Characters:
Tag
Sister Pain
Sister Joy
Love Doctor
Setting:
Place – a mean street
Time – again and again
The play takes place mostly in darkness with the characters highlighted by spotlights.
PROLOGUE
(THE LOVE DOCTOR STEPS OUT ONSTAGE.)
LOVE DOCTOR
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to say
That every last one of you
Looks lovely today.
Now this little fable we’re bringing to you
Is based on a story that’s too often true.
It’s the story we’ve all known since livin’ began.
How the pull between sorrow and joy
Can destroy
A man.
Our story begins on a dark empty street.
And these are the players
You’re likely to meet.
(HE POINTS TO THE CHARACTERS WHO ARE
STANDING STILL ON THE STAGE)
Here on my left is my Sweet Sister Pain.
Her heart is a dark cloud, her soul is the rain.
She has known every misery
That there’s ever been.
All her moments of happiness
Could be stacked up one hundred times
On the head of a pin.
Off in this corner is a beautiful girl.
She is called Sister Joy, and that’s truly her world.
She could pick up a flower
And savor its smell.
She has stories of moonlight
That she’d like to tell.
But her only problem
Is being forgotten.
She is stuck in her corner,
Where lack of attention
Is threatening to turn
Her gentle soul rotten.
Now, this is our hero, and Tag
Is his name.
And all of his life he’s been livin’ with pain.
And that’s how he ended up here with this sister.
She looked so familiar,
He couldn’t resist her.
Mistakin’ Pain for happiness,
Well, you know that’s a sin.
And that’s where we are
When our story begins.
And just who am I?
Well, you’ll find that out soon.
I’ll be back before long,
I’ll be singin’ my tune.
But for now, settle back,
Just relax in your seats.
And welcome, my friends,
To one of Love’s meanest streets.
(LIGHTS OUT ON LOVE DOCTOR)
(WE SEE THE SUGGESTION OF A CRIME BEING
COMMITTED, A CHASE PERHAPS. FINALLY,
WE LAND ON SISTER PAIN, WHO HAS BEEN
WATCHING THE ACTIONS. SHE COMES
FORWARD IN AN ANGRY LIGHT.)
SISTER PAIN
You know, love is a bad neighborhood, and I have died a thousand times in its streets, been dragged heart-first down its bad-ass avenues, rotted in its alleys that turned stinkin’ under my feet.
Yeah, love is a bad neighborhood, full of liars, cheats and thieves. And a woman walkin’ round with her heart hangin’ loose is a scene waitin’ for a crime.
But I forgot all that when that brown-eyed baby pulled the darkness off the night, lit me up and let me rob myself blind.
(SPOTLIGHT UP ON TAG. THEY STRETCH OUT
THEIR ARMS TO EACH OTHER. TAG’S LIGHT
GOES OUT ABRUPTLY.)
See, I was happy struttin’ round the streets of love, my heart clenched tight in my first. I
Was shakin’ my head as I passed by women I used to know. Women I remember as strong, but who now were hangin’ out of their windows waitin’ for men who didn’t come and didn’t call. Who after years of stealin’ their devotion couldn’t even stop to say “Dog, did you eat today?”
Oh yeah, love is a bad neighborhood, and I was gettin’ myself out. Headin’ home for the first time in years. I was thinkin’ of my cool, quiet sheets where my wounds could turn dry. I was thinkin’ about that quiet and that cool when that brown-eyed baby showed up, shoulders and all. And I thought again about that quiet and that cool. And when was that ever enough? When could any cool match a lover’s gorgeous, silky touch?
And suddenly that heart I’d been clutchin’ so safe and so tight got real heavy, and I thought it might drop, crack the earth open wide. So I looked again at that brown-eyed baby, who in love’s half-light seemed to be a friend. And right there, in the middle of love’s darkest street, I set down my heart for a time.
Yeah, love is a bad neighborhood, and I shoulda run when he reached for my heart, when he picked it up, rolled it gentle on his palm. Shoulda closed my ears
(LIGHTS UP ON TAG)
SISTER PAIN
When I heard him say …
TAG
Such a pretty heart. Can I hold it for a while?
(HE REACHES OUT TO HER. SHE PULLS AWAY AND
RUNS INTO THE DARKNESS.)
TAG
I was born at the corner
Of nothin’ and nowhere.
My mom was a drunk
And she stunk up her life.
Man, she was no wife.
So, my Daddy, he fled,
And the last thing he said
Was, “My son, you are one
Of the special few
And only you
Can steer your life.”
“But Daddy,” I said
to his big empty bed.
“Only one thing is sure –
you ain’t here no more.
So, what do you know?
Or even care where I go
And who I see there?”
So, I moved to the corner
Of trouble and sorrow
And every tomorrow
Brought anger and pain.
And I jumped around hearts
Just like puddles of rain.
Yeah, I made women cry,
Didn’t care if they died.
Long as I got my way.
But then sometimes at night
I would think “this ain’t right.
Someday, I’m gonna pay.”
(SISTER PAIN RETURNS. THEY EMBRACE.)
But that day never came,
And now, I’m not the same
‘cause I found the right girl,
and the whole Goddamn world
strokes me like my Daddy’s hand.
And I live at the corner of fortune
And pleasure. My life is a treasure
The way it was planned.
(THEY EXIT ARM IN ARM INTO THE DARKNESS)
(SPOTLIGHT UP ON LOVE DOCTOR)
LOVE DOCTOR
Don’t you know
I’m the Love Doctor, yo!
I fix things that hurt
Makin’ diamonds from dirt,
makin’ rainbows from rain,
makin’ wisdom from pain.
Don’t you know
I’m the Love Doctor, yo!
When I hear of a heart
That is splittin’ apart
I am there in a flash
Spreadin’ healin’ like cash.
And no one can tell
When I’m castin’ my spell.
You can be on your way
Through the darkest of days,
Or else cruisin’ along
On your same virgin song,
And I sneak up real quiet,
Adding love to your diet.
Don’t you know
I’m the Love Doctor, yo!
And I’ll fix you
With moonlight
And flowers and wine,
And I’ll come back
And come back until
You are mine,
Until you are cryin’
“Heart, I’ll see you later,
sometime.”
(HE STRUTS OFF, FOLLOWED BY HIS LIGHT.
(LIGHTS UP ON SISTER JOY WHO IS CURLED UP
IN THE CORNER. SHE HAS BEEN ASLEEP.)
SISTER JOY
This is a note to all women.
You are a fortune.
You can spend yourself
Silly and still
There is more.
I said a woman is a fortune.
You can loosen your arms,
Send your dreams flyin’ high,
Watch them ride on the same single breath
That blew them alive.
Yes, a woman is a fortune,
All diamond and ruby and pearl,
Grandmother or girl,
You are pumping life from your blood
Red heart, from your sweet-smelling skin.
This is a note to all women:
You already glitter, so begin
Your dreams, begin.
(LIGHTS OUT ON JOY)
(LIGHTS UP ON LOVE DOCTOR)
LOVE DOCTOR
Don’t you know
I’m the Love Doctor, yo!
(LIGHTS UP ON TAG AND PAIN,
WHO ARE DANCING SLOW)
LOVE DOCTOR
Now you take this poor brother
Destroyed by his mother
A lifetime ago.
He has tangoed with pain
And he’s dancin’ again.
Dancin’ hard, dancin’ slow.
He has loved pain so long,
It’s the only real song
That he’s ever known.
But I fix things, you see.
Leave it all up to me.
I’ll take this poor boy
Introduce him to Joy
(LIGHTS UP ON JOY)
Set his lonely heart free.
(LIGHTS OUT ON ALL)
(LIGHTS UP ON SISTER PAIN)
SISTER PAIN
Oh yeah love, love is a bad neighborhood full of liars, cheats and thieves and a woman walkin’ ’round with her heart hangin’ loose …
(LIGHTS UP ON LOVE DOCTOR)
LOVE DOCTOR
Is just a scene waitin’ for a crime.
SISTER PAIN
I can feel it in the breeze, see it hangin’ from the trees, there’s a heart that’s gonna die tonight.
LOVE DOCTOR
You are just waitin’ for a crime.
PAIN
Yeah, a heart is gonna die tonight.
(LIGHTS UP ON JOY)
SISTER JOY
Oh, but Sister, you can still run.
SISTER PAIN
Tell me sister, is it mine?
SISTER JOY
Come on. We’ll go hide. We’ll go shut up your windows and close up your doors …
(LIGHTS UP ON TAG)
TAG
You know, all day long I been hearin’ a voice.
SISTER PAIN
But that brown-eyed baby, shoulders and all …
SISTER JOY
Sister, you got to run!
TAG
It’s a faraway voice.
SISTER JOY
Sister, you can still do it!!
SISTER PAIN
But the gorgeous silk of a lover’s touch…
SISTER JOY
You already glitter!
TAG
It’s a voice made of diamonds.
SISTER JOY
You are a fortune!
TAG
And rubies and pearls.
But, it isn’t my girl’s.
(LIGHTS OUT)
LOVE DOCTOR
I will take this poor boy,
Introduce him to Joy!
(LOVE DOCTOR TRIES TO SPRINKLE DUST ON JOY
BUT SHE MOVES OUT OF THE WAY)
JOY
Sister, come home with me.
PAIN
Feels like a heart is gonna die tonight.
JOY
Come, come with me.
(LIGHTS OUT ON JOY)
PAIN
(TO JOY)
No wait, please don’t go.
What wouldn’t I give to move back to a time
Before love was a crime.
(PAIN MOVES DOWNSTAGE)
SISTER PAIN
See, I used to have a sister, but it was back in the day.
(LIGHTS UP ON SISTER JOY)
SISTER JOY
That was back in the day.
SISTER PAIN
I was fresh, I was new. And there we’d be.
SISTER JOY
There we would be.
SISTER PAIN
‘Member all those times playin’ pickup sticks, embroidery cards?
SISTER JOY
Dressin’ up big girl dolls, fancy mink stoles, rhinestone gowns.
SISTER PAIN
And when Mama went out, those Saturday nights, we’d run to her closet.
SISTER JOY
Big old clunk of Mama’s shoes when we tried them on. Too big. Too high.
SISTER PAIN
And her jewelry box. Costume rubies, pasty pearls. We were rich, we were fine. We were – we were –
SISTER JOY
Ladies of the – EVENING!! Remember?
SISTER PAIN
And remember Tamiko Rodriguez? How she sat us down, told us what a lady of the evening was.
SISTER JOY
And we laughed and laughed.
SISTER PAIN
Only I had no idea what she meant. Now, I used to have a sister, but that was back in the days, and she was the one.
SISTER JOY
Yeah, I was the one.
SISTER PAIN
Stayin’ up late after Mama went to bed and I whispered “What did that Tamiko Rodriguez mean?” And you told me.
SISTER JOY
And I told you.
SISTER PAIN
And we tiptoed out to Mama’s purse, stole our first cigarettes, and you told me.
SISTER JOY
And I told you.
SISTER PAIN
How far a boy would go if you let him.
SISTER JOY
And you said, “Ugh! Who’s gonna want to touch me there? I don’t want to touch me there.”
SISTER PAIN
And you said pretty soon that’ll change. And, sister, you were right.
SISTER JOY
I was oh so right.
SISTER PAIN
And I used to have a sister, but that was back in the day.
SISTER JOY
That was long, long ago.
SISTER PAIN
That was back before that first stain of blood, or that first tear shed over love.
SISTER JOY
Long, long ago.
SISTER PAIN
And I used to have a sister, and when Mama died and most of what was woman leaked out of my life, my sister was there, holdin’ me close, strokin’ my hair.
SISTER JOY
Girl, you’re gonna live.
SISTER PAIN
And I used to have a sister and that was part of life’s plan.
SISTER JOY
You gonna live!
SISTER PAIN
And I used to have a sister.
(LIGHTS OUT ON JOY)
SISTER PAIN
Only now I got a man.
(LIGHTS OUT ON PAIN)
(LIGHTS UP ON JOY)
SISTER JOY
But me? I ain’t got no man.
See ’cause I’ve always found
That with no man in my life
Things were easy, secure.
I could stick my hand
Into any old day, pull it out
Un-singed.
With no man in my life
I had peace. I was whole.
No surprises,
No waiting,
No pain.
Now, I look at my sisters.
They are stirrin’ their lives
Like a big pot of soup.
They are throwin’ in anger,
Resentment and tears.
They are livin’ on fear.
“Is the phone gonna ring”
“Will he love me today?”
“Will I ever live to hear him say
‘It’s you, my girl and only you’
and believe for a minute
that it could be true?”
But with no man
In my life
I am safe.
I am free.
I can be
Whatever it is that I need to be,
Free to travel
The universe
That is inside
Of me.
(LIGHTS OUT)
(LIGHTS UP ON LOVE DOCTOR)
LOVE DOCTOR
I have heard in the past
That love doesn’t last.
And the heart that ain’t broken
Is the heart that has never spoken.
But it’s all up to me.
I’m the Love Doctor, see?
I fix what is wrong,
And I write every song.
(LIGHTS UP ON TAG)
TAG
All day long
I keep hearing a voice.
LOVE DOCTOR
Yes, I write every song
Be it sorrow or joy.
And let me tell you
This boy is in trouble and pain
And the romance he’s in
Well, that’s just where he’s been
And not where he’s going to be.
(LIGHTS UP ON SISTER JOY)
SISTER JOY
I am safe! I am free!
LOVE DOCTOR
Now this is the girl
Who could fix up his world.
(HE NODS TOWARDS SISTER JOY)
And the heart that ain’t broken Is the heart that has never spoken. But it’s all up to me. I’m the Love Doctor, see? I fix what is wrong, And I write every song.
LOVE DOCTOR
I have set my boy lookin’;
I have sprinkled the dust
That will wake up his lust,
Set his love juices cookin’.
(HE LOOKS AT SISTER JOY)
LOVE DOCTOR
But my girl, she got free.
She has outwitted me.
SISTER JOY
Love ain’t never
Gonna hunt me down!
LOVE DOCTOR
Yeah, she outwitted me.
But I’ll get her, you’ll see.
Then there’s just one more thing.
In order for Joy
To get next to my boy,
I have to relieve him of Pain.
(LIGHTS UP ON SISTER PAIN)
SISTER PAIN
Oh, yeah, a heart is gonna die tonight.
LOVE DOCTOR
Cause in order for
To fix somethin’, see –
I gotta break somethin’ sometime.
SISTER PAIN
Yeah, a heart is gonna die tonight,
And I think that heart is mine.
(PHONE RINGS, SHE ANSWERS)
Oh, baby, I been waitin’.
(LIGHTS UP ON TAG)
TAG
Yeah, I only called to say
That for some uncertain reason –
I am leavin’ you today.
SISTER PAIN
But I waited for your call.
TAG
I don’t really understand it –
But I got to go, that’s all.
(HE HANGS UP. LIGHTS GO OUT ON HIM)
SISTER PAIN
And I waited and I waited
And again my life is small.
FRANCINE WITTE’s poetry and fiction have appeared in Smokelong Quarterly, Wigleaf, Mid-American Review, and Passages North. Her latest books are Dressed All Wrong for This (Blue Light Press), The Way of the Wind (AdHoc fiction), and The Theory of Flesh (Kelsay Books). Her chapbook, The Cake, The Smoke, The Moon (flash fiction) will be published by ELJ in September. She is flash fiction editor for Flash Boulevard and The South Florida Poetry Journal. She lives in NYC. Mark Strodl photo.
Love is a Bad Neighborhood was done twice as a poetic performance piece, at Musical Theatre Works and St. Mark’s Poetry Project. In these productions, the characters were seated onstage, and a small musical accompaniment was employed. In December 2018, the Miller-Coffman Theatre Company staged a full production at the Shetler Studios Theatre with a six day, seven-performance run. The production was directed by Stephen Scott Miller.