You've wanted to kill her since you were a kid. (excited) Have you ever imagined what it would be like to hit her? How her self-dignity would be bruised. How her little friends would pretend to hate you when really they're relieved that somebody finally did it. Everyone wants you to do it. Look at them. Look at the excitement in their faces. Just do it, Olivia. Do what you want to do. Just this once.
Olivia:(harsh and hushed) You know you just can't go beat up who ever you please. I'm not like Dekin or my parents.
Valerie:(squeal) Oh my God! She's doing it again.
Student one:(laughing) What a weirdo!
Student two:(laughing) I guess she really is crazy.
Cara:(shouts) Leave her alone!
Valerie: I'm not at all surprise that she nutso I mean-
Olivia:(to Valerie and friends) SHUT UP!
Valerie:(laughing) Oh look at that she told us to shut up. Why should I shut up when I'm just warning my classmates of a potential danger do to your-
(Olivia leaps and attacks Valerie. Olivia throws Valerie to ground and starts to squeeze her neck. Valerie starts to make choking and gagging sounds and Olivia gets more and more angry and starts to slap her. Kate becomes very excited and squats down next to Olivia to get a closer look and gets a huge smile on her face. Cara becomes very frantic as Olivia beats Valerie's head on the ground.)
Olivia:(heated) What is your problem? Do you know what I go through? Cara:(crying) Stop it Olivia, you're going to kill her.
Kate:(very happy) That's right Olivia, kill her!
Valerie:(gasping, choking, and pleading) Please, stop . . .
Olivia:(mad) Why? You never did. (Valerie falls limp and Olivia stands back stunned. Cara starts crying loudly and the whole class is silent.) Oh God? What have I done?
Kate:(leaning over Valerie, grinning) What do you mean? You've wanted to do that for a long time. To shut her up.
Olivia:(screaming) No! You can't do things like this, it's wrong! (People around the room take notice that it looks like Olivia is talking to herself)
Kate: And what she does to you is right?
Olivia:(whispering to herself) I have to fix this. (runs to R.)
Act Two
Scene One
(Scene opens on Dr. Howard's waiting room which spans UL to DL from and Dr. Howard's office, which takes up the rest of the stage, with his secretary sitting at her desk, filing her nails and humming loudly. Olivia storms into the office L out of breath and disturbs her.)
Secretary:(puzzled) Olivia, what are you doing here? You don't have an appointment today.
Olivia:(frantic and out of breath) Please, I have to see him.
Secretary: He's with a patient right now. You'll have to wait. (Olivia paces around the office a couple times, nervously, before barging into Dr. Howard's office. The secretary jumps from her seat to stop her.) No Olivia, stop!
(Dr. Howard sits at his desk talking to a patient. Olivia bursting into the office startles them.)
Olivia:(trembling) I need to talk to you. (Pause)
Dr. Howard:(surprised) Okay that will do for this week. Don't forget to keep your journal. See you next week. (waits for patient to leave L) What's wrong Olivia?
Olivia:(stuttering) I, I, I think I might have killed someone.
Dr. Howard:(jumps from his seat and rushes over to Olivia's side) What happened? What have you done? Who was it?
Olivia:(sits down and stares forward) It was a girl at my school. She was taunting me and then Kate appeared.
Dr. Howard: Who's Kate?
Olivia:(looks up to Dr. Howard) Another one of 'them'.
Dr. Howard: Do you know for sure that she's dead?
Olivia:(stares forward again) No, I came here as soon as I saw what I done.
Scene Two
(Scene opens on a courtroom. A judge sits at his bench, a bailiff stands, the defendant's table with a lawyer and the persecution table with a lawyer sit in front of the judge. Olivia enters and walks to center stage.)
Olivia: Weeks passed before I was brought to trial. Valerie didn't die, but I messed her up pretty bad. Her doctor said she wouldn't be able to do anything for a while since I almost crushed her windpipe. She wouldn't be so pretty and perky either. I hated Valerie with every fiber of my being. She had ruined my life, making me an outcast to society, a pariah. I ruined hers by making her a cripple for life. I had revenge for every mean prank, hurtful taunt, and behind-the-back snicker she had ever used on me, but I felt empty inside. (Pauses) Why did I listen to Kate? Why didn't I just sit there and take it like I always did? (Pauses) Everyday since the day it happened I've been asking myself if I really did do it because Kate told me to. In the back of my mind I think that maybe it wasn't because Kate told me to, but what she said opened me to the idea revenge. Either way, the incident left this heavy feeling in my chest; guilt I guess. Revenge is supposed to be sweet. (Olivia takes a seat next to her lawyer)
Lawyer:(pacing in front of the judges bench) Your Honor, the defendant is classified as a schizophrenic and eyewitness accounts have her talking to herself and acting in a psychotic manner. Hoping to better to understand the events of this incident, the defense calls the defendant to the stand. (Olivia approaches the stand.)
Bailiff:(holding the Bible) Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God.
Olivia: I do.
Judge: Please take the stand.
Lawyer: Olivia can you please tell us the events of the day leading up to the crime.
Olivia: I got up, went to school and when I got to class Valerie started questioning me about some bruises. She had suggested that I had gotten them in a fight with my voices. I told her to leave and then Kate appeared.
Lawyer: Can you explain who Kate is? (Pause)
Olivia: Kate is, Kate is a hallucination that I get sometimes.
Lawyer: Go on, what happened next.
Olivia: Well, Kate told me that I have always wanted to hurt or kill Valerie.
Lawyer: And did you do it because Kate told you to? (Olivia stares forward, silent)
Judge: Please answer the question miss.
Olivia: I, I don't know why I did it. All I do know is that I need what's coming to me. I should not be allowed to continue like this. (Dekin enters L and stands in front of Olivia. She catches her breath stares, very frightened, at him. Dekin stares intently at her with rage chiseled in his features. He slaps her hard across the face, but just before her head snaps back and hits the stand, he grabs her by the scalp and pulls her upwards. The courtroom is abuzz.)
Dekin:(still holding her by the scalp) Tell them, Olivia!
Olivia:(pleading) Tell them what?
Dekin:(pulling harder on her scalp) Tell them you are nuttier then a Snickers bar, Olivia, and you'll get off easy. It'll be wild and crazy. We'll have fun in a minimum-security mental hospital. Just you, me, and Kate for the rest of your life.
Olivia: No! That's not what I want.
(Dekin slams his fist down on Olivia's knuckles making her scream out loud. She falls off her seat. Dekin exits L as Olivia's lawyer races over to her.)
Lawyer: Your Honor, I call for a recess!
Judge: Granted.
(All, but the Lawyer and Olivia leave.)
Lawyer: I'm going to get you some water. You stay here.
(Lawyer leaves and a very badly beaten and bandaged Valerie enters.)
Valerie: I hope you're thrown in prison for what you did to me.
Olivia: I'm kinda with you on that.
Valerie: No you're not! I see what you're doing; you're milking that judge for all he's worth. You want him to feel sorry for you when he should be feeling sorry for me. (Pause)
Look at me! No one's feeling sorry for me! They're blaming me! Look at me now; I'm a freak like you! I hate this! I hate you! I hope you burn in Hell!
Olivia: You know, I used to hope the same of you.
Scene Three
(Scene opens at New Harmony Hospital. George sits in a chair brushing his hair and looking in a mirror and chanting, "I'm a pretty girl", Napoleon sits in the other corner singing loudly the French national anthem and Jessica runs around acting crazy. The nurse enters with Olivia.)
Nurse: Olivia, welcome to Central Mental. This is our community room. Why don't you make yourself at home and meet some of the other patients. They are all quite nice.
(Olivia takes a seat next to George. He turns to Olivia.) George: Nurse, where is my sparkling tap water? I need my sparkling tap water!
Nurse: Good god, George. Cram it with the sparking tap water. (aside) You freakin' diva. George: Excuse me, do I have lipstick on my teeth?
(Olivia gets up and moves to a table. Jessica comes up to Olivia and clicks a pen in her ear.)
Olivia:(annoyed) Um, can you not do that?
Jessica:(shouts) No don't do it! (She lunges and stabs Olivia's hand with the pen.)
Olivia:(screaming) OH HOLY SH-! (grabs her hand and screams. Nurse enters R and runs to Jessica.)
Nurse: Get a straight jacket!
Jessica:(shouting) She was trying to hurt Lindsey! (nurse drags her away R.)
(Liam enters L and starts to write on a wall. Olivia holds her hands in pain.)
Liam: Looks like you got a Jessica attack.
Olivia: Who?
Liam: Girl who stabbed you when she thought you hurt Lindsey?
Olivia: Yeah.
Liam: That's Jessica.
Olivia: Oh, so, who's Lindsey?
Liam: Nobody knows, but she was sent here because she killed her family over Lindsey. It is best to leave Lindsey alone. So what are you in for? Bipolar?
Olivia: No, schizophrenia.
Liam: Really? How old are you?
Olivia: Sixteen.
Liam: Sixteen? You're the youngest schizo in here by far.
Olivia: What are you in for?
Liam: Cognitive schizophrenia.
Olivia: Really, it's good to meet someone like me who isn't trying to stab me. So, when did you know that you had it?
Liam: Well, since I was a young kid I had bipolar so I didn't notice my symptoms right away. But around seventeen I noticed that the bipolar mania disappeared and I went in a depressive state. I was perpetually apathetic, I stopped bathing, I had sleeping problems and I had problems concentrating and thinking. Soon I became extremely violent, and so to control it I started to write everything, just trying to get myself to care.
Olivia: Do you know how you got it?
Liam: Well, my mom was on coke when she was pregnant with me so the doctors thought that might be the problem, but they can't be sure about hereditary factors because I never knew my dad. It is all hereditary in the end, though. Either you get the bad gene or the bad family situation. Either way it is passed down. So what about you? When did you get it?
Olivia: I was diagnosed not too long ago.
Liam: What kind?
Olivia: I have hallucinations.
Liam: Really? I was never so lucky.
Olivia: It's no fun.
Liam: What's it like?
Olivia: Well, when I first got it there were three voices: Dekin, Kate, and an unknown one. I went on medication and they didn't bother me for a while, but one day they came back and Dekin and Kate were visible. The third voice never manifested, but I kinda wish it would.
Liam: Really, why?
Olivia: It felt like the third voice was on my side and it'd be nice to have to have someone in my corner.
Liam: How do you know it hasn't manifested?
Olivia: What are you saying?
Liam: Well, couldn't I be the voice for all you know?
Olivia: I guess.
Liam: So couldn't anyone be the third voice?
Olivia: I don't know.
Liam: I can guarantee that I'm real, but I will tell you this: I've known a lot of people while I've been in here. I've seen people with horrible sad problems and I have seen people that just needed a little rest from the real world. I think, with you, you need to look closer at what is the real world for you and find out who's really there and who isn't.
Olivia: Are you saying someone is deceiving me? That someone is one of them?
Liam: Maybe you should ask yourself that.
(pause)
Do you know this story? A man injured his
leg during a hunt in the middle of the savanna and with no means to treat the wound, the leg rots
and death approaches. The man got onto the airplane that finally arrived and there he sees a land
of pure white below him. The place glistening in the light was the summit of a snow-covered
mountain. The name of the mountain was Kilimanjaro. The man thinks, "That's where I was
headed..."
Olivia: And?
Liam: I hate this story. People only think about the past right before their death, as if they were
searching frantically for proof that they were alive.[2]
Olivia: Why are you telling me this?
Liam: Don't wait till death to find the truth.
Scene Four[3]
(Scene opens at group therapy.)
Nurse: All right everyone; let's start today's group therapy. Betsy why don't you start?
Betsy: Okay, so I'm working in an insurance company. I'm the youngest VP in the history of the
company. This job was my life. Then one Monday morning I got up. I got up and I couldn't
leave the house. I just couldn't.
George: Was the door locked?
Betsy: No, I just couldn't face what was out there.
George: Was it raining?
Nurse: No, George, Betsy suffers from agoraphobia, a fear of open areas and crowds. Please
Betsy, go on.
Betsy: Thank you. Anyway, that day I knew I just couldn't make that long drive to work.
George: Were you out of gas? (Nurse glares at George.)
George: Pffft. Baby...
Nurse: Let's move on, George why don't you share with us. We've talked before about your delusion of being a lesbian trapped in a man's body?
George: Please don't judge me for who I love.
Nurse: Can you explain why you believe you are a woman who loves other women that is trapped within a man's body?
George: Well, ever since I was a little boy I liked trying on my mother's clothes, painting my nails, and getting my hair done, and when I grew up that didn't change. But one thing was different with me than with all the other transvestites I hung out with. You see, I liked women, and so I was able to figure out that I was in reality a lesbian.
Liam: It sounds like to me that you're just a drag queen who isn't gay.
George: Gosh, I never thought of it like that. (gasp) I've wasted my life in here. (sarcastically) My eyes are so open now. You should be running the therapy, not this quack.
Nurse:(frustrated) Okay, let's move on. Liam?
Liam: You don't even want me to start.
Nurse: Okay then, Jessica, why don't you tell us about you?
Jessica:(monotone, staring forward) Well, one night I woke up and found Lindsey gone and I knew they took her from me. I found my mom sleeping in her bed. She didn't even have a chance to scream. I went downstairs to my father's office. He wanted to know why I had blood on my hands so I showed him by doing the same to him. My brother heard the screams and came downstairs to investigate. He started shouting and crying. I wanted him to be quiet so I took the gun out of my father's desk and fired off a warning shot... into his head. I went upstairs to find my sister in her bed. She had heard everything. The last words she said to me were-
Nurse: Okay, let's move on. Olivia, its your turn to share.
Olivia: Do I have to?
Nurse: Please, Olivia; we heal more quickly by healing together. Now please tell us why you're in here.
Olivia: But, my story isn't as good as theirs. I haven't murdered my family or ever thought I was a lesbian.
Nurse: Please, Olivia, share.
(pause)
Olivia: I was diagnosed with schizophrenia a while ago and my doctor put me on medication to repress it, but after a while it quit working. My voices became physical hallucinations and they controlled me more and more and until I attacked another student.
Betsy: Wow, that is boring.
George: Yeah, at least mine could have been a play or a made-for-TV movie.
Nurse: Okay, let's move on. How about you? Why are you here?
Napoleon: I'm not crazy.
Nurse: The state has you in here because they have reason to believe that you have a mental instability.
Napoleon: They're wrong! And when I raise my armies they will be the first to pay!
Nurse:(shouts) For the last time! You are not Napoleon! You people are driving me crazy! I just can't take it anymore!
Liam: Would you like to share?
Scene Five
(Scene opens with Olivia sitting in a chair and reading a book. Cara enters L very excited.)
Cara:(giddy) Olivia!
Olivia: (shocked) Cara? What are you doing here? I'm not supposed to have visitors.
Cara: Oh, don't worry about that. So, how are you feeling?
Olivia: I don't know. Not worse, but not all that well.
Cara: Maybe this will make you feel better. (Cara pulls a get well card from her jacket and hands it to Olivia. Olivia takes and reads it for a second and looks back up to Cara.)
Olivia: Thanks; it does make me feel a little better. (puts Cara's card in a page of her book. The Nurse's voice comes in from off stage.)
Nurse: Room checks in ten minutes.
Cara: I should go. Get well, Olivia. I miss you a lot.
Olivia: I miss you too. I'll see ya.
Cara: Bye.
(Cara exits L and Dekin enters right.)
Dekin:(cheery) Good day Olivia, how are you this beautiful day?
Olivia:(sad) Dekin, why are you doing this to me? I was having a good day.
Dekin: A villain never gives away his secret unless he wants to be caught or is writing his memoirs. I am neither.
Olivia: Tell me why you're visiting or I'll go straight to the infirmary and get so tanked up on Vicaden that you won't be able to make a visit for a month.
Dekin: If you truly want to know, it's because you're the perfect victim, Olivia. You've never known a true friend and after all those years of neglect, well, you became withdrawn and isolated then finally totally detached from the world around you. And now, we're here for you. Finally, some friends.
Olivia:(shouts) Why choose me?! What reason is there to plague me? What is there to gain?
Dekin: Don't you get it!? We didn't choose you, you chose us!
Olivia:(confused) I don't understand.
Dekin: You made us. You made us inside you to help you cope with your poor pathetic lonely trashed life.
Olivia:(shouts) You're not making sense! You've come to help me?! How? By scaring me all the time and then making everyone around me think I'm insane! (sarcastic laugh) And you say you are here to help me!
Dekin: We are here to help you! Society has given up on you, Olivia, and you have given up on society. For a while you were all by yourself with just your raw emotion. Your mind couldn't take this anymore and without you consciously knowing it, you created us so that you wouldn't be alone.
Olivia:(shouts) Why would my own mind create people to scare me? Why would I want to hurt myself so much?
Dekin:(yells) How should I know! I'm just the product of your deranged delirium. I'm not God. I have no rhyme or reason or plan of why I am what I am. You tell me why?
Olivia: You're lying! You know why so just tell me now! (pause)
Dekin: Well, It's probably because this is the norm for you. No one's ever been kind to poor Olivia her whole life.
Olivia:(persistent) No, you're wrong! Dr. Howard, he's always been nice to me.
Dekin:(cocky) Well who wouldn't if they were being paid a hundred dollars an hour to listen to you babble on and on about your pathetic life?
Olivia: What about Cara? Just today she came to see me and wished me good health.
Dekin: Cara's not a real friend.
Olivia: What are you talking about? How do you know anything about Cara and my friendship?
Dekin: There are things about Cara that you don't know.
Olivia:(looking to the ground and then up to Dekin) How many of you are there?
Dekin: That's totally up to you Olivia.
Olivia: I need to know Dekin. I need to know why you wanted me to be here instead of the prison. Here they can give me help, medicine, and therapy. That's exactly what you don't want, isn't it?
Dekin: You didn't deserve jail.
Olivia: What do you mean? I almost killed Valerie!
Dekin: She got what she deserved.
Olivia: Then, why do I feel like this?
Scene Six
(Scene opens on Dr. Howard at a desk writing notes. Olivia enters R and stands at center stage.)
Olivia: It was Thursday, Thursday was the day that Dr. Howard came to the hospital to have sessions with patients. I've asked myself if I should tell him about what Dekin said to me. It sounded so absurd and outlandish that I wondered if what he said was real or just all a dream. But what if it was real? But if I started it then couldn't I stop it? And what about Cara? What did he mean about things I didn't know?
(Olivia exits L and reenters with the book she has been reading. She takes a seat in front of Dr. Howard sitting at his desk.)
Dr. Howard: How have you been lately Olivia?
Olivia: I was stabbed by some crazy named Jessica (sarcastic) but otherwise it's peachy keen! I'm adjusting just great!
Dr. Howard: (Pause) ..Ok, I... guess. Has anything happened since the time you arrived here? (Olivia stares blankly at the floor, deep in thought) Olivia?!
Olivia:(startled) What?
Dr. Howard: Has anything happened since the time you arrived here?
Olivia:(hesitates) No.
Dr. Howard: Good.
Olivia: Dr. Howard, I'm not allowed visitors am I?
Dr. Howard: No, of course not, why?
Olivia: Cara, she came to visit me today.
Dr. Howard: I've been meaning to speak to you about her.
Olivia: What? What is it?
Dr. Howard: Well, after the incident at your school your lawyer and I went to speak to some of the witnesses. I especially wanted to talk to your friend Cara, but when I asked the school if I could speak to her they said they had no record of her.
Olivia:(jolted) What! What do you mean? Cara's real! (Olivia pulls the card out of the back of her book and looks at it.)
Dr. Howard: Olivia, when did you first meet Cara?
Olivia:(still looking at the card) Over seven years ago.
Dr. Howard:(confounded) This is unheard of... I'm sure you must of... seven years?..This can't be... (reaches in his desk for a book)
Olivia:(confused) What? I don't understand. What's going on?
Dr. Howard:(thumbing through his book) It's rare for a girl your age to get schizophrenia, but not unheard of. If you started your hallucinations over seven years ago... it's, it's totally unknown.
(Dr. Howard starts writing on his note pad and Dekin enters R and walks behind Dr. Howard. Dr. Howard stands up and goes to a bookcase UR. Dekin takes Dr. Howard's chair.)
Dekin: So, now you know.
Olivia:(angry) Why didn't you tell me when I asked you how many of you there were?
Dekin: I thought it'd be more fun this way. You know, see if you could figure it out by yourself.
Olivia: Is there anyone else? Be honest.
Dekin: You tell me.
Olivia: I hate you. I really hate you.
Dekin: Of course you do. I don't understand why it didn't click with you after our last little chat.
Olivia: What didn't click?
Dekin:(Dekin rises and leans on the desk in front of Olivia) What we are to you. Your life was an emotional mess a while ago. You didn't know how to cope with your feelings, so you made us. First, you made Cara so you had someone to confide with after your parents beat you and after the kids at school were through with you. Then you made Kate and I when Cara wasn't enough. Kate is your lust for revenge, and I'm here to make sure you don't do anything stupid like trying to get rid of us. (Dr. Howard returns to his desk with a thick book and starts looking through it)
You know Olivia; I never did like Dr. Howard. I wonder if they'd blame you if I killed him. (Dekin puts his hands in a fist over his head ready to strike Dr. Howard.)
Olivia:(screams) Dekin! No! (She jumps up grabbing a letter opener from the desk and aims for Dekin. Instead of stabbing him, Dr. Howard jumps up to protect himself and he puts him in the way of Olivia's weapon. He clutches his wound for a second and then falls dead. Olivia backs away, gasps and then frantically cries while Dekin laughs.)
Olivia:(crying) Oh my God! (Olivia runs out L carrying the letter opener)
Dekin:(examines Dr. Howard's body) It's not easy having a good time. (looks once more at the body) Even smiling makes my face ache.[4]
Scene Seven
(Scene opens with Liam writing on the ground UR. Olivia enters not noticing him and stops at center stage. Liam comes up behind her and taps her on the shoulder.)
Liam: Olivia?
(Olivia panics, turns and slices his shoulder.)
Liam:(shouts while holding his shoulder) Jesus Olivia, what the hell was that for?!
Olivia:(shaky and crying) Liam?! Oh my God I'm so sorry I thought you were one of them. (Liam groans in pain) Liam you were right someone was deceiving me; it was Cara.
Liam:(frightened) Olivia that's not my blood, is it?
Olivia:(averting her eyes) No, It's Dr. Howard's.
Liam:(shocked) What!?
Olivia:(panicky) It was an accident! I was trying to kill Dekin.
Liam:(taking her hand) Come on, we'll go to administration and tell them everything.
Olivia: No! (jerks her hand away) You gotta get away from me! (racing to exit R)
Liam: Olivia?! Where are you going to go?
Scene Eight
(Scene opens with Olivia running in R to C crying with the letter opener still in her hands.)
Olivia:(crying) Oh God, what am I going to do? What am I going to do!? (Olivia looks down to her hands. She sees the letter opener and then she looks at her arm. She slowly presses the tip to her arm. Enter Dekin R and Kate L.)
Kate: You know she won't do it.
(Olivia looks up to Kate and Dekin)
Olivia:(shouts) I will Kate! I won't let you two play with my head anymore.
Dekin: No, you're too weak Olivia! You're going to stay in here, with us, forever.
Olivia: No I won't let you do this to me.
Kate: You won't!
Olivia: I don't fear death. Not anymore.
Dekin: You're lying.
Olivia: Either way, I can't live like this.
(Cara enters L)
Cara: Olivia.
Olivia: What should I do Cara?
Cara: I don't know.
Kate: Let's see, will Olivia be selfish and kill her best friend for a moment's sanity, or will she be compassionate and live with the voices in her head?
Olivia: She's right; if I kill myself, you also die Cara.
Cara: I was never alive to begin with.
Olivia: You are just a part of me, so to kill you I have to-
Dekin:(shouts) You won't Olivia! You and I both know it!
Olivia: No, I'm making the decisions now! (she cuts from her elbow to her wrist with the letter opener and repeats the action on her other arm. She drops the letter opener on the ground.)
Cara:(soft) You're free now.
Kate: (weak) Free? But, I thought you liked us, we liked you.
Olivia:(shouts) I didn't like you! I never liked you! And I never needed you!
Dekin: You don't mean that Olivia. You're lost without us.
Olivia: No Dekin, my eyes are open now.
(Cara, Kate, and Dekin fall to the ground. Olivia stares at their bodies for a second and then falls and the lights blacks out before she hits the ground next to them.)
Scene Nine
(Scene opens up on the three dead bodies of Dekin, Kate, and Cara. Olivia walks on stage with a white sheet in her hands and starts to unfold it.)
Olivia:(spreading the sheet over the three bodies) I was dying and I knew it. With the last moments of my life fading away all I could think about was my pathetic life and what led to my pathetic death. I thought how foolish I was, for taking the coward's way out, but then again I never was a wise person. (Pause) I just could not let go. I could not let go of crazy and live in the real world. I could not let go of the world and be crazy. I drove myself mad in the big in-between. (pause) I've never seen a blue sky, but now I can feel it reaching out and moving closer. Knowing me, the visions may be real and may be illusion, but I can't tell one from the other, and all I hope for is relief.
Free... I wanna be free... gotta be free... and now I am. They say before you die you look at your past and you frantically search for any proof that you were alive and that people will miss you and remember you. When I looked back I realized for the first time how alone I was and am. When you die you ask yourself what life is about, but (pause) I still don't understand.
THE END
Production Notes:
Olivia is a play that can be produce with a cast as small as ten to as large as thirty or more. The set will have to be a Spartan set due to the fast pace of the play.
The cast can be maximize by having more students, patients, or by having the court room scene containing a jury.
The cast can be minimize by an actor/actress taking multiple roles like shown below:
Olivia
Dekin Kate Ward/Liam June/Act II nurse Dr. Howard Valerie Lawyer/teacher/Betsy Jessica/secretary/school nurse/student Judge/student/patient in Act I/Napoleon (Uni-sex part)
Bailiff/student/George/Dad
Stage Direction-
UR- Upstage Right
UC- Upstage Center UL- Upstage Left R- Right C- Center L- Left
DR- Downstage Right
DC- Downstage Center DL- Downstage Left
Character Notes-
-How a character should look and act Olivia- Teenage girl. Olivia is mentally ill and it should show physically.
June- Should act self absorbed and pompous. In public she should appear refined and self-sufficient, but at home she should be drunk and unhinged. Ward- Should act egoistic and narcissistic. Appears very button down and conservative in public, but drunk and disheveled at home. Dekin- An evil, vindictive young man. He can either appear well groomed and dapper or shabby and chaotic. Dekin should dress completely in black. Kate- Very poised and sophisticated. Kate is well groomed, very beautiful and always dresses in red. Cara- A very kind teenage girl. She should dress in white. Valerie- Pretty, but snotty sixteen year old.
Dr. Howard- Dr. Howard can be man or woman, young or old, tall or short, fat or thin. Dr. Howard should always be well mannered and charismatic.
Liam- Unkempt, sarcastic, young man. Should appear disorderly, yet intelligent and inquisitive. George- Should be dressed in women's clothing, wear make-up and have a feminine voice. Jessica- Tousled young lady that acts deranged. Napoleon- Always speaks in a French accent. Betsy, Dad, Nurse, Teacher, School nurse, Judge, Lawyer, Bailiff ,Secretary, Student1, Student2, Student3, Patient- With these characters actors can take liberties with how they believe they should be presented. Author Notes:
Whenever I am asked what Olivia is about I find that I'm overwhelmed with different explanations. I find it's easy to explain Olivia like this:
In Fight Club, the messianic Tyler Durden stated,
"It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything."
Though Tyler Durden meant this in regards to materialism, Olivia epitomizes this statement when it comes to her mental battles. During this play Olivia strives for deliverance in one-way or another so that she may be free of her tribulations and exist in tranquility even though the only way for her to live in freedom was to not live at all.
- [1] "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe [2] Taken from Keiko Nobumoto reference to Ernest Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" in "The Real Folk Blues" [3] The story that Betsy tells is based of the episode "Stark Raving Dad (#7F24)" from The Simpsons by Al Jean, Mike Reiss and created by Matt Groening. [4] Spoken by Dr. Frank-n-Furter from "Rocky Horror Picture Show" by cult playwright Richard O'Brien.