Beagan - In Spirit

also by Tara Beagan

Dreary an d Izzy

The Mill Part 3: The Woods

There is an enduring emptiness created when a child goes missing. Everything and every person is affected. A missing child is an unquantifiable symptom of the greed and corruption of society. No child should have to know that terrible behaviour is possible, yet all too many Indigenous children are subjected to unfathomable wrongs. This play is for those children who bear the weight of the ways in which this world has failed them.

Co ntents

Production H istory

In Spirit (with the working title Quilchena ) debuted through halfbreed productions, in association with Red Pepper Spectacle Arts, as part of the 2007 SummerWorks Performance Festival at the Tarragon Theatre Extraspace in Toronto, Ontario, with the following cast and creative team:

Actor: Michaela Wa shburn

Designer: And y Moro

Director: Tara Beagan

Dramaturg: Jova nni Sy

Stage Manager: Jennif er Lau

This early version of the play was later produced as part of Factory Theatres 2009 CrossCurrents Festival with actor Paula Jean Prudat. It was further workshopped by Native Earth Performing Arts individually and as part of the twenty-sixth Weesageechak Begins to Dance Festival in November 2013.

The full production was first produced by Native Earth Performing Arts in 2014 at Full Circles Talking Stick Festival with the following cast and creative team:

Actor: Sera-Lys Mc Arthur

Designer: And y Moro

Director: Tara Beagan

Stage Manager: Mike Lewan dowski

Supplemental Rehearsal Director: Jessica Carm ichael

The current, revised version is with thanks to the Queens University Drama Department 2014, Gregory Wanless, Tim Fort, Adair Redish, and the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund.

In Spirit was the creation that forged an artistic alliance between Tara Beagan and Andy Moro, and is now their company ARTICLE 11s creative pro perty.

Notes

the reality of this story

This play would not exist if not for the courage of those who remain. With the blessing of a relative who survived great loss, I have undertaken the creation of this play to honour her daughter and the effects that the grievous loss of a life and of lost potential can have on a community. Names and identifying details have been ch anged.

Every missing and murdered person has her own story. This is one fictionalized account inspired by all too many true st ories.

place

The Ntlakapamux word for Grannie is Yuh yuh. The accent is on the first syllable and there is a glottal stop between syllables, which is noted with the apost rophe.

design

All non-textual elements appear either as sound , light , or video . When they appear without a space between the lines, they take place concurrently. Similarly, when they appear before or after a stage direction, they take place as that action takes place. The Super 8 segments are the size of a large 1970s television s creen.

la nguage

Molly is an extremely intelligent twelve-year-old, yet she still has her doubts in this adult world. These doubts manifest in upspeak, or in sentences that sound like questions they go up in pitch toward the end even if they are statements. They are noted with a question mark in parentheses following a sentence, like so.(?) Further, Molly struggles to understand her world, so her thoughts often trail off. When she can intuit the end of the thought but cannot bear to speak it, the end of the thought appears in parentheses... (like so). Occasionally, the beginning of a thought appears in parentheses because she is searching for the assembly of a thought. (Exactly) li ke so.

Char acters

Molly, twelve yea rs old

In Spirit

The side of a road.

Bicycle parts are scattered about.

There is a large weather-worn billboard, long ago stripped of any advertis ement.

video: Flashes on the billboard, full s creen.

sound: S tatic.

The slow, eerie turn the page when you hear the chimes bell sound.

Subtly, beneath this sound, is the sound of whimpering. So softly we feel it may be us making the sound.

video: Full screen, the partial sunlight of an eclipse glows as Molly emerges from the spectator area and into the light of the emerging sun. It distorts and vibrates, as from a bad television s ignal.

Molly does not know where or how she is. A moment while she drops in, adjusts, and takes in the situ ation.

When she speaks her voice is out of sync, like a corrupt video file or delayed TV broa dcast.

molly

Light. But no w armth.

The light is still only from the video cool and white. She turns to s ee us.

Are you... hello?

Can you see me? Whos . .. ?

Beat.

Where is this?

Beat.

Feels like Im in trouble. hello ?

molly can hear her voice is off. So mehow .

If you can hear me, we can talk. Feels like I been l onely.

Do I know youse? Im Molly. I was just ...

She glances around... what was she just doing?

She notices she is in an unknown place. She surveys the space.

This is not my house. Not the garage. I dont know where (we are)... I dont think real things happen here. Am I real? Just ki dding.

She w asnt.

I can figure it out. Im Molly.

She resolves to be heard .

(striding forth) I live with my mom and dad and brothers and sisters in a red house by the road.

sound : The mechanical sound of something powering down.

molly covers her eyes/face from the light.

The lights bring molly a realiz ation.

light : The video fades and a warm glow of light comes up on Molly.

Im in grade six. Im twelve almost thirteen. Wait. So. (maths) So I ...

She has no ability to figure out what today is. An exasperated sigh .

Sorry. I dont ...

She looks up to where the clear blue sky shou ld be.

Wheres . .. ?

She closes her eyes and holds her arm s out .

Beat.

molly opens her eyes and smiles an uncertain smile at us.

Do you see me? Feels like youre looking about me. But not really at me. I dont really get it, but thats ...

She sighs .

Youre so quiet. Did you need some peace and quiet? Adults are always saying that. They just need some peace and quiet. Theyre not always the same thing, that peace and quiet. I know that much. Grade six. Twelve. Pretty grown up. From when I was a kid. I dont... I dont remember growing up. Not r eally.

Beat .

But do we? Do people remember that? Gr owing?

Only when it hurts, maybe.

My brother sometimes wakes up at night cuzza the growing pains in his legs. I guess hell be taller th an me.

She stomps like a giant for a few steps.

I remember when I lost my first tooth!

video : Super 8 video of a small girls gaping tooth hole.

And the second one there right beside it. Big space for a while. Could put a straw in it. I guess I lost all the baby teeth eventually, but I dont remember checking for tooth fairy money every time. Only those first two or three. Cant remember stuff I know I musta been there for. Stuff I was there for! When I turned ten I got a dog I didnt want.

video : Super 8 video of an excitable youn g dog.

Not that I dont super love dogs, but its just because we live by the road, and we anyways. I didnt mean to talk about that. Just saying I remember that birthday present, but not the one from turning eleven, which is funny because eleven was more r ecent.

sound : Bike wheels faintly heard, though at first they sound like a needle running at the end of a r ecord.