(The stage is set with centre stage in relative darkness, centre stage left and right and up stage moderately lit, and down centre stage violently lit. All of CHEER’s movements around the stage must be curved, as circles are an important part of this play. CHEER enters from stage right, crawling in a line across the stage to stage left. She is humming loudly and out-of-tune, like a small child. Her handkerchief is tied to her wrist.)

(Upon reaching the sufficiently lit centre stage left, CHEER tries to stand, trips, and falls flat on her face. She looks embarrassed and quickly stands up, brushing herself off exaggeratedly.)

CHEER: (in a song-song voice, skipping around in a wide circle that encompasses the ‘curtains,’ ‘backstage,’ and ‘stage’ outlined in the stage diagram):

A-tisket a-tasket,
A green and yellow basket.
I wrote a letter to my love,
And on the way I dropped it. (She drops the handkerchief)

I dropped it, I dropped it,
And on the way I dropped it.
A little girl picked it up, (She picks up the handkerchief again.)
And put it in her pocket.

(At the same place as she tripped last time, CHEER trips. By the end of this circuit, CHEER is at stage left.)

CHEER: Get up, get up, I must be happy!

CHEER: (in a sing-song, clownish voice) Be happy!

(She skips in a curved line as per the stage diagram to the front of the stage.)

CHEER: (Grinning like an idiot and addressing her handkerchief, which she unties and holds in her hand.) I’m sad. Very sad. So very sad.

CHEER: (She tries many different pronunciations) Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad. Watch me! (She pulls a sad face and wails, and then plays a short, sad melody on the keyboard, placing the handkerchief momentarily on the keyboard so she can play.)

(She takes a theatrical bow, and skips to the third position, at stage right. Here she becomes philosophical, paces a few steps backwards and forwards before saying her line to her handkerchief.)

CHEER: Feel?

(She ponders this a minute before retreating to up stage (“backstage”) rather frantically. She throws away her handkerchief dramatically, and binds herself with twine to several boxes of tissues that were stacked “backstage,” making sobbing noises.)

CHEER: (with utmost sadness) What is lost to me never again I will find I cannot go on with the pit of blue inside me and tears that gather around me as I know what I have lost what have I lost what I have lost and I am not a child!

(She retrieves her handkerchief, and then runs away from the spotlight, back towards stage left, but trips in the same place as last time. She drags herself to stage left and, when she stands up, is completely calm.)

CHEER: Get up, get up, I must be happy!

CHEER: (with identical vocal tone to last time, and addressing her handkerchief- it is always the same) Be happy!

(She advances to the “stage” at down stage.)

CHEER: (with the exact same tone and expression as last time- this remains identical every time CHEER is at this place on stage.) I’m in love. Deep love.

CHEER: (playing with pronunciation again- this is also always the same.) Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love. Watch me. (She sighs and holds her hands to her heart and then plays a short romantic melody on the keyboard.)

(She bows theatrically again, and skips to centre stage right. She paces philosophically again, and is addressing her handkerchief when she speaks.)

CHEER: Time?

(She ponders this for a minute, before returning up stage and throwing away the handkerchief again. This time, she ties roses to herself while stating the monologue with extreme intensity.)

CHEER: Deep, incredible, mystical like last week I or was it last week how can I tell when I when I when I when I look in your eyes and I see I feel deep passionate kiss kiss bliss bliss and I wish it would never end forever…

(There is a brief pause.)

CHEER: …and I wish it would never end forever.

(CHEER moves backwards to stage right and repeats her lines and movements in the exact same fashion.)

CHEER: Time?

(She returns to up stage.)

CHEER: (tying another rose to herself)… and I wish it would never end forever.

(She moves backwards to stage right again and repeats the movements again.)

CHEER: Time?

CHEER: (tying another rose to herself) …over so fast too fast will be there forever.

(She sighs and moves to centre stage left, retrieving her handkerchief and becoming calm again on her way. She trips, falls, and stands up again.)

CHEER: Get up, get up. I must be happy!

CHEER: (sing-song like previous) Be happy!

(She skips to down stage and uses the same happy expression and movements as before.)

CHEER: (grinning) I’m angry. Very angry.

CHEER: Anger, anger, anger, anger, anger, anger, anger. Watch me. (She puts her hands on her hips and yells and plays some angry chords on the keyboard, smiling again instantly.)

(She bows theatrically and retreats to “curtain” stage left, pacing before saying her line.)

CHEER: Me?

(She ponders, and then returns to up stage, throwing away her handkerchief.)

CHEER: (Tying martial arts belts around her waist) It’s not right and wrong are two so different and in spite of the rights and wrongs are two different things and how can you not see and how can you not understand I am so angrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry and it is not fair!

(She retrieves her handkerchief and returns to stage left, trips, falls, and stands up, becoming calm instantly again.)

CHEER: Get up, get up, I must be happy!

CHEER: Be happy!

(She moves to the ‘stage.’)

CHEER: (grinning and addressing her handkerchief, as always) Oh, loss and despair! Grief, grief, grief, grief, grief, grief. Watch me. (She kneels, cradles her head in her hands, and then plays a slow, sad, rhythmic phrase on the keyboard.)

(She returns to stage right, paces a while calmly and then says her line.)

CHEER: Suicide?

(She pauses for a longer minute and begins to walk more slowly after she has thrown away her handkerchief. She eventually arrives ‘backstage.’)

CHEER: (Ties empty photo frames to herself, and these seem to weigh her down, as she moves much more slowly with them on.) Despair. Lost? What. Why. Where. How. Who am I to feel. Despair.

(She retrieves her handkerchief and returns to stage right.)

CHEER: (happily) Get up, get up, I must be happy!

(She blindfolds herself with the handkerchief.)

CHEER: Be happy!

(CHEER moves robotically in the same circle, as though she is a puppet being led by someone, tripping where she always trips, and getting up with great difficulty. In order for this to occur, the handkerchief would need to actually be see-through, even though she would appear blindfolded.)

CHEER: (Throughout this song, CHEER gets slower and slower, but maintains the optimistic tone in her voice.)
A-tisket a-tasket,
A sad and angry basket.
I wrote a letter to my love,
And on the way I dropped it.

I dropped it, I dropped it,
And… on… the… way…

(CHEER stumbles to the middle of the stage, as though someone is forcing her to. This part of the stage should be nearly in complete darkness.)

(CHEER freezes with her head down and her shoulders slumped.)