Script
Synopsis Copyright 2014
EMPTY
STAGE
Four
characters are dealing with personal crisis. Iris is an extremely positive
individual, but life continues to treat her unfairly. Alice, rejected by
everyone she meets, can’t control her emotional outburst. Ryan is a brave soul
in small body. Karen is an overprotective mother who is losing her children to
the “ways of the world.” These troubled individuals turn to internal
philosophy, attempting to understand their trials. However, they fail to notice
each other, while they rant about the meaning of life. Despite their
self-centeredness, each character is affected by the other characters’ rants.
Eventually, the four become good friends and overcome their personal trials.
Here is a sample:
EMPTY STAGE
A Play in One
Act
by
Tamara Peachy
Cast
of Characters
Iris:
|
A fun loving woman with a secret.
---65.
|
Alice:
|
A fat, insecure female wresting with
rejection ---20’s.
|
Ryan:
Karen:
|
A skinny, annoying nerd ---16.
Mother figure, overprotective---
late 40’s.
|
Setting
Blank Stage.
.
Time
The early morning
Scene Synopsis
Act I
Scene 1: A blank stage. Blue lights
accent the room.
ACT I
Scene 1
SETTING: Empty stage
AT
RISE: IRIS is
standing in the middle of the stage.
IRIS
(full of joy)
I
love this day! It’s simply glorious. It's filled with beauty. Like a soft petal
of a flower touching my fingers. Today is glorious! I feel like a princess. I
want to dance. I think I will dance. Yes, I will dance and smile. Laugh. Oh, I
will laugh.
(laughs)
I
feel like cooking something. However, I don’t have anything to cook with. I am
surrounding by nothing. I can’t cook without food. I can’t cook without a stove
or a pan of some sort. I suppose since I can’t cook, I will dance. Yes, I will
dance.
(IRIS dances. Her movements are wild,
lacking grace, but full of freedom. ALICE enters with shoulders slumped.)
ALICE
He
broke up with me. Why? He had no right to say he loved me. He didn’t love me! What
is love? Is there any definition for love? Well, I know breaking up with a girl
isn’t love. That isn’t love. I feel so fat. I feel like a balloon full of air.
I don’t think anyone will blow me up again. I will always be fat with no air.
No air. Nothing. He gave me nothing.
IRIS
My
dear friend! Why hast thou been so sad? Can’t you see how glorious a day this
is!
(Blue lights switch to a yellow tint.)
ALICE
He
broke up with me. He didn’t even say he was sorry. He broke up with me in an
e-mail!
IRIS
What
is this terrible man’s name?
ALICE
Oh,
I don’t know.
IRIS
You
don’t know? You were dating a man and you didn’t know his name. That is absurd!
ALICE
(gives a loud wail)
What?
Why? Everywhere I go. Rejection. You don't like me either! Everywhere I go! He
broke up with me! Rejection everywhere. I’m going to hurt myself. No more pain.
My pain is super deep. Like way super dooper deep! It really hurts like a pan
hitting my head!
IRIS
A
pan? I need a pan. I wanted to cook something. I did. Just a moment ago! I
wanted to cook something, but had no pan. You just said "pan"! That
can't be a coincidence. How glorious this day is! I don’t have anything to cook
with now. Maybe we met for a purpose! You said, “pan” and it has given me hope.
Hope for the glorious future! I will find a pan!
ALICE
Didn’t
you hear me? I want to kill myself because the rejection is
sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad!
(whines lightly)
Oh
my soul. My poor heart. My belly. Everything about me is rejection. No one
wants me.
IRIS
I
will cook you a grand meal. A meal fit for a king. I will return!
(IRIS rushes off the stage right with
vigor. ALICE falls to the floor and weeps. RYAN enters stage left. His dress is
laughably nerdy. RYAN sees ALICE weeping and panics.)
RYAN
Oh,
I am. I am…. I am not good with girls. Even worse! She’s crying! A crying woman
can never be good. I am such a freak. I can feel my legs shaking. They are! My
legs are shaking! They aren’t standing still. They are shaking like a rattle.
Shaking like a scared person. Shaking! Shaking. How can I rescue this damsel in
distress, when my legs are shaking!
ALICE
Ugh!
Just get over here and hug me! That will be better than the rej….
RYAN
Oh,
I don’t think I am comfortable with hugging. Hugging could lead to a
relationship! I don’t think I’m ready for that!
ALICE
Rejection!
Everywhere. Everyone hates me! I’m not loved. Even the geeks hate me.
RYAN
(speaking as if just hitting puberty)
Geek?
You think I am a geek. I’m not a geek. I am a person. A person who deserves
respect. Yeah! Respect. I am not a geek.
(starts to orate without acknowledging
ALICE.)
Society
has made me a geek, but I am not really a geek! I am a powerful man. I might
not have much to offer. However, look at my belly button.
(shows belly button)
All
humans have a belly button, so already I’m a human. I am a human. I can’t be a
geek because I am a human! Humans can’t be geeks or life stops making sense.
(looks at bellybutton again)
Yes,
I am a human.
ALICE
(says to herself)
I
have a bellybutton too. Maybe I am not as rejected as I thought. Maybe I have
potential! No! It isn't true! I won’t hope again! Rejection is everywhere!
RYAN
I
am going to show my dad my belly button! Then he’ll know I am not a waste of
skin. I’m human. I have a bellybutton. That will show him!
(RYAN exits stage left)
ALICE
My dad hated me. Ever since, I was a
little girl, rejection. No one hugs me! That is why I am on this stage alone.
Alone in a vast space. A large space. Like a large stage without any players.
Rejection all around. Nothing to hold onto!
(ALICE releases a loud cry. KAREN
hears the cry and rushes onto the stage from stage right.)
KAREN
Becky? Is that you screaming?
(sees ALICE)
No, you are not my daughter. You are a
heathen! You’ve led her astray! I know that devil is everywhere! His spies plot
against me. Those vixen women! Those lustful men! I have been searching for my
daughter for over an hour now. God knows what she is getting herself in to!
Demonic oppression. Blasphemy. Wearing pants instead of a skirt. The vile world
CAN’T have you, my daughter! I am coming after you. To save you!
(KAREN rushes off stage left in search
of her daughter, Becky.)
ALICE
Typical. Someone come into my life and
leaves the next instant. She didn’t even introduce herself. Just enters than
exits. Oh what a world! Rejection everywhere. Even with a belly button.
(RYAN enters stage left, defeated.)
RYAN
(speaking to himself)
I couldn’t do it. I wanted to show dad
my worth! Make him see me for who I really am! But, I couldn’t even take two
steps forward. I couldn’t look him in the eye. I’m so skinny!
ALICE
And I am so fat!
RYAN
Excuse me! Could you be a little more
considerate? I am trying to have a personal monologue here! I am dealing with
some major rejection issues!
(ALICE rushes off stage right, weeping
like a little girl.)
RYAN
Women are such a mess! At least, I’m
not a woman. I’m a man! A man! My dad should know that I am a man, not a
female. That’s right! I’ll show him I am a man. Not a girl. That will prove
that I am worth something! I’ll go there. I’ll go home and show my father who I
am! I’ll prove it! I’ll show him. I am a man!
(RYAN exits stage left. IRIS enters
with a pan.)
IRIS
I found a pan. Isn’t that glorious! I
found a pan that I can use to cook. All I need now is the food and some fire.
Yes, food will be provided. I know the world will direct me to find some food.
It is written in the stars! Everything happens for a reason. What a glorious
day! Filled with beauty and love! I love my life! I love life. I love life!
(looks up toward the skies)
Maybe the food will fall down from
above. Maybe my food will come floating down like a dove. Food to feed the
world.
(ALICE enters stage right with
shoulders slumped.)
ALICE
I ran away from the skinny boy. I
expected him to follow me. I thought “playing hard to get” would work.
Certainly, he would see me in my distress and come running after me. No! Why
would that work? Rejection follows me everywhere!
IRIS
(still looking toward the sky)
Certainly, food will come from above.
The skies will reign down provision!
(waits for a moment)
Any minute now.
(waits for another moment)
Any minute now, it will come. Food
from the heavens.
ALICE
Heaven? Is there a heaven. If there
were a god, he or she would reject me! Rejection follows me everywhere. I know.
I know the trap of heaven. We love you! Oh wait! We don’t. Goodbye!
IRIS
Food from heaven! I’m sure God wants
to provide, but there’s something wrong! Something that is closing the gates of
heaven. No food can come, until I make things right! I will find this injustice
and stop it! Then food from heaven will come! Everything happens for a reason!
(IRIS
tramps off stage left. ALICE wails.)
ALICE
I’m right here! Can’t you see me!
Injustice! Injustice! I suffered injustice! He broke up with me through an
e-mail! Such injustice! I am rejected everywhere I go! End that injustice!
(RYAN enters like a stereotypical
hero)
I can end injustice! I see you! I hear
your cry. I will save you from your condition. Will you go out with me!
ALICE
(looks RYAN up and down)
Well, you aren’t what I had in mind,
but I guess I could date you.
RYAN
(offended)
You guess? That’s offensive! I’m not
what you had in mind!
ALICE
Nevermind! I’m leaving! I just saved
myself some real heartache. You just want to be a hero, but you don’t want to
be heroic. You’ll break my heart like all the other jerks. Rejection follows me
everywhere!
RYAN
I know about rejection. You aren’t the
only one who has faced rejection.
ALICE
Trust me! No one knows rejection like
me. Others might experience rejection, but not to the degree I did! He broke up
with me over an e-mail!
RYAN
Wow! That is heartless. Come on. Let’s
go out to eat. You and me!
(IRIS enters stage left with
strength.)
IRIS
I have food. I have fish! They just
appeared! Can you believe my luck? God is guiding me! Life has purpose! Life
means something. I am loved. Beyond belief. I am loved.
RYAN
(trying to be polite)
Alice and I were planning a private
meeting. Like a date.
IRIS
I wasn’t speaking to you specifically!
I am just celebrating my find. Food from heaven. Please, don’t let me bother
you. Go! Have fun! Date. I will enjoy this food from heaven. Everything happens
for a reason.
(RYAN and ALICE look at IRIS as if she
has lost her mind. They exit stage right.)
IRIS
I am blessed! Food from heaven. I
don’t know if I can even eat it! It is too glorious! Provision from heaven. How
do I handle such glory!
(KAREN enters stage left. Still hasn’t
found her daughter. Listening to IRIS gives her hope.)
IRIS
CONT.
God is to be praised! I have found
miracle bread. Bread from heaven. God is a provider. He loves His creation and
I love Him!
KAREN
(approaches IRIS)
You must be holy. I am so glad I found
you!
IRIS
(doesn’t
acknowledge KAREN)
The God of heaven sent me bread. Bread
to enjoy all the days of my life! He is glorious. This day is glorious.
Everything is falling into place!
KAREN
Excuse me. Have you seen my daughter?
IRIS
(still
unaware of KAREN’S presence)
Glorious. Heaven above comes to earth!
This day is more glorious than ever! It will never get better than today. The
day God gave me manna!
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