Content warning: racial discrimination and oppression.

Anonymous

CHARACTERS

NOELLE HARDISOHN: A 40+ visual artist, looking to make her mark
NINA HARDISOHN: Noelle’s early 20s daughter

SETTING

Noelle’s art studio.

TIME

The present.

 

 

Lights up.

NINA, a young woman, ferociously enters an artist’s studio space. There is art work in progress, leaned against walls. An easel with a painting in progress. And, shelves with supplies and such.

Nina is looking for something. She searches.

At that moment NOELLE, her mother, the quintessential artist enters…

NOELLE
Hey what are you doing here?

Nina ignores her and continues her search.

NOELLE (CONT’D)
What are you looking for?

NINA
Is this you mom?

Nina stops for a moment, opens her phone, finds what she’s looking for and practically throws the phone at her mother.

Noelle catches it…

NOELLE
What the hell!? //What is this?

NINA
//Read it! Read it!

NOELLE
“Anonymous painting sells for 1.5 million dollars.”

Pause.

NOELLE
(Under her breath) What the hell!?

NINA
Is that you mom (as she continues the search…)?

NOELLE
No.

NINA
Where is Surrender?

NOELLE
What?

NINA
Where is Surrender?

NOELLE
I sold it.

NINA
Such a liar.

NOELLE
(Hisses her teeth) Don’t call me a liar! What is this about?

NINA
Where is Seasons in Distress?

NOELLE
I sold it.

NINA
Again, you lie to me.

NOELLE
What the fuck!?

NINA
You tell me!

NOELLE
I sold them. That’s it.

NINA
Two of your best work.//You would have told me.

NOELLE
//Thank you.

She snatches back her phone.

NOELLE
Hey!

NINA
Is this you mom (She gestures with the phone)?

NOELLE
1.5 million dollars.

NINA
Are you Anonymous?

NOELLE
I don’t know what – who that is.

NINA
Hence, Anonymous.//You can’t miss it. It’s all in the news. It’s viral. I know it’s you. The same woman who screamed down my third grade Art teacher when she failed me in collage work, telling her she had a Frida Kahlo in her midst.

NOELLE
//Exactly. How would I know…? I don’t follow that shit.

NINA
I mentioned him// to you.

NOELLE
Him.

NINA
Well of course not him. Now. But I mentioned Anonymous to you when this whole shit started.// I knew it was you.

NOELLE
//Nina, you’re cursing at me.

NINA
Sorry. You know how much this Anonymous has amassed?

NOELLE
10 million dollars

NINA
Over 10 million dollars, Mom!

NOELLE
(Is that confidence?)I know.

NINA
Between all the local galleries. All the work.

NOELLE
I know.

NINA
What’s going on?

NOELLE
What’s the big deal?

NINA
What’s the big deal!? Is this where I call you stupid// 1.5 million dollars. Do you see this mom? (As she scrolls through the phone.)

NOELLE
//No! Look…

NINA
They are taking bets that it’s Jason Schmidt’s work.

NOELLE
That is not Jason Schmidt’s work (As she laughs to herself).

NINA
Notice he’s not denying it. His best work to date, they are saying.

She hands her the phone.

NOELLE
(Reading)“Reminiscent of his neo-expressionistic collage style.”

Nina snatches the phone back.

NINA
(Reading) “Visceral. With a flare of ethno-feminism. Attributed…,” get this, “…to his recent trips to Africa.” This is a white guy, mom. They think you are Jason Schmidt. Or that he is you. That he is Surrender. No fucking way! I was sitting in dirty diapers when you painted that.

NOELLE
Don’t be dramatic. You were five.

NINA
Still. Why mom? Why are you Anonymous?

NOELLE
Because… I don’t know –

NINA
– You know!

NOELLE
Because I’m sick of nobody noticing. That I exist. That painting is like breathing to me.

NINA
Then why Anonymous? You don’t even name them. The work. Untitled 1, 2, 3, …

NOELLE
The work isn’t anonymous.

NINA
The fuck it isn’t!

NOELLE
Goddamnit! Could you control yourself?

NINA
I don’t need titles. I see you in them. In fact, I knew it was you. I long suspected.

NOELLE
Nina, you know, they all said my work is bad.

NINA
Who said that? No one ever said that.

NOELLE
Well, not worthy of the fifty million submissions I made. I’ve got the rejection letters to show for it. Some didn’t even give me that courtesy. Fuck that shit! Not worthy of public display. Not like Greg Potomac. Caroline Sinclair.

NINA
Kara Vincents.

NOELLE
They are good. Excellent even. Fucking genius! I’m a fucking genius. Even if it’s in my own mind.

NINA
There you go! The chosen few.

NOELLE
I have submitted to Frankel’s. Studio 89. Roots. Carousel. And it’s one rejection after another. I’m sick of it. So I said, I’ll show them. So, I snuck into Frankel’s. I had been in there several times before. There is no camera in the side room. So, I hung out in the bathroom till well after they closed one evening… back in February… and after everyone left, I moved Potomac over and hung Seasons in Distress. I didn’t really expect anything to happen.

NINA
Seriously?

NOELLE
Seriously.

NINA
Mom, you got balls. Breaking into Frankel’s.

NOELLE
I didn’t break in. It’s not like I stole anything. //I went –

NINA
//Go on.

NOELLE
I went back in there. TWO days later, mind you. To Frankel’s. And there it was, still on the wall with a “SOLD” sticker underneath it. What the fuck!? I asked one of the – I asked Grace, I asked her about it. And she said it was some kind of mystery of how it got there. That’s what everybody was saying. Someone must of broke in. Some crazy person. And just as they were about to take it down… What they didn’t like it!!??, That’s what I asked her. And she kind of stalled. She said they didn’t really ever talked about whether they liked it. It was just that, how did it get there? You know, it didn’t belong there. And that’s what they were debating all morning, she said, and… a customer came in and just loved it. And bought it for $1,200 just like that, no question asked. So, I went back, hid in the bathroom again, this time with Love Triangle. And it sold. Then, I went to Studio 89…

NINA
And Roots.

NOELLE
Yep. And Carousel.

NINA
Mom, you’re talking over 10 million dollars.

NOELLE
That’s a lot of money.

NINA
Go get your money! Claim you. Noelle Hardisohn.

NOELLE
No. I kind of like being Anonymous.

NINA
Mom, are you kidding me? Doesn’t it strike you funny that they think you are white? That they think you are a man? That it doesn’t occur to them that you are black? I follow this shit. It’s months now. Viral! There is no discussion. It doesn’t even cross their minds. Are these folks buying it because they think it’s a white artist? Because they think it’s Jason Schmidt?

NOELLE
I don’t care.

NINA
Don’t you want them to buy it because it’s you!? For your black female-ness. Not some misappropriated bullshit!? I want them to buy it because they see my Haitian grandmama in Lonely Visions. That they see your ache of when my father died in Mari Mwen. Not Untitled #20 by Anonymous! I want them to know that Trancedental Suicides with historical text floating on black oil is your commentary on alone-ness in crowded spaces.

NOELLE
And I just want it seen.

NINA
That’s a lie, mom. From what I remember you wanted to send me to good schools// Have nice things. A back yard…

NOELLE
//I did that.

NINA
On a two dollar budget!

NOELLE
I got creative. (Pause) What if I go up there and say Give me my money. This is me. This is MY work? What if? Hmhm – And it stops selling?

NINA
Is that it, you’re scared?

NOELLE
Like I said, Is it really good or is it viral-locity? Yeah. I am terrified.

NINA
Why?

NOELLE
I don’t know and I kinda don’t want to know. Right now, I am electrified. I am liberated in anonymity. I am creating without form. Without an agenda. Without a persona. An identifier. The best thing is… (As she approaches Nina) I love that you see me in my work. That you see you in my work. Your grandmother. Your father. It says I gave you something. That I’m actually sharing something. That I can touch people. I like that Anonymous takes me to the core. To my soul. That I am connected to everyone and anyone. I don’t have to be black. I don’t have to be Haitian. I don’t have to be a woman. I can be gender-less. And if that is what you see, so be it.

NINA
Mom! That’s a bunch of bullshit! They think you are Jason Schmidt. An old white dude, Goddamn it! Experiencing his renaissance. And 10 million dollars is now added to his very white, male, net worth. Shut that noise and let’s go!

Nina pulls at Noelle to exit. She resists.

Lights fade.

END OF PLAY

 

 

 

About the Author
Sandra Daley-Sharif is an award-winning Afro-Caribbean playwright, actor, and educator currently serving as Professor of Dramatic Writing at SCAD University in Savannah, GA. As an OBIE Award winner and recipient of the Josephine Abady Award for promoting diversity in theater, her work consistently explores themes of identity, cultural heritage, and social justice. Her plays, two of which made the Kilroys List, have been finalists for prestigious awards including the Barbour Award and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference. With over three decades of experience spanning theater, television, and film, Daley-Sharif has collaborated with renowned artists like Suzan Lori-Parks and continues to push boundaries through her roles as dramaturg, director, and creative consultant. Her recent works include the Sloan-commissioned “Amma’s Wit” and “The Trial of Amos ‘n’ Andy,” showcasing her commitment to amplifying historically silenced voices.