Mistaken.

A Rhyming Play in Three Acts by Justin Lo (7365)

Act I, Scene 1. ‘Celebrity,’ or, A congratulatory party for Reina.

Marjorie. Reina, you’re a celebrity now

So claim center stage and take a bow;

We couldn’t be prouder to have you as a friend -

Sure, we’re a dime a dozen, but you’re a godsend!

So come on, quick -

Reina. Oh shush! I’m flushing red

Because of all those sweet things that you just said!

You shouldn’t tease poor ol’ Reina, blushing like this,

It’s hard, you know, to resist such undeserved bliss!

Lisa. Oh come on now, don’t be so humble

The work you’re doing’s causing quite a rumble;

Marjorie. Yes, first you get into MIT and now it’s this!

A splendid discovery, oh my goodness!

My camera’s ready, so let’s take a picture

I’ll frame it on the wall and cherish it for sure.

Toby. {distant} Oh, wait! {runs in} Hold up, girls, hold up, hold up!

I’m only late ‘cause I had to walk my dog and her pup

Let me into the photo, oh pretty pretty please …

Lisa. Of course, Tobias, no one should this chance not seize

Just scoot over a bit; you’re blocking my face.

Toby. But I mustn’t block Reina (who’s on the other side) in this case!

Reina. Oh, it’s no matter; I can kneel in the front.

In any case, then no one has to see my feet that affront

the ordinary populace on account of their magnitude

Marjorie. Pish, we have no use for that self-effacing attitude!

You’re the hero – ine – for all us girls, dearest

Proving that as long as we’re always trying our best

We can accomplish all the things guys can and more!

And on our own, with the boys just there to adore

us and enjoy life with us –

Lisa. - can’t you see, you’re a celebrity!

Toby. Just sit and beam, dear Reina – all protest is futility.

Reina. I suppose, you know, that one moment couldn’t hurt;

The limelight in small quanitites ought to be inert; {cheering}

{aside} Being a celebrity, what does it mean, I wonder?

And the things I’m considering … might they be a blunder?

Act I, Scene 2. ‘Contemplation,’ or Reina in Her Room.

{Reina is sitting on a mildly comfortable-looking armchair in the corner of her room, staring at her posters of famous scientists from all ages and then at a veritable city of computer equipment on her desk.}

Reina. In the distancing indifference of the moonlit sky,

I wonder why I shouldn’t just spread my wings and fly

to escape this life of delusions that has run on dry.

I can get out, I know it, as long as I just try -

As long as I muster my courage, put my actions to my words;

Make my own decisions, and soar above the herds!

I want something so simple, but it’s what I want to do.

It’s just … I’m so afraid … they’ll all just say I threw

my life out the window, my dreams into the trash,

That my life’d be an eagle without wings, destined to crash.

How come, I wonder, it’s all gone to the extreme,

That once dreamless, only now to be forced to dream?

Happiness, I think, is doing as your heart tells you,

And though it’s only lasting joy that can persist through,

Nevertheless, to be too cautious in fear of the dark side of the moon

Is to awaken but never open one’s eyes until the late afternoon:

To see the morning, yes, to see the bluest of blue skies

I have to cast away my superstitions and open my eyes!

{Phone rings}

Reina. Hello, hello! this is Reina here.

Who might this be, whose voice I shall hear?

Collin. It’s me, my love, my everlasting dear.

Reina. Oh my, you’re calling late on this midnight clear.

Collin. Are you busy? I can call back later.

Reina. And I, live in suspense? You know I’m not a waiter.

Collin. Then I was wondering if I could come and talk?

I was pondering your words throughout my walk,

And I think I have many things to say,

If you could just pardon the time of day –

Or night, as it is –

Reina. - of course, for you, I have time!

Every moment I spend with you is the most sublime.

Come quickly if you don’t wish my heart to ache

In anticipation of your arms that my body will take

And hug tightly!

Collin. Then I will come in no time at all!

I’ll be out the door as soon as we end this call.

Goodbye, see you soon, I love you very much.

Reina. Hang up, Collin! God knows, I can’t wait to feel your touch … .

{interlude}

Collin. Knock, knock.

Reina. {sweetly} Who’s there?

Collin. {innocently} A boy with chocolates.

Reina. Oh, please do share! {opens the door}

Collin. {entering and kissing Reina on the lips}

Dear Reina, dear Reina, I love you so,

But I wanted to tell you, I wanted you to know,

That I know you love me, and that you mean well,

Yet becoming my housewife, that’d surely be Hell!

Of course I intend to marry you -

Reina. - don’t say that yet! –

Collin. I know!
Just, it’s too early to turn around suddenly and let go

of everything you’ve been working for, of all your aspirations

To have children and care for them – the future generations.

Why not wait, and enjoy the sun and a job.

Instead of your freedom and intellect, choosing to rob!

Reina. Don’t you understand me? Don’t you get a clue?

To have children and be away working, too

is so irresponsible, and listen, you always tell me

I’m a smart and trustworthy woman, who ought to be free,

Then if I am so, shouldn’t I be the one to teach our offspring,

Instead of some stranger who we hire in the middle of the spring?

Collin. But why not later? Why worry about this now?

Yes, I have a job secured, and we’ve already planned how

We’ll settle down and build a home

Where not only us, but our kids may roam.

Reina. You know me well, don’t you? I’m that kind of person

who can’t do something halfway, lest I only worsen

the pain the act causes on my heart

And the pangs as my head begins to smart.

Collin. {hugs Reina, who returns the embrace}
You’re lovely the way you are, and I want you always to remember,

In April now as we are packing, and when we are far away in September,

That you are strong in yourself, and I’ve always admired your independence –

Reina. {breaking the embrace, a bit put off}

So what are you implying? Is that love, then, to you? And whence

I should become a wife, and dependent on you,

You will cease to love me and we’d be through?

Collin. It’s not like that, it’s not like that at all!

But what if you come to regret this in the fall?

You’re always you; your bodies is for keeps

So you can always have children with a man who sleeps

with you but if you give up on working now,

Never again will, before you, opportunity bow,

And that is why out of respect for your highness,

Reina, my Queen – and I beg your forgiveness,

I wish to give my best advi-

Reina. - enough of that, enough!

Do you think I don’t think or know that this might be tough?

Heaven knows, I’m a thinking kind of girl,

You can see by my room if you take a twirl,

So in between studying, and tutoring my peers,

I feel like I’ve been thinking about this question for years,

This question: what shall I do with my life,

Many times I’ve thought that I could just end it with a knife.

Don’t you understand, what sustains me is just the hope

That I can have a child of my own, wash him with soap,

Teach him algebra, play soccer with him on our lawn,

When he’s feeling ill, stay with him until dawn!

What’s happiness to me is what my heart tells me to do;

An invention is replaced with another, and patents are lost, too;

But I child, no one can ever take from me, and I need that security,

And domestic as it sounds, it’s what I want it is entire purity!

Collin. I never imagined that you’d say such things,

But again, the present never tells what the future brings;

I still love you just as much, or maybe even more,

I will grant you your peace, and head for the door.

Please think over what I have had to say, though I know you’re stubborn,

And I’ll sit at home and consider, and try to learn,

What you are trying to say, why your love manifests itself this way,

And put forth my good faith that you shan’t come to regret this day.

Reina. I won’t, Collin.

Collin. Then goodnight.

Reina. Yes, goodnight

I want you to know that you’ve done right.

{hugs}

Act I, Scene 3. ‘Hero No More?’ or, Reina’s Confession to Lisa.

Lisa. Reina, what up! I haven’t seen you for three days.

What surprises have you got in store to amaze?

Reina. Nothing.

Lisa. At all?

Reina. {shrugs} Should I? I don’t think so!

Lisa. Well then, we’re almost graduates! Where are you gonna go

after this? You’ve got wide open doors; I envy you so much.

Starting a new venture, managing a huge company – I’m sure it’s as such.

Reina. I’ve been thinking a lot – I’ve been thinking, you see;

That kind of life is great, but it’s not the one for me.

I’m a simple girl with a simple mind

And I want a life just of that kind;

Instead of helping people from afar, indirectly,

I’d rather help just a few completely and perfèctly.

And I want the time to go places and sit:

Contemplate the world and improve my wit;

Lisa. {puzzled} Then what do you have in mind, my philosophical buddy?

Reina. I think one day you should find me, happy and ruddy,

In a house I designed, in a chair I built,

The vegetable garden well-kempt and not a flower in wilt

Doing my best to help the world the best way I know

Through someone I shall create with the unique seed I was born to sow.

Lisa. You speak in complicated terms, so stop being so abstract!
It sounds like magic that you’ve acquired via a pact

with some demon or angel above!

Reina. Yes, you’re right!

Can’t you see, what I want is to realize myself to maximum delight,

And with my soon-to-be betrothed, settle down –

Lisa. {in horror} – you what?!

{fully understanding now}

Reina, you mustn’t! Have you leapt clear off the deep end and become a nut?

Reina, Reina, listen –

Reina. - listen? I’ve made up my mind.

Lisa. Reina, Reina! Listen! –

Reina. – What, you’ve found a hole in my plan I couldn’t find?

Lisa. Reina, you’ve got to get your head on straight!

When you speak like this, it’s like you’re defying your fate –

Your destiny to overturn the backwards rules of old society,

Of female oppression and unquestioning piety.

Reina. What, my fate to defy fate? Replacing one rule with yet another?

No one has a right to tell me what I should do, not even my mother!

Lisa. But think of your gifts! Think of your smarts!

I’d approve of you becoming a teacher, or studying the arts!

But becoming a parent? Not earning a cent?

You might as well don a habit and join a convent!

Reina. Don’t lie, don’t lie to me! Don’t tell me I’m smart if you don’t think I am!

I shouldn’t listen if you’re not going to be sincere – I just won’t give a damn!

For if you truly believe I’m smart, that I have a brain in this head {points}

If you truly believe I am deep, that I am philosophical as you just said,

Then aren’t I smart enough to make my own decisions,

To go on my instincts and my own dreams and visions?

Lisa. I do want to trust you; I do want to believe you,

But I also can’t bring myself to believe that it’s really you,

I am thinking, ‘Lisa, this is not Reina; it’s just a girl wearing a mask

And using her voice’ – and I don’t even want to ask

For proof that you’re you, that I’m me, that you really want to be

A lowly housewife and from the rigors of rewarding work, just flee!

Reina. What, am I a coward now? For not giving in to peer influence?

For wanting something loftier and not just affluence?

Love me yes, or love me not!

But I’m not going to let myself rot. {storms away, leaving a bewildered Lisa to sit down and think about what she’s just heard}

Lisa. {to herself} That girl has a point. Why was I so harsh on her?

Am I selfishly trying to pressure her, or am I truly concerned for her future?

She’s always known what she wanted, and gotten it done just as soon.

She’s one to fall in true love, and not a girl who just likes to swoon.

Yet I can never accept her decision! It makes no sense!

Staying at home and letting a man make the pounds and pence?

What if he leaves her! What if she becomes depressed!

What if over petty things and trivialities she becomes obsessed?

Who would have imagined that she’d act so girly – no, not just that!

She’s beyond the girliest girl who wants a new dress or a new hat

For she doesn’t even want to flirt or party til the break of daylight;

Who is she? {Marjorie enters.}

Marjorie. Yes, who is this girl with whom you’ve begun to fight?

She sounds spectacularly atrocious, and bland to boot.

Lisa. Oh Marjorie, she makes my arguments come to moot!

Marjorie. Who is she, I demand to know! Who is this Victorian girl,

In whom rhetoric and backwardness seem to mix and swirl?

Lisa. None other than our one and only Reina! The gall she has!

Marjorie. Reina?! I don’t believe it! She’s tough and cool and all that jazz;

Surely you’re mistaken; Reina is our dear, our one and only

She wouldn’t abandon our cause to become sick and lonely.

Lisa. You can ask her yourself, Marjorie; I have nothing further to say.

I hope that I awaken later and come to find that I was merely dreaming today.

Act I, Finale. ‘Being a Mother,’ or, Reina’s Fall from Grace.

Reina. {on the phone}

Disown me? You don’t mean to say such things, do you, Father?

Reina’s Papa. Of course we don’t mean ‘disown,’ but what you’re doing is such a bother;

We shan’t visit you again, and we have no interest in this man

Who has stolen our hopes in you and ruined your greatest plan.

Reina. {near tears} I can’t believe that you would treat me this way. {hangs up}

My life seems to be in ruins, my porcelain hopes reduced to clay;

Leave me, let me be, just leave me by the wayside;

None of you are welcome to the place where one day I’ll reside.

Heaven’s tears, like dust do they fall,

Into my sniffles and tears – the maiden’s call;

Being a mother, what does that mean?

Becoming a servant, or becoming queen?

‘It isn’t like that!’ I want to shout out loud;

I’m not your average girl blending in with the crowd.

I’m just me! Look at me here in this room;

Do I look like a normal bride for a normal groom?

But Collin, he’s special, he’s the one who chose me!

To the lock that guards Heaven’s gates, he is the key;

He sees who I am, and for all of me, he dedicates his life,

What girl wouldn’t dream of becoming his wife?

And yes! A mother a wish to be.

It’s not as if I’m dying, you see.

Hey, I love reading and playing video games;

I can fix cars and cut out picture frames;

On what job can I satisfy all those things,

But being the woman to whom her child clings?

On what job can I be paid not with money but with love,

But being the mother enwrapping her child like a glove?

I am me, and I can never cease to be me!

I won’t change; I’m still the same person, you see –

{sullenly} But you’ve all already made up your minds,

Forward is the only direction in which time winds,

And although I wanted you to all stay by my side

I already see I’m the only one going for the ride.

{Curtain falls.}

.

Act II, Scene 1. ‘Moving In,’ or Collin and Reina’s New Home.

Collin. Reina, it’s just an apartment, but I’m sure you’ll agree,

We’re on the way up to the top of the tree.

Reina. {pulls open blinds} Sunshine abounds – that’s all that matters to me!

I could be jumping and prancing around all day in glee.

Collin. Then, it seems you’re satisfied! Off to work it is for me.

Reina. {kisses him}

Yes, away you go; I’ll keep busy making this place nice and cozy.

{Collin leaves.}

I think, maybe, perhaps I could get used to this.

I think, probably, most likely I won’t come to miss

my old place among the aspiring nerds and geeks,

I just hope I’m still okay after a couple of weeks.

Oh, but this place! I should try to make it beautiful,

So that it brings food and good fortune plentiful!

This chair goes here! These flowers go there!

This apple should go into the basket beside this pear!

Who am I trying to kid? What if Lisa and Marj’ were right?

What if I’m only setting myself up for the direst kind of plight?

Have I sold my soul, relinquished my gifts?

Or … am I only feeling the pain of the massive rifts … {pause}

That now distance me from my friends and my family

Who all go on without me so carelessly and merrily?

Do they care about me or even need me by their side?

Or would it be all the same to them if I just croaked and died?

I know I said I was strong, but I’m not invincible;

I’m a tomboy at heart and a future mother in principle,

But even the strongest general, or the happiest of hermits,

If left totally alone, would be bored out of their wits!

{slouches into a chair, the room barely decorated}

Look at me – I’m exhausted already,

Can’t find the beat and keep it steady;

I’ll take a nap, doze off in this chair,

And dream … . {she falls asleep.}

{Hours are shown to pass through lighting changes, but otherwise the scene remains completely constant. The sun has now set and the sound of a key being placed into the front door’s lock is heard.}

Collin. {enters to find Reina sleeping in the chair, a large spider atop her head.}

… Reina, don’t move! It’s on your hair!

Reina. {suddenly awakened; she shakes her head in shock and the spider goes flying off}

Oh, my goodness! What’re you talking about?

You could have poked me lightly instead of giving a shout!

Collin. A huge spider was on your hair, my dear Reina-poo,

And goodness you were shaken, but I was quite scared, too!

I can’t find it anymore, so I guess we can let it alone;

I’m really sorry for using such harsh a tone.

Reina. {looks at her watch and finds out the time}

Oh no! I slept too long! And I haven’t finished a single thing …

{frowns sheepishly}

Collin. No worries, come on – go get changed. I’m going to bring

you to a great restaurant my coworker told me about today.

I think I got directions so we shouldn’t get lost on the way.

Reina. Get changed? I thought I was supposed to cook dinner!

Collin. There’s been a change of plans, and I’m sure this one’s a winner!

Come on, hurry hurry, don your favorite dress!

I’ll wait here for you, then onwards we’ll press.

Reina. {laughs}

Collin honey, we just moved into this apartment today!

The box with all my fancy clothes and dresses is on its way,

But right now I just have casual outfits like these –

Bland blouses and jeans that’ve worn holes in their knees!

Collin. Oh, not to worry at all my dear – just stroll in style;

Those who overdress are insecure fools in denial;

You’re cute this way and you’ll always be!

Reina. Then hold a moment and allow me to go pee.

Collin. But of course, my dearest loveliest lily of them all,

Using the restroom before a date is always a good call!

Act II, Scene 2. ‘Ad Hoc Date,’ or, A Romantic Interlude.

Hostess. Alright, you two, come on this way;

That was certainly quite a wait, I say …

Reina. {trying her best to maintain a smile}

Yes, yes, but I’m just glad we’re getting a table

And I like this corner, all lavender and sable.

Hostess. Here we are – {pulling out chairs} take a seat, young ma’am and sir,

And as for drinks, you may order now or later if you prefer.

Collin. {looking at Reina for confirmation}

Can we have a few moments, please, to select our drinks?

Reina. {nodding}

Yes, the astute diner knows, with the wrong drink, the main course stinks!

Hostess. {laughing} Very well, my well-versed customers, I’ll be back in a moment,

With