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A Crash in the Dark A shotgun by Garnet Williams
This play is about the end of a moment. Set in a world where we have truly been forced back into the Gilded Age and the occupation that it forced onto many a laboring community. In this world people of transgender people have been forced into underpaid labor as a means of surveillance and subjugation. The people we meet in this scene may as well have been blood. As a matter of fact they were blood. It was the blood of the covenant. Dramatis Personae Rohanna(Pronounced Row-Anna): A Black Trans Woman who clearly has four black grandparents. She is a laborer in the textile factory. She helps move pallets and string the looms. She has like generations of black women before her she has thrown herself on the fire to keep those around her warm. And like so many before her she has those she burns for only prod her for their own warmth. Clarence: A Black Trans Man who just now was released from a government labor facility. He was released and walked barefoot to the only home he has known since the regime change. He returned to see his beloved in the arms of a woman that by all rights was his sister. He is a mini version of Denzel in his prime. He is very possessive.
Do not distribute Sound cue: We hear the rolling of tank threads. The crushing of concrete beneath the tank you hear the muzzle change position. We hear a shot that rings like thunder. Suddenly the sound of a power surge and shattering glass. A scream, shrill and performative. We hear the sound of quickly moving feet. We hear Clarence, a black trans man begin to speak gently. Clarence: Roanna?….Roanna!……Please answer me. Sound Cue: Slowly stepping feet are heard until we hear Roanna, A Black Trans Woman who clearly has four black grandparents. When she meets his eyes the temperature drops 10 degrees. Roanna: Are you alright? Clarence: …I… Roanna: Hey. Look at me. Are you okay? Clarence: Your hands Roanna: Fuck my hands. That’s not important. Are you… Sound cue: Roanna steps towards Clarence carefully and we hear him shuffle back quickly Clarence: Don’t touch me! Roanna: I’m sorry I’m just concerned Sound Cue: We hear another sound akin to Thunder. But it’s far too close. Roanna is clearly worried about the outside world. Clarence: What the hell did you do? Roanna: Huh? Clarence: What. Did. You. Do? Roanna: Are you serious? Clarence: Your hands are covered in blood. Don’t lie to me.
Do not distribute Roanna: Have you lost your rabbit ass mind? Clarence: Clearly you did! Dammit. I’ll see for myself. Sound Cue: Clarence taking tentative steps Roanna: Don't piss me off. Sound cue: The steps stop, still as death Clarence: Or what? You’ll ignore my blood on your hands too? Roanna: I’m already struggling to keep my head. Tread lightly. Clarence: Then do it. Roanna: I’m gonna grant you that you’re in shock and ignore the insinuation that you wanna get physical with me. Your clothes are in tatters and they clearly just let you out. Clarence: Exactly. So I don’t wanna come home after weeks to bullshit that you’re causing. Roanna: Am I in a fucking Shonda Rhimes show? You getting buck with me over that white bitch Clarence: Don’t talk about her like that. You chased her into the kitchen and come out with bloody hands. Am I supposed to be cheery or is this too toxic for you? Roanna: My head is gonna come off. What on God’s earth Clarence: Please spare me whatever Shakespearean tirade you’re gonna go on. You’re not the smart one. Sound Cue: We hear the sound of the wood in the house creaking like a horror movie. We hear Roanna exhale like a dragon about to incinerate a town. Roanna: You nappy headed shell toe sucking negro. If I cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war then I’ll rip that shit. In a world where we have NOTHING but each other you still chose to accuse me of bullshit. You weren’t home for weeks. I wept for you. I prayed and begged god with every step into the same world that that took you that you’d come back to all of us in this house in one piece. As I toiled in that factory I let the sweat drench me like an offering so that my body would be the only one to know the stress and pain. But that was me being a fool again. So be it. If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear. Clarence: The only thing you are again is a fucking drama queen as usual. Move bitch.
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Sound Cue: Slowly, we hear more shuffling feet. Slowly. And this white bitch peeks out from the kitchen. Sheepishly she smiles like a changling in a crib. Sound Cue: That sound like thunder rings again. It’s closer now. Clarence: Thank God you’re okay. Wait. There’s not a scratch on you. Roanna: the soured love in her eyes has fully curdled. Clarence: Jesus. Christ. Baby, You scared me. Roanna: She doesn’t even have the air to give a wry chuckle Clarence: I’m glad she’s okay but you let me think you hurt her. That’s fucked up. Roanna: Hm Clarence: Wait. Then who’s blood… Roanna: She freaked when I chased her into the kitchen. Pulled my last flower vase off the counter when she passed out. Clarence: You cut yourself. Roanna: She fed you to the pigs and you still wanted to fight me over her. Clarence: Oh come on. You didn’t hurt her but you still don’t have to accuse her of bullshit. Just let it go. Roanna: I know it’s hard to do when she’s around but I want you to think. How do you think they picked you out in the park? Everyone crosses through it to get to work and every black person is a laborer. Clarence: I’m trans. They always have an eye out for us. Please let's just be happy she’s okay. Roanna: You know as well as I do that testosterone is chemical warfare. You look like a half pint replica of prime Denzel. Why do you think she held your hand just before they came to get you at the corner? Clarence: I…… she was afraid. She was afraid. She’s not you. Tough and overdrawn and self aggrandizing. And now the last thing she felt, my baby, was fear as you beared down on her like some beast.
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Roanna: Stop dying on her cross for one second and think. Why would she cross back to you when you had already split to go to work? Please. Clarence: She would have….she…she wouldn’t. She just wanted to/ Roanna: She came in here screaming like a banshee about them cornering her at the fountain and seeing you get you dragged away. You said she was there with you and she stood stalwart holding your hand. Clarence: She said she just wanted to stay in the park a little longer. Sound Cue: Thunder at the door. The house shakes and this time Roanna is the only one not to flinch. Roanna: She deserves you. Have fun Sound Cue: Roanna walks sternly to the door. She takes a deep breath and firmly opens the door. Sounds rumble like a thunderstorm on a southern porch. We hear the tank treads come to a stop and the sound of the muzzle shifting. We hear automatic weapons being leveled at Roanna. End of Play.