Moscovitch - Little one & other plays

In the darkness we see a female form and we hear a creepy, whisper-singing... CLAIRE (whisper-singing) Here comes the bride. Here comes the bride. Here comes the bride, all dressed in white. Low lights up on CLAIRE. Here they are, standing at the airport.

She's got a suitcase with Hello Kitty on it held together with duct tape. She's smiling and bowing and he's looking her up and down and they're both a little nervous because this is it: this is the first day of the rest of their lives. They get in the car and she tries out her English on him and he tries out his Vietnamese on her and they share a forced laugh. They arrive at the house and probably he's thinking: "She's just as pretty as she was in the photographs," and probably she's thinking: "What a big house." Beat. Then they go upstairs together and stand in the bedroom looking at the bed, both of them thinking: "Here is where the magic doesn't happen." Because after all this is the end point of her journey, this bed. Beat. Beat.

Then they go downstairs to the kitchen and they each have a sandwich, turkey on rye. She has a glass of juice from the fridge and he has a beer from the cooler in the garage. And in the back of both of their minds is the lumpy bed with sweaty sheets on it... Beat. It's gnawing at them, the thought of that bed, because, in a few short hours, they'll both be... Beat. Beat.

The next morning they drive to the civil registry for their seven a.m. appointment and there's some paperwork and a brief congratulations from the city clerk and then this is it: this is the first day of the rest of their lives. And the question you're wanting to ask is: what happened in the bed? Beat: she smiles. And what is that sound? Pounding. It's the middle of the night for Chrissakes. Pounding.

Transition. Lights flicker up on AARON. He speaks to the audience. AARON This weekend, at a work function for theall the residents at the hospital, I talked about her, Claire. It's uh... much, but she's probably why I went to med school, so I... talked about her, to the other surgical residents: I told the story of the dinner party with Roger and his wife Kim-Ly. talked about her, to the other surgical residents: I told the story of the dinner party with Roger and his wife Kim-Ly.

It'sit gives a quick snapshot of... Beat: AARON takes a stress breath. Clairemy sister ClaireI'm saying "Claire" but the social workers called Claire "Claire" because they didn't know her name. Claire... wasn't talking when they brought her inthey found her in a boarded-up condemned buildingand they had to call her something so she was "Claire." Beat.