Myself: a Personal Narrative

A teenage girl, JAMIE, walks out on stage alone from stage left. She has brown hair that falls to her shoulders and deep blue eyes. She is wearing a white blouse and blue jeans and in her right hand is a pair of binoculars. The stage is dark except for a single spotlight following JAMIE across the stage. When she reaches the center, she sits down on the edge of the stage, her feet dangling over, and raises the binoculars to her eyes. She proceeds to stare at the audience through them for a few seconds, then slowly moves them away from her face.

JAMIE: With these binoculars I can see each one of you on an extremely personal level. (She brings the binoculars to her eyes then down again.) Do any of you audience members by any chance have your own pair handy? (scanning the

audience) I was afraid of this. Well, here, why don’t you take mine for a while? (She jumps off the front of the stage, hands a front row audience member her pair of binoculars, then resumes her previous position.) Now look through those and tell me what you see. Be honest now, I could use a good session of constructive criticism. Wait, maybe if I stand up you could get a better look at my true self. (She stands and gracefully turns around.) Make sure you get every angle now. Okay, now tell me everything you know about me... not much to tell, is there. I mean, you really don’t know what kind of person is standing up on this stage in front of you blabbering on about binoculars and constructive criticism. Well, I guess I have my work cut out for me today; I must describe who I am. Fortunately, I did come prepared. I have provided myself with a prop – and the influence of a very special person – to assist me throughout one of the most difficult performances of my life, an interpretation of a piece I call “Myself.” (she steps off the stage and returns to the audience member in the front row.) Do you mind if I take these back now? (She returns to the stage.) the one prop is, you guessed it, a pair of...