Loving and Loving __________________________ Written by Beto O'Byrne Developed with Meropi Peponides Draft Date May 2019 Contact: Beto O'Byrne 250 Hawthorne St., Apt. 2F Brooklyn, NY 11225 213.909.8770 betoobyrne@gmail.com ii. CAST OF CHARACTERS MILDRED LOVING RICHARD LOVING MAYA African American. Scotch/Irish American. Mixed-Racial/Bicultural. INTERVIEWEES From the local community. PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE MAYA performs the majority of her lines from behind her desk and plays all of the additional roles in the play that come in contact with the Lovings. She can exit her desk when she is speaking to the interviewees or at key moments in the play and more often later in the show to heighten the drama of the scenes, such as when she plays the children. ON ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL: When possible, we left the original source material, historical information and dates intact and accurate. Due to the nature of transposing the story to a theatrical setting, it was necessary to make certain edits and revisions. It is important for us to state this openly, and to make sure that it is understood that our intention is not to manipulate facts or the events that took place, but to streamline language and story so that it can effectively live on stage for our audiences. ON INTERVIEW TEXT For any new community, the production should interview 3-5 people who identify as either mixed-race or bicultural in the community where the play is taking place and record that conversation. With the exception of the Maya text, insert the stories from your own community/family/etc in place of the interviewees currently in the text, such as Alex, Sadia, Zubin, etc. Regardless, Maya's lines should always be performed live in the space. Feel free to edit the interviews. The final text should be short and to the point. As a rule, a little will go a long way. If this technique is not possible for your production, feel free to use the text in the show as is. SCENE 1 A stage. Sparse. Malleable. Empty. MAYA enters. She brings out a chair. Starts to go offstage. She returns with a speaker. She sets the speaker up. During these interviews, Maya will produce more speakers. Each interviewee will get their own speaker. MAYA How would you explain being mixed? From out of the speaker, we hear PETER. PETER The first thing that comes to mind when I think of being mixed is never quite being one thing or the other. You are always in a state of flex. JORDAN I would explain my experience of being multiracial as constant navigation of wonderful things. SOFIA I was raised Latino in a Cuban/Ecuadorian household. NEIL It’s a hard thing to explain to people, simply for the fact that people often judge me based on the tone of my skin. ANNABELLE You always get the awkward questions of, you know, “What’s your background?” And I’m like “Well I went to the University of Florida. I was born and raised in Fort Meyers. But then I realize that what they are getting at is actually that they can’t pinpoint you. What’s going on with you exactly. MAYA brings out a desk. On it are various documents, props, photos, books, etc. MAYA What was the first moment that you knew you were mixed? JORDAN I don’t remember a time I didn’t know I was mixed race. SOFIA I never actually considered myself mixed because I was socialized that being mixed is only two extremes. Being mixed is being black and white. Being mixed is Black and Spanish. Being mixed is White and...whatever. NEIL When I was kid, I never questioned the fact that I was mixed race. I always just...existed. MAYA brings out two chairs and sits down. MAYA Do you know the story of The Lovings? NEIL PETER I don’t. Yes. We learned it in law school. ANNABELLE I don’t know it specifically. JORDAN Yes. I am very familiar with the story of The Lovings. SOFIA I don’t. Would you like to tell me? A pause. Maya produces a large book, it is filled with newspaper clippings, images, pictures, legal definitions, timelines, etc. She opens it. She begins to read. MAYA January 31, 1958: The United States launches its first rocket into space. May 9: After being blacklisted for eleven years, Paul Robeson returns to the stage and sells out Carnegie Hall. June 1: Two people are in love in the very small, very rural town of Central Point, Virginia. Mildred Dolores Jeter. Born July 22nd, 1939. Central Point, Virginia. Lights up on MILDRED LOVING, dressed in simple country clothes of the 1960s. The sound of crickets and the country at night. MILDRED I love it here. I love walking in the grass barefoot to get the mail. I love my family, so close that all I have to do is shout and they come running. I love my home. And I love you. Enter RICHARD LOVING dressed in similar fashion. She turns to look at him. RICHARD ...Weeell. That’s real nice. MAYA Richard Perry Loving. Born October 29, 1933. Central Point, Virginia. A Pause. She turns and looks at him. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED That’s all you gotta say? It’s something, ain’t it? No. It definitely is not something. RICHARD (secret code) ...Weeeeell...I love it when Sam Cooke comes on the radio... MILDRED (she gets it) ...i like that too. Maya turns on the radio. Sam Cooke begins to sing “It’s All Right”. Richard walks over to Mildred. He puts his arms around her. They slow dance. They are two people in love. MAYA How did your parents meet? JORDAN I believe they met dancing. My mom had relocated from the midwest out to California at the time, and my father grew up in Indiana and he was out in California as a naval petty officer. PETER That’s an interesting story. My dad was my mother’s college professor. ANNABELLE So my mother was a nurse and came over in 1977. My dad was down in the area and he was working as a tech fixing wheelchairs in a hospital and they met that way. RICHARD I love the way you feel in my arms. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED You like dancing with me? Yes ma’am I do... ...Don’t ever stop likin’ it, k? RICHARD No problem there, Bean. While they dance, Maya pulls out a yellowed pamphlet. MAYA (reads) “The Virginia Law To Preserve Racial Integrity”. Section 20 57. All marriages between a white person and a colored person shall be absolutely void, without any decree of divorce or other legal process. RICHARD Sidney. What do you think of Sidney? MILDRED Sidney Loving. Yes. Yes I like that. If its a boy. But if it’s a girl, I want to name her Margaret. And we’ll call her Peggy. RICHARD Sounds good to me. They continue to dance. MAYA Section 20-58. If any white person and colored person shall go out of this State for the purpose of being married, and with the intention of returning to co-habitate as man and wife, they shall be punished... A pause. Weight. MILDRED I can’t believe we’re gonna do this. I can’t believe we’re gonna RICHARD You’re not getting cold feet on me, are ya? MILDRED RICHARD Of course not, its just Hey...Can’t no one keep us from being man and wife. (a little doubt) MILDRED RICHARD Right? No one. So you and me are gonna ride up to D.C. We are gonna stand in front of the justice of the peace. I am gonna say things like “yes,sir I love this woman”...and you are gonna say things like “yes sir, I looooove this man”... And then we are gonna come back here and start our lives together as man and wife. MILDRED RICHARD Did you talk to your It’s all figured out. We are gonna live with your folks for a spell. And just as soon as I can, I’m gonna get started and build you and me and little Sidney a house out there on the east pasture by the road. MILDRED RICHARD ...You mean? Yup. Daddy’s gonna give us two acres, just over yonder. Act surprised when he tells you, it’s supposed to be a gift. MILDRED And your mama? You sure they RICHARD Shoot. I think She’s almost as sweet on you as I am. Really? MILDRED RICHARD C´mon now...like you don’t know. MILDRED I can’t believe it, Richard. RICHARD Believe, baby doll. Cuz it’s happening. They smile at each other and turn out. Richard checks himself, as if he is in fancier clothes than he is used to, maybe a tie that feels too tight. Mildred, similarly prepares herself. MAYA June 2nd, 1958. Washington, D.C. Maya produces a marriage certificate in an inexpensive but well-maintained frame. MAYA Certificate of Marriage. District of Columbia. I hereby certify that: RICHARD MAYA RICHARD MAYA Richard Perry Loving Whose age is 24. And Mildred Dolores Jeter Whose age is 18. MILDRED MAYA MILDRED MAYA Are joined in marriage in accordance with the law. Witness to the marriage: father of the bride and brother to the bride. Maya bangs a gavel. RICHARD I´ll buy you a ring just as soon as we have some money, I swear. MILDRED I don’t care about that. RICHARD I love you. ...You ready? I love you. They laugh at each other. RICHARD MILDRED A little late now, ain’t it? RICHARD MILDRED I mean to go home, Bean. Your family. My family. We gonna have us big ol’ shindig. MILDRED RICHARD What? You never told me ...Surprise! It’ll be great. MILDRED ...It will. It sounds very nice. RICHARD Not near as nice as what’s gonna happen tonite. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED ...we are in public. So? ...It’s not like we ain’t been together before. RICHARD I know that. But...you know...we’ll be man and wife. Legit. Ain’t that a nice thing? MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED Yeah. It’s a nice thing. Kiss me, Bean. We’re in public...we can’t. RICHARD She leans in, then ducks him, they chase each other until Richard grabs her and holds her tight. Maya reads from the old, tattered pamphlet. MAYA Kiss me. “We must be led to look with scorn and contempt upon the man who will degrade himself and do harm to society by such abhorrent deeds...The intermarriage of the white race with mixed stock must be made impossible.” Before they can kiss... The lights go out quickly. MAYA July 11th, 1958. Central Point, Virginia. Five weeks later. A pause. Richard? Did I hear Ssshhh... I think I hear Ssshhh! Stay here. Is someone Mildred. Please. Sorry! Sorry. Richard Loving? Yeah? MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD (calm as can be) MILDRED Flashlights shine into the faces of the couple. They attempt to shield their eyes. The lights shine on Richard. POLICEMAN´S VOICE RICHARD The lights shine on to Mildred’s face and then back to Richard. POLICEMAN´S VOICE Who is this woman you’re sleeping with? I´m his wife. A pause MILDRED Richard points. Maya holds up their marriage certificate and shines the flashlight on it. POLICEMAN´S VOICE ...Not here you’re not. (pause) The sound of a jail door closing. The stage brightens. Maya sets up a pair of benches. MAYA Let´s go then. SCENE 2 How has race affected your relationships? NEIL You know I think one of things that people often forget when they speak to me that I am Mexican, or because I don’t look Mexican, a lot of people just start speaking like I understand their biases. PETER Inevitably, when you meet people, there always came be this time where someone will finally ask, “So...what are you?” And it’s like, you get used to saying “well, I’m mixed. My dad is black. My mome is white.” SOFIA Even being out here, we can’t walk in Publix. We can’t walk around Lowe’s without certain stares. Richard and Mildred sit on the benches, not looking at each other, but out, towards something they cannot quite see. After a long silence, Mildred speaks. MILDRED “This jail is a helluva place.” RICHARD MILDRED Yeah. You said it. ...Someone scratched that on the wall here. “This jail is a helluva place.” RICHARD Mmmmm...they said it, then. Pause. Did you know? ...did I know what? Don’t Richard. Weeeeeell MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED You said it wouldn’t be a big deal. You said not to worry. RICHARD Lots of things on the books that don’t nobody care about, you know? I guess I just thought it was better not to trouble you with it. Besides...Tommy and Chandra. Jimmy and Rosie. What’s his name and his girl. Who thought it would be a big deal? MILDRED The law, Richard. The law did. And Tommy and Chandra. Jimmy and Rosie. What’s his name...none of them were married. And that’s the difference. (pause) I am your wife now. And you are my husband. (MORE) MILDRED (CONT'D) You gotta tell me things. Especially if it’s important. Something like it’s illegal for us to leave the state to be married is important. RICHARD Who knows about that stuff? Who gets all that legal stuff? Right? All that, mumbojumbo, yakkity-yak, who get’s it? MILDRED Who do you think it was? Who you think called the police on us? RICHARD (pause) Weeeeeeelll... I reckon somebody we know. Had to be somebody we know. MILDRED I don’t understand this at all. RICHARD Maybe they was just jealous. MILDRED RICHARD Jealous. Of me and you? Sure. Maybe it was ol’ Mellonhead MILDRED Don’t start. RICHARD I’m serious, now. Maybe ol’ Mellonhead saw us drivin’ down the street in my fancy hotrod. You all scooched up next to me...and he heard Sam Cooke just singing away outta my radio (sings) Darling, you send me I know you send me Darling, you send me Honest, you do Honest, you do Honest, you do MILDRED Richard Loving, you are the worst, do you hear me? This is serious. RICHARD MILDRED ...I’m just trying to You think this is funny? We are in jail, Richard. JAIL. RICHARD I know...excuse me for trying...sorry. MILDRED What do you think they’ll do to us? RICHARD (waves his hand) They ain’t gonna do nothin. Just tryin´ to scare us is all. Who cares, you know? Who really cares? Folk in Central Point...ain’t no colored, ain’t no white, no Indian. Just poor. (he thinks too hard, then shakes it off) They ain’t gonna do nothin. MILDRED We ain’t in Central Point no more, dear. This here’s Bowling Green. The county seat. This is official. RICHARD I know that dear...Sheriff Brook’s just puffing his peacock feathers up. Getting ready for elections. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD I’m serious. Weeeee Richard. ...yes, dear. I’m serious. MILDRED RICHARD I know. Don’t worry none, Bean. Just tryin´ to scare us is all. We’ll get grass stains on them feet soon enough. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD ...What?? Like you don’t know. No, I don’t know. That right? I never told you? That was the first thing I noticed about you. You always got grass stains on your feet from runnin’ around barefoot. Ever since we was kids. Still do, most of the time. Mildred rolls her eyes. MILDRED RICHARD I wash my feet. Can’t wash the country of you, dear. That ain’t never coming off. MILDRED (smiles, but still annoyed) Maya bangs the gavel twice. They are deer in headlights. Slowly, Richard and Mildred stand. They face front. They are both very intimidated. Richard Perry JUDGE BAZILE State your name for the record. RICHARD Richard Loving, your honor. MILDRED ...Mildred Jeter...Mildred Jeter Loving...your honor. JUDGE BAZILE (reading, more than a little uninterested) The said Richard Perry Loving, being a white person and the said Mildred Dolores Jeter being a colored person, did unlawfully and feloniously go out of the State of Virginia, for the purpose of being married, and with the intention of returning to cohabitate as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth. Do you understand the charges against you? MILDRED RICHARD JUDGE BAZILE (pause) Yes, your honor. Yes, your honor. And how do you plead? Guilty, or not guilty. How do you plead? (pause) I’ll make it simple for you. If you are married to one another, you are guilty. However...if you are not married to one another, you are not guilty. Do you understand? RICHARD MILDRED JUDGE BAZILE Yes, your/ honor. Yes, your honor. So how do you plead. Guilty? Or not guilty? A pause. Guilty Richard looks at Mildred. MILDRED A pause. Mildred looks at Richard. RICHARD JUDGE BAZILE Guilty, your honor. The court accepts the pleas of “guilty” and fixes the punishment of both accused at one year in jail in accordance with the law. However, the state will suspend the sentence upon the provision that both the accused leave Caroline County and the State of Virginia at once and do not return together or at the same time for a period of twentyfive years. (pause) May God have mercy on your souls. Maya bangs the gavel once. Hard. The Lovings exit. Silence. The interviews return: MAYA SCENE 3 What is something you love about the cultures you grew up in? PETER It really was a tale of opposites and I loved both of them. I loved both of them. SOFIA The intamacy. And the food. NEIL Oh my god. I can’t even tell you the love I have for Mexico. JORDAN I love everything. Singing and dancing at a Janelle Monet concert and loving every aspect of who I am. And then go home and I cook a massive dish of mostaccioli and have seventeen friends over and feed them all multiple helpings all evening and send them home with leftovers because that’s how my Italian family raised me! Mildred enters, she is carrying a small suitcase. She stands alone onstage, staring out at the green fields of Central Point, possibly for the last time. Maya turns on a radio and we hear Jackie Wilson’s “To Be Loved”. Mildred swoons and dances with herself. Enter Richard, carrying a box full of household items. RICHARD Weeelll...Car’s all pack-... He notices her. Stops. MILDRED RICHARD Sam Cooke’s on the radio. That’s Jackie Wilson, dear. MILDRED Oh...well I do love this song. Richard comes up behind her, spooning her into a soft dance. MILDRED (looking around) I’m gonna miss this place...my first home. My only home. Our first home...I’m not gonna cry. I am not gonna cry. Not today. Where your folks at? RICHARD MILDRED They couldn’t...they couldn’t... Mildred’s ability to keep it together is starting to fade. Richard rushes to her. RICHARD Hey now...Hey now...DC ain’t so far. You know? MILDRED But we can’t come back for 25 years. We’ll be old people by then, Richard. Old. RICHARD Won’t be that old. I’ll be what... (does the math in his head) 50-something...weeeelll. Yeah, that’s pretty old. MILDRED Makes it feel like D.C.´s half the world away. RICHARD (she does) Bean. Look at me. We´re gonna come back. I swear to you. And we’ll have our own home. C’mere... (he leads her to the window) Just over there, right next to the road, can’t you just see it? We’ll be close enough to your folks, you’ll just have stick your head out the window and yell and they’ll come running. And you and the kids can get all kinds of grass stains on your feet. How does that sound? Mildred crumbles a little in his arms. MILDRED I want to believe you. I really do. RICHARD Then believe me, Bean. We are coming back. Ain’t no one gonna stop us. They exit into the darkness. Maya sits at her desk, staring into her book of research and notes. She flips a page, hums a few bars then begins to sing “Bring it on Home” MAYA SCENE 4 IF YOU EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT LEAVING ME BEHIND BRING IT TO ME BRING YOUR SWEET LOVING BRING IT ON HOME TO ME I KNOW I LAUGHED THE DAY YOU LEFT BUT NOW I KNOW I ONLY HURT MYSELF BRING IT TO ME BRING YOUR SWEET LOVING BRING IT ON HOME TO ME The Lovings enter with boxes of household items. They begin to make the space their new home, their small house/apartment in Washington DC. Sam Cooke takes over and begins to sing “Bring It on Home” as they transform the space into their new home. MAYA When was a time that you were forced you to question the idea of “home”? SOFIA Out here, to be honest, that culture shock of not completely knowing if this is where I wanted to be because it didn’t feel like home. NEIL I question the idea of home all the time. I think another interesting point to my heritage is that mother is from Southwest Michigan. And so growing up I would spend every summer in Michigan and every Christmas or Thanksgiving in Mexico and I grew up in Fort Meyers. So I feel like I have three homes. Maya turns the radio on as Mildred exits to the bedroom and Richard exits the house. MAYA January 4th, 1959. Washington D.C. Four months into exile. RADIO -marks the second time in as many years that such a march on Washington D.C. has taken place. An integrated crowd of more than 10,000 individuals marched down Constitution Avenue to the Lincoln Memorial to show support for the elimination of school segregation from American public schools. Coretta Scott King delivered a speech on behalf of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, who is still recuperating from a near fatal stabbing during a book signing in New York Mildred re-enters. She is very pregnant at this point. Tired of listening to the news, Mildred searches the stations until she finds Sam Cooke, singing “Everybody Likes to Cha-Cha-Cha”. She really likes this song and continues with her daily routine, dancing. The sounds of the inner city overwhelm Sam Cooke. Cars passing loudly, honking their horns. Stereos on loud, children squealing. Yells. Tires tearing up the pavement. Police sirens. Mildred tries to turn up the radio, to block out the sound, but she can’t. Maya, at her desk, makes the phone ring. Mildred answers. MILDRED Hello? Hello? I can barely? Mama, is that you? How are you, mama? Yeah? (listens) Oh no, it’s not bad at all. It’s much better. It’s real... (looks around) Nice. Just real nice. It’s very...nice. (changes the subject) How is Daddy? I sure do miss y’all. (listens, hen looks down at her belly) Oh, yeah. Any day now, I think. (listens) I’m sorry what was that? Oh! Oh, no. Don’t do that, we can take care of it...I don’t know Mama...of course I do but, you know what the judge said....Ok... Enter Richard from a hard day’s work. Richard plops down on the couch and kicks his dirty work boots off. MILDRED (pause) Ok...what was that? Mama? Hello? Hello? She hangs the phone up in disgust. MILDRED Evening, dear. How was your day? RICHARD Over. That, bad? MILDRED RICHARD (shielding her) ...it’s fine, I’m just tired’s all. How are you feeling? MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED I’m fine. My feet hurt. You want me to rub ‘em? No, don’t touch them. He goes for them anyway. RICHARD Your feet are just another part of you I love, Bean. He begins to rub her feet. MILDRED RICHARD ...what are you after? Why I gotta be after something? She looks at him. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED Richard. Yes, Bean? ...tell me you got it? (not a long enough pause for Richard to react) Richard. They gonna turn off our lights if we don’t pay this week. RICHARD (pats his shirt pocket) Relax, Bean, it’s right here. I’ll go down and pay it first thing in the morning. She looks at Richard, who won’t make eye contact. MILDRED You’ll get better work soon, dear. RICHARD Mmmm....weeeelll. Mildred waits for him to talk. Of course he doesn’t. He just kinda slouches on the couch, resting his eyes, still absently rubbing her feet. MILDRED RICHARD Are you hungry? I just wanna sit here for a spell. She watches him. Trying to figure out how to have an uncomfortable conversation with her husband. Mildred takes Richard’s hand and places it on her belly. RICHARD He’s bouncing around in there. MILDRED RICHARD Everyday around this time. That’s good. He’s getting ready to meet us. MILDRED He? Or She. He’s coming soon. RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD (playfully) I know and I can’t wait. Richard. Yes, dear. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED I can’t have the baby here... A pause. RICHARD MILDRED Weeell I can’t have the baby here. And we can’t afford the hospital. You know how much they want. RICHARD MILDRED Maybe if I Come on, now. I love you, but there ain’t no way and you know it. RICHARD (pause) I’m trying my best. Ain’t like people are beating my door down to get me to lay brick for them. Just dont’ work like that here. (pause) Maybe we can ask around the neighborhood. Maybe someone nearby knows someone MILDRED No one here is gonna help us. Not for free. No one know us. No one cares about us. Not like they do back home. A pause. Richard weighs what she is saying. RICHARD ...What if we get caught, Bean? A year in jail...at least. Our first baby will be born behind bars. MILDRED Your mama is the best midwife in the county and there is no one I would trust more to bring our beautiful baby into the world. RICHARD Mildred takes Richard’s hand. She places it back on her belly and he feels the baby kick. Richard smiles. MILDRED Bean I still like Sydney if it’s a boy. RICHARD It’s a boy all right. A pause as Richard looks at his wife and soon to be child. Then... RICHARD ...If we come in late at night, there’ll be less of a chance of being seen. MILDRED ...Thank you, Richard. I think it’s the right thing to do. RICHARD (sighs) Weellll...it’s the thing to do, is all. SCENE 5 Maya transforms the scenery into The Loving’s car. MAYA What makes you feel the most at home? ANNABELLE I mean the answer is food. This easter, my mom made a giant pot of pancit noodles which is this delicious thin Asian rice noodles. JORDAN Food. Friends. My family. A good cat. It doesn’t have to be mine. Richard helps Mildred into the back seat of the car. She lays down so she cannot be seen. NEIL So I think, if anything, my home where I grew up here in Fort Meyers was the created home. It isn’t that I am from there. It is the creation of a family. MAYA January 19, 1959. A country road near Central Point. Late at night. Suddenly, they get a flat tire and are forced to pull over and Richard helps Mildred get out. RICHARD MILDRED You ok? I’m fine. What happened? It’s the damn tires. Again. You sure you’re ok? I’m trying to take it easy so as not to jar you too much. It’s fine. MILDRED Richard starts to fix the tire. MILDRED Seems like every other week you’re doing this... RICHARD Weeell. If we could afford more than these damn retreads... MILDRED I don’t know what that means. RICHARD ...cheap tires blow quick, Bean. MILDRED (pause) How long do you think RICHARD Working fast as I can, dear. Mildred peers down the road. MILDRED RICHARD The sound of an approaching car. RICHARD (pause) Richard? Hmmm? Get down, Bean. Hide...please... A strong light shines on Richard. Mildred ducks into the back seat. The sound of footsteps as a STRANGER approaches. Cold enough for ya? Just a little bit. Car problems, huh? Just a flat. ...Retreads, huh? Yeah. STRANGER RICHARD (laughs) STRANGER RICHARD STRANGER RICHARD (laughs) STRANGER Worth the money buyin’ new. RICHARD STRANGER Yeah. Kinda on a budget. I hear that. You need a hand with the jack? RICHARD Nah. See...it’s on already. STRANGER Sure. Sure. Say. You look familiar. Have we met? RICHARD STRANGER No. No I don’t believe so. Naw...c’mon now I’m sure of it. Now where was it? Wait. You’re not Wynette’s boy are ya? No, sir. STRANGER Well then. Let me think. Now dadgummit, this is gonna bother me somethin’ fierce. Where have we met... Silence. Got someone back there? STRANGER RICHARD ...just...my wife. She’s lying down...not feeling well, you know... Mildred sits up. Silence as she sits in the headlights. MILDRED STRANGER RICHARD Good evening, sir. Pause. Pause. Evening. Weeell...we appreciate you being neighborly. STRANGER (false politeness) ...sure, sure. Seems like you got everything you need here. RICHARD STRANGER I think we’ll be okay. Alright then. (pause) I’ll say goodnight to you. Both. RICHARD All right. You have a good one. Evening. MILDRED The stranger gets back into his car. The headlights drive off. Richard pulls out a rag, cleans the grease off his hands and wipes the sweat from his brow. RICHARD You still think this was a good idea? Mildred has trouble coming up with a response. They sit in silence. Finally... MILDRED Our babies deserve to grow up here. With our family. In our home. The one that you are gonna make us. Our home. (pause) Don’t you still want that? Richard nods ever so slightly. RICHARD Let’s get out of here before someone else sees us. Blue and red lights flash. The sound of siren. Maya bangs the gavel hard. MAYA Richard and Mildred stand in their place in front of the judge. All rise! JUDGE BAZILE Richard Loving. Mildred Jeter. By re-entering the state of Virginia together, you have been found guilty of violating the terms of your...agreement. The penalty for doing so is to serve the entirety of your sentence - all 365 days of it. And more, if it comes to that. (he thinks) Now maybe there was something...unclear...about what you were and were not supposed to do, was that it? Hmm? (pause) The court has asked you a question, boy. RICHARD (looks at Mildred, then...) JUDGE BAZILE No, your honor. So you understand, that the two of you are not to set foot in Virginia. Is that clear? RICHARD JUDGE BAZILE Yes, your honor. A pause. Since you have both paid your bond...I am going to dismiss these charges, this one time. Country folk, after all...are country folk. But I don’t ever want to see the two of you back in this court room again. The gavel pounds. The Lovings are very alone on stage in this moment. They look at each other. RICHARD MILDRED Let’s go. Where? Pause. RICHARD I’ll take you to my mother’s. You can stay there until the baby is born...I’ll head back to D.C. I’ll talk to your brother, have him drive you back when you and the baby are able. MILDRED You ain’t gonna be there with me? A pause. Richard will not cry. RICHARD Come on, dear. Mama’s probably waiting. Richard and Mildred exits. MAYA SCENE 6 January 27, 1959: Sidney Loving is born. Central Point, Virginia. Enter Mildred. She goes to her radio and turns it on. Sam Cooke starts to sing “Nothing Can Change This Love”. Richard and Mildred go through their daily routines. MAYA February 1, 1960: In Greensboro, North Carolina, four black students begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Richard leaves to go to work. MAYA October 8 1960: Donald Loving is born. Central Point, Virginia. Mildred folds baby clothes. MAYA January 20, 1961: John F. Kennedy is sworn in as the 35 President of the United States and asks not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Mildred feeds the children or changes diapers. MAYA May 14 1961: Peggy Loving is born. Central Point, Virginia. Richard comes home tired and plops down on the couch and kicks his work boots off. MAYA April 16, 1963. From a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. writes “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Mildred picks up Richard’s boots and puts them by the door. The Loving’s radio starts to break down. Mildred goes over and tries to fix it, moving the antenna, etc. The sound of construction outside the house overwhelms the space. MAYA SCENE 7 August 28, 1963. Washington, DC. Five years into exile. The sound of the world pours across the stage and overpowers the voices of Richard and Mildred. Enter Richard. MILDRED You’re home early. Were are the kids? MILDRED Are you hungry? I making chicken and black-eyed peas. That sound good? Richard, hands on hips, walks over to the window and shuts it with a WHOOMF. The outside symphony softens but does not go away. MILDRED When you close the windows, the room gets too hot. Sydney chafes something fierce. RICHARD I know Sydney chafes something fierce. I’ve seen it. MILDRED Did you hear what I said about dinner? RICHARD MILDRED No. Where are the kids? I just put Peggy down for a nap. The boys are outside. Playing. He nods. A pause. Richard sits down, kicks of this boots. MILDRED You listen to the news today? About the march? RICHARD Yeah, I listened to the news. I seen the news. Couldn’t get past L’enfant Plaza everything was so backed up, I had to circle around half the city. Mildred makes a point of picking up Richard’s boots and putting them by the door. MILDRED It’s exciting, though, right? RICHARD MILDRED (pause) Yeah, it’s exciting. ...what’s wrong? Don’t. You got that look. Mildred looks at him. RICHARD What do you want me to say, Bean? MILDRED I want you to talk to me. Is that so hard? Pause. RICHARD It wasn’t my fault. All these damn people...by the time I got to the site, they got some other fella to take my spot. MILDRED That was a six month job, right? RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD Make it worse, dear. Let me get a job, Richard! You have a job. MILDRED And right now, you don’t. And we have to pay the rent. And the bills. And keep the kids fed. I know all that. Don’t act like I don’t know all that. Jesus. Richard walks away, or tries to, but there isn’t much room. RICHARD I don’t know Bean. I just don’t know. MILDRED RICHARD ...What are you saying? It ain’t you. I love you more than anything...it’s this...place. Like living in a shoebox. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED Come here. C’mon, now. Richard, dear. Come sit next to me. Richard comes back to the couch. He sits down as far as he can from her, so she scoots over. She puts her arm around him. Richard gives in. He lies down and puts his head in her lap. MILDRED I don’t like it anymore than you do. And you know this. RICHARD (pause) Yeah. Maybe you should have married ol’ Mellonhead. She pops him on the head. You know...you could go back. Take the kids. Go live with your folks. I could stay here. Find a smaller place. Or maybe move up to Baltimore or some place I can get more steady work. I could send you money for the kids and everything. MILDRED RICHARD ...what are you saying? (exhales) Before Richard can respond, the sound of a loud car horn and squeals of cars from outside. SYDNEY (offstage) Richard and Mildred rush offstage. Loud yelling, Richard’s voice more emotional than we will ever see onstage. RICHARD ...Weeeeeelll. Donald! Donald! What the hell do you think coming through here like that, don’t you know there are kids in this neighborhood? STRANGER Screw you, cracker, I didn’t see him. (changes tone) RICHARD He’s all right, yeah? Just get the hell outta here, hear me? They return, a crumpled Donald in their arms. MILDRED Let me see! Richard, let me see! Richard! Oh, my poor baby. RICHARD Talk to me, Donald, are you hurt? DONALD RICHARD My knee feels funny. Let’s see it. Oh, that ain’t nothing but a scrape. MILDRED Should we take him to the hospital? RICHARD Nothing else hurts? You can move all your arms like an octopus? Richard moves his arms like an octopus. Donald does, too. RICHARD You don’t got a headache or nothing? Nothing else hurts? DONALD I have a bump on my head... RICHARD MILDRED Lemme see... Richard? Should we call the hospital? RICHARD He’s fine. Spooked him is all. Ain’t that right, Donnie? DONALD (sniff) RICHARD (oh shit...) Yeah. Where is Sydney? Was he out there, too? DONALD Outside on the corner. I’ll go get him. (to Mildred) Richard rushes offstage. A pause MILDRED Are you sure you are okay? DONALD (sniff) MILDRED (doubtful) DONALD MILDRED DONALD MILDRED Yeah. Ok, then... Mama? Yes, baby? Can I have popsicle? Sure you can. Mama? Yes, baby? Am I yellow? Mildred heads toward the freezer. DONALD MILDRED DONALD MILDRED What do you mean? Daddy’s a white man. Yes he is. And you’re a colored lady. Well, yes, but DONALD MILDRED DONALD MILDRED DONALD Well am I colored? Or am I white? MILDRED DONALD ...um Nate says I am a high yellow negro. Is that what I am? MILDRED Nate Mitchell? Suzanne´s boy? DONALD MILDRED MAYA Yeah. ...no baby. You are not. But if that’s not what I am, what am I? MILDRED (she really doesn´t have the words.) ...You are a member of this family. This family who loves you because you are so very, very special. No matter what anyone says. Ok? (pause) Donald? Did Nate calling you high yellow have something to do with you getting the bump on your head? Pause. It’s not what Maya wanted to hear. Can I listen to the radio. Pause. MAYA Maya turns on the radio. MILDRED MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Sure baby. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Mildred goes to a drawer and takes out a letter. Richard enters, carrying Peggy and Sydney, as the family listens to the speech. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. A huge applause. The children run off to play. Silence as Mildred sits deep in thought. RICHARD (pause) MILDRED Bean? Mildred? Is this it, Richard? Is this the rest of our lives? Is this how we are gonna live, until...until what? (MORE) MILDRED (CONT'D) How can you and me be happy? How can Donald and Sydney and Peggy be happy? And it’s more than that. More than just the money. More than just the kids. It’s... RICHARD It’s just wrong. Ain’t it? MILDRED (fighting the tears) Yeah. It’s just wrong. He notices the letter. RICHARD MILDRED What’s that? A letter. About us. I wrote it the other day. RICHARD MILDRED Who you gonna send it to? (writing out loud) Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. RICHARD (laughs) Attorney Gen... What in the world for? MILDRED What do you think Richard? RICHARD Come on, now, Bean. Let’s not get worked up. MILDRED RICHARD Worked up? Let’s just talk for a second. MILDRED Five years, Richard. Here. I’m not sitting here and talking until one of our kids gets hit again. Next time they could be killed! A pause. Richard and Mildred look at each other. RICHARD I’m just not sure this is a good idea. MILDRED Our children should be safe. They have the right to be safe. They have the right to walk in the grass barefoot. To be so close to mama and daddy that all they gotta do is yell and they come running. And you and I. We have a right to be there, too. Don’t you think that? RICHARD Of course, but...Lawyers? The Attorney General? The Law? You think a lawyer’s gonna help us? Didn’t exactly work out well for us the first time. MILDRED We gotta do something. Mildred seals up the letter. Looks at it. She looks at Richard. She walks out the door. Richard stands on stage. Maya sits next to Richard. She studies him. MAYA Can you explain the difference between whiteness and privilege? JORDAN Whiteness is an identity and privilege is something ...held. That can be wielded. It’s circumstances afforded to you. ANNABELLE Yeah, I think I have a ton of privilege being born in the U.S. and having a mom who cared enough to see us all through college and making sure we didn’t mess things up to much along the way too badly. SOFIA My skin color comes with privilege whether I want it or not. And I know that’s something because I am a witness to it. I have the option then to, like, “okay what am I going to do with my voice? Or what I am going to do with my choices to act?” Mildred returns. They look at each other. RICHARD (pause) Weeeell...don’t get your hopes up. We ain’t exactly Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. or whatever. We just little folk. Don’t nobody like Bobby Kennedy care too much about us little folk. MILDRED You’re probably right. But it’s better than doing nothing. Slowly, Mildred goes back to her chores. MAYA Richard and Mildred look at each other. Something is about to be said. Something that can’t be taken back. But before it can happen... A telephone rings. October, 1963. It rings again. One more time. MILDRED Mr. and Mrs. Loving’s house? Hello? SCENE 8 MAYA November 1963. Washington, D.C. The office of Bernard Cohen. Mildred and Richard enter the space. They try to look comfortable but they are very out of place. MILDRED (confused) But we are married, Mr. Cohen. The judge told us BERNIE I understand, that Mrs. Loving. Can I call you Mildred? MILDRED Yes. BERNIE Please, call me Bernie. Now we have a big legal challenge here. Your conviction is more than five years old, to get it back into the stream of the courts RICHARD But you can do it, right? I mean. You’re a lawyer, so that’s what you do, right? Mildred places her hand on Richard’s arm, silencing him. MILDRED How long do you think it will take BERNIE I have no idea. And I do not know at what point we are going to succeed. There is a possibility that we have to go all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States to do it. (MORE) BERNIE (CONT'D) And if that’s the case...it could take years. Or by some miraculous turn of events, this Judge Bazile could change his mind and let you back into Virginia next month. What’s important is that I think we will succeed. We have a good chance. And not just for you, but for everyone like you. MILDRED BERNIE Everyone like us? There are more states than just Virginia where the two of you can’t be married. And plenty more that just plain wouldn’t want you there. If we can get this case overturned, think about what that would mean to all MILDRED It sounds awfully...expensive. BERNIE We’re the ACLU. This is all pro bono. RICHARD BERNIE Pro bono. It means free of charge. For the public good, actually. RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD How old are you? Richard Have you ever tried a case before? MILDRED BERNIE MILDRED You’re married? Yes ma’am. Do you have children? God willing someday soon. BERNIE (pause) It’s a big decision. Believe me, I understand. And If you want to take some time, please do. Talk between yourselves. Take a couple of days. Think it over. I’ll be ready. RICHARD ...ok. We’ll think it over. BERNIE Ok, then. Well. You have our number. Any time. Twenty four, seven. You just give us a call when your ready. MILDRED Thank you. Thank you for meeting with us, today. We...are very appreciative. Aren’t we, Richard? RICHARD BERNIE Yes. Thank you. Of course. I Hope to hear from you soon. They start to leave. Mildred stops moving. Mildred turns around suddenly. MILDRED Mr. Cohen? We don’t need a couple of days. We wanna go home. We wanna move back next to our families. Right, Richard? Don’t you wanna move back? RICHARD MILDRED ...I, uh...yeah. So we’ll do anything you need us to, isn’t that right, Richard? RICHARD Weeelll... MILDRED Isn’t that right, Richard? Mildred looks at Richard. RICHARD BERNIE ...I guess so, yeah. You’re both sure? Richard nods. BERNIE Well that’s just fantastic. Ok. So for now, Stay here in DC. Be where we can reach you. Can you do that? Mildred and Richard look at each other. They nod their head yes. BERNIE Great. We’ll talk soon, ok? The sound of a door slamming. The Lovings exit the office. They are alone onstage. Richard looks at Mildred. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED What? Like you don’t know? ...C’mon. Let’s go get the kids. Richard and Mildred exit. Maya turns on “Good Times” by Sam Cooke. SCENE 9 The Lovings return home, the repetition of daily life returns. MAYA November 6, 1963. Attorney Bernard Cohen files a motion to Judge Leon M. Bazile to vacate his guilty verdict in the case of Loving v. The State of Virginia. Time is passing. MAYA November 22. While riding in a convertible in downtown Dallas, Texas. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. Richard sits at the table, reading the sports page. He kicks off his boots. MAYA January 23, 1964. The 24th Amendment of the United States abolishes the poll tax, a tool used to prevent African Americans and others from voting in elections. Mildred looks at them. She picks up his boots. She holds them out to him...in between his face and the paper. MAYA May 12. Twelve young men in New York City publicly burn their draft cards- the first protest of the Vietnam War. Richard takes his boots. And goes and puts them by the door. During this exchange: MAYA June. 1964. Six years into exile for The Lovings. The song on the radio is interrupted with the following... GEORGE WALLACE In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. The sound of wild applause from the speakers. Mildred rushes over and turns off the radio. RICHARD That Wallace fella is a sonofabitch, ain´t he? MILDRED He’s running for President, too, you know. If he gets into office, can’t no one help us. RICHARD ...how you know he’s running? MILDRED ...I read. Richard. More than the sports page. RICHARD Since when did you start reading the newspaper? MILDRED (annoyed and a little offended) ...I am not answering that question. RICHARD Richard goes back to reading. Mildred stares at him. MILDRED Weeeelll... Do you know anything about problems with the phone? RICHARD MILDRED How’s that? I was talking to Mama earlier, you remember my cousin Daryl? You mean “d-d-d-daryl” RICHARD MILDRED (not amused) Yes. Daryl. He got his draft card. Heading off to Vietnam. RICHARD Jesus...Daryl? When that happen? MILDRED I don’t really know. I was trying to talk to her and the connection started to get bad and then it went dead. Now I can’t get nothing, not even the operator. (waits for him to respond. He does not.) RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD Any idea why that is? Weeelll... Why is that, Richard? We ain’t paid the bill in three months. Might have something to do with it. MILDRED What do you mean, we ain’t paid the bill? RICHARD (pause) ...with what, Bean? I give you every cent for the kids, and the food. MILDRED Richard. Tell me you’ve been keeping up with the rent. RICHARD MILDRED We’re fine. It’s paid up. ...you’re sure? ...Yeah. RICHARD (he lies) The lights flicker and then go out. A pause. RICHARD ...That is not good timing. MILDRED RICHARD I am not laughing. What do you want, Bean? I’m doing everything I can. What am I supposed to do? I’m trying to get something steady, don’t no one wanna hire me out here. MILDRED Why not? You’re as good at your job as anyone else. Better even. RICHARD MILDRED I know. Well I just don’t understand why they won’t go and hire you. Richard stops and looks at her. RICHARD The ugly truth of it, Bean, is ‘round here, they’ll pay a colored man pennies on the dollar what they’ll pay me. And there is plenty of colored fellas looking for work. I ain’t saying it’s right, just saying that’s how it is. MILDRED ...don’t tell me that like I don’t know it’s true. A pause Stare off. RICHARD ...Maybe it’s just the fuse. With a groan, Richard exits. Mildred gets up and stumbles in the dark. Bangs into something. Rummages through a drawer. Maya produces a flashlight and uses it to light Mildred’s way. She goes over to the desk and pulls out a piece of paper and a pen and begins to write. Maya pulls out a yellowed letter. She opens it up and pretends to read it but she has it memorized. MAYA “Dear Mr. Cohen. I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to you to request an update on when my family might be able to move back home to Virginia. It is getting very difficult for us to live here. I hope you remember us. You took our case. We have not heard anything from you for so long we are starting to give up hope. Sincerely, Mildred Loving.” Mildred sits. She neatly folds the letter into an envelope. Silence. The lights come back on. Mildred barely notices. Enter Richard, ready for work. Mildred holds out the letter. Richard looks at it. Takes it, and leaves to work. Mildred slowly begins her chores. MAYA June 22, 1964. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner are murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi for their involvement in attempting to register African Americans to vote. October 28. Attorney Bernard Cohen, now working with civil rights attorney Phillip Hirschkop, files a class action lawsuit on behalf of the ACLU to attempt to get Judge Bazile to dismiss the charges against The Lovings. December 11. Singer and entertainer Sam Cooke is shot to death in Los Angeles under mysterious circumstances. Maya stops. She looks at Mildred, who looks very tired. MAYA January 3, 1966. Seven and a half years into exile. The phone rings. Mildred picks up the phone and holds it to her ear. Maya pulls out a legal brief. MAYA “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” From the ruling on the arrest of Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter. Written by Judge Leon M. Bazile. Richard enters the room. Mildred puts the phone down. RICHARD Was it the lawyers? So what? Mildred’s look says everything. Richard rubs his head, paces a little. RICHARD MILDRED Our case is moving on to the State. RICHARD Been a year and half already. MILDRED They seemed excited. It sounded like it’s a good thing. RICHARD Oh I’m sure it is. For them. Only thing that matters is getting their name on something. MILDRED They are helpin’ us. For free. RICHARD Meanwhile, what we doing? Huh? Can’t make no money, can’t be happy living where we want, forced to live in this...place. And they ain’t got no problem taking their time cuz at the end of the day, them lawyers get in their fancy cars and go to their fancy homes and eat their fancy damn meals and watch their fancy damn televisions and feel good about their FANCY DAMN LIFE! (pause) ...I wasn’t...I’m not yelling at you. You’re just ...in the room. That’s all. She stares him down. He is too worked up to apologize. Waiting. MILDRED I’m frustrated too, dear. Just because I’m not screaming doesn’t mean I’m not. But this is the way it is. They said it at the beginning. Richard sits. RICHARD ...They say when we gonna talk to them again? MILDRED Said they’d call us next week and let us know when to go the courthouse. RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD We gotta go? Apparently. People are gonna know we gonna be there. You know that, right? MILDRED What people? RICHARD People like them that called the police on us in the first damn place. People that stare us down when we walk down the street together. People that whisper about us when they think we can’t hear. People that been sicking dogs on folks. People spit in colored folks’ faces. People who burn crosses. Or worse. Them people. You really want them to see our faces? See Sydney? Donald? Little Peggy? MILDRED ...well we probably shouldn’t take the kids with us anyway. RICHARD No. We shouldn’t...I don’t know about this, Bean. I don’t know about this at all. MILDRED Let’s just talk to the lawyers when they call back. Mildred and Richard look at phone. They sit in silence. SCENE 10 Maya bangs the gavel. MAYA March 7, 1966. Outside the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, Richmond, Virginia. Seven years, ten months into exile. Bulbs flash aggressively at The Lovings. They are put in the spotlight in a way that people from their part of the world rarely are and they are very aware of it. REPORTER Mrs. Loving how do you feel about what happened in court today? MILDRED I'm hopeful the judges will let us back to Virginia. REPORTER MILDRED Where are you going now? I guess we'll go back to Washington. REPORTER Mr. Loving, do you have anything to say about what’s going on in the court today? RICHARD No I don’t have anything to say. They push their way through, while reporters call after them. The flashbulbs stop. Richard and Mildred look at each other. Richard is constantly looking over his shoulder. RICHARD You see them film cameras? What did I tell you, Mr. Cohen? What did I tell you? Everyone in the state is gonna see us. BERNIE Well more than that, Richard. Much more than that. MILDRED That was not how you said it would be. BERNIE It was pretty unexpected this much press would be here waiting for us. Fortuitous, I would say, and also unexpected. RICHARD BERNIE RICHARD MILDRED Fortuitous? It means I know what it means. I didn’t understand what the judges said. Are they... BERNIE No. Not a chance. But we knew that RICHARD BERNIE MILDRED BERNIE You knew? Then why It was a necessary step. A necessary step to what? There is no way the United States Supreme Court won’t hear this case. Not while Warren is in charge. Do you know what this means? RICHARD Mr. Cohen. Can’t you just go back to Judge Bazile and get him to let us come back home? That’s all we want. Pause. BERNIE Think about this, Mr. Loving. You are going to get to be ringside when we change history. Heck, you are the history that gets to be changed. How many people get to say that? How many people get to be in the Supreme Court when the court is deciding a fundamental civil right for the citizens of this country? Richard and Mildred look at each other. MILDRED We have a family to think about. Children. BERNIE Well I would think that’s all the more reason RICHARD You just go on and do what you need to do, Mr. Cohen. BERNIE This is life-changing stuff here. And you don’t want to be there? Be a part of it? MILDRED It’s not that we don’t appreciate everything. Far from it. MAYA (pause) You know this is about more than just the two of you. You know that, right? There are other people involved. People who aren’t even born yet. Don’t you want to help them? MILDRED Mr. Cohen. We are not doing this just because someone had to do it. We want to live where we need to live. Raise our kids where they deserve. Just like everyone else. Isn’t that enough? MAYA (to herself) Why don’t you realize what this means? How important it was? I don’t understand RICHARD We aren’t asking you to understand. We’re asking you to respect our decision. Just go and tell them judges...tell the court ...tell them I love my wife. And it’s just wrong that I can’t live with her in Virginia. Can you do that for us? They look at one another. Maya nods her head. RICHARD (suddenly feeling very Thank you. exposed) Come on, let’s get out of here. People are staring. Richard and Mildred exit. Maya watches them leave, not knowing what else to do. She goes over to the radio and turns it on. It plays the first verse of “Change Gonna Come” but the music is distorted and becomes more so as it continues. Maya turns the radio off. MAYA (sings) IT'S BEEN TOO HARD LIVING, BUT I'M AFRAID TO DIE CAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S UP THERE BEYOND THE SKY IT'S BEEN A LONG A LONG TIME COMING BUT I KNOW A CHANGE GONNA COME OH YES IT WILL She sits down on the stoop of The Loving’s House. SCENE 11 Enter Richard, carrying a six pack of beer with only one beer left on it. Richard pulls one off and pops the top. He notices, Maya. She did not expect him to be here. RICHARD Peggy? That you little girl? MAYA RICHARD I can’t sleep. Why not? You have a nightmare or something? MAYA Yeah. RICHARD ...you wanna sit with me a spell? MAYA Maya goes over to Richard and sits next to him. RICHARD Can I? Sure you can, baby girl. Come sit next to your father. (he pops open his beer with one hand) My daddy used to do this, too. He’d call me out to the porch and he’d tell me, “you’re never supposed to drink by yourself.” So I’d sit with him, so he wouldn’t have to drink alone. He’s a good man. From good people. Just like us. Poor, just like us, but he always worked. (MORE) RICHARD (CONT'D) Always took care of the family. That was important to him. That’s important. Important to me. And it should be to you also, ok? MAYA Ok. RICHARD He ain’t book smart or nothing, but...keen. Just real keen. He knew me before I knew me. Knew I didn´t like to be...that I was...quiet...when it came to being around outside folk. And that’s ok, he said. It’s ok to be quiet. You don’t gotta be loud to be heard. Just...be sure of yourself. MAYA I like quiet. I like quiet a lot. RICHARD ...me too. Guess that’s why you’re daddy’s little girl, huh? MAYA Then he stands. RICHARD Yeah. I guess there are things that I would say. That I think people should know. If it weren’t none of their business. MAYA RICHARD What’s that? Well. Let me see...I’ll tell ya, Peggy Sue. I’d get right up in front of that camera and I’d say, you listen to me, people. My name is Richard Perry Loving. My wife is Mildred Loving. I’m a white fella and she’s a colored woman. We got us three beautiful children and I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of any of us. Not the attorneys that don’t do nothing. Not the United States Supreme Court...not the damn UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! I. Love. My. Wife. Who is smart and beautiful...and smart. and our family’s...our children are...smart. And beautiful. And they deserve all the happiness in the world. And we don’t gotta prove that to nobody. (MORE) RICHARD (CONT'D) And all these people think I’m disgusting. I’m sick. I’ve got a problem. But I don’t. We...I. Love. My. Wife. I love. I don’t hate. I love. I am Richard Loving and I love, god dammit. They’re the ones, ain’t got nothing but hate in their heart for colored folk like my wife and that’s what makes them sick. Makes them disgusting. It’s them that are sick and have the problem. Not me. Them. He sobers up a little. RICHARD Sorry there, Peggy. Did I scare you? MAYA RICHARD (smiles) I’m not scared. Yeah. You my little Peggy Sue. Ain’t scared of nothing, huh? MILDRED (offstage) Richard? Richard, dear? I’m out here. Out back. RICHARD (whispers to Maya) Go on inside. Back to bed with you. (she starts to exit) No, no. Around front. Ssshh? Our secret, ok? MAYA Maya returns to her desk. Enter Mildred. MILDRED Ok. Is someone out here? I thought I heard you yellin’. RICHARD Nah. Not me. Summer night, you know how it is. MILDRED (pause) You drink all this beer yourself? RICHARD Mildred stares. MILDRED ...maybe. Well pick them cans up and come inside. Starts to exit. RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD Hey, Bean? What is it, dear? They hearing the case tomorrow. You remember that? MILDRED RICHARD I do. Loving vs. The State of Virgina. The Supreme Court of the United States... Richard turns and looks at his wife. He is suddenly raw skin. And defeated. RICHARD We ain’t got a chance. I mean, ain’t like anyone gives a damn about us...right? MILDRED ...Mr. Cohen and Mr. Hirschkop think we do. I like to think that’s for a reason. RICHARD They just want what they want. MILDRED Even still. I think we got a good chance. RICHARD Tomorrow’ll be just another day. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD C’mon inside, baby. Bean? Yes dear? I love you more than anything in my whole life. MILDRED ...I love you, too Richard. RICHARD You know I’m right. And you know that don’t matter one damn bit to me. MILDRED I know, dear. And I feel the same way. RICHARD Tomorrow’s just another day. No different than this one. MILDRED C’mon dear. Let’s go inside. Richard and Mildred exit. Maya watches. MAYA What parts of your culture do you want to pass on to your children? JORDAN I would love to teach my children how to do their own hair. ANNABELLE The food, definitely. We are already working on that. And just the fact that people don’t come to the United States to get a hand out. They just come because they wanna work hard and that’s what their Lola did. That’s what she sacrificed and stuff like that. PETER My kids are mixed once again. So we celebrate Kwanza and we have certain Liberian traditions that we do. It’s really important to me that they know who Angela Davis is. It’s really important to me that they understand what my father went through during the civil rights time. The recording of the oral arguments for the US Supreme Court case Loving v. The State of Virginia is heard. CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN Number 395, Richard Perry Loving, et al., Appellants, versus Virginia. MR. HIRSCHKOP Mr Chief Justice, associate justices, may it please the court. You have before you today what we consider the most odious of the segregation laws and the slavery laws and our view of this law, we hope to clearly show, is that this is a slavery law. CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN MR. MCILWAINE Mr. McIlwaine. The state's prohibition of interracial marriage stands on the same footing as the prohibition of polygamous marriage, or incestuous marriage or the prescription of minimum ages at which people may marry and the prevention of the marriage of people who are mentally incompetent. CHIEF JUSTICE EARL WARREN Mr. McIlwaine. MR. COHEN The Lovings have the right to go to sleep at night, knowing that should they not awake in the morning, their children would have the right to inherent from them. They have the right to be secure and knowing that if they go to sleep and do not wake in the morning that one of them or the survivor of them has the right to social security benefits. Virginia stands here today and tries to find a justification other than white racial supremacy for the existence of its statute. The recording ends. A long pause. The phone rings. MAYA June 12, 1967. Nine years into exile... The phone rings again. Mildred and Richard enter. They look at each other. Richard goes to answer the phone. He can’t bring himself to do it. Mildred picks up the phone MILDRED She listens. Mildred hangs up the phone. A strong pause. She does not know what to say. Hello? She turns to face Richard. They look at each other. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD ...Let’s go home. ...Really? They did it. They did it. They did it? Yeah. Really? They did it. Well...that’s...that’s just...I’ll go get the kids. MILDRED Get them in a minute. Mildred rushes over to Richard. He scoops her into his arms. For the first time in the play, we see them kiss. It is a passionate expression that is a celebration of their ten year struggle. Maya reads from a large legal looking book... MAYA “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. (MORE) MAYA (CONT'D) Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State. These convictions must be reversed. It is so ordered.” -Chief Justice Earl Warren. MILDRED ...we should probably tell the family. After all these years...I can´’t believe it. RICHARD I’m gonna build you that house I promised you. And we are gonna move in and we ain’t never gonna leave it ever again. MILDRED I like the sound of that. I like the sound of that very much. RICHARD Come on. Let’s go tell the kids. MILDRED Kids! Sidney! Donald! Peggy! Richard and Mildred Exit. `MAYA SCENE 12 July, 1967. The Loving family returns to Central Point. Richard builds a small cinder block house for the family. Shortly after arriving, the couple awake in the middle of the night to find a burning cross in their front yard. April 4th, 1968. Reverend Martin Luther King is assassinated while standing on a hotel room balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. Two months later, Robert F. Kennedy is shot in a hotel in Los Angeles. Maya sets a porch bench on stage. Richard enters and sits down. RICHARD Bean. Come join me on the porch... MAYA July 20, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin fulfill President Kennedy’s promise of landing a man on the moon. A giant leap for mankind. Mildred enters and sits with Richard and they watch the future unfold. MILDRED RICHARD Mr. Cohen called today. That right? MILDRED He and his wife wanna come by this Sunday for dinner. That alright with you? RICHARD MILDRED Fine. Fine. Said he had a reporter friend that wanted to talk to us, too. I told Mr. Cohen that he and his wife are welcome. RICHARD MILDRED RICHARD And that’s it? That’s it. Good. Good. MAYA February, 1971. 13 members of the United States Congress formalize themselves as the Congressional Black Caucus, with the goal of "positively influencing the course of events pertinent to African-Americans and others of similar experience and situation". RICHARD Look out there. Look at how big our Sidney’s gettin’...our babies’ll start having babies of their own before too long. MILDRED Lord just let him get through school first. RICHARD Mildred looks at him like he must be crazy to think its okay for their kids to have babies so young... MAYA Weeellll... Nov 7, 1972. Garnett Brooks, the sheriff who arrested Richard and Mildred in 1957, is defeated in his bid for reelection to sheriff of Caroline County. Mildred settles into her seat. She flips her shoes off, and puts her feet in Richard’s lap. They are covered in grass stains. Richard looks at her, looks at her feet and smiles. MILDRED RICHARD What? Nothing. I didn’t say a thing. MILDRED ...good. MAYA June 2, 1973. Richard and Mildred Loving celebrate their fifteenth wedding anniversary. A pause. Richard slips a wedding ring on Mildred’s finger. Richard and Mildred watch the sunset. Nothing needs to be said at this point. MAYA Sunday, June 29, 1975... Mildred and Richard stand. Headlights are seen in the distance. Richard and Mildred turn. They watch as the headlights rush the stage and blind everyone, including the audience. Richard is gone. Maya, at her desk, produces a yellowed piece of newspaper and reads. MAYA The man whose marriage to a childhood sweetheart led to the Supreme Court decision overturning laws banning interracial marriage...Richard Perry Loving, 42, was killed in an automobile accident Sunday in Caroline County, Virginia... His wife, Mildred, was injured but is reported in satisfactory condition. MILDRED We get more time. It wasn’t enough. We get more time. We fought for it. We earned it. Mildred crumbles onstage. She sits on the floor. Her face hidden from view. She is unable to stand. Maya watches. She walks over to Mildred. Gently, she works to help her stand. MAYA (to Mildred) July 11, 1984...July 11, 1984... MILDRED July 11, 1984...Sidney Loving Marries Agnes Brown...they have three girls: Eugenia, Latasha, and Sylvia and one boy, Michael. MAYA MILDRED August, 21 1986... Donald marries Kathi and they have three bouncing baby boys: Mark, Sterling, and Donald Jr. MAYA MILDRED May 10th May 10th, 1989. Peggy and Andrew. They have a beautiful baby girl...Tracy. Mildred and Maya look at each other. Mildred breathes. MAYA November 7, 2000. Citizens of the state of Alabama vote to remove Section 102 from the State's Constitution, becoming the last state in the union to officially remove the ban on interracial marriage, 32 years after the Loving v. Virginia decision. June 12, 2007. On the 40th anniversary of the Loving vs. (MORE) MAYA (CONT'D) The State of Virginia decision, Mildred prepares her first public statement in years. MILDRED Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don't think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the "wrong kind of person" for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry... That's what Loving, and loving, are all about. Mildred exits. Maya is left alone one stage. MAYA May 2, 2008. Mildred Loving passes away at her home in Central Point, Virginia. She was 68. Peggy Fortune, her daughter, said the cause was pneumonia. In addition to her daughter...Mrs. Loving is survived by her son, Sidney, eight grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. Maya walks over to her desk, and sits. She takes the newspaper clipping and neatly tapes it into a her scrapbook and closes it. Maya sits very still for a few moments. Maya listens for an interview. She tries of a quesiton. But nothing comes. It is now her turn. SCENE 13 MAYA You know...somehow, some way in that world that didn’t want it to happen, my parents met. Just like The Lovings. And just like The Lovings, they said yes. Yes I choose to love you. And even if our friends don't agree, if our families don’t like it, if the world frowns at us when we walk down the street together-I-LOVE-YOU. And I don’t care who knows it. They said yes when it would have been so much easier to say no. That is...That yes. That immense yes. That yes made me. For my entire life I have been struggling to define the different parts of me. To fuse my cultures into the idea of me. To be comfortable in my skin, not hate it or hide it. To be able to express the totality of me without shame. To feel whole. But it is that lack of definition that makes me. The space in between that I have the privilege of calling home. That discomfort? That fluidity? It is whole. It is special. And its worth celebrating. Don’t you think? And when I look at The Lovings, when I think about their story, their lives living in between...I see my family. And because of that...I see me. I see me in a way that makes me proud. (pause) And this last moment, it’s my favorite. It’s the one worth celebrating the most. Maya returns to her desk. The lights change. MAYA The Fall of 1957. A barn in Central Point, Virginia. A dance. Not a public dance, or a school dance, a secret kind of dance. The kind that parents don’t know about. The sounds of a teenage dance party begins. Laughing. Era-appropriate music. Enter Mildred. She is 17. And she is very nervous. Richard appears. Young and maybe a little too put together. RICHARD Now that can’t be Bean. Out on a Saturday night? I’m looking at her, but that just can’t be. MILDRED ...my name is Mildred. You know that. RICHARD Nah... that ain’t right...Mildred’s a grown woman’s name. This can’t be a grown woman in front of me cuz all I’ve ever known is just a little string bean of girl. MILDRED Richard Loving you quit playing with me, you hear me? What’ll people think? RICHARD (looks around) People? People? What people? Tommy over there? Jimmy and Rosie? What people? (he notices Mildred looks uneasy) Bean. Mildred. Look at me. (she looks at him) Would you think that I was lying if I told you that I was hoping that you would be here tonight? MILDRED RICHARD ...yes, I would say that. Well it’s true. I was hoping something fierce. I was praying. Praying Jesus LORD, please let Bean be there tonite. And look at that. My prayer done got answered. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED You’re...you’re just... Handsome? Infatuatin´? Arrogant. You’re arrogant, Richard. RICHARD Ahh, come on, now. I think you like me. I think you like me more than you wanna let me know. MILDRED (she does) You keep thinking that. Weeeelll... RICHARD The jukebox starts to play “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke. RICHARD Holy Cow. You know this guy? MILDRED RICHARD No. Really? That’s Sam Cooke. You don’t know Sam Cooke? MILDRED RICHARD I don’t Well you gonna, mark my words. (listens, sings along a little) Millie. Bean. Mildred. C’mon, now. C´mere. MILDRED RICHARD MILDRED Richard. Don’t. Don’t what? You gonna dance with me? Here? RICHARD MILDRED Yeah. I am. In front of all these people? RICHARD Yes. Yes I am, if you will do me the honor. In front of all these people. I am gonna dance with the prettiest girl here. MILDRED But don’t it matter that...Don’t it matter to you’re... RICHARD Bean. C’mere. Let’s dance. Me and you. She thinks about it. She looks at him. She agrees. MILDRED Ok. Ok, Richard. Let’s dance. They dance. The music swells as we watch them fall in love. The interviews return. NEIL I am proud of who I am. I am proud of who I have become. I am proud of the person I am. I think my heritages has really taught me a lot about being unique and being an individual. JORDAN As an adult woman now, its liberating because I am defining what it means to be my black biracial self for me. ANNABELLE • • • so. I think there was the denial when you realize that you’re not like everyone else, no matter how much I want to And then you grown into it. If you are lucky, you get to wn it just a little bit and say “Hey I may not look like everyone else. I’m not like everyone else. I have a much different background and a different skill-set because it. A different outlook on life because of it. Possibly more compassion because of it. And a different voice because of it.” And maybe you can use that voice for good. MAYA Tonight, at least for next few minutes, I am celebrating those of us that live in the space in between, and those of us who dared to make us possible. And I want you to do the same. Whatever that space you occupy that you can’t define, that scares you. That space you walk away from instead of standing in it. Name it for yourself. Right now. And celebrate it. Will you join me? Maya joins Richard and Mildred on the dance floor. Maya starts to dance. Any stagehands, crew, etc, who are working on the show, will join her. Audience members will come on the stage and join Maya, Richard and Mildred. The goal should be to get every audience member up and dancing. The song changes to “Twisting the Night Away”, also by Sam Cooke. There is no curtain call. The lights will come up on the house subtly and hopefully everyone will be too busy dancing to notice. END OF PLAY.
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