09. “Things We Don’t Say,” a play by Marilia Samper
A full-length contemporary drama. Translated from Spanish to English by Steven Capsuto through a grant from the Catalandrama Project. Professional performance rights available.
A WOMAN and a MAN, about forty years old, have been a couple for three years. She has just told him the relationship is over. He wants to know why. The play depicts their last conversation together.
The tone is comedic at first, mostly due to his reaction to this news, but it shifts gradually as the disturbing backstory emerges. We learn, eventually, that they knew each other in high school and went on one date when she was 15. It ended with him raping her. When she told her parents and a psychologist, they treated her as delusional, and so the trauma remained. Even decades later, her mother still refuses to take the matter seriously.
A few years ago, the WOMAN and MAN ran into each other again and she found he had matured into a sweet, caring person. She convinced herself that maybe, if they made new happy memories together, the trauma would heal. They fell in love and moved in together. But over time, living with him and with their perpetual silence about what happened long ago has made things worse, and now she just has to leave for her own well-being. She realizes that what she most needs is for him to do what no one else has been willing to do: acknowledge that the rape happened.
PRAISE FOR THE ORIGINAL BARCELONA PRODUCTION:
“A wonderful play.” -Imma Sust, El Periódico, 2021
“Its impact lies in how tight the play feels: it runs just an hour and ten minutes. So by the end, you still remember that opening scene with its unsettlingly unexpected humorous edge.” -Marcos Ordóñez, El País, 2021
“A must-see production for both men and women. Especially men.” -Marta Gambin, El Nacional, 2021
“Short but intense. Really intense. No amplification, lighting effects, or scenery… Just dialogue and two skilled actors conversing in real time without a net. And that’s plenty. This stark production’s performers convey profound emotion through words.” -Oriol Osan i Tort, Nuvol, 2022
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Members of the New Play Exchange can find out more about this script at https://newplayexchange.org/script/3226051/things-we-dont-say-by-marilia-samper.