Full Name: June Hong
Age: 10
Physical Overview:
He is child, small for his age, but with an air of sophistication and maturity about him. Since his strange declaration that his mouth is stitched shut, he has begun to lose weight and exhibit signs of exhaustion. He seems to be plagued by nightmares, but even in his sleep, he doesn’t utter a word.
From the audience’s perspective, they should be able to see the stitches on his mouth preventing him from speaking.
Though in my mind, he is Korean, ethnicity or coloring does not play a significant role in the play and does not need any specific mention.
Personality:
June was always an intelligent child, learning to speak and read from a very young age. He is gifted with literature and has always been eloquent with words. As a consequence of this and too much of an eagerness to read, the child can seem almost too mature in his thoughts or behaviors. Simultaneously, he has an overactive imagination which manifests as peculiar observations or ‘what if’ situations.
Goal:
He wants help, but he doesn’t know how to go about doing it. He is convinced that his mouth is stitched shut, and if he tells, they’ll stitch his fingers together too.
Problem:
One day, the boy wakes up and refuses to speak, refuses to eat. He doesn’t even open his mouth. He insists that his mouth is stitched shut, that some woman came at night and sewed it up.
Story:
Over the summer, June stayed at his aunt and uncle’s house in order to attend a creative writing summer camp. However, upon his return – driven home while he was sleeping – he awakens strangely vacant with the incredulous claim that his mouth has been stitched shut. This goes on for several days, with his family believing that it is merely a stage or a phase or a game he picked up from camp.
But he doesn’t eat and doesn’t smile. It can’t go on.
His sister, Mina, shows the most concern, with their parents distracted by the tragic death of their adopted niece. This is the third child of the aunt and uncle that has passed away due to unnatural, inexplicable illness, and the aunt is beside herself with grief. Their first biological child had died in that way, and their second adopted child had as well. They had even appeared on TV specials before, asking for donations, pleading for help or some explanation of some sort.
Their third child, adopted, had lived up to four years old now, if a bit sickly, and the June’s family had believed that the couple would finally be able to live happily. Evidently they were wrong. June’s mother asks him if his little cousin had seemed sickly while he was there, but he doesn’t respond, merely drawing strange, angular designs into the notebook he’s taken to using.
Taking that as an affirmation, June’s mother returns to lamenting the tragedy. June’s condition only proceeds to worsen from this point on. What started as a vow of silence and a hunger strike takes a turn for the worse as nightmares begin to plague his sleep. Even then, he doesn’t speak, instead crying, whimpering. Eventually, he whispers, I’m sorry.
Vernacular:
The boy communicates through writing. A smart boy and gifted with literature, he writes beautifully with perfect spelling. His handwriting is the only indication of his young age.
Quotes:
- ‘My mouth is stitched shut.’
- ‘She came and sewed it at night.’
- ‘I can’t talk. My mouth is stitched shut.’
- ‘I can’t eat. My mouth is stitched shut.’
- ‘I can’t smile. It hurts to smile. The stitches pull too tight.’
- ‘How do you know she really loves that child?’
- “What are you talking about – come on, Mom and Dad love us. It’s impossible for a parent to not love their own kid.”
- ‘Impossible things can happen too.’
- ‘You won’t believe me. No one did.’
- ‘She looked at the chocolate pie I was eating, as if it were the most fascinating thing, and I asked her if she wanted some, and… she tried some and started crying because it tasted good. I didn’t… I didn’t know what to do.’
- ‘She asked me why my food was so neat – why it was separated into nice little bowls. She asked me that…’
- ‘And then I noticed the little things, and… and…’
- dark frustrated scribbles fill the paper and he tears the stitches open
- “Why couldn’t I help her?!”
- “I should have helped her… I tried, but I…”
- ‘The defense is trying to lead me. Tell him to stop.’
- ‘He’s badgering me, tell him to STOP.’
- “Tell him to stop! Tell him to stop! Stop him!”
~*~*~
Full Name: Mina Hong (surname potentially omitted)
Age: 15
Physical Overview:
She’s a sporty girl, in my mind with short hair and a sports jacket she loves.
Personality:
Mina cares deeply about her little brother. In fact, she would readily claim that she understands him better than either of their parents, despite their frequent misunderstandings and sibling squabbles. As the elder child of the family, she thinks herself all grown up, when in reality, she’s simply a child herself.
Despite her sense of responsibility, her immaturity shows in her snappish temper and slight naivety towards life’s horrors. She’s not the type to read or watch the news, instead preferring to play soccer outside, which means that she has quite the limited scope of the world. She can’t possibly imagine that her aunt could have indirectly killed three infants and was plotting for a fourth.
Goal:
She wants to help her brother, get him to speak again, get him to eat again. She just wants to know what’s wrong with him so that they can go back to their childish wars and stupid fights. In the end, it seems this isn’t a passing phase. Something happened, and she wants to find out what.
Problem:
She’s a young girl who thinks she’s all grown up, and she takes on too big a burden. When she finally wrestles the truth out of June, what is she supposed to do with it? She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know at all.
Story:
When her little brother returns from that creative writing camp he’d so desperately wanted to attend, she’d been looking forward to having the little pest around again. It was boring not being able to complain about the brat leaving his books everywhere or borrowing her pens without asking. However, when June comes home asleep in the car, Mina begrudgingly decides that it can wait another day.
However, those days don’t come at all.
When her brother wakes up, he is strangely absent and unresponsive, not answering any of her questions. At first, Mina thinks he’s doing so on purpose, and begins to snap at him, but she doesn’t know how to react when he scribbles onto his hand: ‘I can’t talk. My mouth is stitched shut.’
And how does one respond to that?
What is there to say to that?
Vernacular:
The boy communicates through writing. A smart boy and gifted with literature, he writes beautifully with perfect spelling. His handwriting is the only indication of his young age.
Quotes:
- “June, you need to talk to me. C’mon, I’ll listen.”
- “Why didn’t you help her?! What’s with this – this – this vow of silence crap!”
- “What do you mean this isn’t child abuse…? How can you say that – three children are dead! My little brother will barely speak and you dare say this isn’t child abuse?! Insurance fraud? That’s all this amounts to? Insurance fraud?!?!”
~*~*~
Full Name: Aunt Kyosung
Age: 38
Physical Overview:
She’s a woman who has seen hard times and not let the burden off her shoulders. It shows in her face, more aged than her true age, and the way she always looks tired. Even so, she seems to be a kindhearted woman.
Personality:
If there were a vice to name with this woman, it would be avarice. Greed. It likely started when her husband hit hard times, and desperation drives people to desperate means.
Goal:
She just wants money, an easy way, and the best way she could think of was children’s insurance. She got about $30 for every day her child was hospitalized and with media coverage, that number and donations jumped the number to about $2500 per child. The price of a child’s life…
Problem:
When her sister asked if they could look after their son while he goes to summer camp in their city, she initially planned to refuse. When the offer to pay money came, however, that quickly turned into a yes. She should have stuck by her no.
Story:
When her little brother returns from that creative writing camp he’d so desperately wanted to attend, she’d been looking forward to having the little pest around again. It was boring not being able to complain about the brat leaving his books everywhere or borrowing her pens without asking. However, when June comes home asleep in the car, Mina begrudgingly decides that it can wait another day.
However, those days don’t come at all.
When her brother wakes up, he is strangely absent and unresponsive, not answering any of her questions. At first, Mina thinks he’s doing so on purpose, and begins to snap at him, but she doesn’t know how to react when he scribbles onto his hand: ‘I can’t talk. My mouth is stitched shut.’
Vernacular:
The boy communicates through writing. A smart boy and gifted with literature, he writes beautifully with perfect spelling. His handwriting is the only indication of his young age.
Other:
N/A
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