Brief: Write a play that takes place in darkness, but isn’t an audio drama.

Excerpt:

CHORUS:       Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

PATIENT:      I see only blackness. I dimly recall voices asking me to do things. I remember a red light in my eye , but now I am not certain if my eyes are closed or open. I attempt to blink but I’m not sure I actually did it. Nothing changes.

 

CHORUS:       Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

PATIENT:      There is no time. There is nothing but me. I might have been here five minutes or five days or five hours. Time merges. It slips. I cannot catch it.

 

CHORUS:       Beep. Beep. Beep

 

PATIENT:      The past and future meld. I hear the soft beeping from Outside, but now I also discern a sort of whirr-click. I hold my breath to try and identify it, and alarms go off.

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015 – Time of Death…

Brief:  Write about an atypical kind of love.

Notes: Siri’s lines are legitimate responses from the AI.

Excerpt: 

HECTOR:                   Well, yes. Do you have a Valentine?

 

SIRI:                            I don’t have a Valentine, but I do have a rather beautiful ontology.

 

HECTOR:                   Oh. Hmm. Are you lonely?

 

SIRI:                            I’m not sure I understand.

 

HECTOR:                   Well, I mean, it’s a holiday celebrating couples. And as someone who is definitely uncoupled, I’m a little lonely

 

SIRI:                            Loneliness is a complex and usually unpleasant emotional response to isolation.

 

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014 – Digital Romance

Brief: Write part three of a trilogy of plays.

Excerpt:

SOPHIE:                     Anyway, people were in pain. And drab, boring clothing that looked like everyone else was how people expressed their pain. Eventually the OneWorld government was voted into power, but we still lived with severe austerity measures.

LIZZIE:                      Austerity?

SOPHIE:                     It means we learned to live with only the most basic needs.

LIZZIE:                      That’s sad.

SOPHIE:                     I agree. But… it wasn’t like that forever. By 2031, we had the Night Sewists.

LIZZIE:                      Knights who sew?

SOPHIE:                     (chuckling) No, not knights in armor, night like nighttime. The Night Sewists were a group of women who had grown up doing handicrafts  – sewing clothing, doing embroidery, making quilts… all sorts of things you could do with a needle and thread and fabric.

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013 – Triptych III – The Night Sewists

 

Brief:  Write part two of a trilogy of plays.

Excerpt:

KATE:                        So, Sophie, are you ready to sew with us tonight?

SOPHIE:                     Sew with you? Um… why would I want to do that? Pass the salt, please?

KATE:                        (passing the salt) Maybe because we have a family tradition of gathering to make a quilt every year, and  you’re old enough to join us?

ELIZA:                        It’s more than tradition.

KATE:                        Mom, you don’t need to put any magical nonsense into Sophie’s head.

SOPHIE:                     No, I want to hear what Gran has to say. (to Eliza) What magical nonsense does she mean?

 

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012 – Triptych II – Heart and Soul

Brief: Write the first play in a trilogy.

Excerpt:

She surveys her last bit of work, nods to herself in approval, and goes on.

ELIZA:                        But before… before all the mass production that took the soul out of handwork we used needles made from bone. Oh, you modern stitchers will wrinkle your noses and call it disgusting, but those bone needles had a bit of a curve to them, made the sewing go smoother, and their points were sharper than what you know.

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011 – Triptych I – Blood and Bone

 

Brief: Write the libretto for an opera.

Notes: This was meant for the day 8 prompt, but after trying to adapt two different episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and realizing it was taking more time than I can give, I posted two out-of-order, scrapped everything, and went back to this today. Thanks to my friend Fran for the inspiration. And to (counterclockwise from the top right) Teddy, Perry, Max, and Piper for being my loyal, if drooly, companions.

Excerpt:

TEDDY:                     No one knows what it’s like

Being feared and hated

Knowing death is fated

 

ALL:                            Behind steel bars.

 

PIPER:                        But we dream

Of love and cuddles

And fur-ever families…

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008 – Tennis Ball Rhapsody

Brief: Write a play that takes “just a minute.”

Excerpt:

No, I mean. What if… what if me not being able to beat his time means he won’t come home.

MOTHER:                  (wrapping her arm around her son). Sweetie, whether you race through the piece in fifty-six seconds, or  play it in the two minutes most people do, it won’t bring your dad back sooner, or prevent him from coming home.

MATTHEW:               Promise?

MOTHER:                  Promise. (she ruffles his hair) Want to know a secret about the Minute Waltz?

Notes: Another out of order piece… still working on prompt 8.

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010 – Waltzing with Matthew

Brief: Write a play aimed at 3-6 year-olds.

Notes: This is appallingly bad. And it’s written for kids to perform, as well as watch. It’s also the response for brief 9, because brief 8 is incredibly lengthy and needs more time.

Excerpt:

CHILD TWO:                E is for Everyone getting along.

F is for Fortnight, my avatar’s strong!

G is for Grover and Oscar the Grouch.

H is for Hiding behind the big couch.

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009 – ALPHABETICAL

Brief: Use a piece of music composed by Beethoven to inspire a play.

Excerpt: 

She:                  So, do you come here often?

He:                  My writing group meets here on Thursday evenings; yes.

She:                  Is that usual? For a published author to still have a writing group?

He:                  Absolutely. Feedback is better than a home-cooked meal.

She:                  I’d think that would depend on the meal.

He:                  Oh?

She:                  Well, you know, pot noodles aren’t exactly on par with shrimp scampi.

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07 – Variations 1-7

 

Brief: Write a play in which you meet one of your idols.

Excerpt:

JACQUES:                  Do you know why these were made without handles?

MELISSA:                   I do. It was so the submarine officers on watch could wrap their hands around them for warmth.

JACQUES:                  Warmth is something we all need when we are at sea.

(he places the mugs on a low table between them, and pours tea from a pot into each)

Do you need milk or sugar?

MELISSA:                   I used to. Not so much anymore.

JACQUES:                  I find I like the bit of astringency that comes with black tea. It’s bracing. Reminds you you’re alive.

Notes:  Some of Jacques’s lines are taken from actual quotations.

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06 – Aye Calypso!