| The lights slowly rise on Hana's suitcase, sitting on a table. Akira steps forward. He looks to see if he's being watched, then checks again for good measure. Slowly, carefully, he unlocks the suitcase. He hesitates, then slowly opens it. |
| Hana enters on her scooter, ghost-like, circling the stage. Akira is unaware her spirit is there. He peers into the suitcase. |
| Maiko enters. |
| MAIKO: |
Akira! |
| Akira immediately closes the suitcase. |
| Hana exits. |
| MAIKO: |
What are you doing? |
| AKIRA: |
Nothing. |
| MAIKO: |
You opened the suitcase. |
| AKIRA: |
There might be something inside. |
| MAIKO: |
It's empty. |
| AKIRA: |
Something hidden. |
| MAIKO: |
We checked. |
| AKIRA: |
We can check again. |
| Akira makes a move to open the suitcase again. |
| MAIKO: |
Akira! You're not supposed to open it. You heard what Ms. Ishioka said. You must treat the suitcase like you would treat your own grandmother. |
| AKIRA: |
I love my grandmother. |
| MAIKO: |
Then treat the suitcase the same way. With care and respect. |
| AKIRA: |
My grandmother doesn't have a name painted on her. My grandmother - |
| MAIKO: |
- won't live forever. Who will remember her when she's gone? |
| AKIRA: |
Me. |
| MAIKO: |
Who remembers Hana? |
| AKIRA: |
(Pause) Is Hana gone? |
| MAIKO: |
I don't know. Her suitcase may be all that's left. That's why you must treat it with respect. |
| AKIRA: |
She was an orphan. A Waisenkind. That's what it says on her suitcase. Waisenkind. |
| MAIKO: |
I can read. |
| AKIRA: |
You can't read German. (Beat) Was she German? |
| MAIKO: |
You ask too many questions. |
| AKIRA: |
You don't know. |
| MAIKO: |
I know she was born on May 16, 1931. |
| AKIRA: |
You don't know where. |
| MAIKO: |
I know she was in Auschwitz. |
| AKIRA: |
You don't know when. |
| MAIKO: |
I know she was an orphan. |
| AKIRA: |
(Pause) You don't know what kind. |
| MAIKO: |
An orphan is an orphan, Akira. |
| AKIRA: |
We don't know when she became an orphan. You can become an orphan when you're still a baby, or when you're a big kid. (Beat) Was Hana a baby orphan or a big kid orphan? |
| Akira reads Maiko's face. |
| You don't know. You don't know anything about Hana. |
| MAIKO: |
I know I don't want to be an orphan. |
| Fumiko enters. |
| FUMIKO: |
You sound like two birds fighting over a crumb. |
| AKIRA: |
I want to know more about Hana Brady. |
| MAIKO: |
So do I. |
| AKIRA: |
All we have is her suitcase. (Beat) An empty suitcase. |
| FUMIKO: |
The museum also sent us a sock, a shoe and a sweater. |
| MAIKO: |
And the container of Zyklon B. |
| FUMIKO: |
All of it can be shown in our exhibition. |
| AKIRA: |
It's not Hana's sock. Or her sweater or shoe. They didn't belong to Hana. |
| FUMIKO: |
They belonged to children just like Hana Brady. |
| MAIKO: |
Gas. (Low) That's how many of them died. They were gassed. |
| FUMIKO: |
(Pause) Yes. |
| MAIKO: |
That's what the Zyklon B was for. |
| FUMIKO: |
Yes. |
| MAIKO: |
One and a half million. That's what you told us. One and a half million children were killed. |
| Fumiko nods. |
| AKIRA: |
Was Hana the one? |
| FUMIKO: |
One what? |
| AKIRA: |
One child and half a million children. That's what you said. One, and a half million. Was Hana the One? |
| MAIKO: |
It's not one child and half-a-million children. It's one million children, and then another half a million children. |
| AKIRA: |
Oh. (Pause) That means one and a half-million suitcases.
|
| FUMIKO: |
And we have one of them. |
| AKIRA: |
It doesn't tell us anything. |
| FUMIKO: |
It gives us a name. Think of all the other children whose names we will never know. |
| AKIRA: |
I want to know more about Hana. What she packed in her suitcase. Where she took it. Who she went with. We don't know if she was tall. Or small. If she had long hair or short curls. (Beat) We don't know anything about Hana. |
| MAIKO: |
We only know when she was born. And that she was a Waisenkind. |
| FUMIKO: |
She wasn't always an orphan. She had parents. She had friends. |
| AKIRA: |
Maybe she had a dog. Or cats. Maybe she had cats and a dog. Maybe she had cats, a dog and a bird. Maybe she loved ice cream and ... and hated asparagus, like me. |
| FUMIKO: |
Maybe. |
| MAIKO: |
Can we find out more about her? |
| FUMIKO: |
It took a long time just to get Hana's suitcase. |
| AKIRA: |
Someone must know something. |
| MAIKO: |
(Pause) They're probably dead. |
| AKIRA: |
You don't know that. |
| MAIKO: |
The Holocaust wasn't a fairy tale. |
| AKIRA: |
I didn't say it was a fairy tale. |
| FUMIKO: |
Most Jews who were sent to Auschwitz were killed in Auschwitz. |
| MAIKO: |
They didn't live happily ever after. |
| Hana enters, holding her doll, Nana. |
| AKIRA: |
(To Fumiko) We don't know if Hana died at Auschwitz, do we? (To Maiko). We don't know if she was a baby orphan or a big kid orphan. We don't know if she loved chocolate or if she liked to dance or draw or do cartwheels because we don't know Hana's story. |
| Hana places the doll in her suitcase and exits. |
| FUMIKO: |
And if we did learn Hana's story and discovered it didn't have a happy ending. Would you still want to hear it? |
| AKIRA: |
Yes! |
| MAIKO: |
(Pause) Yes. |
| FUMIKO: |
Do you know what you're saying when you say ‘Yes'? |
| AKIRA: |
Yes! |
| MAIKO: |
(Beat) I think so. |
| FUMIKO: |
Some stories are more than just sad. They can be terrible. |
| AKIRA: |
We don't know if Hana's story is terrible. We don't know if she lived in a big house with a small yard or a small house with a big yard. We don't if she walked to school or - |
| MAIKO: |
Akira! (Beat) Ms. Ishioka is saying there's more to Hana's story than chocolate and cartwheels. We may not want to know all of Hana's story. |
| AKIRA: |
I do. I want to know everything. Everything. |
| MAIKO: |
So do I. |
| FUMIKO: |
We can't know everything about Hana Brady. We're fortunate to have her suitcase. We may not find anything else. (Beat) You may be very disappointed. |
| MAIKO: |
I would be disappointed if we didn't try to find out more about her. |
| AKIRA: |
Me, too. |
| FUMIKO: |
We can find out what we can, but you must be prepared. We don't know where Hana's story will take us. |
| AKIRA: |
What do you mean? |
| MAIKO: |
She means parts of Hana's life may have been horrible. Especially the ending. |
| AKIRA: |
We don't know how it ends. |
| FUMIKO: |
It may end in ways you can't imagine, Akira. Are you prepared for the very worst? |
| AKIRA: |
(Beat) Yes. |
| MAIKO: |
(Beat) Yes. |
| FUMIKO: |
If Hana's story ends in ways that leave us terribly upset , sadder than sad, we must find a way out of the sadness. Agreed? |
| MAIKO and AKIRA: |
(Beat) Agreed. |
| FUMIKO: |
(Pause) I will find out all that I can about Hana. |
| AKIRA: |
How? |
| FUMIKO: |
The same way we found her suitcase. I will write letters, asking for help. |
| AKIRA: |
To who? |
| FUMIKO: |
To Holocaust museums around the world. Maybe one of them can tell us something about Hana. |
| AKIRA: |
Someone must know her story. |
| MAIKO: |
Not always. Sometimes, when people die, their stories die, too. |
| AKIRA: |
Stories can't die. |
| FUMIKO: |
Stories can die if there is no one to tell them. |
| Hana appears, skipping on the spot. |
| Fumiko opens up a laptop and begins to compose a letter. |
| AKIRA: |
Who are you writing to? |
| FUMIKO: |
The Auschwitz Museum. They were kind enough to send us Hana's suitcase. |
| Music surfaces. |
| A museum official appears in a half-lit pool of light, stage right, face obscured by darkness. Names of individuals killed in the Holocaust appear on a scrim and disappear like mist. |
| OFFICIAL: | We know nothing more about Hana Brady. |
| Hana stops skipping. |
| The light fades around the official and Hana. |
| FUMIKO: |
I will keep trying. |
| AKIRA: |
Who are you writing to? |
| Hana plays hopscotch. |
| FUMIKO: |
The Holocaust Memorial in Israel. |
| AKIRA: |
When will they answer? |
| MAIKO: |
Do you ever run out of questions? |
| AKIRA: |
No. |
| FUMIKO: |
We must be patient, Akira. |
| Hana plays hopscotch. |
| Music surfaces as more names appear and fade. |
| Half-light on another museum official, face lost in the shadows, stage left. |
| OFFICIAL: | We have no record of Hana Brady. |
| The light around the second official fades. |
| Hana stops playing hopscotch. Fumiko perseveres. |
| MAIKO: |
Who are you writing to now? |
| FUMIKO: |
The Holocaust Museum in Washington.
|
| AKIRA: |
Was Hana from America? |
| FUMIKO: |
No, Akira. Hitler invaded Europe. |
| AKIRA: |
When will the Washington museum answer? |
| FUMIKO: |
We will hear from them soon, Akira. |
| More music, more names. |
| Hana appears, holding a birthday candle, eyes closed as she's about to make a wish. |
| A third museum official appears in a pool of light, centre stage, lost in the shadows. |
| OFFICIAL: | We have no information about a Hana Brady. |
| The official is swallowed by the light. The music stops. Hana blows out the candle. The light around her goes out. |
| AKIRA: |
It's like she disappeared. Forever. |
| FUMIKO: |
We will find someone, Akira. Someone who can tell us more about Hana. |
| MAIKO: |
How? |
| FUMIKO: |
I don't know yet. |
| Lights fade to black. |
| The sound of a moving train slowly surfaces. Hana appears in the half-light, her suitcase by her side. She shares the cramped train car with four Figures, all with suitcases. They disappear as the light and sound fade. |
