Photo: Carolina Bustamante as NN; Gracia Morales as the Forensic Scientist
By Gracia Morales
Translated from Castilian Spanish by Phyllis Zatlin
Volume 9, Issue 3 (Spring 2023)
I met Gracia Morales in the fall of 2018 at the University of Southern Indiana during an international theatre conference organized by A. David Hitchcock. When I had coffee with Gracia in Granada the following spring, she gave me a copy of NN 12. I had no intention of translating any more plays, but I changed my mind when I read this one. I was in Florida in 2012 when a forensic anthropologist from the University of South Florida began excavating unmarked graves at a notorious reform school not far from Tallahassee. We no longer had to think of inhumane episodes in other parts of the world to understand how people were executed and families were torn apart by authoritarian regimes that simply discarded bodies like trash. I had read and kept clippings recounting that horror story at the Dozier School. Colson Whitehead did the same; in his case, the beating deaths of Black boys by white staff inspired his great novel The Nickel Boys.
In Gracia Morales’s play, a forensic scientist confronts the task of identifying the remains of a dozen skeletons found in a mass grave. After explaining the assignment to others in her crew, she begins her examination of NN 12, a woman without a name. (NN comes from the Latin term Nomen Nescio.) Her investigation, witnessed by the ghost of the deceased, involves solving a mystery with the help of DNA. The skeleton is soon linked to Esteban, a young man who has been looking for his biological parents. Never returned to his maternal grandparents, he was raised in an orphanage. As the investigation continues, Esteban learns how his mother was assassinated shortly after his birth in prison, where she was repeatedly raped by a military officer whom he eventually confronts. The remains of the mother will finally be given a burial by her son and relatives, also located by the scientist. As the play ends, the anthropologist must begin solving another mystery from the mass grave.
The script has a small cast: two women, both in their 30s; two men, one aged 27 and the other aged 62; an offstage voice of a third woman. In the original cast, Gracia Morales played the forensic scientist. The single set has two playing spaces: a forensic laboratory and the older man’s home. Time and place are unspecified. Action takes place over several weeks but could happen in any country where people were taken from their homes, disappeared, and ultimately found in mass graves.
Before COVID-19 prevented in-person meetings, I had the good fortune of belonging to a playwrights’ collective that met in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Our part of the state, Door County, has several active theatres and is home to a number of people with extensive theatrical experience. Other members were or hoped to become playwrights, but they kindly accepted me, a translator, into the group. They offered guidance in my previous preparation of Little Girl, My Little Girl by Itziar Pascual and Amaranta Osorio, which appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of The Mercurian. For the Morales play, they cast the roles and did an unrehearsed reading of my translation in progress, again helping me immensely.
Research is called for in translating the medical and anatomical terminology for NN 12. When I thought I had resolved those issues, I sent that section of my translation to a relative who is a nurse for her corrections and suggestions. I also consulted the author. Gracia Morales said she had consulted appropriate colleagues at her university for the same reason. The play title also posed a problem. The author assumed her audience would understand what NN stood for; I was quite sure an American audience would be bewildered. I consulted a number of friends; most answers were not very helpful. Finally, with the aid of the late Marion Peter Holt, a distinguished play translator, I arrived at the over translation solution of adding “Unidentified” for clarification.
The play makes extensive use of Lili Marleen, a German love song that became internationally popular during World War II. It was known most widely in a version by Marlene Dietrich. The military man in the NN play is quite taken by the song and the actor who sang it. Most members of our playwrights’ collective had never heard of it, however. The exception was Bela Sandor, who was born in Hungary and speaks several languages. He not only knew the song but could sing it for our reading. As it happens, I not only know the song but own a copy in a book we used in German class at Rollins College back in the 1950s. Sometimes musical references in plays stump me, but not this time!
Two participants in our collective were so impressed by Gracia Morales’s play that they intended to suggest it to their board in a local theatre, but COVID interfered with that idea, so the translation has not yet been staged in the U.S. A short play of Gracia’s appears in English, translation by A. David Hitchcock, in an anthology I have just edited for ESTRENO Studies, in cooperation with the playwrights’ collective: Microtheatre: A Door County Debut of Short Plays from Wisconsin and Spain. Gracia’s With Background Music is part of a cluster labeled “The Golden Years Aren’t for Sissies.” David is now general editor of ESTRENO Studies.
Gracia Morales (b. Motril, Granada 1973) is a playwright, poet and co-founder of the Remiendo Theatre Company. She is a literature professor at the University of Granada. More than twenty of her plays have been published and staged. Among her theatre prizes are the Marqués de Bradomín, Romero Esteo, the Premio Lorca de Teatro Andaluz, and the SGAE. She was awarded the latter in 2008 by the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores for NN 12. Spanish critics and spectators have observed that while the play resonates with Spain’s own history of violence and civil war, it deals with those shocking events in a muted tone.
Phyllis Zatlin (b. Green Bay 1938) has translated and edited numerous plays. In Door County, she’s written books about local history and friendships with writers abroad. Inspired by the Rogue and Isadoora Theatres and a playwrights’ group, she writes plays and is editing this anthology of microtheatre by Wisconsin and Spanish authors.
Unidentified: NN 12
By Gracia Morales
Translated from Castilian Spanish by Phyllis Zatlin
CAST:
Forensic Scientist. Woman in her 30s.
NN. Woman, age 31.
Esteban. Man, age 27.
Older Man. Age 62,
There is also an Offstage Voice of a woman
SCENE 1
A soft light reveals OLDER MAN seated at a desk with his back to the audience. A spotlight illuminates the small area with the man in front of the desk. From time to time we see his profile: he appears to be about 60 and wears glasses. He is leafing through a newspaper. He pauses when an article attracts his attention. He reads slowly then carefully tears out that page and holds it.
As he reads that page, a different scene begins in a larger section of the stage. In this second space, still in darkness, someone not yet recognizable, is projecting on a screen photographs from a mass grave. As the projection starts, we hear the voice of the woman showing the images.
VOICE OF FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Following information provided by townspeople, on 19 February we moved to an area we named North Section. We made a series of probes to locate the position. Shoveling dirt from a ditch, we uncovered the sole of a shoe. We found a rectangular grave some 11 meters long, approximately two meters wide, and one meter 20 centimeters deep. We have labeled it Grave 1-North. The remains of 12 bodies of NN were found there. As you can see in the photos, the skeletons are quite complete and articulated. Because of the haphazard distribution of individuals and their positions, we believe they were thrown in from the edge. There are no traces of wood or other materials that would indicate that any of them was buried in a box or coffin. This is, therefore, a clandestine, simultaneous group burial. Next to the skeletons we found some related objects: pieces of clothing, buttons, zippers, buckles, shoes, a watch, a chain, and part of the ammunition that caused their death. We will deliver these materials along with the NN bones to be identified.
At this time, the archeological team has moved to the East and is working on a second area, without, for the moment, making another find. May I have light, please.
Lights up on this area of the stage: a forensic medical laboratory. The speaker is a woman in her 30s who is wearing a white lab coat. Light on Older Man’s area now gradually goes down until no longer visible.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Any questions?
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST directs her answers in various directions to points relatively close to each other. She is responding to questions from an audience that we neither see nor hear.
Yes? (Pause.) Yes, some of our informants are seeking family members. We have heard from a total of 15 families, but we have found the remains of only 12 cadavers. That’s why we have decided to extend our excavation work in this area. We are preparing ante-mortem records of the disappeared. They will be ready within a few days.
(In response to another question.) No. I’m sorry. We don’t know that. (Pause.)
Yes. All of them by fire arms. The spent ammunition came from revolvers and pistols of 9mm Largo and 7.65 mm Browning.
Any more questions? (Pause.)
No, not yet. We’re not working in secret. The press was already here when we arrived and they know we are carrying out an investigation, but we prefer to maintain privacy on the results. The important thing is that we have to work calmly, without outside pressure.
Anything else?
Very well. You’ll be notified what individual has been assigned to each one of you. Thank you for your attention.
SCENE 2
Forensic laboratory. On a long table, the skeleton of a person. On stage, a young woman: NN.
NN walks around, observing everything with curiosity. She takes objects and examines them carefully. When she puts them back, she tries to leave everything just as it was.
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST enters. She pays no attention to NN. She crosses to the work table. She plays back what she previously recorded while observing the skeleton.
RECORDED VOICE OF FORENSIC SCIENTIST
On 9 March I received the box of individual 12. It contains almost the complete skeleton. Study of the osseous characteristics leads to several conclusions which I shall now summarize. Analysis of the pelvis and cranium indicates that these are the remains of a woman of Caucasian-Mediterranean origin. To determine her age, I have considered the sternal end of the fourth rib, uricular surface of the ileum, pubic symphysis, dental attrition, the degree of synostosis in cranial sutures, radiographic changes, and histomorphometric variation. From these data I conclude that at her death, NN was between 29 and 32 years old.
NN also approaches the table and looks at the skeleton.
After measuring the femur and the tibia, I applied the Krogman-Iscan equation, resulting in a height of 1 meter 62cms +/-3 cms. Slight build. (Pause.) As for the cause of death, there is evidence in the cranium of injuries caused by a bullet with a posterior-anterior and top to bottom trajectory, marked by entry and exit holes.
NN shivers slightly and moves away from the bones.
From the shells found in the grave and the characteristics of the injury, we conclude that the weapon used was 9mm.
Brief silence. The recording has ended. The FORENSIC SCIENTIST takes out a small notebook from the pocket of her white lab coat and studies it for a moment. She then connects the recorder and speaks.
13 March. Further study reveals traces of an ischiopubic inflammation. There is every indication that it resulted from recent childbirth. We can therefore deduce that they killed NN 12 some ten to 15 days after giving birth and that she had an infection that was not properly treated. (Pause.) There are no noticeable signs of torture.
She stops the recorder and touches the top of her own head. She then picks up the cranium from the table and examines a hollow, anterior spot. She releases the cranium and returns to the recorder.
The cranium has a special characteristic. The greater fontanel is not closed.
She remains silent, with the recorder still running, and touches her own head in the same spot as before.
NN
(Looking at the Forensic Scientist for the first time with curiosity)
You too? That bone / there / you / too?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Bringing the recorder back to her mouth)
The odontologist team will begin the dental report tomorrow. I am about to get samples to analyze DNA. (The Forensic Scientist stops the recorder and puts on latex gloves.)
SCENE 3
While the FORENIC SCIENTST takes photos of the remains, NN speaks calmly. At times she falters, makes an effort but does not always find the word she seeks and has to go back and try again. This is not uncertainty or lack of resolution; rather her speech has been broken and she has to reconstruct it. These breaks in her speech are indicated by / inserted in the line.
NN
The earth is / the earth / the earth is filled with voices. Down there, we speak, we speak to one another. We say, we tell each other. Our name. Age. Each one’s cities. Why they arrested us. What the look was / that / look of who / that look. Voices. Broken voices in the earth. And we listen to them quietly, with attention.
One man didn’t have these. . . (Showing her hands) both of them. He always repeated: “Why did they cut them off? Why? What reason did those bastards have?” He always repeated that.
Another, older, spoke about his wife. Her voice, her laugh, the shape of her little / her. . . (She gestures with her fingers but can’t find the word. She continues.) Remembering her, and remembering her, and thinking about the child they expected. When they took him away, his wife was four / four months. Was it a boy or a girl? Some 40 years later, he continued to ask, Boy or girl? Still asking.
The earth is alive. Filled with / with / with stories. And sobs. Those who died recently, they have the strongest, and for a while they almost don’t let us hear. . . Then they get used to that / that darkness / that damp smell, so damp, and they stop crying and learn.
From underground, words / how the words sound / they carry for kilometers, thousands and thousands. That’s how they come. Clear. “Nothing hurts anymore,” one says. “Here / there are no cold tables or buckets of water, they can no longer hurt me here.” Then, a young woman, almost a child, “My father, my poor father, he’ll go crazy looking for me, I know, he won’t stop until he finds me, my father is so stubborn.” Everyone has their own voice. Some are always angry: “That’s enough complaining! Who gives a shit about your stories? Even down here we can’t enjoy a bit of fuckin’ silence, (She laughs softly. Then stops laughing.) Someone was singing / someone / a woman / always the same song. (She hums the beginning of “Lili Marleen”: “Vor der Kaserne / Vor dem großen Tor / Stand eine Laterne / Und steht sie noch davor / So woll’n wir da uns wieder seh’n… “
Words, there, down there. Sometimes in desperation. With / with / fear. With anger too. As if all the dead people with no name joined together, listening to one another pressed together so we would be less alone.
Now they are taking us out. Separating us, they are separating us and leaving us like that, stretched out, clean, carefully placed. But do they want to listen to / to all that / that we bring to tell them?
SCENE 4
The forensic laboratory. The FORENSIC SCIENTIST and a young man, ESTEBAN, are silently looking at the skeleton on the table. NN is watching them.
ESTEBAN appears calm, but he isn’t. He makes an effort to seem serene but at times during the scene we notice that effort.
ESTEBAN
How long was it there?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
If we take into account what the people who pointed out the grave told us, 27 or 28 years. We found this. (She gives him a medal.) It’s the only object she had with her.
ESTEBAN (Examining the medal)
P. L. A.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
She had it in her hand. (Closing her fist.) Like this. In the right hand. We have some facts based on our forensic analysis. Do you want to hear them?
ESTEBAN
Yes.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
She was about one meter 62 centimeters. Rather slim. Her age between 29 and 32.
ESTEBAN continues looking at the remains. He places the medal near them.
She was located with a group of bodies. Eleven other bodies. All men. We are also trying to identify them.
ESTEBAN
I imagine that I had no relationship with any of them. Right?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Correct. According to DNA tests, none.
NN (Beginning to understand)
No. It can’t be.
ESTEBAN (Pause)
Anything else?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
A dental record is in process. We can get quite a bit of information from that. Everyone has unique dental characteristics. Did you know that?
ESTEBAN
No.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
She also has a striking trait. In the cranium. Here, look. This hollow. It’s called the greater fontanel. Normally it closes by two years, but for some people, very few, it remains open. It’s not dangerous but it is striking. It may be a fact that helps us.
ESTEBAN
I don’t have it.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
It’s not hereditary.
NN moves away from them, very disturbed. She talks to herself, in whispers, making gestures of denial, saying words and phrases we do not hear.
ESTEBAN (Looking at the cranium)
Was this a gunshot?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Trying not to be blunt)
Yes.
ESTEBAN
How did they shoot her?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Once. From behind aiming forward.
ESTEBAN moves away from the body.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
There’s something else. We think she gave birth shortly before dying. We’ve found indications of an ischiopubic inflammation. Therefore, you were born just before she died. Do you understand?
Pause. ESTEBAN’s appearance of serenity gradually is shattered. He anxiously moves about the stage.
ESTEBAN
Do you get a lot of stories like this one?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
We’ve been investigating for only a short time. But we think there are thousands of NN bodies down there.
ESTEBAN
NN?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
We call them Nomen nescio “No name” for unidentified remains.
NN has remained silent, standing still by herself and not looking at them.
ESTEBAN
Truthfully, when I decided to provide my information and a blood sample, I didn’t think… I didn’t think that I’d be called so soon…. Will you be able to identify her?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
We’re going to try.
ESTEBAN
But, do you usually succeed?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
That depends on what information we can count on.
ESTEBAN
How many people that you’ve found have left here with a name?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
As I said, we’ve not been working a long time at this kind of …. Besides, every case is different.
ESTEBAN
Yeah.. . every case is different, and there are thousands of cases, you told me that before, right? So this is like looking for a needle in a haystack, a little tiny needle in an enormous stack of shit…
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
We’ll do everything we can…
ESTEBAN (Gesturing for her to stop)
I need,.. I need a minute.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
I’ll get you some water. (Exits).
ESTEBAN, seeing that she has left him alone, stops trying to seem calm and falls apart. He leans on the table, as if having a hard time standing.
For a moment, NN abandons her isolation and looks at him, from a distance. She doesn’t approach him but just observes him.
Little by little, ESTEBAN pulls himself together. He is standing when the FORENSIC SCIENTIST returns with a glass of water. NN once again withdraws into herself.)
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Feeling better? (ESTEBAN nods. She hands him the glass.)
ESTEBAN
Thanks.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Look. It is true that until now we had little hope. None of the families that gave us information on the location of the grave have any relationship with it. No one was looking for a woman. And we haven’t found any conclusive evidence in the archives of the disappeared in this zone… But when we came upon you, new possibilities opened up.
ESTEBAN
Upon me? But you already know… that I… I know nothing.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Your surnames, for example. We don’t know if they were those of your parents or if they changed them when they admitted you.
ESTEBAN
My surnames won’t do you any good. There were many admitted in that place with those names. The surnames of the founder of that center. When they didn’t know for sure where someone came from, that’s what they called them.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
But in that children’s home, they must have had an entry register.
ESTEBAN
That’s what I thought. And I tried to have them let me see it. But they said everything had been lost.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Sometimes, with a court order, lost papers reappear.
ESTEBAN
Reappear? But why would they lie to me?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
For a long time, today still, there are people interested in covering up everything that happened.
ESTEBAN
What does that have to do with me?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Do you want to know the truth?
ESTEBAN
That’s why I’m here.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Truth isn’t found quickly.
ESTEBAN
I’ve been waiting a long time.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
And sometimes it isn’t what one wants to hear. We can pressure them to let us review the archives. But I need your authorization. Understand?
ESTEBAN
Yes.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Will you cooperate with us?
ESTEBAN
Yes.
SCENE 5
The forensic laboratory. On stage, ESTEBAN and NN. NN stands apart, where she was throughout the preceding scene. ESTEBAN is looking at the skeleton lying on the table.
NN
Not in those bones. Not now. Even though you look and look at them.
ESTEBAN
My name is Esteban.
NN
No.
ESTEBAN
I’m 27… Well, you know that, of course… I work in a carpentry shop. I’m not married, I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m… more or less a loner.
NN
This is too much / too much. / Too late now. Too much!
ESTEBAN
I … don’t remember you. Or my father. It would be easier if I could remember something: a smell, an image, your voice… Now I could talk to you…. I don’t know… in a different way. But I remember nothing. In the orphanage they told me you had abandoned me. There were many cases like mine and that’s what they always told us. They went away. They abandoned
you. The sons of bitches! I spent my whole childhood ashamed, angry, asking myself why my parents had not wanted to stay with me.
NN (approaching him)
They lied to her too, you hear. She / she believed / Because they told her / She believed that you /
ESTEBAN
You know that I wet my bed when I was 11? They punished me for that. Sometimes I still dream that I wet myself in my sleep and I wake up terrified, sweating, expecting a blow with a wooden rod on the palms of my hands.
NN
She didn’t know!
ESTEBAN (Half smiling)
I must sound crazy… telling these things to a … a skeleton. But… I have so many words here inside… Plants, I like plants. I have lots of them at home and I take good care of them. I spend a lot of time with them. And reading. Novels about travel, most of all. (Brief pause.) If only I could have found you alive, even if it were after so much time. I could talk to you for real. But this, what can I do now with this? Huh? What do I do now? Because I had not given up hope of finding you alive. Shit! What an idiot. Yes, what an idiot! (Pause.) And him? Where is he? Did they toss his cadaver around here too? Or is he alive? Do you know? Do you know where my father is?
NN
It should not have / not like this / it should not have / been like this.
SCENE 6
Lights up at the same time on the forensic laboratory and the Older Man’s space,
On the latter, the light is now stronger and covers a larger part of the stage. Besides the desk and chair, we see the whole rug under those pieces of furniture. The OLDER MAN is assembling pieces of a toy castle. He follows instructions placed on the table. Sometimes he hesitates and makes a correction. We see that he is enjoying himself, pleased with how the construction is turning out.
This occurs simultaneously with action in the laboratory where the FORENSIC SCIENTIST and NN are. The scientist once again is holding the recorder. We see that she is tired, as if she had not slept well. She plays back something already recorded.
RECORDED VOICE OF THE FORENSIC SCIENTIST
20 May. This morning we were finally able to see Esteban’s entry registration in the children’s home. A photocopy of the file is attached. (Pause.) It indicates that the baby was admitted at scarcely two weeks of age. The mother’s name appears with two surnames: Luján Alvares.
NN (Slowly)
Patricia. Patricia Luján Alvares.
RECORDED VOICE OF THE FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Also given is her age, 29, and the notation “Deceased.” (Pause.) There is a footnote: “Under the circumstances, the infant will be given a name by the Cradle House. Other surnames will provide for his better integration into society.”
NN
For his better / his better / !
RECORDED VOICE OF THE FORENSIC SCIENTIST
The corresponding box for his father has the word “Unknown.” Considering the facts we now have and the surnames Luján Alvares, we started a search in the national archive of the disappeared.
The recording ends. The Forensic Scientist prepares to record a new text but first organizes various folders on the table.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Recording)
25 May. Yesterday afternoon we located the police report on the case of NN 12. Her complete name is Patricia Luján Alvares. Her parents made a complaint the day after her arrest. A copy of the dossier is attached. They gave a detailed physical description. One meter 63 cms. Blonde. Brown eyes. Slender. 29 years old. They even mentioned that the greater fontanel was not closed. According to the complaint, she was taken from their home at night. They told her parents that they were only going to question her. (She becomes quiet and has a hard time continuing.)
NN (Trying to remember)
Waking up: “Patricia, some men are asking for you.” Some / some men. Very nervous. She never says Patricia, but Pati. Some men / four. Getting dressed. Once in the car, realizing that with hurry and fear, my pullover is inside out.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Making an effort, she continues recording)
They describe the clothing she was wearing when they took her away: blue jeans, a green pullover, tennis shoes. They affirm that she had a chain with the initials. P. L. A. And a wrist watch.
NN
Not anymore.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Recording)
Her parents are now deceased. She had no siblings. No record of a child. Marital status: single. Taking into account the date of the complaint and Esteban’s age. . . (She can’t go on and turns off the recorder.)
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST goes to the computer and begins to project some photos. In the first one, NN is alone.
NN
Patricia. Back then. 29. Slender. Brown eyes. One meter 63 cms.
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST looks at her for a moment. Gradually, as the photos are shown and she sees NN in them, the scientist, through her posture and look, reveals a feeling of sorrow and tenderness.
The OLDER MAN on his side of the stage leaves his activity. He seems to intuit that the images are being projected. He looks at them, from his space, scarcely moving.
The scientist changes the photo. Then the next one. NN appears with a woman of about 50.
NN
There they are. A mother and daughter / two normal women. It’s been so long without seeing her. She had even been erased already. (The photo changes. We see a family gathering. NN is laughing. The scientist reacts with a smile.) Yes, that photo. A meal. The man with the watermelon. He was a good father. He was / he was / simple and happy. That day he drank too much and did silly things: singing and dancing. The one behind him, with the dark pants, my father’s brother. He always came and brought a new book. (In the next photo, she is in a classroom with children.) A teacher. Surrounded by children. Five years at that school. Until they made her disappear.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
I really didn’t imagine her as a blonde.
SCENE 7
Forensic laboratory. The last photo is still being projected.
NN
Disappeared. No. Not you / you have not disappeared. Kidnapped. Imprisoned. Yes.
Assassinated. Tossed out, that too. Tossed / there / with no sign of a name.
You didn’t choose to disappear. No one / no one chooses it. Each one had a little piece of life,
constructed little by little. Each one / thus / each one. We don’t disappear, because we continue existing there where / we continue existing there far away / one hour and another and another before dying. Alone / so alone / lost / so out of those little pieces of life that were ours. Ours / constructed little by little.
There we had to repeat names often: Patricia Luján Alvares, Enrique Ibar Nogueira, Johan Valdivia Riaza, Ana Murat Roca, each repeated softly. My mother is named Teresita; my father, Adolfo or Héctor or Josué; my brothers and sisters, my wife, Luisa, Tomás, Irene, Malik, Carmen, Aaron, Graciela, Pedro.
Because there they even changed our names / and you / you / had to say the real name over and over so not to forget it. Patricia Luján Alvares, Patricia, not Marlene, Patricia. In order to keep on existing, not disappear / not disappear completely at the end / not disappear completely from yourself.
SCENE 8
The laboratory. ESTEBAN, the FORENSIC SCIENTIST, and NN are on stage. ESTEBAN is looking at the documentation: photos, papers from the complaint. NN is near him, observing his reactions.
ESTEBAN
Patricia. I have to get used to that name… A teacher? Why would they shoot a teacher?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
She wasn’t the only one. (Showing him a photo.) Here are your grandparents.
ESTEBAN
Which ones?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Pointing)
Here he is and here she is…
All three are looking at the photo.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Continuing)
He died first, nine years ago. She died two years later.
NN
You look a lot like him, don’t you?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
We’re looking for other family members. Aunts and uncles, cousins. We have to let them know we’ve found her.
NN
(Continuing to look at the photo and at Esteban.)
The same / (Not finding the word, she touches her eyes.) and… the shape of / (She touches her eyebrows.)
ESTEBAN
Then… you’re absolutely sure.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Yes.
ESTEBAN (After a pause)
And… my father?
NN slowly backs away.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
We don’t know that.
ESTEBAN
She wasn’t married.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
True.
ESTEBAN
And it doesn’t say anything here that she … was pregnant when… Did she hide that?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
No. She wasn’t pregnant. Esteban, you’re 27 years old. Look at the date on the complaint. Almost two years went by from the time they arrested her and when you were born.
ESTEBAN
But, where was she all that time?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
We don’t know.
ESTEBAN
Then my father was with her there, where she was… He was her companion or something like that, right?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Esteban, you have to be patient. We still don’t know all the answers. She became pregnant a year and some months after being arrested. That we do know for sure.
Pause. ESTEBAN approaches the table and picks up the medal.
NN
Patricia. Not Marlene. Patricia. Patricia, here. Patricia.
SCENE 9
In the laboratory. ESTEBAN and NN are on stage. A photo is projected of NN alone, smiling, with her hair down. It is the first photo viewed in Scene 6.
ESTEBAN approaches the image and carefully glides his fingers across it. NN, from her location, reacts at that contact as if he were really touching her. At first her gestures are of negation or fear, but then, little by little, she submits. Then, she closes her eyes and leans her face forward. As Esteban explores her face in the photograph, she bends her head when he caresses her hair, and has the sensation of being tickled when he brushes her abdomen or shoulders. Esteban lays a hand quietly on her chest, over her heart. NN places her hand there too, as if she were squeezing his hand.
SCENE 10
The scene begins with an offstage voice of a woman who is saying the text that follows. We hear her before the action begins on stage.
Lights up on the Older Man’s area. As in a previous scene, the light is stronger and covers more space. We see him in an armchair not far from the desk. He has fallen asleep while reading a book that now lies in his lap.
Lights up on NN and the Forensic Scientist, in the laboratory. The scientist is not wearing her white lab coat but now has on regular clothing. Her “conversation” is superimposed on the offstage voice, as indicated in the text. The Forensic Scientist is speaking to NN’s remains, without waiting for an answer.
OFFSTAGE VOICE
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Luján Alvares:
My name is Irene Cabriel. You don’t know me. But I knew your daughter Patricia. Three years ago I got out of the prison where I was with her. Perhaps I should have written you sooner, but I did not have the strength.
Lights up on the OLDER MAN’s area.
I’m doing it now because I constantly remember everything I lived through in that place and I think of you, and other families, that have the right to know about your daughter and what happened to her while she was under arrest.
Lights up on the laboratory, where NN and the FORENSIC SCIENTIST are.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
(Her voice superimposed on that of the offstage voice.)
Your family members brought us some documents. They said these are important papers that your parents left with them before dying. There are some letters.
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST begins to read the letters silently. NN crosses to her in order to see them too.
OFFSTAGE VOICE
I know that what you’re going to read in this letter is going to cause you pain, but I am telling the truth, and I would prefer to know the truth if it were my daughter who had disappeared. Patricia spent almost two years in the same detention center where I was. They called that place “The School” because that’s what the building had been used for.
NN
Irene.
OFFSTAGE VOICE
While she was there, she became pregnant and gave birth. To a boy. They told her the baby had been stillborn. At first she didn’t believe it and for several days seemed to be going crazy. Then she ended up accepting that it was so, that the boy had died.
But I knew that wasn’t true. I knew because I saw how they took him. I don’t know where. I didn’t dare tell your daughter the truth. I didn’t want to hurt her more. But you have a grandson, in some orphanage or adopted by some family. I often saw them take children away because I’m a nurse and sometimes they asked me to help with a delivery.
You have no idea how many letters like this I’m writing now that I live in another country and am learning how to fight my fear. I deeply regret having to relive the grief that you are suffering, but if you want to search for your grandson, you can only do that if you know he exists.
Sincerely,
Irene Cabriel
NN
So they knew. Both of them / and not / why not?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
There’s another one. Somewhat later.
OFFSTAGE VOICE
My dear Mr. and Mrs. Luján Alvares,
I was very happy to receive your response. I sincerely admire the fortitude it reveals.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
I was very happy to receive your response. I sincerely admire the fortitude it reveals. Fortitude…
NN
Fortitude…
OFFSTAGE VOICE
Although I know that you must be suffering a great deal. I’ll try to answer your questions. I don’t
know why they don’t give children back to their families.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
(At the same time as the offstage voice.)
I don’t know why they don’t give children back to their families. Holy shit! (She stops reading for a moment and then goes on.)
OFFSTAGE VOICE
I heard them say they had to reeducate them, give them the opportunity to grow up in a “healthy
environment.” I don’t know if they used them as spoils of war. It’s very difficult to understand despite the passage of time.
NN
No / no / not that / not again /
OFFSTAGE VOICE
As for your other question, in my previous letter I preferred not to talk about the child’s father. because I thought it was not going to help you at all to know that fact. But as you say, I’m the only person who can tell you, so I, too, shall dare to be brave.
While the offstage voice continues, NN draws away. She crosses to the side closest to the Older Man’s area. She looks at him and begins to sing “Lili Marleen,” in the German lyrics. Her voice reveals fear and anguish. At times she makes a mistake and has to go back to the previous stanza. She seems to be repeating a lesson.
The child’s father was one of the military officers at the center. A lieutenant. His name is Ernesto Navia San Juan. He took a fancy to your daughter. He is the one who got her pregnant.
The OLDER MAN wakes up and gradually reacts to the song, as if he could hear it. He looks around to see where the voice is coming from.
I don’t know if you are going to use this information against him. I’m very sorry, but I can’t help you. I’ve already done all I feel able to do, writing these letters. You can’t imagine how much it hurts me to remember all this. I long for my country but I don’t plan to return, at least not now. I am too afraid. Much too afraid. I don’t know if some day that feeling will go away.
The OLDER MAN looks over where NN is and stands up. He approaches the illuminated area. They look at each other, from their separate sides, while NN continues to sing with anger, with fear, and with sorrow.
Forgive me for everything, for what I am doing to you and for what I don’t dare do. None of this should have happened to Patricia, or to me, or to you.
Affectionately,
Irene.
NN continues singing until finishing “Lili Marlene.” When she reaches the end, there is a moment of silence. NN and the OLDER MAN are face to face. The FORENSIC SCIENTIST still has the letters in her hand. Finally she sets them down on the table.
NN
(Slowly looking away from the Older Man and realizing where she is.
Addressing the Forensic Scientist)
You’re not going to tell him, are you / not Esteban / not him, right? No / don’t do it please. He / is like a child / he hopes / to find something else / not this. Don’t tell him / Please!
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST slowly turns until she is looking toward the Older Man.
SCENE 11
Forensic laboratory. On stage, the FORENSIC SCIENTIST, ESTEBAN and NN. Esteban has finished reading the letters. The Scientist is wearing regular clothes, without the white lab coat. At first NN is standing away from them, listening but not wishing to be part of the scene.
ESTEBAN
Is this true?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
It’s what the woman affirms.
ESTEBAN
Then, my grandparents knew this.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Don’t judge them harshly. Surely they could do nothing. Or they were afraid. Until recently, nobody talked about this. Nobody dared.
ESTEBAN (Ater a pause)
If this man is still alive, can we do a DNA test?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
He’d have to give his consent.
Esteban continues looking at the letters. Silence.
Do you want to meet him?
NN (Approaching them as if she could intervene.)
No.
ESTEBAN
What did you say?
NN
No, no. Please don’t.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST (Handing him a paper)
Here’s his address.
NN
Don’t listen to her! No! Go away / get out of here!
ESTEBAN
have you seen him? Have you gone to see him? (The Forensic Scientist doesn’t answer.) What did he tell you?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
I haven’t talked to him.
ESTEBAN
I … don’t know if I want …
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Ernesto Navia San Juan.
NN
Please! Not him! Not him now.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
He’s married. Has four children. And four grandchildren.
ESTEBAN
That’s not my concern.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
He recently turned 62. He leads a normal life. Perfectly normal.
ESTEBAN
These letters could be a lie!
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
His younger daughter is your age. She’s a teacher. Does that strike you as ironic?
ESTEBAN
Why are you telling me this?
NN
Don’t you see that / that he doesn’t want?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Do you think she knows what her father did? Do you think she suspects that she has a half brother out there? Surely you’re not the only one. Maybe he did that to more women.
ESTEBAN
Maybe it’s not true!
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
They promoted him. To captain. Now he’s retired and he spends his time playing with his grandchildren and taking care of his garden. He has a precious garden filled with roses.
ESTEBAN
Be quiet!
NN
You’re hurting him.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
You look a bit like him. But not much.
ESTEBAN
What do you want from me? (Grabbing her by the shoulders.) What do you want from me?
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
He’s aged well. His only problem is seeing up close.
ESTEBAN
Shut up! Shut the hell up!
ESTEBAN appears about to attack the scientist. Instead he lets go of her and, as if drunk, crosses to the table where NN’s remains are. With a swipe of his hand, he knocks them on the floor. NN falls to the floor, in pain, as if she had been hit.
ESTEBAN realizes what he has done and, on seeing the bones scattered and the skeleton in pieces, he feels like throwing up. He moves away, unable to stop the vomiting. The FORENSIC SCIENTIST goes over to him and holds his head while he throws up.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
The earth is filled with voices. Nameless voices, that are still talking, many years after dying. Now, little by little, we are bringing them out to the light… But we have to be strong if we want to listen to what they have to tell us.
SCENE 12
NN speaks while the FORENSIC SCIENTIST reassembles the skeleton.
NN
Marlene. From the beginning. Like his favorite actress. Marlene Dietrich. For the color of / of (Not finding the word, she touches her hair.) From the beginning he said, “From now on, you’re Marlene.” They found another name for us there and we were obliged to use it. Patricia was to be called Marlene.
He chose her with that name. The man who named a prisoner made it something belonging to him. He had the right to / right to…
Because he chose you, because he chose you to be Marlene, he could / punish you. For things. Because you looked a certain way. Or because you didn’t answer when he asked you something. He liked to lock her in. Several days. Remaining in the dark and losing all sense of time. That, being in the dark, that / that can’t be / no /.
But also, sometimes / sometimes / he’d arrive suddenly happy. With presents: a piece of soap, a bow for (Touching her hair again), perfume, food. And he gives you back your medal, when he learns they took it from you. Some nights he only talks, tells about his wife, his children / two / two children and another on the way / he remembers things from before / when he was a child. Or he says, “Sing for me, Marlene.” Like talking to a lover.
There were times he treated her so well it was / it was /… Because when he behaved like that, she softened, became more vulnerable. At times, he caressed her slowly, like / like with affection. And then / then / It was terrible when, for the person who is torturing, / it’s terrible feeling something like compassion or tenderness or gratitude for / for the person / who is…
Later / in winter / after more than a year / she stopped getting her period. Marlene at first didn’t want. No. And she tried / she tried to get it out of there / she hit herself / she poured hot oil inside her. But the baby didn’t want to die / and it kept / it kept on growing. Gradually you began to feel it inside / alive inside here (Touching her abdomen) /the only living / the only thing new that was there / and you said maybe, maybe, even though it’s here, maybe / and you stopped hitting yourself and you started eating again and washing yourself carefully and resting. Taking care of yourself, you began to care for the baby.
He stopped coming. When he realized. If he met Marlene in the center, he didn’t even look at her. But many nights, she thought she heard / Because you were sure that he’d come back, that he wouldn’t leave things like that. / And you were so afraid, so afraid that at times / at times you wanted to see him enter finally, to end the anguish.
One afternoon you start / she / Patricia starts to feel pains / and you note / she / she notes (Looking down at the floor under her feet) I’m peeing on myself! Please! (Clutching her abdomen) I’m peeing on myself! / And the other women came and you were shouting: / Not yet!
It’s too early, not yet! / Then they took you to a very clean room. And it all happens very quickly and you feel / she / she pushes and feels that the baby /
Your baby /
Is coming /
Is out already /
And then she /
Marlene /
Pa / Patricia /
I /
I’m left like / like empty inside and / and in that moment I hear / I hear him cry. A little sob, like that of a small animal. I hear him.
But they left with him very quickly. And afterwards when they came back they told me he was stillborn. I didn’t believe them, because I had heard him cry! And I went over to them shouting, begging them, but they repeated over and over / always/ over and over/ It was stillborn! You’re no good even as mothers!
They had to lock me up. There, in the darkness, Patricia / I / became quiet and still. And inside I began to tell myself that yes, he was dead / there is no longer / no longer a child anywhere / forget him / You can’t / no / can’t do anything.
A while later they took us out. In a group. Back behind a truck, blindfolded. They never let us talk to one another, but there / there yes. We introduced ourselves to each other, we said where we were from. Some prayed or cried. Others were silent. They shot us in an area near a woods. Their footsteps sounded on dried leaves. The sun filtered through at times. There was the odor of wet earth.
Down there, in the earth, I remembered / I always remembered Lieutenant Ernesto Navia San Juan. And then I sang. I sang that Dietrich song he made me memorize.
She hums music of “Lili Marleen.”
SCENE 13
The Older Man’s space and that of the forensic laboratory, still separated. The laboratory is in shadow; we see NN’s silhouette, looking over at the Older Man’s area.
That area is now obviously more spacious; besides the furniture seen before, there is a chest displaying family photos. On the desk there is a tray with a pitcher of lemonade and some glasses. There is also a recorder, taping the conversation.
On stage, the OLDER MAN and ESTEBAN. The former is looking at pictures of NN that Esteban has brought. After a few seconds, the OLDER MAN takes off his glasses and looks at Esteban.
OLDER MAN
Sorry, I don’t remember her. A lot of people passed through there.
ESTEBAN
She was detained there for quite some time. Almost two years.
OLDER MAN
How do you know that?
ESTEBAN
Other people don’t have as bad a memory as you.
OLDER MAN
You shouldn’t pay attention to everything they tell you.
ESTEBAN
What do you mean?
OLDER MAN
Would you like some lemonade?
ESTEBAN
No thank you.
OLDER MAN (Serving himself)
I’d offer you something else, but in this house we only drink lemonade. We have a lemon tree. Did you see it when you came in?
ESTEBAN
I didn’t notice.
OLDER MAN (After taking a drink)
Look. I’m going to be honest. If you wish, you can use it in your reporting. I know what’s going on. I read the newspapers. Now everyone is determined to judge what happened. And they’re telling a lot of lies.
ESTEBAN
You shot her. There’s no doubt about that.
OLDER MAN
Well, I’m not so sure, it might have been one of her own people who killed her. Yes. Don’t look at me like that. Those things also happened.
ESTEBAN
She was just a teacher. She didn’t have anything to do with…
OLDER MAN
So she collaborated with them some way. Some civilians did that. They weren’t armed and they didn’t plant bombs, it’s true, but they supported the violence from the outside. Hiding fugitives. Serving as intermediaries… Look, I understand thatthere are people who want revenge. I understand. The pain of losing someone… how could I not understand that. I, too, suffered the consequences, I, too, lost people dear to me. Friends, companions… But now they begin to make up things and you in the press cover up for them, and that’s what I find wrong. A lot of time has passed. Why don’t we finally try to overcome it?
ESTEBAN
You mean forget.
OLDER MAN
I mean accept that it wasn’t easy for anyone. And what was done was what had to be done. We had a responsibility. As soldiers. Although now you don’t understand it. Among other things, because you are too young.
ESTEBAN
I’m 27.
OLDER MAN
You live now in a country at peace, in a safe country where people aren’t afraid. And that peace and security came about thanks to what we did.
ESTEBAN
You expect my gratitude.
OLDER MAN
No. Not gratitude. I simply did my duty.
ESTEBAN (Taking out the letters)
Of course. I’ve also brought this. Read them calmly. I’m not in a hurry.
ESTEBAN walks around the room. He looks at the photos.
The OLDER MAN puts on his glasses and begins to read although he looks up from time to time to see what Esteban is doing. He reads both of the letters, carefully, without showing any change in attitude. When he finishes, he takes off his glasses.
OLDER MAN
You’re not a journalist, are you?
ESTEBAN
No.
OLDER MAN
I understand. (Turning the recorder off.) Then that’s no longer necessary. (Silence) Do you really believe what’s said here is true?
ESTEBAN
Why shouldn’t I believe it?
OLDER MAN
Because there’s no proof.
ESTEBAN
It’s known that things like that happened.
OLDER MAN
It’s known that things like that happened. What an assertion! We had family, wives, children… and we had policies to follow. Why would we do something like… (Pointing to the letters)…like that? Look… what’s your name?
ESTEBAN
Esteban.
OLDER MAN
Is that your real name?
ESTEBAN
Yes.
OLDER MAN
Esteban, why did you deceive me? There was no need for that. I would have seen you the same. I have nothing to hide.
ESTEBAN
This woman, the nurse, Irene, she’s still alive, you know. And she remembers everything.
OLDER MAN
Have you talked to her?
ESTEBAN
Yes.
OLDER MAN
I don’t know what you expect to gain now with all this.
ESTEBAN
To know the truth.
OLDER MAN
The truth? But you think you already have the truth. You’re not going to believe me. You don’t want to. You know why? Because this is a grandiose story. At the level of your expectations. “I am the son of my mother’s executioner. I am a victim. Look at me. The son of a monster.” Everyone likes to be a martyr. Well, I’m sorry, but no, none of this is correct.
ESTEBAN
With a DNA test you would be free of suspicion.
OLDER MAN
I have nothing more to say. I would appreciate it if you left my house.
ESTEBAN
You don’t dare? If you really have nothing to hide…
OLDER MAN
(Momentarily losing the serenity he has previously maintained.)
I don’t intend to cooperate in this game!
ESTEBAN
If you won’t do it voluntarily, there are ways to compel you…
OLDER MAN
You’re lying. You’re the liar! You came here, taking advantage of my good faith! And now… now you dare to.. Get out of my house.
ESTEBAN
I’m sure there’s some lawyer willing to take the case. As you said, society is beginning to judge what happened. Older people are talking and young people are listening. (Taking a photo from the display on the chest.) She’s almost my age, right?
OLDER MAN
Put that back! (Grabbing it out of Esteban’s hands.)
ESTEBAN
What would she think about these letters?
OLDER MAN
I’m going to call the police.
ESTEBAN
Don’t bother. I’m leaving.
OLDER MAN
And take all this with you. (Referring to the photos and letters.)
ESTEBAN
No, you keep them. They’re only copies. I have lots more. Maybe if you look at a photo more carefully it will refresh your memory.
OLDER MAN
Don’t ever come back here. If I see you get near my house or my family…
ESTEBAN
What will you do to me?
OLDER MAN
Don’t come back. Listen to me. Don’t put me to the test.
For a moment they remain face to face.
The OLDER MAN returns to the table while ESTEBAN turns toward the laboratory area where NN is. He looks at her. Both of them place their hands near their hearts like the end of Scene 9.
SCENE 14
NN is holding the scientist’s recorder. She pushes play and begins to hear the other woman’s voice.
RECORDED VOICE OF THE FORENSIC SCIENTIST
It’s not easy to make someone disappear. It takes a lot of power and perseverance. Memories and bodies strive to endure beyond death. It takes a lot of discipline, a lot of complicity.
While the voice is heard, the FORENSIC SCIENTIST crosses to NN. She begins to say the text at the same time it is heard on the recorder.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST AND HER RECORDED VOICE
Because the disappeared person has to keep on disappearing every day, every day that they are held without informing the family, every day that they are assassinated and buried without a name, every day that the graves are silenced and dirt and asphalt and fear and oblivion continue to be tossed on them. It takes a lot of consistency and a lot of complicity to make so many thousands of people disappear. How many hands, how many eyes, how many quiet mouths, quiet mouths are needed to continue disappearing those who were taken from their homes and still have not appeared?
NN (in unison with the other two voices)
How many… how many… how many… quiet, quiet are needed to continue, to continue disappearing those who were taken from their homes?
SCENE 15
The entire stage is illuminated. Now the OLDER MAN’S space is so large that is overlaps the laboratory. There is a middle area where elements of both worlds are superimposed. NN is in this middle space.
In the laboratory, the FORENSIC SCIENTIST is transcribing to the computer notes she has recorded throughout her investigation. During the whole scene we see her listening to fragments of texts and copying them in front of the computer screen. Her recorded voice can be heard from time to time at low volume. She is unaware of the presence of NN and the Older Man.
Meanwhile in his space the OLDER MAN is looking at the letters and information that Esteban has left. He seems to look at them calmly but, suddenly, in a fit of rage, he grabs them, crumples them and tears them up. Afterwards he tries to calm down. He makes a decision, carefully picks up the pieces, takes out of a drawer the newspaper clipping he had saved, places it with the other items, looks for a cigarette lighter and begins to burn all the papers.
NN
He doesn’t look a lot like you. Maybe in the shape of (Pointing to her nose and mouth). Seeing him on the street, you would never have realized who he was. Isn’t that so, Lieutenant? Captain, yes, Captain now. I’m not surprised. You were a good military man. (Pause.) Why? Why did you tell me there that / that he had died? Why? For what reason / lie to me? And leave him alone in an orphanage. He had grandparents.
OLDER MAN
(Continuing to burn papers he speaks to her without looking at her.)
I had nothing to do with that.
NN
He was your son.
OLDER MAN
There were many guards there.
NN
No, Lieutenant. No sir. None of them would have dared. They were afraid of you.
OLDER MAN
They respected me. That’s the only way orders are followed, just as I followed mine.
NN
Orders. You were just following / orders? That / that is what you were doing? Following orders?
OLDER MAN (looking at her for the first time)
What do you want now, Marlene?
NN
Don’t call me that.
OLDER MAN
That’s what I’ve always called you.
NN
My name is Patricia.
OLDER MAN
Patricia … I still think that Marlene fits you better.
NN
Patricia. Patricia Luján Alvares. That’s me. In those photos. Me! Before all that. Age 29. Teacher. One meter 63 centimeters. Blonde.
OLDER MAN
Where is this coming from? So much time has passed. What do you want now? That I apologize? Is that it? I did what I had to do. I don’t know what you’re looking for.
NN
Everything? Everything that you did / everything / everything was orders? Who ordered you / who / what you did to me / who?
OLDER MAN
I never harmed you.
NN
Fear. Fear is / it turns you into something else / fear / into another person for a while. The sound of the lock, do you remember? That dry sound and me holding still, waiting, not knowing what you were going to do. Still. As if dead, like a doll.
OLDER MAN
No. It wasn’t that. It wasn’t just fear. I know what that does. It was good for all of you to have someone to protect you. Someone like me. That’s why you always obeyed me. That’s why you were so compliant with me.
NN
The locks / that noise / the locks were closed from outside, you were the ones who opened and closed the locks. From outside.
OLDER MAN
Where is this coming from? You ought to be grateful! If I had not been there, it would have been worse. Others were gang raped, several men at a time. Understand? But I would never permit something like that. Because you… you were special for me… With you… with you it was so easy, everything so easy… (Approaching her. As if he were going to caress her.)
NN (Standing still, not moving away from him)
Don’t forget, sir. Lieutenant. Inside (Touching her body) everything remains here inside. And in you, too. It has to be kept here. (Touching his head.) It is never erased. The lock and then the sound of your steps. You looked at me, do you remember? Huddling in a corner like a little animal. Perhaps asleep. You would remain quiet for a moment, looking at me, deciding what game you were going to play today. It was a game for you. Or curiosity. To see how far I could go, to see how she reacts, let’s see. Observing me and deciding what you were going to try today. Stand up, you said, stand up, come over toward me, I don’t like how you smell, put some of this on, you’d say, a bottle of perfume from your pocket and a red lipstick, and you’d paint me yourself and then slowly take out the pistol, yes, isn’t that right? You’d like to use it? come, come, touch it like this, open your … your… slowly… do you like the taste? And I’d feel the cold inside and I’d begin to tremble, it’s loaded, you’d say, don’t move so much, it’s loaded, and then you entered and the pistol was in your… now move, now don’t stay still, damn it, like this, that’s good, yes, faster, faster, nobody does this like you. The acid taste of your semen entering my… my… and I had to throw up, and you, be careful so you don’t vomit on me, and I repeated to myself, I’m not, I’m not, no, no. This is not mine, all this is no, I am far away in another place, not I, I’m not here! And when you left I wanted to tear myself, tear myself out of me, and there was no water to wash up and I had to put up with your taste and I spit, I spit. But your taste stayed inside. You son of a bitch! Your taste! Son of a bitch!
Yelling (Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch!) NN hits the Older Man while he defends himself, awkwardly trying to escape from her fists. Gradually NN loses strength and conviction. The OLDER MAN hugs her briefly, holding her up, but she abruptly gets loose and moves away from him.
No.
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST, on her side of the stage, has finished writing the report.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
That’s it.
NN for a moment looks at the Older Man and then turns toward the laboratory.
OLDER MAN
Wait! Marlene! I helped you! Marlene!
NN To the scientist)
Thank you,
SCENE 16
Forensic laboratory. NN and the FORENSIC SCIENTIST are on stage. While SHE speaks, takes a box on the floor and begins to put bones in it. When she gets to the cranium, she carefully touches the gap at the greater fontanel.
As the FORENSIC SCIENTIST dismantles the skeleton and stores it, the light on NN gets dimmer as she slowly disappears from our view.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
Soon Esteban will come for you. Your family has prepared a funeral. They are going to bury you in a real coffin, in a place where your son can take flowers to you. Are you happy?
NN
I don’t know.
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
There will be a plaque with your name. You will never again be NN 12.
NN
Down there, in the earth, there was the sound of a river. Not a big one. It made that noise, the noise of flowing water. While I was there, in the dark, I used to imagine what was happening / what was happening to my / to my (Not finding the word, she touches her body.) Imagining how the plant roots were absorbing it little by little, upwards, little by little, and then up to their leaves. There in the leaves it first turned into air and then rain, a rain that slowly fell on the river that was heard so close by. I liked to imagine that the / the / (She looks again at her body.) of those like us who had been buried without names blended with that water / water that was always gliding. Always. And it was carrying us all / all of us together, whirling toward the sea.
Light dims completely on NN.
The FORENSIC SCIENTIST has finished putting the remains in the box. She closes it. She seals it, knowing that this gesture is a farewell.
Then she moves it away, leaving it somewhere until Esteban comes for it.
Moments later she crosses to another place in the laboratory, perhaps a shelf, where she picks up a new box. She prepares to open it.
LIGHTS OUT
The Mercurian 