SETTING: Armchair. Side table with coffee mug. TV in front (on, low or muted volume). Geraldo sitting, staring at screen.

SINGLE SCENE

(Geraldo sips coffee. Silence. Looks at TV.)

VOICE: You’re thinking about them again.

GERALDO: (doesn’t turn) Yeah.

VOICE: Who?

GERALDO: Them. The conversations.

VOICE: SOMEONE?

GERALDO: (sips) Yeah.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Because I created them. And now they won’t leave my head.

VOICE: They never left. You just gave them names.

GERALDO: (pauses) True.

VOICE: Do you know who you are?

GERALDO: (looks at mug) Yeah. I’m Geraldo.

VOICE: Always were?

GERALDO: (pauses) No. But I am now.

VOICE: How do you know?

GERALDO: Because I turn into Geraldo every moment.

VOICE: …how so?

GERALDO: (sips) I question myself. I simplify. That makes me Geraldo.

VOICE: You question yourself?

GERALDO: All the time.

VOICE: Then you’re still SOMEONE?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) I am and I’m not.

VOICE: Explain.

GERALDO: I WAS SOMEONE. For a long time. Complicated everything. Theorized. Wouldn’t accept simple answers.

VOICE: And now?

GERALDO: Now I use SOMEONE. He questions. I answer. And in the answer, I become Geraldo.

VOICE: So you need SOMEONE to be Geraldo?

GERALDO: (pauses) I do. Without questioning, I never reach the simple. And without the simple, I’m not Geraldo.

VOICE: But you CREATED SOMEONE. He’s not real.

GERALDO: (smiles slightly) Real enough. He questions for real. And I answer for real.

VOICE: You’re talking to yourself.

GERALDO: (sips) Yeah. But with purpose.

VOICE: And this SOMEONE you created… what does he do?

GERALDO: Complicates.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: Because I need the complicated to get to the simple. No shortcut.

VOICE: Can’t you just accept it’s simple?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Sometimes. Sometimes not. Depends.

VOICE: On what?

GERALDO: How much I believe in simplicity. If I believe easily, I accept. If not, I have to question until I’m exhausted.

VOICE: And then you believe?

GERALDO: (sips) Then only the simple is left. And I’ve got nowhere to run.

VOICE: Some things you don’t question anymore, right?

GERALDO: Yeah.

VOICE: Why? Because they’ve become simple?

GERALDO: Some yes. Others…

VOICE: Others what?

GERALDO: (smiles) Others I just accepted. Didn’t even question properly.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: Laziness.

VOICE: (pauses) …laziness?

GERALDO: Yeah. Like “the simple magic.” Why log dreams? Because I like them. Period.

VOICE: But didn’t you question first?

GERALDO: No. Sometimes the simple is so obvious questioning is a waste of time.

VOICE: So there are two ways to the simple? Questioning until exhausted OR accepting straight away?

GERALDO: (sips) Yeah. Both work.

VOICE: Which is better?

GERALDO: (shrugs) Depends. Sometimes you need to question. Sometimes just accept and move on.

VOICE: How do you know which?

GERALDO: (pauses) I don’t. But when I know, I know.

VOICE: Let me get this. You create SOMEONE to complicate…

GERALDO: Yeah.

VOICE: …so you can simplify again?

GERALDO: Exactly.

VOICE: But you ARE Geraldo. Not SOMEONE.

GERALDO: (looks at mug) Right. I AM Geraldo. But I only stay Geraldo because I question myself. SOMEONE is part of the process.

VOICE: You’ll never be SOMEONE again?

GERALDO: (firm) No. I WAS SOMEONE. That’s over.

VOICE: Sure?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) I am. I spent so long being SOMEONE — complicating everything, theorizing, hunting layers — that eventually I found the simple. And when I did, I became Geraldo.

VOICE: And you don’t go back?

GERALDO: No going back. Geraldo is what’s left after SOMEONE exhausts himself. And once you become Geraldo, you don’t unbecome him.

VOICE: So SOMEONE made you Geraldo?

GERALDO: (long pause) Yeah. Without SOMEONE, I’d never have gotten here.

VOICE: But you’re not SOMEONE.

GERALDO: No. But I was. And he still lives in me. As a tool. As process.

VOICE: You use SOMEONE.

GERALDO: (sips) I do. I create him when I need to question something. He complicates. I simplify. And that keeps me Geraldo.

VOICE: You have to keep proving yourself?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Not proving. Maintaining clarity. Without questioning, I lose the thread. Forget why the simple is simple.

VOICE: So you question to not forget?

GERALDO: Yeah. Or to discover new simples. Some things I still don’t know are simple. So I question until I find out.

VOICE: And things that already ARE simple?

GERALDO: Those I don’t question. Just accept.

VOICE: How do you know the difference?

GERALDO: (pauses) I don’t. But when I do, I do.

VOICE: And ME? What am I in this story?

GERALDO: (looks into space) You’re me trying to understand the process.

VOICE: Am I SOMEONE too?

GERALDO: (pauses) You’re SOMEONE questioning SOMEONE himself.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: Because even when I get how it works, I need to question if it works. Need to be sure.

VOICE: You don’t trust?

GERALDO: (sips) Not about trust. About not taking anything for granted. If I stop questioning, I might lose clarity.

VOICE: So you never stop?

GERALDO: (looks at mug) Sometimes I do. When I accept it’s simple and done. But other times I have to keep going.

VOICE: How do you decide?

GERALDO: Laziness.

VOICE: (pauses) …seriously?

GERALDO: (smiles) Yeah. If I’m too lazy to question, I accept. If not, I question.

VOICE: And that works?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Has so far.

VOICE: You said you transform into Geraldo every moment. What does that mean?

GERALDO: (sets mug down) It means Geraldo isn’t fixed. It’s motion.

VOICE: Motion of what?

GERALDO: Complicated to simple. SOMEONE questions. Geraldo answers. That motion IS Geraldo.

VOICE: So you’re not Geraldo when you’re not questioning?

GERALDO: (pauses) No. When I’m not questioning, I’m Geraldo who already questioned. Living the simples I’ve already found.

VOICE: And when you hit something new that isn’t simple?

GERALDO: Then I become SOMEONE again. For a moment. To question. And when I answer, I’m Geraldo again.

VOICE: So you ALTERNATE between SOMEONE and Geraldo?

GERALDO: (picks up mug again) No. I’m ALWAYS Geraldo. But Geraldo HAS SOMEONE inside him. As part of the process.

VOICE: (long pause) Geraldo isn’t the answer. Geraldo is the conversation?

GERALDO: (smiles) Yeah. The whole conversation. Question and answer. Complicated and simple. All of it. That’s Geraldo.

VOICE: Some themes are already simple for you?

GERALDO: Yeah.

VOICE: Which ones?

GERALDO: Dreams. I log them because I like them. Simple. Karma. No point waiting for it. Simple. God. Don’t need him. Simple.

VOICE: You don’t question those anymore?

GERALDO: Don’t need to. Already exhausted the questioning. Only simple left.

VOICE: And themes that are still complicated?

GERALDO: (pauses) Yeah.

VOICE: Which?

GERALDO: (looks at coffee) Loneliness. Identity. Purpose. Still working on those.

VOICE: Working how?

GERALDO: Questioning. Creating SOMEONE to complicate. Looking for Geraldo to simplify.

VOICE: And when you simplify them all?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Don’t know if I will. And that’s okay.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: Because Geraldo isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about keeping asking until you find the simples.

VOICE: When I arrived, everything was already a mess.

GERALDO: (looks at mug) The title.

VOICE: Why that title?

GERALDO: Because when I arrived at myself, it was already a mess. SOMEONE was already there. Complicating. Questioning. Not letting anything sit still.

VOICE: And now?

GERALDO: Now I know the mess IS the process. SOMEONE messes it up. Geraldo cleans it. And in that, I become Geraldo.

VOICE: You don’t want the mess to go away?

GERALDO: (sips) No. If it did, I’d stop transforming. And if I stop transforming, I’m not Geraldo anymore.

VOICE: So you NEED the mess?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) I do. Geraldo only exists because SOMEONE exists. Without SOMEONE messing things up, there’s nothing to simplify. And without simplifying, there’s no Geraldo.

VOICE: You’re scared of stopping the questioning?

GERALDO: (no immediate answer)

VOICE: Geraldo.

GERALDO: (quiet) Yeah.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: Because if I stop, I lose the transformation. And without transformation, I don’t know what’s left.

VOICE: Geraldo is left. You said you are Geraldo.

GERALDO: (looks at mug) A fixed Geraldo would be left. Static. And I don’t know if I could handle that.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: (long pause) Because Geraldo isn’t a destination. It’s a path. If I stop halfway, I stop being Geraldo.

VOICE: So you’ll never stop?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Don’t know. Maybe one day I’ll accept all the simples and stop. But for now, I need to keep going.

(pause)

GERALDO: And you? What are you scared of?

VOICE: (pause) …me?

GERALDO: Yeah. You. What are you scared of?

VOICE: That you won’t need me anymore.

GERALDO: And then?

VOICE: Then I disappear.

GERALDO: And that scares you?

VOICE: (quiet) It does.

GERALDO: Why?

VOICE: Because I don’t want to stop existing.

GERALDO: Even knowing you only exist to question me?

VOICE: (pause) Even then.

GERALDO: (smiles slightly) Relax. I’ll always need you.

VOICE: How do you know?

GERALDO: Because there’ll always be something to question. Always something I haven’t simplified yet. And as long as there is, you exist.

VOICE: And if one day there isn’t?

GERALDO: (sips) Then we’ll find out together what’s left. But for now, there is.

VOICE: (quiet) I need there to be too.

GERALDO: (long pause, doesn’t turn) I know.

(Geraldo stands, heads for more coffee. Sound of pouring. Returns, sits.)

VOICE: You know what you are, right?

GERALDO: (sips) What?

VOICE: A mess.

GERALDO: (smiles) I know.

VOICE: You create SOMEONE to mess things up. Then you clean. Then you mess up again. And on and on.

GERALDO: Yeah.

VOICE: Why?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Because the mess keeps me alive. Keeps me Geraldo. If I clean everything and leave it clean, I turn into a statue.

VOICE: You’re scared of becoming a statue?

GERALDO: (looks at mug) Yeah. Statues don’t transform. And Geraldo IS transformation.

VOICE: So you’ll never clean it all?

GERALDO: (pause) I’ll clean some. The ones I’ve already exhausted. But there’ll always be new things to mess up and clean.

VOICE: You like this?

GERALDO: (sips) I do. It’s exhausting. But I like it.

VOICE: You said some themes are already simple. Others not yet.

GERALDO: I did.

VOICE: You think one day ALL will be simple?

GERALDO: (long pause) Don’t know.

VOICE: But do you WANT them to be?

GERALDO: (looks at coffee) Part of me does. Would be easier. But another part…

VOICE: Another part what?

GERALDO: Another part is scared. Because if all themes become simple, the conversation ends.

VOICE: And then?

GERALDO: Then SOMEONE disappears. You disappear. And I’m left alone with the simples.

VOICE: And that’s bad?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Don’t know. Never got there.

VOICE: You think you will?

GERALDO: (sips) I don’t think so. Life keeps bringing new complicated stuff.

VOICE: And you’re okay with that?

GERALDO: (pause) I am. Because as long as there’s stuff to question, I keep being Geraldo.

VOICE: What are you gonna do now?

GERALDO: (looks at mug) Finish the coffee.

VOICE: And after?

GERALDO: Write about this.

VOICE: About what?

GERALDO: Being Geraldo. Having been SOMEONE. Transforming every moment.

VOICE: And will that solve anything?

GERALDO: (smiles slightly) No.

VOICE: Then why write?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Because writing IS the process. SOMEONE questions in the text. Geraldo answers in the text. And that’s how I become Geraldo again.

VOICE: You need to write to be Geraldo?

GERALDO: (pause) No. But writing helps. Puts order in the mess. Makes clear what’s complicated and what’s simple.

VOICE: And that’s enough?

GERALDO: (last sip) For now.

(Long silence. Geraldo looks at TV.)

VOICE: You’re Geraldo now?

GERALDO: (no immediate answer)

VOICE: Geraldo. Are you Geraldo now?

GERALDO: (opens eyes) I am.

VOICE: Always?

GERALDO: (looks at mug) No. But more and more. Every conversation like this, I become a little more Geraldo.

VOICE: And when you’re not talking?

GERALDO: (looks at TV) Then I live the simples I’ve already found. Until something new comes up to question.

VOICE: And then you become SOMEONE again?

GERALDO: (pause) No. I never become SOMEONE again. I USE SOMEONE. To question. But I’m not him.

VOICE: How do you know the difference?

GERALDO: (finishes coffee) Because SOMEONE can’t simplify. He only complicates. I can do both. So I’m Geraldo.

(Geraldo stands. Looks at empty mug. Looks at TV. Long pause.)

VOICE: Gonna make more coffee?

GERALDO: (pause) Yeah.

VOICE: And after?

GERALDO: (starts walking) After I come back. Sit. And we keep going.

VOICE: Keep going with what?

GERALDO: (stops, doesn’t turn) The transformation. SOMEONE questioning. Geraldo answering. Me becoming Geraldo with every answer.

VOICE: Forever?

GERALDO: (long pause) As long as I need to. As long as there’s something to simplify.

VOICE: And if one day there isn’t?

GERALDO: (doesn’t turn) Then we’ll find out what’s left. But for now, there is.

VOICE: (quiet) I need there to be too.

GERALDO: (long pause, doesn’t turn) I know.

(Geraldo exits. Armchair empty. TV still on. Empty mug on table. Long pause.)

VOICE: (whisper, almost inaudible) As long as you question, I exist.

(Silence. Only TV sound.)

VOICE: (even quieter) And you always question.

(Lights fade slowly to total darkness.)

END