Trickle-song

        by Lewis Lacook

dark stage; pensive songs of crickets
enter WATER, humming to herself

WATER:
My infinite flexibility skips lithely across
The tides of my dance.
I dribble onto my abundance.
The swell of my laugh gurgles to my abundance.

enter CUP, talking plainly

CUP:
I'll agree that you're magnificent
If you don't fall flat on your face.

the CHORUS laughs

CHORUS:
Don't be fooled by old Cup's
Barbs. He's been waiting for her
All day. He has nothing to occupy him.

WATER:
moving closer to CUP, groping as if blind
My small voice foams over into curls of distance;
Distance eddies around my small voice.

stroking CUP'S face, sighing

CUP:
I've never liked that hollow feeling that comes
When I fall over.
And now it's gone!
embraces WATER
Something spills from me now...

stage slowly going from dark to gray

CHORUS:
Look! It's morning again! Now sing!

curtain






excerpt from

The Slipper Years

        by Julian Danquah

Tyrus McAvoy, newly elected President of the British Slipper Foundation, is addressing an International Slipper Convention on the need to heighten the public profile of the slipper.
He wears an immaculate three piece business suit and a pair of royal blue all-terrain brocade slippers (his own design).

Chorus: a group of children of all nationalities wearing a wide variety of slippers.

TYRUS:
When a man grows tired of slippers, dear friends,
The world grows tired of him
Without these humble comfy shoes
Our lives would soon grow dim.

CHORUS:
As night draws in and dusk descends
And the candle smokes and flickers
We raise our eyes to heaven in prayer
And thank God for our slippers.

TYRUS:
For far too long this proud footwear
Has been ignored, reviled
The time has come to tell the world
Slippers must be re-styled.

CHORUS:
There’s nothing better in our lives than
A cup of tea and kippers
But these delights amount to naught
Without a pair of slippers.

Dying to Meet You

        by Jules Horne

The gates of heaven. A high-ranking angel, Arch, meets a newcomer, Molly.

Arch:
Welcome to heaven.

Chorus:
Mind where you go. Don’t walk on the clouds.
Tune your harp sweetly and don’t play too loud
After ten. And then: Pray. Now’s a new day.
You’re dead, buried. No need to be worried.
It’s a beautiful, it’s clean.
Hallelujah!

Arch:
You’re supposed to break it gently.
I’m sorry, Molly. Lie down in the crying room.

Molly:
Cry? I’m laughing.

Arch:
I don’t understand.

Molly:
When I died it went right for the first time in years.
When I died it went fine. I said boo to my fears.

Chorus:
And your dreams.

Molly:
Those terrible dreams.

Chorus:
Those beautiful dreams.

Molly:
Those nightmares.

When You Dream

        by Patricia Lamb Amoroso

Daddy stands stage right and Son (Chorus) stands stage left, facing each other.

Daddy:
It's his house now where you live and where you call it home.

Son:
It's his house where I have a room that I call my own.

Daddy:
I used to be the one you'd watch to see how men behave.

Son:
I used to like to watch you as you'd lather up and shave.

Daddy:
You'd jump on me in bed to wake me up to play a game.

Son:
Now when I toss the ball around, he catches all I aim.

In unison
Daddy:
There's one thing I must ask, though he took my place it seems,
do you still call me Daddy when you dream?

Son:
There's one thing I should tell, though he took your place it seems,
but I still call you Daddy when I dream.

The Toy

        By Mike Ingles

Stage right: A Grandmother rocks gently on an old wooded rocker. She is holding a Photo album.
Stage left: The choir hums softly.
Center stage rear: an image (or preferably) images of photographs taken in the 1970's of a child at play with her baby-doll and stroller.
A child runs from stage left to stage right and jumps on her Grandmothers lap. The Grandmother lays the child's head on her shoulder and once again opens the photo album.

Grandmother:
Sweet child can you see
This picture of your Mommy and me
And this her favorite toy
A memory taken so long ago
When grass was sweet and spring still
She loved this baby so.

Chorus:
A memory taken so long ago
How she loved this baby so

Grandfather:
enters stage left; he is pushing a toy baby stroller
Come to see what I've found
In the attic under a brides gown
This was your mommy's favorite toy
he takes the baby doll from the stroller
She loved this baby so, just a life's moment ago
Dear child please take care, your mommy's life we share

Chorus:
This special gift of love
They offer from an attic above
All our love.

RESISTANCE

        By Barry Binger

Woman dressed in Wall St. type suit. Man wearing jeans , t-shirt, sunglasses, and long dreadlocks.

Chorus:
Man, why you let the thing grow so long?
Just because you wanna sing your own song
Don't you know they'll even drop the big bomb?

Woman:
Well, Is it real?

Man:
As real as yours.

Woman:
Is this in anyway connected to a religion?

Man:
This mighty spiritual being don't need no religion.

Woman:
And do you wash it?

Man:
With water and much shampoo.

Woman:
How do you sleep?

Man:
LIke a baby, I lay down and close my eyes.

Woman:
Why do you grow it so long?

Chorus:
They took everything away
Insist that I wait and pray
I say no way
Gonna grow dreadlocks my way

The Ballerina

        By Adrienne Williams

Woman wearing a gray business suit walks purposefully across empty stage carrying a briefcase, the only sound is her heels clicking.
She stops, looks at her watch, as if waiting for a bus or train. Her hair is pulled tight into a bun, she wears a pair of black reading glasses low on her nose.
She is a “no nonsense” type. She has sold out her dream of being a ballerina and forgotten her imaginative childhood.

Enter girl, 9 or ten years old wearing a ballet costume with pink tutu and tiara.
The girl represents the woman’s abandoned dreams. She dances across stage to music box music.
Dances around woman. Woman ignores her and checks her watch.

The chorus consists of a choir of 9 and 10 year old children dressed in white. They represent the imagination and magic of childhood.

Chorus:
Ballet girl, magic girl, please don’t forget
The worlds that you visited
The fairies you met
You rode on dragons once,
You were a queen
Don’t forget what you are
Don’t lose your soap bubble
Ballet girl dreams

Sounds of train arriving and crowd. Crowd is very anonymous and seething.
Woman is the only one whose face you can see. She sits on a bench, down center as if sitting on a train. Stares straight ahead, face blank.

Enter boss and client. They stand on either side of her on the bench.
Their song is discordant, loud, and brayingly metallic. They sing at her at the same time. Getting louder and louder with their demands.
As they sing, they stop her ears with cotton. Blindfold her. Spread a veil of black gauze over her.

Boss:
Report due tomorrow morning
No lunch allowed
You stand out to much,
We don’t like that here
Not in touch with corporate culture
Don’t make waves
Make your face a blank
You’ll thank me
For it
Downsizing you know

Client:
Not what I wanted
This isn’t what we agreed
Not the price we’ll pay
Your competitor’s better
Why has this gone to seed

Station is announced. Sounds of crowd. Woman gets up and walks off stage, slowly zombie like.
Boss and client mime their continued ranting. Lights go black except for spotlight in center of stage.
Little girl is dancing to music box music which is abruptly cut off before last phrase ends with the sound of a record ripped off the player, needle scratching across it..

Lights out.

Up the Flu

        by f bonzo moretti

CHORUS:
Nose and throat and mouth and belly,
Moan and stare at the witless telly.

MAN:
sitting on couch, head in hands
Why is this happening to me? This is a drag.

WOMAN:
standing and glaring down at man
You should have fixed the chimney last year.
I told you then, but you were too lazy no wonder you’ve caught cold.

CHORUS:
Chim-chimimy chim-chiminy
Chim-chim-cheree
It’s sometimes quite mean if you say what you see.

MAN:
looking up, anger replacing misery
We were broke. I am no mason, Mary Beth.

WOMAN:
singsong and mocking
Poor baby! Not as if you did anything else, you worthless ape!

MAN:
rises and takes hold of wife
I’ll fix that!
Herman moves to stuff Mary Beth up the chimney

WOMAN:
No, Herman! NO!

CHORUS:
There goes Mary Beth,
There goes Mary Beth,
Right up Santa Claus Lane.

Bad Movies

        by Praisegod Barebones

LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
sententiously, brandishing a long staff
Our gods will by silver and by electron.
Praise the will of our gods!

CHORUS:
reverently
Praise Mercury! Praise Hermes! Praise Priapus!

OSKARIPUS:
I am happy. I am by myself.

MADOISELLA:
I am so unhappy. I am very shallow.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
In the heart’s shadow these two breathe together and, so conspiring,
bake the bread of life.

MADOISELLA:
I will be happy if Oskar loves me.

OSKARIPUS:
I think I love Maddy. I am confused.

CHORUS:
Brew the brew!
Let the rivers break the island’s shores!

MADOISELLA:
Oskar loves me. I am happy. We should both die now.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS:
What tools these mortals be!

CHORUS:
Praise our gods!
Again,
Again,
And again!

Market Day

        By Helen Harvey

It's a bright Saturday morning, and a group of local children are wandering within the jolly hustle and bustle of the town square, where the weekly market is taking place.

Greengrocer:
Who will buy my fruit and vegetables?
Freshly picked
The season's best

Fishmonger:
Caught for you this very morning
The fruits of the sea
Are yours to buy

Chorus:
Sun-ripened harvest
Mother Nature's bounty
It is all here
For us to buy
Delicious choices
From which to choose

Baker:
Straight from my ovens
This crusty bread
Who can resist taking a loaf home?

Butcher:
Organic and corn-fed from my own farm
Chicken, pork, beef, and lamb
None better for your Sunday lunch

Chorus:
Sun-ripened harvest
Mother Nature's bounty
It is all here
For us to buy
Delicious choices
From which to choose




top
next