A series of mini-dramas based on public conversations, as overheard and rewritten by local playwright/director Aurora Stewart de Peña.

A young man in an army cap sits on a towel in the park while his friends listen, enthralled, to what he’s saying. He is wearing orange ray bans. His brown pants are rolled up.  A woven friendship bracelet decorates one ankle. Music from and island nation plays on a transistor radio. 

Nearby, Dave and Chad throw a football back and forth.

Derek: It was just really, like, like I’ve never travelled somewhere that’s that– I don’t know.

Like it’s everything, it’s over the top.

The sexuality of the place, way over the top.

Like all the guys are like (Imitating a Jamaican accent) “Hey Girl, bring that over here!” To like, just whatever girl they think is hot just walking down the street. And it’s like, every girl.

And the girls don’t seem to really mind, or like, they’re used to it. And, I mean, the girls are really sexual, too. They’re really outgoing! They’ll come right up to you and be like (imitating a Jamaican accent) “Hey Boi! You like this?” and they’ll like, stick it in your face, and it’s like (In an exaggerated laid back Canadian accent) “Hey, I’m Derek.”

Derek laughs to himself, shaking his head a couple times.

Dave: (With a football in his hand) We were just talking about that!

Derek: Yeah, man!

And it’s like, you can get a long there, whatever, like (Imitating a Jamaican accent) “One Love!”, but like, that’s only one type of guy. There are like two types of guys there, there are like the (imitating a Jamaican accent) “Dreadlocks! Rasta man! One love!” 

And they’re like, really cool, really laid back, really friendly, but you know, one of those guys ripped me off, so… I don’t know.

An elderly man with a large cyst on his neck walks by. He is holding several bags full of cans. Derek pauses to watch him walk by.

Derek: And then there’s like, the thugged out, gold chains Adidas shoes like (imitating a Jamaican accent) “Whoot! Whoot! That’s the sound of ‘da police!”

Derek lapses into some improv beatboxing, which roughly matches up to the music playing on the transistor radio. He bops aggressively. His friends watch.

Derek: And you’d think there wouldn’t be a lot of processed food, but there is.

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Aurora Stewart de Peña is half of the theatre company Birdtown & Swanville (the other half is Nika Mistruzzi). You can follow her on Twitter at @Aurorahhh.

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