Thursday, April 2, 2009

Vacations of Mortality

Narrator: (step forward) Southern Florida. Where Puerto Ricans come to live and rich Caucasians go to die.

Enter four girls wearing big sunglasses and brightly colored beach outfits. They all strike poses looking pleased with themselves

Girl 1: Hey that’s my shirt!

Girl 2: Are you serious? I’ve had this shirt since I was six!

Girl 3: You must have been a really…developed 6 year old.

Girl 1: (to Girl 2) Ha! She agrees with me

Girl 3: No. No. I was just noticing…

Girl 4: Oh god guys, shut up.

(Elderly woman enters. Girls immediately pose like choir girls)

All Girls : Hi grandma!

Grandma: Want some cookies?

Narrator: ((Everyone freezes and the narrator steps picking up the cookies) Expiration date… Feb. 1993 (pats grandma) Expiration date…soon

Girl 1: (Everyone unfreezes- grandma hobbles around mumbling- the girls pose again)This house smells like death.

Other Girls: Shhhhh!

Girl 1: They can’t hear me anyways!

Girl 2: (picks up cookies) Why doesn’t grandma ever throw anything out?

Other Girls: (shrug) eh.

Girl 3: It helps with our beach diets! (They all pose clutching their stomachs)

Narrator: (Girls unmoving) If you remembered Germany 1943 you might not throw out cookies either. If you remembered a time when even 15 year old cookies were a delicacy you would keep old Fig Newtons. If there was a time when people threw stones at your back because you were Jewish, if you had almost been denied passage to America because of your terrible eyesight, if any of these images survived in your mind, rising like the wafting smell of ink off a fresh pressed newspaper- then you might keep the cookies.

(narrator step back. Grandma enters carrying an especially large box. Topples over)

Girl 2: (Takes off sunglasses) Grandma. Let me help you. (Other girls come over to help)

Grandma: (kisses Girls 2 on the cheek and then pats her head) Thank you Fanny. (Hobbles away)

Girl 2: That’s my mom’s name.

To be old is a terrible, terrible thing.

Girls: To be old is a terrible, terrible thing. (Link arms and walk off)

1 comment:

Followers

Blog Archive

this blog is where we'll post play submissions for the 2009 two-minutes play contest as soon as we start receiving them. readers will read and rate the plays, and based on those ratings, we'll narrow down the submissions to a final group. each play must be read by at least three readers.