Black & White | Teen Ink

Black & White

December 20, 2021
By Anonymous

Characters :

Yin - A spirit on the side of the mirror supporting the murder committed. a feminine spirit who is in defense of a character’s actions. The character is not part of the play as these are the inner spirits of the person who committed the murder in self defense. She stands on the right side of the mirror.


Yang - The opposing spirit to Yin, a masculine spirit who disagrees with the character’s actions. He stands on the left side of the mirror.


[ Two characters stand on opposing sides of a wall with a “mirror.” The mirror is actually clear glass, giving the two characters vision of each other. The character on the right side, Yin, is a feminine figure with a black flowy dress. Her hair is short and white. The character on the left side, Yang, is a masculine figure with a white flowy shirt and pants. His hair is long and black. The stage is set up so that the audience sits around the entire stage, giving everyone a different viewpoint of the two opposing spirits at all times. ]

 

Yang : How could you let this happen? Everyone trusted you to make the right decision, and you did the exact opposite. Now both of us take the blame.


Yin : You take the blame because you have decided to take the blame. She blinks and looks him in the eyes. I really have no reason to feel bad at all. There is no blame for me to take. I made the right decision.


Yang : He laughs in an angry way, slamming his fist against the glass. How can you say that!? How can you say that something like that is the right decision!?


Yin : Well, because I know it is. She stays calm, placing her hand on the glass where Yang had slammed his fist against it. What makes you say it is wrong, anyway? Who are you to decide the difference between right and wrong?


Yang : You know I’m on the good side, Yin! You know I always am!


Yin : Are you, though? Think about it. She jabs her finger at the glass, pointing at Yang’s long black locks. There is bad in you, the way there is good in me. She tugs slightly on her own short white hair. 


Yang : He scoffs and shakes his head. You know nothing of being good. You never will. You always make choices for your own benefit, not for anybody else!


Yin : But Yang, is it really evil to look out for yourself? She frowns a little, but really isn’t sad at all. Don’t you think it would be nice to not be so selfless every once in a while? You’re always worried, always worried about others. Always worried about being good. Isn’t that stressful? Haven’t you had enough sometimes?


Yang : He hesitates for a moment, staring her down angrily. You wouldn’t know.


Yin : I wouldn’t know, but I do know. Sometimes there is no clear right choice and wrong choice, is there? Sometimes, everybody gets hurt no matter what you decide to do.


Yang : But that’s not how it has to be! There is a good choice! There always is!


Yin : Then tell me, what was the good choice? Should they have sacrificed themselves to an attacker? Is that what you think the good choice was?


Yang : His voice quiets a lot as he starts to think. Well… I’m not sure, but…


Yin : Is that what good means to you? Being so sacrificial that it’s basically just suicide? Isn’t it selfish in a way, to let yourself die like that? Think of how your loved ones would feel… You know?


Yang : He hesitates and frowns a bit. He is starting to be convinced of her side. 


Yin : They killed an attacker in self defense. To say it has to be a wrongdoing because someone’s life was lost is just foolish. Isn’t a life lost sometimes for the better?


Yang : No! It never is! No one should’ve died! It should’ve been handled differently! It should’ve–


Yin : How, then? How would it have been handled? Were you going to swoop in and save them yourself somehow? Do you really think you have that kind of power?


Yang : His anger is starting to boil up inside of him again. He knows he lets his ego get to his head a lot. He is thinking deeply about how things went down. I don’t know, Yin! I just don’t know!


Yin : Then be quiet and accept it.

Yang : He stands up taller, taking a few steps back from the wall of clear glass. He breathes heavily as he stares her down. All she does is smile back at him quietly. You know nothing! Nothing about anything! He rushes towards the glass, smashing it apart with his fists. He grabs her by the collar of her dress angrily.


Yin : She refuses to lose any of her composure, staring up at him as he grabs her threateningly. She gives a soft giggle and looks up at him. What are you going to do, kill me?


Yang : He freezes for a moment, his eyes widened with adrenaline and anger. He takes a second to think. Killing her off just for being bad would be the same thing he was fighting against her for. 


Yin : Do it, then. 


Yang : He shakes his head quickly and lets go of her dress collar. She quietly fixes her dress as Yang tries to calm himself down. It’s not fair… 


Yin : Is anything ever fair, Yang? Have things ever been fair? We keep the balance, you and I. The balance between dark and light, the moon and the sun, the feminine and the masculine, the bad and the good. Without one another, are we really anything at all? She pulls him down to her level, which throws him off guard. He doesn’t have the energy to be angry anymore. Do you really think that without you, I’m anything at all?


Yang : He shakes his head again. But how? How can I be a part of the choices you’ve made?


Yin : You are. You always are. Nothing in this universe is fully dark or fully light. They were defending themselves from an attacker, and that’s all. There was never any bad intention in it, which is your side of the choice and the story. But, to murder someone is a bad thing in the universe, and always seen as morally wrong. That is my choice and my side of the story. It’s impossible to say any choice is fully one or the other, because without us, there is no choice at all, is there?


Yang : I guess not, but…


Yin : And without us, the balance is gone. The balance that holds the universe together, although it struggles to at times. The way things work is held by both of us, one side in your hands, one side in mine. Things, although not fair, are balanced the way they need to be. My decision was seen as bad, and you are allowed to disagree all you want. You can resent me for eternity, if that’s your decision. But realize that I influence your decisions, and you influence mine. I can’t say fully that any decision you make is fully wrong, because I am always a part of them. And you can never say mine are all wrong, because you are always a part of them.


Yang : He nods quietly and walks through the rest of the broken glass, right up to her. His anger is gone and he has calmed down for the most part, only dealing with the after effects of his adrenaline. He looks down at her and hugs her tightly.


Yin : She smiles and embraces him just the same. It is recognized that Yang’s passion, although important, sometimes needs to be mellowed out with Yin’s calmness and ease.


[ The two characters, Yin and Yang, stay on stage as the light that once lit up the whole stage is only in between them. Yin pulls away from the embrace and walks away into a small area in between the seating that is invisible to the crowd. The light stays shining on Yang. He looks up at it, and then to the crowd. The lighting fades to black as he follows Yin to the spot invisible to the crowd. ]


END OF PLAY


The author's comments:

This piece was based off of my experience with Yin and Yang as a concept in my martial arts career. I have personified them to give people a different view on the subject.


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