Eyes of the Heart
Rent from DeepDyveEyes of the Heart
Catherine Filloux
Cast of Characters
Thida San, a Cambodian woman, fifty.
Kim, a Cambodian man, forties.
Dr. Lynne Simpson, an American eye doctor, thirties.
Serey/Oun, a Cambodian woman, Americanized, eighteen. Oun is Thida's daughter, eighteen, seen in flashbacks.
Savath/K.R. Soldier/Sipha/Barber/Mugger, a Cambodian man, twenties.
Chhem, a Cambodian woman, traditional, fifties to sixties.
Notes on the Play
Scenes are played in different areas of the stage, locales are suggested. There are altars both in Kim's apartment and the Buddhist temple; a window in Kim's apartment by which Thida sits. Because Thida is blind, the play has a soundscape, which helps create the context of her world. The time is the late 1980s. The play takes place in Long Beach, California, and Cambodia.
We are sometimes in Thida's mind, and she uses a microphone to distinguish her internal thoughts from her dialogue. In the text, Thida's internal thoughts are italicized. Residents 1, 2, and 3 are heard as voiceovers. In one instance, Dr. Simpson also uses a microphone for internal thoughts.
Scene One
[We hear a flight announcement mixed with airport sounds. The loud wail of a security alarm. Using a cane, Thida San is escorted in by Savath. Thida shrinks back from the assault of sounds. Kim rushes to her. He bows with palms together.]
KIM
Thida! Sister, you are finally here! We've waited so long. I'm pleased to welcome you to my new home.
[He embraces her.]
Thida? It is me, your brother, Kim.
[He looks at Thida. ] [End Page 61]
SAVATH
She isn't speaking.
KIM
[Confused.] Isn't speaking? Why?
SAVATH
I'm not sure. They didn't mention it in the papers. She must be overwhelmed.
KIM
[Maintaining cheerfulness.]
ok.
[Speaking louder.]
We are so happy to see you. It is a miracle you have finally arrived. How was your trip? Are you all right?
SAVATH
She can hear you. She's probably just not talking.
THIDA
I asked to stay at the temple.
[Kim quickly motions to Serey.]
KIM
This is Serey, your niece.
[Serey lightly touches Thida's shoulder.]
SEREY
Hello, Aunt.
THIDA
Like Oun…
KIM
You remember how she liked to visit you? In your house you had so many lovely things.
SEREY
Dad.
[Thida pats something under her shirt, near her heart.]
THIDA
Like Oun, in the photograph.
[Kim introduces Savath.]
KIM
And you met Savath Chin—he's the man who got you here! He never gave up. He flew to the Embassy in Phnom Penh. The paperwork sat there for ages.
SAVATH
Welcome to Los Angeles, Mrs. San.
THIDA
Los Angeles?
KIM
We're very relieved to see you. How was your trip? Comfortable?
[Kim touches a plastic bag Thida is clutching. Serey has moved away.]
[Calling.]
Serey!…You have no baggage? Nothing?
[Thida pats something under her shirt.]
THIDA
It is all here.
KIM
Just crackers from the plane? [End Page 62]
[Kim watches Thida.]
SAVATH
The papers say she sat in the dark in the temple for years.
SEREY
She didn't want to come to America.
[Thida pats her shirt, while Serey becomes the young woman Oun. Lights shift.]
THIDA
Miracle. A schoolgirl who eats, she breathes, she goes to school. When she comes home, everything is normal. Her father teases her, "Will she be a doctor?" One day my daughter says, "No, I will be a midwife." "Why not a doctor?" he asks her. His pride hurt, perhaps. She shrugs her shoulders. She walks away, to her room. To study. She is stubborn…Stop.
[Lights are restored to the airport.]
kim
Let's go home.
Scene Two
[Dr. Lynne Simpson, wearing eyeglasses, shows slides while addressing her residents (the audience). Behind her, squiggly, abstract shapes float.]
DR. SIMPSON
Everything is spectacularly ordered. [Pointing to first slide on scrim.] See, there's nothing on this retinal cell—it's clear. You wait for the oddity. It comes rarely. [Showing second slide on scrim.] There it is...
