But Still Like Air

Kokoro (True Heart)

by VELINA HASU HOUSTON 1994 Best Original Script Nomination, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle "Kokoro" received its world premiere at Theatre ofYugen, San Francisco, in June 1994.The play also received a limited special presentation at Japan Society, New York, in May 1994. In 1995, it was produced in New York at The 28th Street Theatre by Frances Hill and Margaret Mancinelli-Cahill, directed by Tina Chen. CAST OF CHARACTERS (Cast includes five women and one man.) YASAKO YAMASHITA HIRO YAMASHITA SHIZUKO MIZOGUCHI Fuyo ANGELA ROSSETTI EVELYN LAUDERDALE A Japanese woman, early 30s Yasako's husband, a Japanese man, 39 A Japanese woman, early 30s A spirit, Yasako's mother An attorney A neighbor TIME AND PLACE: San Diego, California, Japan, and Netherworlds. 1985. Copyright © 1994 by Velina Avisa Hasu Houston Copyrighted Material 90 VELINA HASU HOUSTON PROLOGUE [Ocean sounds fade in and crescendo. In the darkness, YASAKO enters as lights fade in low, whirling, shaping a world around her. There is a scrim as backdrop, and ocean waves dress the floor. YASAKO comes forward using slow, methodical movements.] YASAKO: A tiny rock is cast out to sea by the great Sun Goddess Amaterasu and it grows into an island, strong and unwavering, beautiful and bright. I am a root in this soil. I grow best here, all blossoms, all fruits, always. [a beat] But, one day, the gardener comes and I am transplanted. The winds, the rain, the gnawing forces of erosion transform the blossoms, scattering them into the river of time. [She removes a silky American flag from her kimono sleeve and billows it about her as the figure ofFuyo appears as a shadow lit behind the scrim. Fuyo enters. A spirit, the back ofher kimono trails behind her in shredded strands. Her face is snowy white;her hair is wild, long, grey-streaked. She glides beneath agossamer shroud. The lights on her are shadowy while the lights on YASAKO are a bit brighter.] YASAKO: Good-bye, Mother. [Fuyo shakes her head.]But I am his wife. [Fuyo looks downward in sadness.]And your daughter becomes a mother. [FUYo beckons to YASAKO.j Do not fear for my child in America, Mother. Her soul is tied with mine. She will never walk alone. [Fuyo encircles her daughter as YASAKO weaves in and around her.] Fuyo: Se 0 hayami iwa ni sekaruru ... YASAKO: Our lives like the river's foam split asunder by boulders .. . Fuyo: . . . takigawa no warete mo sue ni awanto zo omou. YASAKO: In the end, Fuyo: . .. kono yo de . . . YASAKO: ... in this world . .. Fuyo and YASAKO: ... or some other ... YASAKO: . .. we will find each other again. [YASAKO removes her kimono, startling Fuyo. She gives it to Fuyo. Fuyo kneels to fold it as YASAKO kneels to fold the flag. YASAKO presents the flag to her mother and bows.] Doozo, Okaasan. [a beat] Wife, mother, and now orphan, I go. [a beat] Sayoonara. Copyrighted Material Kokoro (True Heart) [YASAKO bows again. Fuyo wipes away imaginary tears and runs offstage . YASAKO rises as the sound ofa seven-year-old girl's laughter tinkles , blending with a news bite that marks the year as 1984, i.e., the reelection ofRonald Reagan. The sounds bridge into:] ACT I SCENE ONE [The Yamashita home, into which YASAKO enters as lights brighten. A hot summer day. Intermittently, sounds ofthe ocean ure heard in the distance. YASAKO folds a young girl's dress. She sits and leafs through a ;ournal.] 91 YASAKO: August third. Seven to eight: make breakfast. Eight to nine: wash Kuniko 's clothing. Nine to ten: piano. My world. America is outside, a place to visit when I take Kuniko to school. My husband buys the groceries, pays the bills. Once I had to take Kuniko to the doctor. That was hard. [puts book away, calls out] Kuniko! Kuniko-chan! Come my child. Time for music! [imagines agirl running in] Kuniko! You forgot to take your shoes off! What bad manners you've learned! Sit, sit. Kuniko! Keep your dress on! Nice girls do not sing in their panties! Let's sing Japanese songs today. [plays a few notes on table top] "Haru ga kita, haru ga kita, doko ni kita. Yama ni kita, sato ni kita, no ni mo kita." [Abruptly, the voice ofthe seven-year-old, KUNIKO, emanates seemingly from all around YASAKO as she looks around in delight:] KUNIKO'S VOICE: [sings] "Down...