Saffron Girls

Characters

Yalda. 17. the oldest sister.
Neda. 16. the middle sister.
Azar. 15. the youngest sister.
Shirin. 16. their cousin.

none of the girls wear hijab. as is their choice.

this is a small play.

this is a quiet play.
this is a family play.
this is a persian joy play.

A kitchen.

You can’t tell from reading this, but it smells like cardamom and pomegranate and saffron and rice. It’s a Wednesday.

Three raven-haired girls weave around each other to huddle around two steaming pots on the stove. A familiar dance.

A fourth raven-haired girl sits at a small dining table, legs crossed on her chair, shuffling a deck of playing cards.

There’s bickering and giggling and canyoumoveoutofmyway and don’ttouchthatit’snotready and making fun of each other Not In English.

Eventually, the youngest of the girls hops up on a counter to watch her older sisters square off by the pots. Her cousin continues shuffling the cards.

NEDA
I dare you.

YALDA
No.

SHIRIN
She’s not gonna do it.

NEDA
I triple dog dare you.

YALDA
What is this, middle school?

AZAR
What are you guys talking about?

SHIRIN
Don’t bother.

NEDA
Chicken.

YALDA
I’m making this for you too, you know?

NEDA
So?

AZAR
What’s going on?

YALDA
Just sit down. You’re gonna mess up the coffee.

SHIRIN
Please don’t mess up the coffee.

NEDA
I’m not gonna mess up the coffee.

AZAR
Why would you mess up the coffee?

NEDA
Exactly!

YALDA
Shut up.

NEDA
Chicken.

YALDA
Shut up—

SHIRIN
It should be done by now, anyway.

Shirin stops shuffling the cards. She gets up to inspect the pot, switching spots with Neda. A familiar dance.

NEDA
It’s just coffee. Who cares?

Making her way back to sit at the table:

SHIRIN
I don’t have to read yours, if you don’t want.

NEDA
I never said that.

Yalda snorts.

YALDA
Just shut up and drink it.

Yalda pours the coffee in to four small porcelain cups on top of four small porcelain saucers (these cups and saucers are probably older than all the girls collectively).

They all gather at the table to drink. The coffee is hot.

SHIRIN
When you’re finished, you put the saucer on top of the /cup—

NEDA
We know—

SHIRIN
And then you flip it towards your heart—

NEDA
We know—

Azar ignores her older sister:

AZAR
What would happen if we flipped it the other way?

NEDA
Literally nothing. None of this is real.

SHIRIN
Since when did you become such a cynic?

NEDA
I’ve grown.

YALDA
Into what?

But before Neda can retort:

AZAR
Finished!

She covers her cup with her saucer and picks them up.

SHIRIN
Make a wish.

NEDA
She knows—

Yalda smacks her.

Azar makes a wish as she flips the cup and saucer. Towards her heart.

Now, her cup is upside down on top of her saucer. It almost looks like a little hat. Yalda is finished next. Then Shirin. And last Neda.

They make their wishes and flip their cups and saucers. Towards their hearts.

YALDA
What did you wish for?

NEDA
Not telling.

AZAR
I wished for a boyfriend.

NEDA
Of course you did.

AZAR
You’re very rude.

NEDA
I’m sixteen. This is my personality.

AZAR
Shirin is sixteen too.

YALDA
Yeah, Shirin is sixteen too.

SHIRIN
Don’t involve me—

NEDA
You guys are so annoying.

They continue their bickering and giggling and making fun of each other not In English.

After a while, Shirin picks up Azar’s cup and saucer. She flips them right-side-up and starts inspecting the shapes in the coffee grounds.

AZAR
What was the dare?

YALDA
Huh?

AZAR
Before when Neda was like “I dare you” and you were like “shut up” and she was /like—

YALDA
It was stupid—

NEDA
It was hilarious—

AZAR
What was it?

YALDA
She wanted me to /pour—

SHIRIN
Do you see this right here?

Shirin holds out the cup so they can see the coffee ground shapes.

NEDA
… no?

YALDA
She wasn’t talking to you.

AZAR
What is it?

SHIRIN
Look. On the handle side. Right there.

AZAR
It’s a moon?

SHIRIN
A half-moon.

NEDA
I knew it. Azar is a were-wolf.

Yalda smacks her sister. Again.

NEDA
Ouch, that one hurt—

YALDA
Good. That was the point—

AZAR
What does the half-moon mean?

SHIRIN
The crescent means you have something happy coming in to your life. And anything on the handle side is related to your love /life —

AZAR
I’M GETTING A BOYFRIEND.

NEDA
Is that really your biggest goal in life?

AZAR
Dude. I’m in high school. I’m not about to cure cancer.

YALDA
Just let people enjoy things.

NEDA
Okay. I enjoy critical thought.

YALDA
You’re the worst—

NEDA
You love me—

SHIRIN
Anyway—

AZAR
ANYWAY— what’s that?

She points to a shape in the grounds.

NEDA
It’s a circle—

AZAR
It looks like a plate.

SHIRIN
It does look like a plate…

AZAR
What does a plate mean?

NEDA
Yeah, Nostradamus, what does a plate mean?

SHIRIN
I… don’t wanna say—

AZAR
Why?

YALDA
What does it mean?

A beat.

SHIRIN
Fighting.

AZAR
Fighting.

SHIRIN
Fighting. The dish means there’ll be fighting. In your home.

A beat.

And then they all burst into laughter.

NEDA
Maybe this magic stuff is real after all.

YALDA
I don’t think we needed magic to predict that.

NEDA
Shiri, do you think you can magic away the rain?

It’s raining.
Hard.
It has been this entire time.

SHIRIN
I—

NEDA
I’m joking—

AZAR
We could do a rain dance!

NEDA
No, thank you.

SHIRIN
I’m sure it’ll stop raining by tonight.

AZAR
It better. The fires are my favourite part.

NEDA
The food is my favourite part.

YALDA
Then why did you want me to ruin it?

NEDA
I just wanted to see if you’d do it.

YALDA
You’re terrible.

NEDA
You love me.

YALDA
Less and less.

AZAR
It wont be the same without the fires.

NEDA
No shit—

YALDA
Jamesh kon—

AZAR
It’s the first night! It’s just /not the—

SHIRIN
We can’t control the weather, azizam.

A pause.

AZAR
At least we have snacks.

NEDA
The best part!

YALDA
No. We’ll have fires.

AZAR
How?

SHIRIN
Yeah, how?

Yalda winks at her sisters and sister-cousin and leaves the room…

… only to come back with a handful of candles, and a box of matches.

NEDA
I don’t get it.

YALDA
There’s no rule that says how big the fires have to be.

AZAR
Candles.

YALDA
You have a better idea?

SHIRIN
I like it.

Beat.

AZAR
Fine.

They draw a line of candles across the kitchen floor, lighting them as they go. They stand together on the same side of the candles.

YALDA
Okay. Aziz, you go first.

Azar steps up to the candles.

AZAR
Sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to.

And she jumps over them.

SHIRIN
Sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to.

And she jumps over them.

YALDA
Sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to.

And she jumps over them.

NEDA
Sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to.

And she jumps over them.

Sorkhi-ye to az man.

Let your redness, your energy, your warmth be mine.

Zardi-ye man az to.

Let my yellowness, my tiredness, my problems be yours.

A kitchen.

You can’t tell from reading this, but it smells like cardamom and pomegranate and saffron and rice. It’s a Wednesday.

To be more specific, it’s the last Wednesday of the year: Chaharshambe Suri. The first evening of Nowruz, Persian New Year, celebrations.

Four raven-haired girls weave around each other, bicker, laugh, dance, and jump over fire.

End of play.