Microaggressions: A Brief Play in Three Acts

Dedicated to all my brown friends.

CAST

ROMA: 22 years old, can look younger. Dark hair, tan skin, black glasses.
TAXI DRIVER (TD): Old white guy, whatever.

SETTING

York, England. Interior of a taxi, slightly dusty. Outside: clear and bright, flowers in full bloom, shorts weather if you’re a northerner.

ACT I: “POLYNESIA”

ROMA enters the cab, states her destination. Car starts.

TAXI DRIVER: Where’re you from, then?
ROMA: (brightly) New Jersey.
TD: Ah. (pause) Originally…?
ROMA: (beat) (more emphatically) New Jersey.
TD: You look…Polynesian, a bit. Like maybe, ah…Filipino, maybe.
ROMA: (resigned) Yeah, well, my parents are.
TD: (triumphantly) Now how did I know that? You tell me, how did I guess that one?

ROMA: I really don’t know.
TD: You know what else you look like?
ROMA: No…
TD: If you press your nose in a little bit, like this (presses in own nose with left thumb while driving), you look like you could be…
ROMA: (horrified) I…don’t know.

TD: I’ll give you a hint: the capital is Hong Kong.
ROMA: Ah.
TD: Your nose has a little bump in it, but you look like you could be from there.

ACT II: “THAILAND”

ROMA is still trapped in the car with the racist TAXI DRIVER. She considers asking him to stop at the next light, but doesn’t have time to walk. They converse about the weather.
TAXI DRIVER: You know, I’ve been to Thailand. Six times!
ROMA: (feigning politeness) Oh?
TD: Yep. A month each time, so I’ve spent six months of my life in Thailand! (laughs)
ROMA: That’s a long time.
TD: Have you ever been?
ROMA: I haven’t.
TD: It’s great there. You know why I go, though?
ROMA: (feigning ignorance) I couldn’t guess.
TD: Well, I’m a single guy! (laughs) Those Thai girls are beautiful. If I won the lottery, I’d pick up and move there, probably even before the money got to the bank! Ahh.

ACT III: “BUDDHISM”
ROMA cannot wait to get out of the car.
TAXI DRIVER: All these stone churches here, all cold and grey…I don’t like them, I like Buddhist temples. All that gold everywhere, and flowers. Much nicer.
ROMA: (silence)
TD: You don’t know anything about Buddhism?
ROMA: (facing to the side, looking out the window) No. Nothing about Buddhism.
TD: You see, they have these spirit sticks. (mimes holding a stick) They shake them like this, and… (drifts into a complicated explanation of Buddhist spiritual practices)
ROMA: (silence)

Reader Response Questions:
1) Why is the play called “Microaggressions?” What are some examples of microaggressions?

2) On a scale from one to fuck you, how racist was the taxi driver?

3) If you were Roma, what would you have done in this situation?
4) What other taxi company in York lets you book online so I don’t have to talk to anyone on the phone?