ENDLINGS (excerpt) by Celine Song

Endlings

by Celine Song

March 4th 2020

Kevin Lin

Creative Artists Agency

405 Lexington Avenue, 19th Fl.

New York, NY 10174

212-277-9000

kevin.lin@caa.com


CHARACTERS HAN SOL: a haenyeo in her 90s

GO MIN: a haenyeo in her 80s

SOOK JA: a haenyeo in her 70s

HA YOUNG: a Korean-Canadian Manhattanite in her late 20s

STAGE MANAGERS should be played by the production’s actual white male stagehands.

NOTE ON CASTING No one speaks with an accent, except the one that is natural for the performer herself.

Most ideally, elderly Korean women will play the haenyeos.

Ideally, elderly Asian women of any ethnicity will play the haenyeos.

Less ideally, younger Asian women will play the haenyeos.

Even less ideally, elderly Asian men will play the haenyeos.

Under not so ideal circumstances, younger Asian men will play the haenyeos.

Under no circumstances will any of these four roles be played by someone who is not Asian.

No exceptions. 

(B E A C H Black rocks Wind Blue sea This is the beach of 만재 Man-Jae island In the southernmost part of the Korean Peninsula 6 hours away on a boat from the nearest land 한솔 HAN SOL, 고민 GO MIN, and 숙자 SOOK JA Three ancient women Putting on their diving suits They are rubbing the inside of their swimming goggles with wormwood to keep them from fogging up They are chewing gum) GO MIN

When they were young

They would ask me to teach them

How to dive into the ocean with a rusty knife

Sit in the sun, shuddering

How to be just like me

And I would smack them on the head

I would say to them:

“Finish your food

Do your homework

And get the hell off this island

Get as far away as you can

Move

Move, please

If you respect me as your mother who bore you

Who fed you

Clothed you

Educated you

If you respect me at all

Move away from me

Move to a different city

Different country

Different planet

And never think about the ocean

Forget the ocean

Before it’s too late

Because it’s too late for me

And thankfully

1

They went away as far as they could

Just like I told them

So that’s why I’m here alone

With two other old women

HAN SOL

What are you talking about

GO MIN

I’m talking about my children

And why I used to beat them

You haven’t been listening

You never listen to a word I say

HAN SOL

I was distracted

GO MIN

Distracted by what

HAN SOL

My thoughts

GO MIN

What are you thinking about

HAN SOL

Television

GO MIN

Fuck television

HAN SOL

Television rules

Hollywood forever

SOOK JA

I would never beat my children

GO MIN

You don’t have children

SOOK JA

If I had them

I’d never beat them

GO MIN

You think that

2

Because you don’t have any

If you had children

You would beat them

SOOK JA

한솔언니 (Han Sol un-nee)

Do you beat your children?

HAN SOL

No

SOOK JA

한솔언니 (Han Sol un-nee) agrees with me

You shouldn’t beat your children

HAN SOL

I didn’t say that

I don’t care what you do with your children

They’re your children

GO MIN

한솔언니 (Han Sol un-nee) agrees with me It’s none of your business

SOOK JA

All children are my business

HAN SOL

That’s because you don’t have children

If you had children

You’d only feel responsible for your own

And screw other people’s brats

GO MIN

How is it that I’m the only one who beats her children

I don’t understand

What do you do with them if you don’t beat them

HAN SOL

You beat yours

I never beat mine

Sook Ja has none

It doesn’t matter

They’re not here

They’re all gone

It’s just the three of us now

SOOK JA

3

If I had children

I’d never raise my voice at them

If they screw up, I’d talk to them about it

If they cry, I’d pet their heads GO MIN

You believe that about yourself

Because you don’t have children

HAN SOL

고민아 (Go Min-ah)

숙자야 (Sook Ja-yah)

Why are we still going yappity-yap-yap?

Is it not enough that the sun is out?

Is it not enough that we’re tired and hurting?

GO MIN

My children left

My husband is dead

I’m bored

HAN SOL

You’re not bored

GO MIN

I’m bored

I’m bored all the time

I need a little drama in my life

I like yappity-yap-yap

It’s harmless

HAN SOL

Does your TV work?

GO MIN

Yeah

HAN SOL

I don’t understand

How could you be bored when there’s television?

Have you seen all the shows on television?

Do you know how good they are?

It’s the golden age of television

GO MIN

Fuck television

I’m sick of television

(The three ancient women finish putting on their diving suits 4

They get up and turn to the audience

And then from the speakers:)

VOICE

Hello everyone welcome to the island of 만재 (Man-Jae)

And welcome to a show about the Korean female divers called 해녀들 (Haenyeos)

You see before you the last three remaining haenyeos in the world

These proud matriarchs earn a living and provide for their families

By harvesting seafood every day

They can dive over 65 feet deep without any equipment

They can dive up to 46 times every hour

They work around 4 to 8 hours a day without a break

Their mothers and grandmothers used to dive naked

Or with nothing but a sheet of cotton wrapped around their bodies

But now the haenyeos dive with diving suits

(The three haenyeos twirl around to show off their diving suits)

VOICE

Unfortunately, they will be the last generation to uphold this millennia-old tradition

In the 70s, there were almost 15,000 haenyeos

But now they face certain extinction

This is Han Sol

Han Sol is a 96-year-old Korean female

She loves television

Don’t you, Han Sol

HAN SOL

Hollywood Forever

VOICE

Han Sol is the oldest and the leader of the three

Let’s say hello to Han Sol

Hello Han Sol

Hello

(waving)

HAN SOL

VOICE

She has been a haenyeo for over 80 years

Han Sol, show everybody what you have in your hands

(HAN SOL shows off her rusty knife) VOICE

This is Han Sol’s knife

It’s used to peel shellfish and abalone off of the ocean floor

5

Or cut big pieces of seaweed

(HAN SOL spits on her knife)

VOICE

She likes to spit on her knife for luck

She is wishing for safety at work and good harvest today

Show us what else you’ve got, Han Sol

(HAN SOL shows off her net) VOICE

Once she has harvested the seafood

She puts it in a net like the one she is holding

Han Sol, show them what else you’re bringing to the sea

(HAN SOL shows off her buoy)

VOICE

That is her buoy that serves as a navigation mark

It used to be made of a dry gourd shell, back in her mother’s day

Now Han Sol is going to bring back some shellfish for us

(HAN SOL spits out her gum, splits it in half, and shoves the pieces in her ears She takes a handful of pills and dives into the sea)

VOICE

This is Go Min

Say hi to Go Min

Hi Go Min

GO MIN

Hi

VOICE

Go Min is an 83-year-old Korean female

She’s the feisty one

Aren’t you, Go Min?

(GO MIN goes “rawl” like a cougar)

VOICE

Go Min’s been diving for almost 70 years

The haenyeos that have been working as long as Go Min

Suffer from decompression sickness

Tell them what that means, Go Min

GO MIN

6

My head and ears hurt

(GO MIN takes a handful of pills)

VOICE

They suffer from chronic headache and earache

But the pain goes away when they are underwater

Which is why they love diving into the ocean

Isn’t that right, Go Min?

(GO MIN says nothing)

VOICE

Women’s bodies are more suited to diving in general

Because they retain heat better, thanks to the extra fat

But a haenyeo’s body is an exceptional diving machine

It even takes a lower temperature to make someone like Go Min shiver

Compared to an average human like us

Now

Go Min is going to bring back an octopus

GO MIN

If I’m lucky

VOICE

If she’s lucky, she says

The haenyeos are a cynical bunch

It’s what makes them the top divers in the world

(GO MIN spits out her gum, splits it in half, and shoves the pieces in her ears She takes a handful of pills and dives into the sea)

VOICE

When a haenyeo finally emerges from the depths

She lets out a whistle as she takes her first breath

Between haenyeos, this is called 숨비 (soom-bee)

Listen:

(We hear HAN SOL surface from the water and breathe a 숨비 (soom-bee) A whistle) VOICE

The haenyeos say 숨비 (soom-bee) is the sound of

“Coming back from death”

(We hear HAN SOL take a deep breath in and dive right back under) VOICE

7

They dive like this every day, all year

Even on national holidays

Even in winter

Even while pregnant

Last but not least is Sook Ja

Let’s all say a big nice how-do-you-do to Sook Ja

How do you do, Sook Ja

SOOK JA

Hello, how do you do?

VOICE

Sook Ja is the youngest of the trio here

She is 78 years old

Sook Ja is the fun one

She loves to primp

She says looking good attracts the sea creatures

(SOOK JA puts a little lipstick on She gets lipstick all over her teeth) SOOK JA

Young yesterday

White-haired today

White-haired yesterday

Young today

Who will inherit my life?

No one, if I can help it

I wouldn’t wish it on anyone

Some people are born as Spielberg’s children

Some people are born to be the children of the oil barons

But others

Others are born to eat dirt

I am the “others”

Go Min and Han Sol too

And we the “others”

We eat dirt every day

I was very pretty when I was young

I know it must be hard to believe now but I was cute as hell

Go Min and Han Sol were young once too

But they didn’t look as cute as me

I was so pretty I was going to marry into a family in Seoul

But I fell in love with a tall fisherman I grew up with

A tanned-faced island boy

And I married him instead

We were married for four months before he died

He never came home from a rough morning at sea

I was very young and dramatic back then

8

So I wanted to drown myself in the sea that took him

But my neighbors, also widows

Go Min and Han Sol too

They taught me how to dive into the ocean

Now I could never drown myself

I know how to swim too well

So to answer your question:

How did I come to look the way I do

If I was so beautiful once?

(GO MIN and HAN SOL emerge from the ocean with a ěˆ¨ëš„ soom-bee All three haenyeos, now on the beach, in unison:)

ALL THREE HAENYEOS

Beauty tips:

Every day

Salt water

Salt wind

Salt sun

This is a lifetime of mummification

This is a lifetime of becoming a dried fruit

You can look like this too

Living on this little rock

For sixty years or more

(SOOK JA spits out her gum, splits it in half, and shoves the pieces in her ears She takes a handful of pills and dives into the ocean

HAN SOL and GO MIN rub their faces and necks With water from a plastic bucket They use soap and have a little bath right there They use a raggedy little towel to wipe their faces) HAN SOL

Phew

GO MIN

Give me back my youth

Phew

HAN SOL

Give me back my youth

GO MIN

Phew

HAN SOL

In and out of the water

9

GO MIN

In and out of the coffin

Take me away

HAN SOL

Take me away

GO MIN

How did this happen?

I shouldn’t have gotten old

Why the fuck am I still alive?

People should just die when they’re old

HAN SOL

Earn it in the afterlife

GO MIN

Spend it in life

HAN SOL

Phew

GO MIN

Phew

(Silence) HAN SOL

You’re bleeding

GO MIN

Where?

HAN SOL

There, on your hand

(GO MIN washes the fresh wound with water) GO MIN

You cut yourself

HAN SOL

Where?

GO MIN

On your cheek

10