Dialogue with a mirror By Carolina Cuadrado Bastos (Spagna)

Dialogue with a mirror

By  Carolina Cuadrado Bastos (Spagna)

3^rd Prize Section Theater of the 8^th Edition

 

 

Characters:    – Lucia, the main character, a beautiful 15-year-old girl

– Her mirror

LUCIA (speaking on the phone with a girlfriend): All right, let’s meet at half past eight at the pizzeria in Toscaza square.

Fine… I promise this time I won’t be late, as I usually do. (she hangs the phone)

 

And now, what am I gonna wear? The blue dress or the red skirt? (she opens all the drawers and starts looking through her clothes)

I am so confused! When I have to go out for dinner with my friends, if I spruce, they think that all my cares are about physical appearance, but if I don’t, they say I’m ugly and I should be more caring! (still going through the drawers)

 

Here it is! I’m gonna wear tight pants, even though they’re not very comfortable: Silvia says they’re the latest fashion from Paris.

Oh, no! They’re too small! Did I get fatter? (she goes to the bathroom and weighs herself on the weighing machine)Thirty-six kilos and a half! I’m so fat! (she looks into the mirror)

Look, my nose is too big: maybe I should have an operation… And then this horrible spot that came out on my forehead! It’s normal then that everybody sees me ugly…

MIRROR: In my opinion, on the contrary, you are very pretty. And I like your nose: it’s original, and makes you look different from the other girls, who look all the same: same clothes, same hairstyles…

L (without being in the least surprised by the fact that her mirror is talking to her):

But Silvia said that long noses are so unaesthetic! And that my ideal weight is thirty-two, not thirty-six kilos!  

M: And you care that much what Silvia says?

L: Of course! She’s the most beautiful and the nicest girl in school! (she looks again at herself in the mirror) Maybe I have to go on a diet… But how can I follow a diet if Silvia is always telling me to go out for a pizza with the friends?

M: If you really want to follow Silvia’s advices, you should not go for a pizza tonight…

 

L: But if don’t go, Silvia will be disappointed, because I promised her I would have come every single Friday, and maybe she’ll get mad at me and decide not to be my friend anymore!

But if go, I’ll get fatter, and more spots will come out, and I’ll become ugly and Silvia will decide not to spend time with me anymore!

M: Don’t you think it is better to find other friends who might appreciate your personality rather than your beauty?

L: But I’m very shy, and many times people get bored with me, they don’t even listen when I speak… and I have thought that this happens because I’m ugly, and that if I go on a diet, I put some makeup and dress well, maybe I will have more friends, and I will be more popular in school.

M: In my opinion, since I see you comb your hair and dress every morning in front of me, you are not as ugly as you think. And then maybe your friends get bored with you because you try to imitate Silvia in every little thing, and when you talk, you never say what you really think, but what Silvia says.

L: Maybe you’re right. But in these days, nobody really cares if you have a great personality or if you have a good heart. People get interested only if you are pretty, if you wear nice clothes…

M: Not the whole world is like that: I am sure in your school some girls are able to see something beyond your appearance, and they would really like to know you for what you are.

L: It’s true there are girls like you say.

But the other school-friends always make fun of them, and after a while, they all become the same as Silvia: same tastes, same way of speaking… as it also happened to me.

M: But if you try to imitate Silvia in every feature, you will only find friends as superficial as she is. Instead, if you try to be yourself without disguising and  imitating Silvia, certainly you will find people who will become better friends for you than she is, although maybe not as popular and pretty or good-looking.

L: You’re right.

If I think about this, I did not even really like Silvia: I used to go out with her only to be accepted among school-friends.

I don’t know why I never realized that before…

(suddenly, the phone rings) Hallo? Hi, Silvia, this is Lucia. Look, tonight I don’t really feel like going out for a pizza… No, I’m not sick. It’s just I don’t feel like spending the evening with people who will think I’m nice only if I’m well dressed and have fashionable shoes… Yes, I’m telling you I don’t wanna be friends with you anymore. I’d rather stay alone than having friends like you… And then there are many other people I’d like to meet; people who do not care if the dress doesn’t match with the necklace, or if I have been wearing the same earrings for two days. Maybe I’ll call Marta, that girl you always used to make fun of, because she did not have any brand-name clothes.

Goodnight (she hangs the phone, and turns herself to speak to the mirror, but while she was speaking to Silvia, it has shattered into pieces. Lucia understands: she doesn’t need it anymore).

 

THE END