Chinese and English version
Me, _____. (Intentionally left blank.)
[First there are sounds. Sounds of a busy street, and of people talking in different languages. None of the conversation can be heard clearly. Then the lights come up, at first bright and pigmented like the traffic lights, then gradually dull down to a cosmopolitan white. Two actors are seen on stage the same time the lights came up. They are both of ambiguous ethnicity, long hair, causal clothes with no clear indication of gender. They walk around the stage as if walking on a regular street, but each within their half of the stage. When the lights finished shifting, they stop center stage, facing each other, like two sides of a mirror. They look exactly the same, but with slightly different posture.]
Actor 1: Are you a girl?
Actor 2: I’m not sure. I don’t think so.
Actor 1: Are you a boy then?
Actor 2: I don’t want to be that either.
Actor 1: So you prefer gender neutral pronouns? Like They/Them? Or one of the fancy new words that people have come up with? Xe? Ze?
Actor 2: Those all sound…unnatural. Like I’m trying too hard.
Actor 1: What pronoun do you want people to use when talking about you then?
Actor 2: 我希望人们在称呼我时能够就说，他，或者她，而不会在心里自动加上相对应的偏旁。反正这两个词说出来都是一样。
Actor 1: But there’s no word for that.
[A beat. Both actors raise one of their hands towards the middle, as if caressing an unseen glass wall. Their hands overlap but aren’t touching.]
Actor 2: Do you like girls?
Actor 1: Yes, sometimes.
Actor 2: Do you like boys?
Actor 1: Yeah, some of them.
Actor 2: What about someone who’s not a boy or a girl, someone like you?
Actor 1: I think I do?
Actor 2: What would you call yourself then?
Actor 1: I’m not sure. Maybe pansexual? Do you think that’s what you’ll be comfortable identifying with?
Actor 2: 但是中文里只有同性恋和异性恋的区分，没有词汇可以准确的定义任何其他的取向，除非你新组成词组去形容。
Actor 1: Oh.
Actor 2: 我没有足够的词汇形容自己。
[A beat. Both actors raise the other hand towards the middle, repeating the movement.]
Actor 1: But I’m still me, with or without the words to define or justify.
Actor 2: 我也只可能是我自己。
[Lights slowly turn back into a resemblance of bright-colored traffic light. The two actors slowly lean in towards each other as if heading for a kiss. Blackout.]
English translation
Me, _____. (Intentionally left blank.)
[Note on translation: In Mandarin, the pronouns He and She have the same pronunciation. Though the two are spelled differently in written form, both are pronounced Ta when spoken. In the original script, the third person pronoun is written in both male and female forms, 他and 她. In translation the third person pronoun is translated as Ta, since using any other would have defeated the purpose.]
_____________________
[First there are sounds. Sounds of a busy street, and of people talking in different languages. None of the conversation can be heard clearly. Then the lights come up, at first bright and pigmented like the traffic lights, then gradually dull down to a cosmopolitan white. Two actors are seen on stage the same time the lights came up. They are both of ambiguous ethnicity, long hair, causal clothes with no clear indication of gender. They walk around the stage as if walking on a regular street, but each within their half of the stage. When the lights finished shifting, they stop center stage, facing each other, like two sides of a mirror. They look exactly the same, but with slightly different posture.]
Actor 1: Are you a girl?
Actor 2: I’m not sure. I don’t think so.
Actor 1: Are you a boy then?
Actor 2: I don’t want to be that either.
Actor 1: So you prefer gender neutral pronouns? Like They/Them? Or one of the fancy new words that people have come up with? Xe? Ze?
Actor 2: Those all sound…unnatural. Like I’m trying too hard.
Actor 1: What pronoun do you want people to use when talking about you then?
Actor 2: I just wish people would have said, Ta, like the Chinese word for singular third person pronoun. The word is pronounced the same anyways, without any indication towards masculine or feminine.
Actor 1: But there’s no word for that.
[A beat. Both actors raise one of their hands towards the middle, as if caressing an unseen glass wall. Their hands overlap but aren’t touching.]
Actor 2: Do you like girls?
Actor 1: Yes, sometimes.
Actor 2: Do you like boys?
Actor 1: Yeah, some of them.
Actor 2: What about someone who’s not a boy or a girl, someone like you?
Actor 1: I think I do?
Actor 2: What would you call yourself then?
Actor 1: I’m not sure. Maybe pansexual? Do you think that’s what you’ll be comfortable identifying with?
Actor 2: But there are only words for gay and straight in Chinese. There are no words specifically for any other sexualities on the spectrum, unless you create a new phrase with a bunch of latched-on adjectives.
Actor 1: Oh.
Actor 2: I don’t have the word for describing me.
[A beat. Both actors raise the other hand towards the middle, repeating the movement.]
Actor 1: But I’m still me, with or without the words to define or justify.
Actor 2: I can only be me.
[Lights slowly turn back into a resemblance of bright-colored traffic light. The two actors slowly lean in towards each other as if heading for a kiss. Blackout.]
