The Central Park Five: Prologue and Act I Scene 1

ACT ONE

PROLOGUE

“THEY TELL US IN SCHOOL HOW BIG THE WORLD IS.”

LIGHTS UP on:

Projected images of newspaper headlines commemorating the exoneration of the Central Park Five; other headlines announcing the settlement of a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought against the City of New York on behalf of The Central Park Five. Strobe lights accompanied by the sound of flashbulbs POPPING, and then quiet. The headlines fade to bare visibility; the strobe lights cease, and five young black men appear: ANTRON McCRAY, KEVIN RICHARDSON, YUSEF SALAAM, RAYMOND SANTANA and KOREY WISE. They are in their 30’s. Their bodies sag with a weight that belies their years.

ANTRON

It’s all behind me, now. I won’t go back there.

YUSEF

I always thought the truth would come out.

KEVIN

I never thought it could happen to me.

RAYMOND

They wanted me to die. They didn’t care.

KHAREY

Only justice mattered. Not me.

ALL FIVE

They tell us in school

How big the world is.

But, that’s their world.

It ain’t mine.

My world is whatever I can see.

My world is whatever I got in my hand.

And even then, it ain’t

Mine to hold.

ANTRON

It can be snatched in a minute.

KHAREY

A man can take it with a word.

RAYMOND

A woman can take it with a SCREAM.

YUSEF

A cop can take it …

KEVIN

Just because!

ALL FIVE

Just because!

ANTRON

I try not to think about what was lost.

KEVIN

Sometimes, I can’t remember.

YUSEF

My Mom called it my innocence.

RAYMOND

It was all a bad dream.

KHAREY

Now, I am awake.

FIVE

Now, I am awake.

I need to know where my life will take me.

I wonder, I dream, I need to know…

All I want is some peace and quiet.

ANTRON

No fuss and bother for me.

YUSEF

I always thought the truth would come out.

But there are people who

Don’t want to hear.

KHAREY

But the pain lingers

Behind my eyes and in my

Heart.

RAYMOND

They wanted me to die. They didn’t care.

KHAREY

It should not have happened.

FIVE

But, it did.

They tell us in school

How big the world is.

But, that’s their world.

They crushed mine.

END PROLOGUE

ACT ONE

Scene 1

“A BLACK AND TAN FANTASY”

LIGHTS UP on:

Video images of Harlem: Broad boulevards and BLACK FACES. Mom and Pop grocery stores, and BLACK FACES. The Apollo Theater and other famous Harlem landmarks, and BLACK BODIES

moving in and around them: Old BLACK MEN, Elderly BLACK WOMEN, each wrinkle with a story of its own; young BLACK ADULTS, sullen, serious, wary; happy, hopeful, playful; everyday life in Harlem.

THE MASQUE appears as a reporter:

THE MASQUE

(moving about warily)

Harlem.

A black and tan fantasy

That attracts me

And repels me all the same.

Harlem.

The way they talk.

The way they walk.

Acting like they don’t care.

In Harlem,

They’re always angry.

They’re angry at themselves.

They’re angry at each other.

Angry at us.

It does not matter.

They stare at us, their faces like stone.

What are they thinking?

What are they feeling?

Is the answer so simple?

End Scene One.