Therapy
Therapy
By Daniel Brothers
For my brother Robby,
“I left a steady plane for worlds of uncertainty
I miss the sureness of my feet, but god…
...what wonders there are to see”
Characters
A: A person who has come to therapy
B: A therapist
C: A body in a different place, not entirely fictional.
At rise: Lights pop on. You see A sitting eyes closed in a comfortable seat, B is sitting poised and listening to A speak. The lights fade up on C who is standing in an empty and isolated part of the stage. Separate.
A: I’m standing in a shower.
B: How do you know it’s a shower
A: It’s a shower? How do I answer that?
B: IS it running?
A: No, it’s empty. Except for me, I’m standing it it
B: Do you want to be there?
A: Sure? I want the water to come on
B: Why don’t you turn it on?
A: I can’t find a knob
B: Let’s make one
A: What do you mean?
B: It’s your head, you can do what you want to do in there.
A: Ok. Sorry I’m not very good at this whole meditation thing.
B: That’s alright, it’s not something you can be good or bad at. It’s whatever you want it to be
A: Ok
B: Lets make a handle
[ A handle appears and falls into C’s hand]
A: Ok! There. A handle.
B: It’s in your minds eye?
A: It’s in my minds hand
B: That’s wonderful! Lets turn it on and see what happens.
A: Oh. It’s not attached to anything
B: That’s ok lets try to turn it anything
A: But if it’s not attached how will it
B: Do you know how plumbing works?
A: Not really
B: Neither do I, lets say it doesn’t need to be attached. Let your brain do the connecting for you
A: Okay…
B: We can put it under the shower head, think about how nice the water will be. Warm, or cold.
[C puts the handle under the head, lights fade to a cool peaceful blue.]
A: Okay.
B: Feel the air around you, think about the sensation of the water on skin, the sound. All the things that come with a shower
A: Yes. Ok
B: Now turn the handle
[C Turns the handle. Nothing happens.]
B: Do you feel the sensation? The water cooling you?
[C looks around, at the handle, lights begin to shift to red]
A: I think so
B: It’s ok if it’s not what you were thinking it would be
A: No, no I feel it
[C looks around afraid and alone]
B: Does it feel good?
A: It feels good. It feels warm. Warm water
B: that’s good, you’re making excellent progress.
[lights flick off of A and B, leaving C alone in their red glow.]
A; I feel better already.
[C grabs their head and goes to the ground] the light on them begin to fade
B: I’ll see you next week
[fade to black]
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