13 Doin' The Time in Corona

Doin' the Time in Corona by Rick Regan is a one-act play set in the California Institution for Women (CIW) in Corona, California. The drama is stylistically modeled on Thornton Wilder's Our Town, featuring a bare stage with only three chairs and a narrator, the Guard, who breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience.

The play follows a day in the life of three inmates as they share their stories, confront their pasts, and navigate their relationships with each other and confront their past.

The plot unfolds through a series of conversations. The women discuss the crimes that led to their incarceration, their backgrounds, and the societal pressures they faced. A visit from Sister Paulette introduces themes of faith, forgiveness, and intellectual engagement, particularly for Liz, who is researching Shakespeare. The play concludes at the end of the day, with the inmates in their cells, reflecting on their lives and finding a fragile connection with one another before the Guard delivers a final, somber monologue quoting Hamlet.

Major Themes

The play explores several significant themes through the honest and raw stories of its characters.

• Systemic Injustice and Prejudice: Both Unique and Phoenix tell stories suggesting they were victims of a biased system. Unique argues that as a Black woman, she is automatically presumed to be a criminal and that the police officer who witnessed her crime was prejudiced against her. Phoenix recounts being sexually harassed by a sheriff's deputy at age twelve, an event that led to her first time in juvenile hall, which she came to see as a place she was "supposed to go".
  
  
• The Nature of Crime and Punishment: The play questions the clear-cut line between victim and perpetrator. While all three women are convicted criminals, their stories reveal complex circumstances. Unique killed a man who was trying to beat her up. Liz acted out of rage and humiliation upon discovering her husband's infidelity in their home. Phoenix was arrested as an accessory while trying to protect her boyfriend. The play emphasizes the refrain "Do the crime, Do the time," while simultaneously challenging the audience to look beyond the convictions to the human stories behind them.
  
  
• The Search for Redemption and Human Connection: Despite the harsh environment, the women form a community. Their relationships are tense and fraught with conflict, but they also share their deepest vulnerabilities. The introduction of Sister Paulette brings a message of humility, service, and love. The play's final scene is a powerful exchange between Phoenix and Unique, where Phoenix offers love and support to a heartbroken Unique, who is struggling with her separation from her daughters. This highlights the possibility of finding grace and connection even in the darkest of places.
  
  
• Identity and Stereotypes: Unique repeatedly asks the Guard, "Do I look like a criminal to you?". She challenges the labels placed upon her due to her race, profession, and appearance. Phoenix, meanwhile, discusses the difference between being a "Chola Queen" and a "beef," a girl who doesn't respect herself, showing the nuanced social codes within her own culture. The play explores how these women grapple with their own identities versus the identities society imposes on them.

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Doin' the Time
in Corona
By
Rick Regan

The Guard is modelled on the Stage Manager in Our Town, breaking
the fourth wall, narrating directly to the audience. The set is
styled like Our Town as well, with only three chairs on a bare
stage.

The drama is simply hearing each woman's honest story of her life
and crime.

WOMENS PRISON - EARLY MORNING
Stage is bare, lights at half, with no set. GUARD walks on
down center. Lights go out, then after a second, lights come
up full.
GUARD
Morning folks. My name’s Joe. I’m a guard here. This
is the California Institution for Women in Corona,
California. We call it CIW and it is one of the
largest and most crowded prisons for women in the
world. It has a rated capacity of fourteen- hundred
but we’ve got well over eighteen-hundred at the
moment. But, California is a big state.
Guard moves down right, near the edge of the stage.
I guess I should show you around a little bit. It’s
just before sun up and most everybody is asleep. Over
here are a few cells for the recent inmates and
downstairs are the long timers. In the block behind
me, there is a cafeteria, library, workout room and
the exit to the yard. But we’ll see that later.
Right now the light is starting to come in the
windows and a few of our guests are starting to wake
up.
LIZ enters, bringing a chair and sits center left.
LIZ
Morning, Joe.
GUARD
(to audience)
Now that’s Elizabeth Hampton-Smyth. She’s a college
professor who tried to kill her husband. She has
fancy books in her cell, about Shakespeare, Milton
and Christopher Marlowe. They sentenced her to fiveto-seven years for attempted murder. She’s been here
for three.
(to Liz)
Mornin’, Liz.
PHOENIX enters, bringing a chair and sits in the center.
PHOENIX
Morning, Joe.
GUARD
Phoenix, how are ya?2.
PHOENIX
Same old, Joe. Same old.
GUARD
(to audience)
That’s Phoenix Ramirez. Sentenced three years, as an
accessory. Stolen car, drugs, weapons. She’s come up
hard. Been here eighteen months
LIZ
Good morning, Phoenix.
PHOENIX
If you say so, professor.
UNIQUE enters, dragging a chair and sits to the right.
PHOENIX (CONT'D)
‘Nique! Yo!
UNIQUE
Yo, what? Yo, what, huh?! Yo! Go get me some refried
beans, is all I’m saying.
PHOENIX
Huh! Nasty woman...
GUARD
(to audience)
That’s Unique Cameron. Two children left behind when
she killed a john who accused her of stealing his
wallet and tried to beat her up. His word against
hers but he ended up dead. She ended up here. Fifteen
years but she’s only been here for two.
A phone starts to ring.
RIIIIIIIINNNNNGG!.... RIIIIIIINNNNNGG! .... RIIIIIINNNGG!
LIZ
Aren’t you going to get that, Joe? That’s probably
the warden calling to say I’m free. Come on, Joe!
RIIIIIINNNNNNGG!
GUARD
(picks up phone)
Good morning, warden. What can I do for you, sir?
(listens)
Uh-huh.... Uh-huh.... OK. Right. Yes, sir.
(hangs up)
LIZ
What did the warden say?
3.
UNIQUE
He said they were having trouble with the gas chamber
so you gotta settle for the electric chair!
PHOENIX
Ha! Ha! Yeah.
GUARD
He said somebody is getting a visitor later.
UNIQUE
My girls? My girls coming?!
GUARD
He didn’t say.
PHOENIX
Yo, ‘Nique. Why you mad this morning? You didn’t get
to sleep in?
UNIQUE
Why am I mad? Me, mad? Damn, girl, look at you, and
miss-whitey too. You think you got problems. Damn!
PHOENIX
‘Nique, you’re not making any sense. What are you
saying?
LIZ
She saying that she’s black and we live in a society
that immediately presumes that she is a criminal.
Isn’t that it, Unique?
UNIQUE
Why do you HAVE to talk like a white-lady ALL THE
TIME? Can’t you sound street, for once in your damned
life?
LIZ
I’ll take notes from you.
PHOENIX
But what she said, is she right?
UNIQUE
You know she’s right. You look at me right now. Do I
look like a criminal? Huh?
LIZ
Well, you are a black woman, a professional
prostitute, I’m guessing three-hundred pounds and a
neck tattoo that says, Suck It.
4.
UNIQUE
I know, right? So?! So damned-what?! I look how I
look. That doesn’t make me a criminal. I have a
target on my back every day that I walk out the front
door. You wouldn’t understand. It’s a black thing!
LIZ
OK, I get it. You are conforming to a culturally
appropriate look for your community, urban AfricanAmerican, early-twenty-first century. And yes, if I
did that, I would be totally appropriating the hiphop look... and I’m assuming that’s a hip-hop look
but I am open to correction... And that would be as
inauthentic as me following the... what is that,
Latin-X ?... Cultural signifiers of Phoenix’s people.
I get it.
PHOENIX
But why the anger, Unique? You’ve got to do the time,
just like her, just like me.
UNIQUE
Why is it a crime when I defend myself?
PHOENIX
You killed that dude, girl!
UNIQUE
He said I stole his wallet. That joker just didn’t
want to pay. I took care of my business but he wanted
to mess with my business. I said, NO! He wanted to
slap me around, thinks he can be my pimp. Shoot, no!
I ran my own show. Had an online account, took
payments electric, you know. PayPal and stuff. And he
wanted to slap me down? Naw, he’s messing with a big
girl now. I showed that little chump who was going to
be the boss.
LIZ
You threw your weight around?
UNIQUE
You damned right! And he crumpled like a sack of
Fritos. But he hit his head and didn’t get up. The popo was watching from the door, him and his
sunglasses.
PHOENIX
Wait, the police man watched you do it?
5.
UNIQUE
Mister Punk-ass told him that I stole his wallet. He
told me he left his money in the car, and he was
going down to get it. I thought, well, he’ll just
take off - after I jerked his little weenie, but I
had a whole day scheduled with appointments. I
thought he was gone but he comes back with the police
and starts to try to slap ME around. Fuck that. I
turned him out like a rag doll and he hit his head on
the sink. With mister law man watching me do it. I
think he just wanted to see the john slap me down,
like I deserved it. But the Big Girl don’t play.
PHOENIX
Damn, girl. You killed that guy, right in front of
the police.
UNIQUE
Got to have a code in this world. He broke it. What
the badge should have done was arrest that weasel for
not paying me up, and for wasting my time. But no,
he’s got to put the cuffs on me.
LIZ
And you think he was prejudicial?
PHOENIX
What’s that?
LIZ
Already made up his mind. He was going to arrest you,
for one thing or another. He’s got to ‘clean up the
streets’.
UNIQUE
And he thinks black folk are the garbage that has to
get removed. That’s right. He was prej-u-di-shal. I
have to tell my jew-lawyer that.
PHOENIX
But they are just holding up their end of the deal,
‘Nique. Like Joe here. He’s got nothing against you,
not you personally. Right Joe.
GUARD
The state of California pays me to protect you
inmates, from each other, from the guards and to
protect the state of California from you inmates. If
you are here, you have been found guilty and been
convicted. That is my job.
UNIQUE
But, Joe! Do I look like a criminal to you? Do I?
Really?
6.
GUARD
Yes, Unique, in a California Correctional outfit, you
look like a convicted criminal.
UNIQUE
But what about on the outside? Do I look like a
criminal?
GUARD
Well, since you seemed to run a successful
prostitution business, I guess you probably looked
like, what a prostitute looks like. And with
prostitution being illegal in California, yes, you
would look like a criminal outside as well.
UNIQUE
Damn, man! You don’t understand at all.
GUARD
It’s my job.
PHOENIX
What about me, Joe? Do I look like a beef?
GUARD
A beef, Phoenix? What’s that?
PHOENIX
Joe, when I was on the outside, you know what I
looked like?
GUARD
No, Phoenix. A beef?
PHOENIX
A Chola Queen, baby! Living the life in LA. We were
gang banging and representing, East side, you know
what I’m saying?
GUARD
You lost me at beef.
PHOENIX
A beef is a Chiquita who’s trying too hard. A girl
has got to have style, got to have class. A girl has
to respect herself, not be all ‘push up my tits and
bounce my ass’. A beef is a girl who throws herself
to the dogs and gets chewed all to pieces.
LIZ
And you, Phoenix, with the gang-banging and
representing and such, you weren’t throwing yourself
to the dogs?
7.
PHOENIX
Miss Lizzie, I went to Juvenile Hall when I was
twelve. You know what for? For slapping the ice-cream
cone out of the hand of little boy from across the
road. They arrested me for that. You know why?
LIZ
No, Phoenix. Why?
PHOENIX
Because his uncle was a county sheriff and he wanted
to put his hand up my skirt. I was twelve! And he
would pull up in his sheriff car and say to me that
he wanted to ‘lick my sweet cones’, like a creepy
pervert. And he would say that in front of his little
boy, Hector. Then Hector says the same thing to me
and I slapped the ice cream out of his hand. Next
thing I know, I’m in with all the other Mexican
girls. I thought that’s where we were supposed to go.
I recognized girls from my school and made so many
friends. And Ramona, she had this brother, Benny. He
would come to visit her but I fell in love.
LIZ
At twelve?
PHOENIX
When I was fifteen and my mother was working all the
time and my sister was already married, I rode around
with Benny in his car. It was so beautiful! A deep
red Chevy, he kept is so shiny! And we would ride
around with the top down, through the neighborhood.
And his friends would come to the curb and that is
when I saw Benny dealing for the first time. But he
made SO MUCH money!
GUARD
And paid no taxes...
PHOENIX
And he wanted to start doing it with me but I told
him not until I was sixteen. Then, on my birthday, we
did it for the first time. My first time, not his.
And he told me we had to use a rubber. I didn’t know
what it was. But it felt so good to be doing it with
Benny!
UNIQUE
That’s how they get you started. Learned you up
right. Get you ready for tricking.
PHOENIX
No, it wasn’t like that. I have respect for myself.
8.
UNIQUE
Oh, and you are saying I have no respect for myself?!
Huh?! Is that it?
PHOENIX
Yo, ‘Nique! This is my story.
UNIQUE
(singing as Aretha Franklin)
R - E - S - P - E - C - T! That is what I need to
see. Yeah-Ahh! Uh-huh. Sock-it-to-me! Sock-it-to-me!
PHOENIX
Yo, ‘Nique! I’m finishing.
UNIQUE
Go on then.
PHOENIX
And one day, Benny comes in a different car, like a
Camaro, and he says get in. He makes a couple of
stops and makes some money, but the cops, they light
him up. He knows we’re rolling dirty so he hands me a
condom filled with the terrible-white and says, hide
this. So I do.
LIZ
Wait, you didn’t...
UNIQUE
In your va-jay-jay?! Aw hell no!
PHOENIX
When Benny stopped for the police they found the car
was stolen, and the gun and the money but no drugs.
Benny never put bullets in the guns because that’s a
lesser charge.
GUARD
Smart guy.
LIZ
And they hauled you in as an accessory.
GUARD
And when they did a cavity search?
PHOENIX
I couldn’t believe it! That sheriff lady, she put her
fingers right up inside of me! I felt so dirty.
LIZ
But she discovered the drugs and now here you are.
And Benny?
9.
PHOENIX
He had three priors so he went to San Quentin. I will
be out before him.
Telephone rings.
RIIIIINNNGG! RIIIIINNNNGG!
GUARD
(picks up phone)
This is Joe.... Uh-huh...OK. Send her down.
(hangs up.)
A woman in a Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy outfit, a nun,
comes in.
SISTER PAULETTE
Morning Joe. How are you?
GUARD
I’m good, Sister. Thanks. And you.
SISTER PAULETTE
Never better, Joe.
Sister Paulette walks across the stage and then back again,
looking at the three women in turn.
GUARD
(to audience)
This is Sister Paulette. She’s a nun and the
principal at the high school nearby. She comes every
Wednesday, to sit with the inmates, talk and even
pray if they want to. She doesn’t say anything about
it so I’d appreciate it if you would keep it to
yourself. Thank you.
LIZ
Hello, Paulette. Good to see you today.
SISTER PAULETTE
Elizabeth. Phoenix. Unique. And Joe. It’s good to see
all of you.
LIZ
Did... ugh.... Did you bring anything?
SISTER PAULETTE
Yes, Elizabeth. With a little pulling of strings, I
persuaded our librarian to bring in two books on
Christopher Marlowe for you. I hope you find them
useful
She hands the books to LIZ.
10.
LIZ
Thank you, Sister.
SISTER PAULETTE
And how is your research coming along?
LIZ
Well, I thought I was done with a new article for a
Shakespeare journal, re-evaluating the role of
Hamlet’s mother but I turned up an odd twist about
Marlowe that I think may bear some fruit.
SISTER PAULETTE
Hamlet, is it? I think we’re doing Hamlet in the
fall. Perhaps you could consult on our production.
LIZ
I would like that. I have a new way of seeing
Hamlet’s mother as the central figure in the story.
Instead of her being this guileless “female”
character, she is active as the head of state,
maneuvering out one co-regent for another. Denmark is
preparing for war and Hamlet’s father is a drunk and
wastrel as king and she realizes that they will be
overrun by the Hapsburgs if they don’t get their army
in shape. So she has the king killed and brings in
his brother, a competent administrator, to be the new
king. Hamlet is just a college student and is fairly
unimportant to the matters of state. It’s a fresh
view.
SISTER PAULETTE
I would like the students to have the opportunity to
visit you, here, and discuss their production.
Perhaps they could incorporate your, fresh view.
LIZ
I would love that! The young minds.
SISTER PAULETTE
But they will ask you why you are here. Are you ready
for that?
UNIQUE
Yeah, Miss Lizzie. How did you get here? I never see
white ladies like you in here.
LIZ
It’s the same old story. A cheating husband, fooling
around with a graduate student. I just caught them at
home is all.
(MORE)
11.
PHOENIX
You caught them doing it, in your own bed? That’s
cold!
LIZ
Well, if her being on her knees and him with his fly
unzipped qualifies as doing it, then yes, I caught
them doing it.
UNIQUE
That’s all it was, sucking him? Shoot, did she at
least get the ten dollars? I was doing that ten times
a day.
LIZ
No false advertising, I guess.
UNIQUE
I keep it real.
LIZ
And after I stabbed him with a letter opener, the
little tramp called 9-1-1 and used her phone to film
me stabbing him another eleven times. When the
ambulance got there, they had already seen it,
streaming on the web. But the bastard lived.
PHOENIX
But it would have been murder.
LIZ
My attorney said that if he had died then I could
have plead self-defense and the prosecutor wouldn’t
press charges. But the bastard lived.
SISTER PAULETTE
Would you feel the same if you had killed him?
LIZ
That would weigh me down. You’re right. But
I’d be weighed down - at my house, by the sea.
PHOENIX
If I found out that my man was getting action
someplace else and two-timing me, you can bet
I would have made sure he was dead. That’s
straight up.
UNIQUE
Yo, Refried, let me break something down for
you. Your man, Benny, he had a side-piece -
AND was paying tricks. I don’t know him in
particular, your Benny, but all the Bennies
are the same. Pushing dope to chase tail.
UNIQUE (CONT'D)
12.
That’s how the world works. Ain’t that right,
Sister Paul?
SISTER PAULETTE
Unique is right, Phoenix. Most of us are
slaves to our desires and if the opportunity
and the means are present, then we try to
satisfy those desires. Carnal or otherwise.
UNIQUE
You hear that, Wetback? She says I’m right.
PHOENIX
Yo, ‘Nique, don’t talk about my Benny like
that. You don’t know him. Miss Liz, did you
know your man was getting something extra? I
mean, you are a smart woman.
LIZ
There were indications. I suspected something.
But to see it brought into my own house. I was
humiliated and filled with rage.
SISTER PAULETTE
Perhaps your rage with your husband can
provide fresh-insight on the mind of your dear
Hamlet, to kill his uncle?
LIZ
My insight is that once the blood is drawn on
the blade, there is no more fear of more spilt
blood, for vengeance or re-venge. Once the
river is crossed, it is easiest to continue
on.
SISTER PAULETTE
But much harder to get back.
LIZ
But I didn’t kill him. And still I am the one
who is punished, here.
UNIQUE
Do the crime,
PHOENIX
Do the time.
LIZ
That’s right.
The telephone rings. RIIIIINNNNGG! RIIIIIINNNNNGGG!
RIIIIIIIINNNNGG!
13.
GUARD
(picks up phone)
This is Joe.... Uh-huh... Okay. I’ll send her
up.
(hangs up)
Inmate Unique Cameron, you have a visitor.
Please proceed to the visitation room.
UNIQUE
You hear that? I’m important! I have visitors!
Unique walks off stage.
GUARD
(to audience)
It’s a little later now. Sister Paulette is
gone. Unique is back. And the women have all
gone to supper and are now back in their cells
for the night.
Sister Paulette exits. Unique returns.
GUARD (CONT'D)
Evening is perhaps the hardest time in prison.
The light is fading and you know the long,
lonely night stretches ahead.
For Liz, she reads and researches for her book
on Shakespeare’s mother.
Phoenix writes letters, to her mother, to her
sister and to Benny in San Quentin State
Prison. Once a month she gets a letter back
from her mother.
Unique lies on her cot and daydreams of her
little girls. Sometimes she cries.
But every night, the discussion starts again
when it finally gets dark.
UNIQUE
Yo, Phoenix. Can you hear me? You there?
PHOENIX
I’m here. I’m still here.
UNIQUE
What did the holy woman say?
PHOENIX
Is that a joke?
(MORE)
14.
UNIQUE
No, Sister Paul. What did she say to you? I
went down to visit my kids.
PHOENIX
We prayed some. She read out of the bible.
UNIQUE
Anything else?
PHOENIX
Yes.
UNIQUE
What?
PHOENIX
She said that we should not be proud in our
faith but humble.
UNIQUE
What does that mean?
PHOENIX
It means that we shouldn’t stand on the
street, praying loudly and showing off how
holy we are. And that we should only have
pride in our work to serve others.
UNIQUE
Serve others? You believe that?
PHOENIX
It is what our Blessed Virgin of Guadeloupe
told Juan Diego, to go and serve others.
UNIQUE
Virgin? Girl, virgins don’t know anything. You
know that. It’s just some bull they tell girls
to keep their legs closed. Oh, go serve
others. Right! Go serve a man, you mean.
PHOENIX
She said that the natural way of the world is
that the strong prey on the weak, the rich
exploit the poor.
UNIQUE
She’s right about that.
PHOENIX
But that Jesus tells us that everyone is
worthy of love, not just the rich and
powerful.
PHOENIX (CONT'D)
15.
And we have to hold a mirror up to society and
say that we can make a better world. It
doesn’t have to be like this. The rich should
be helping the poor, not buying their own
private rocket ships as toys. She talks like
my mother, not about God, but about our
responsibility to the poor.
UNIQUE
I’ve been poor my whole life. Does that make
you responsible for me? I mean, I can take
care of myself.
PHOENIX
She said we must love, even those who hate us.
UNIQUE
Who hates you?
PHOENIX
Across the street, in front of my mother’s
house, the next gang over. I was strong and
proud in my gang, and they would kill me if
they could. But she says to love them anyway.
UNIQUE
Don’t you think that gang could find you in
here, shank you straight up, cold cock? They
already know you are here. Maybe they already
have the love. Maybe you’re the one who has to
let go.
PHOENIX
Me? I pray, on my knees, to the Blessed
Mother.
UNIQUE
Just saying that it sounds like you have to
let it go.
PHOENIX
This is coming from you, ‘Nique? You, the
woman with the ball of anger on your back?
UNIQUE
Oh, Phoenix, I saw my girls today. They are
growing up right out of sight from me. I
realized today that I am not going to be able
to be there for them. My mother has them and
they are doing OK, but it breaks my heart, you
know. They are so sweet and I am afraid for
them in the world.
16.
PHOENIX
Did your mother raise you right? Will she
raise them right?
UNIQUE
Shoot! I grew up thinking I had to walk the
corner and get in cars with men who drive by.
She was back at the apartment getting high and
turning her own tricks.
PHOENIX
Oh, no!
UNIQUE
But she’s better now. She’s got her life
together. She wants to bring up my girls
right. I’m no good mother for them, Phoenix,
and I’m going to be in here until they are all
grown up.
(crying)
I messed up. I messed up so bad!
PHOENIX
Maybe it’s the best way, now. You have a roof
over your head, clean and dry. You don’t have
to turn tricks in here. Use the time, that’s
what Sister said. Use the time to make your
own life better. Because God loves you.
UNIQUE
God never cared about me!
PHOENIX
Well, I love you. Let me love you. I will say
it. You are beautiful. You are worthy of love
and I love you. I love you, ‘Nique.
UNIQUE
After so long, I don’t think I can open my
heart. Is that a thing? To cold to love? Too
bad and messed up for love? Nobody every loved
me.
PHOENIX
People all around you that love you. But you
gotta let them. Even ol’ Joe loves you. He
loves you enough to stand here and watch out
that those gangbangers don’t come up in here
and slice me up. Because who would tell you
the stories if I wasn’t here? Hey? Just a
little bit, know that I care if you are there,
if you are here, if you are with me, every
day. Is that enough?
17.
UNIQUE
I don’t know. You think Miss Lizzie loves me
too?
PHOENIX
Oooohhhh, I don’t know. After stabbing her man
a dozen times, I don’t know if she has any
love for anybody. She wears herself out
reading and writing all night and all day.
It’s like she’s working just to get away from
her own demons insider her. You know what I
mean?
UNIQUE
Yeah, like she’s got the devil inside of her.
Maybe she doesn’t have room to love me yet.
PHOENIX
Maybe. Yet, but give her time. Give her time.
UNIQUE
OK, Refried. Good night.
PHOENIX
Good night, Unique. I love you.
UNIQUE
Thank you. Sweet dreams now.
The lights dim and Guard comes forward again.
GUARD
(to audience)
To sleep, perchance to dream,
ay, there's the rub,
for in this sleep of death
what dreams may come?
What dreams, indeed. And so we close another
day, into the night, and welcome the morning
once again. Goodnight.
END