Strangers

LONELINESS MACHINE
5 people standing in a line across the front of the stage, facing upstage.
One girl sitting alone on the ground behind them facing the direction of the audience but looking down, humming a sad and lonely tune, and playing with her fingers on the ground drawing lines etc. She is seen by the audience through the other people’s legs as if they were jail bars or something similar.
The people in the line have their heads hanging down to begin with, but raise them up to be facing the back wall whenever they speak (so the audience knows who is speaking).
Person 1 I just don’t know what to do with myself since he left me for that other woman …
Person 2 I miss my mum … life just isn’t the same without her …
Person 3 Off to school again … there’s still no one I know there though …
Person 4 I don’t fit in here, I don’t know why I’m here … I’ll just keep laughing along with the rest of them anyway …
Person 5 I would like to have someone to love, but I just don’t have time … its just too much effort …
Person 1 Was I too boring? Too annoying? What did I do wrong that she did so right? I’ll always compare myself to her now …
Person 2 It’s just the little things that remind me of her, and every time I see that photo it makes me cry …
Person 3 No one will talk to me at lunch because of how I look … I’m just the same as them but they can’t see that …
Person 4 There’s no reason why I should feel like this – I should be having fun but it’s just all a bit superficial …
Person 5 Running a business like this gives me no time for any of the things I’d really like to be doing … I should be happy with all this money but I’m not …
For the next section now, each of the five people standing turns around as they speak to face straight out to the audience, addressing them. They start in a cannon in number order, each saying their bit about 3 – 4 times before stopping suddenly all at once as if they’ve just heard something.
Person 1 I know they won’t last long, I can see what she wants … he’ll regret it … he’ll come back … I wish he would come back … I miss him … what went wrong?
Person 2 The way she always told me to wear a hat in the sun … the cup of tea at 6.30 in the morning and stomping down the hall yelling ‘wake up’ … her enthusiasm about vegetables and healthy food … always helping with school stuff … the funeral …
Person 3 I wear the same clothes … I live on the same street … but I come from Zambia and they don’t know how to talk to me … I sit by myself … I eat by myself … I work by myself …

Person 4 The drinks are on the table … music is playing … everybody’s laughing, and I’m laughing, but it’s not funny … I don’t know why I can’t relate … it doesn’t make sense …
Person 5 I don’t know where to start … I’m distracted on the outside by everything I have to do … maybe I’m just too old for this … I’m out of practice, it’s been a while … where do I start?
Everyone is silent with their heads tilted slightly as if they’re listening to something. The only noise is the girl still sitting and humming behind them. She looks up suddenly at the audience and says
Girl I thought I was the only one.

First draft by Becky and Tammie Nelson Strangers Group