My first play was performed in LA directed by my amazing friend (Jacques Manjarrez)[https://jacquesmanjarrez.com/] as part of Nothing to See Here. The last night was recorded and can be seen (here)[https://youtu.be/YNYGaUns5wY?si=r–t-V_5jJw9tXTR&t=3602].

Impaction by Rin Ray _______________ Cast: Main Character Sick Creature (a human wrapped in blankets to look vaguely unidentifiable but certainly alive) Doctor (wearing a rhinocerous mask and pink lab coat) Creatures - a crowd in costumes Props: Lots of yellow and pink ribbon, a chair, and a phone. _______________ Main Character + Sick Creature on Stage + phone near the back of stage

Main Character: Standing up, staring out into space, at the mostly lifeless body.

Sick Creature: Laying on their side, crying slightly, labored breathing

Main Character: Backing up slowly and sinking down, next to the phone (not looking at it), still staring at Sick Creature, then slowly building tension

Main Character: slowly through shakey breaths, limited crying, calling “hi does your clinic offer (the procedure)”

dissapointed voice: “ah i see ok, thank you.”

crosses off of list.

Approaches the creature, and pets the hair of the creature as they call once more, again

Increasingly agitated, throws phone down.

Sick Creature: flinches and curls in on themselves, breathing more quickly and shallower, building up to a panic

Picks phone back up, calls Doctor.

MC: “Doctor, I can’t reach anyone who does (the procedure), do you know someone?”

---

Gets up to go outside, a flash of different styles and genres of music start to play

A parade emerges from behind the audience, they weave through the audience. There are minions, clowns, demons, nuns, a flamingo all shitfaced drunk.

Each person holding a pink or yellow ribbon trailing behind them, the music continues to rapidly switch as they float by.

There are strings and ribbons flowing through the space

The characters pull to the side and play rock paper scissor in an uncanny chittering clown language.

The next batch of people come out with ribbons in the same way, in front of where the main character is. The costumed people freestyle mischieviously in their mayhem.

Suddenly main character is in this web of ribbons, dodging from side to side, running their hands through them, and they “trip” and they grab one

The being ( a flamingo ) holding that ribbon suddenly stops and walks up to the main character, hugging them.

Main character holds on tight, then looks at their hand with the ribbon in it, and then back at the flamingo. Main character lets go of the ribbon, and the flamingo immediately turns around and joins the rest of the parade.

---

The parade mostly clears the stage as the main character exits. There’s still a small parade continuously passing with ribbons leading offstage parallel to the stage. Upbeat quickly shifting music continues to play.

There are two chairs,

Doctor (wearing a pink doctor coat): Sitting on a chair next to a phone (hidden behind them is another phone and a banana)

Main Character opens a door, arriving.

Main Character: Help me.

Doctor: What? Okay.

Main Character and Doctor both start calling frantically while the parade continues, alternate between both saying:

“hi do you offer “the proceedure””

The minimal crowd of characters that has been continuing to parade in the background are joined by more characters.

Main Character and doctor continue to call, they start asking the same in various languages, and build asking this question at a frantic pace.

Doctor: “hi do you offer the procedure?”

MC: “Hallo, bieten Sie die operation an?”

More characters enter

Doctor: “Bonjour, proposez-vous l’OPÉRATION?”

MC: Hola, ¿ofrecen la OPERACIÓN?

the doctor brings up the banana to their other ear as if they are on two phones at once.

Doctor: salve, operationem offersne?

Doctor: they have always abandoned us, we must do it ourselves.

The parade is getting louder and closer to them until they are walking in front of and around them, club music pounding.

The doctor and main character become obscured.

Doctor: exits taking their chair and their phone while covered.

Still while covered: Sick Creature enters and lays down on the floor, they have two ribbons already tied around its throat, held up by costumed people.

Sound change: upbeat music is still playing, but slowed down “playing in a different room” type sound

Costumed people in front of main character part in the middle, and move to the left and right behind the main character.

This reveals sick creature on the floor in front of main character.

The main character is blindfolded sitting on a chair.

Costumed people: part behind the Main Character and move such that the ribbons separate into two colors/two paths (yellow and pink ribbons), behind main character. Looks like a fork in the road

Doctor: (behind MC) Here are the options.

Doctor: You can end its suffering, kill it (points to pink ribbon). Or you can try the proceedure yourself, but act as its tormentor as you try. (points to yellow ribbon)

MC: What will they lead to?

Doctor: You cannot know the future.

The ribbons around the neck of sick creature are being held in each direction. These ribbons feed into the two paths behind the main character, such that the main character is in a triangle of ribbon

The costumed people holding the ribbons around the sick creatures neck begin to pull.

Sick creature: fighting against the ribbons at its neck, clawing wildly and whimpering, in clear agony and pain, getting more intense by the second

Main character: breathing heavily, sitting on a chair, still blindfolded and begins to get up and crawls on hands and knees to stroke the creatures face as they whimper.

The costumed people holding the creature’s two ribbons move closer so the main character’s triangle begins shrinking - this forces the main character put back in the chair by the triangle shrinking.

Creature: Screaming and seizing in pain, continuing to claw at the ribbon

The main character turns to the audience

MC: Fuck! What do I do? Fuck!

Offstage Narrator: Those who want yellow, raise your hand, those who want pink raise your hand

TV in background has yellow on one side, pink on the other.

Audience votes on yellow or pink.

MC: So that’s what you choose?

MC takes a deep breath and swivels to to grab the ribbon chosen by the audience connected to the sick creature.

Then falls from the chair to their knees

Suddenly, all the people with the other color run off the stage with their ribbon, after they leave, the people with the chosen color grab the sick creature and grab them limply screaming and crying dragging them one side of the stage following the path that was there. (Parade also take the chair off)

Sound change: The music suddenly stops as soon as all creatures leave the stage.

Main character collapses onto their knees, and rips off their blindfold.

BRANCHED ENDING: If pink is chosen:

The main character goes over to the creature, and chokes the creature to death. saying “i love you I love you I love you”

They look accusingly at the audience. TV behind the main character is covered with eyes staring at the audience.

MC: How could you? How could I?

MC: Collapses.

The screen behind the main character: “I forgive you”.

If yellow is chosen:

MC: We must try ourselves.

MC: Mimes using syringes and incisions

MC: Sits back and waits in silence for a while in the middle of the stage.

Sick Creature: *Gets up, is walking but limping and still unwell. Holding parts of itself together. Sick creature approaches MC on the same path they were dragged. Sick creature crouches down and hug the MC and start crying,

MC: hugs back and starts crying as well.

End