I’M HERE
A 10-Minute Play
written by
Conrad A. Panganiban
CAST OF CHARACTERS
MILAGROS: 50s. Filipina. She/her/hers. A lost tourist with a red coat from another country on the search of her lifetime. She says a one line spoken in Filipino/Tagalog.
ELLE: 30s. Filipina-American. She/her/hers. One half of a sister/brother scavenger hunt team about to win the trip of a lifetime.
TOM: Late 20s – early 30s. Filipino-American. He/him/his. The other half of a brother/sister scavenger hunt team about to win the trip of a lifetime.
SETTING
The present in San Francisco’s Union Square.
PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE
The ‘/’ denotes an overlap of dialogue.
The lines where Filipino is written, translations follow in [brackets].
In the play, Milagros is wearing a red coat. But in the case where the actor who plays Milagros doesn’t have access to a red coat, it can be changed to a different colored coat and said color may be changed in the text.
Lights up on MILAGROS, a tourist from the Philippines in her 50s visiting San Francisco’s Union Square for the first time. She is wearing a red coat and unfolds an old photograph.
MILAGROS
(to the photo)
I’m here.
Now, where are you?
MILAGROS puts the photo away and holds up a map. She’s looking around trying to get the bearings of where she is located.
With a cellphone in their hands, enter ELLE and TOM running from one side of the stage and exiting the other in a desperate search for someone.
ELLE (O.S.)
Hi. Are you a tourist from another country?
TOM (O.S.)
Excuse me, are you visiting from outside the U.S.?
ELLE (O.S.)
Hi, are you… oooo, sorry, I already asked you. Have a good day?
TOM (O.S.)
Hello, are you…? No no no. No need to call the cops. Sorry… I’m just leaving, so you enjoy San Francisco.
Re-enter ELLE. She sees MILAGROS and after a brief pause approaches her.
ELLE
Excuse me, but are you a tourist from another country?
MILAGROS
(Speaking with a Filipino accent.)
Why are you asking?
ELLE
(Shouting to TOM)
Oh my God! I found one! Tom! Tom!
MILAGROS
What do you mean by, you ‘found one’?
ELLE
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make that sound rude.
MILAGROS
Too late.
Enter a running TOM.
TOM
(Looking at his phone.)
Danggit! The twins from The Marina are looking for their last item too! See?!
ELLE
Don’t worry about them! She’s the one. After all this time… finally, the end of the tunnel!
MILAGROS
What tunnel? We’re outside.
ELLE
I’m sorry, where are you from again?
MILAGROS
I never told you where / I am
ELLE
Did you hear her? Different country! And she’s wearing a red jacket too!
TOM
Oh my God! She’s perfect!
ELLE
Do you mind if me and my brother took a really quick video selfie with you?
TOM
Just for a couple of seconds. We just need to hear you say something.
MILAGROS
I don’t think it’s safe for me to be on / video-
TOM
Don’t worry. We, the both of us, voted for Biden! So, no need to be worried about any hate crimes from either of us or from any proud boys, girls, or cats?
MILAGROS
Uh…
TOM
Say, she has nothing to worry about, Elle.
ELLE
Absolutely! I promise. It’ll be really quick and painless.
MILAGROS
There’s going to be pain?
TOM
That was a joke! A joke. Haha. A painless joke.
MILAGROS
Sorry, I really don’t have time / for a
ELLE
It’ll only take 30 seconds, tops!
MILAGROS
Why are you Americans so pushy?
ELLE
Did you hear that?! She called us Americans. So, then she must be from another country!
MILAGROS
And then I must find the police.
TOM
No, don’t! Please. I already kinda got warned twice today for bothering strangers.
MILAGROS
Then why do you keep asking me to be in your video?
ELLE
Because it’s for a scavenger hunt.
TOM
A game to look for items around San Francisco-
ELLE
And the last item on our list is to find a tourist from another country wearing a red coat.
So… you win!
MILAGROS
What did I win?
TOM
You… win the chance to help us get a trip to anywhere in the world.
MILAGROS
Why did you automatically assume that because I have an accent, that I’m a tourist from another country? Am I not allowed to live here and have an accent too.
TOM
Oooo… she has a good point.
ELLE
Whose team are you on?
TOM
I’m just saying that it’s kinda wrong to assume that she’s a tourist because her English doesn’t sound like ours.
MILAGROS
Makinig ka sa kapatid mo. [Listen to your brother.]
ELLE
Forget the accent, a different language is better! Can you say that again on camera?
MILAGROS
Only if you can answer me back in your language.
ELLE
I can only speak in English.
TOM
But, I know a little Spanish, “Vamos a la playa.”
MILAGROS
Why did you approach me?
ELLE
Because you were holding a map and had a red coat on.
MILAGROS
And nothing else? You didn’t hear me talk to anyone so how could you have known if I had an accent or not?
ELLE
What are you implying?
MILAGROS
It doesn’t feel good when other people assume things about you just because of the color of your skin, does it?
TOM
Oh snap.
ELLE
Shut up, Tom.
MILAGROS
Are we done? I still have my own searching to do.
Pause.
MILAGROS
Good luck.
MILAGROS begins to exit.
TOM
Wait! What about if we pay you?
ELLE
Tom, we can’t do that.
TOM
I have $20 and Elle usually carries a fifty dollar bill in the secret zipper in her bag for emergencies.
ELLE
Tom!
TOM
What?! This is an emergency and I thought you wanted to win this game!
ELLE
Not like that. And that’s against the rules.
TOM
When did you ever care about the rules?
ELLE
I’m not going to lose this trip because you’re the one who gets us disqualified!
TOM
Hey! I need to win this trip as much as you do!
MILAGROS
For two hundred dollars, maybe I could say something like, “I love being a tourist in San Francisco.”
ELLE
That’s extortion.
MILAGROS
I’m not the one who needs the trip.
TOM
Okay, fine. Wait right here. There’s a Wells Fargo ATM right down the street on Ellis.
ELLE
You’re not going to give her $200!
TOM
You know I don’t have $200. But… don’t you bank at Wells?
ELLE
If I had $200, I’d be using it for a plane ticket instead of bribing her.
MILAGROS
Okay. Stop. Forget it. I know what it feels like to not have anything.
TOM
So, then you’ll do our video for free?
MILAGROS
I didn’t say that… but maybe you can help me find someone?
TOM
Not a problem! Elle is really good at tracking people down. Especially if they’re on Facebook. She found out the name of this guy she saw on MUNI and stalked him on the socials / for days.
ELLE
What is wrong with you?
TOM
Hey! I’m desperate!
MILAGROS
All I have is an address and this map.
TOM
No problem! I can use the address and by the power of Google MapsELLE
But we need to do the video first!
TOM
Elle, the person she’s looking for is probably around the corner.
ELLE
Or he or she could be in the Mission. And by then the Marina Twins will be waving at us from SFO.
Video first.
MILAGROS
I can’t have any videos taken of me.
TOM
(Looking at his phone)
NOOOOO!!!!
(to Milagros)
Sorry, not at you.
(to Elle)
But, you’re right, Elle! The Marina Twins stopped moving so that means they’re probably shooting their last video.
ELLE
Please, Mam! This video means more to us that you’ll ever know.
MILAGROS
I can’t risk letting him / see me.
ELLE
I promise you that this video’s only going to be seen by us and the judges. It’s not going to be on YouTube or anything like that. And if you’re worried about Homeland Security, then I’ll delete it right after we win the trip. We just… please? I’m begging you.
MILAGROS
I… I’m sorry. I can’t.
ELLE
But-
TOM
If she doesn’t want to do it, Elle, we can’t make her.
ELLE
But, we’re never going to find another one of her!
MILAGROS
Why does this mean so much to you?
TOM
We’re going to find her another way. C’mon, let’s go! There’s still a bunch of tourists / around.
ELLE
NO! We’re doing this!
ELLE takes out her phone and holds it out in front of her and MILAGROS and presses the ‘record’ button.
ELLE
Hi. This is Team Elle and Tom Garcia and we’re with… what’s your name?
MILAGROS
I never agreed to-
TOM
She has to agree to this too, Elle. Rules?
ELLE
What’s your name, Lady?!
MILAGROS
Help! Police!
ELLE
Did you hear that judges? She’s obviously a tourist from another country.
TOM
Elle, put the phone down, please.
MILAGROS
POLICE!
TOM
GABRIELLA MALABUYO GARCIA!
Stop recording and put the phone down.
Pause.
ELLE
(Lowers her phone.)
I… I’m sorry… I just thought that…
I’m sorry. Let’s go.
TOM
We’re really sorry.
Heartbroken, ELLE and TOM begin to walk away.
MILAGROS
Gabriella?
(To TOM)
Tomás?
MILAGROS takes out an old photo from her pocket, unfolds it and looks at it and back at them.
MILAGROS
Every night for the last twenty years, I look at this photo of us with the promise of one day saying to them, “I’m here.” They were taken from me before they could even talk, with or without an accent. And every day, I wonder what they are doing, if they are okay, if they hated me for not coming for them or worse, if they forgot about me. So I kept this photo of us folded to let them know that I will always be close by… and the crease would be my line to them.
TOM takes a close look at Milagros and pulls out a photo the same size that MILAGROS is holding, unfolds it and takes a long look at it.
TOM
The reason we needed to win this trip so bad was so we can find her.
TOM hands the photo to ELLE who looks at the photo, looks at MILAGROS, and then back at the photo.
ELLE
And we only found out about our real mom when our father died last year. While going through his things, we found this. On the back, it says Milagros Malabuyo March 2001.
Both ELLE and MILAGROS hold out their photos for them to compare. They match.
ELLE
Mom?
MILAGROS
I’m here.
Blackout.