An Evacuation from Earth
3 Act Play
Characters:
Bob……………husband 35 or so
Jean……………wife, same age
Jodie……………..daughter 14
Josh………………son 12
Connie……………lady in her 80’s
Tark………………a man 30 or so
Denise…………….a lady in her 40’s
Liddie……………..a lady in her 40’s
The set
is an airport terminal with chairs facing a large window that looks out to a launching area. In the wall to the audience’s left is a elevator with its doors closed. In the right hard wall is a wide door. The characters are dressed casually. Tark is standing while Connie and Denise are seated. Connie holds a white covered bible. The family enters from the audience’s right with the boy leading the way. He goes to the window. As the other three approach the seats, Jean hugs herself and shutters.
Jean
Brr.
Bob and Jodie stop
Bob
Cold?
Jean
Feels that way.
Bob
You’re not getting second thoughts.
Jean
No, no, I’m okay.
Bob
You sure?
Jean
Well, of course. I did all the planning didn’t I? I made the calls, and made sure we drank that polly what, what ever it was for two weeks. Of course I’m sure.
Bob
Okay, I just asked.
Jean
You don’t have to worry about me.
Bob
Yeah, okay.
They start walking again to approach the people at the seats
Jean
It’s just the freeze part.
Bob
The freeze part, didn’t we talk about that?
Jodie
Mom, you can’t have second thoughts now. We’re all ready.
Jean
I never said we weren’t did I? Wasn’t I the one that did everything?
Denise gets up from her chair.
Denise
You know you…no…oh, hello, I’m Denise. But, I heard you talking and I know how you’re feeling. I was like that too. So you just have to think of where we’re going and you’ll forget this part. It’s going to be a fresh new planet, clean air, fresh water, blue skies. You’ll see stars at night and hear birds in the morning. Think what its going to be like; no mask or oxygen tanks.
Connie
Oh yes, beautiful, blue skies again.
Tark
And it will be a new world where guys like me and your guy here will have an even playing field. No millionaires or politicians, people who got it all already. Now we’ll all be even, and you know it’ll be he pats his chest what’s in here that counts, not any bank account.
Denise
Oh no, no it will be years before there’ll be anything like a bank account. We’re going to be like way back when people first come to American. It’s a start over, and we’ll do it right this time.
Jean
A start over, I know. That’s what they say. A start over where we aren’t going to have anything. Nothing. Can’t have that extra weight. So how do we, how do we do anything. I mean, are we even going to thaw out?
Bob
Jean, why do you think of that now?
Jodie
Mom.
Tark
We’ll thaw out alright and then it’s starting over again; knowing how to start a fire, built a shelter, hunt, fish; it’s all in those survival books I hope you read. It’s a new start and we’ll be ready for it.
Connie
She holds up her white bible. I’m bringing my bible. That’s all I’ll need.
Tark
Connie, do you think God will know where we’re going.
Connie
Of course Mr. Tark. God will know where we’re going. He’s God isn’t he? And this She waves her bible
This will be all I’ll need even if they land us in a jungle of tigers.
Denise
No, Connie, dear, I’m sure they won’t land us in a jungle. It’ll be a field somewhere; a field of flowers and thawing out will be like waking up to beautiful morning.
Connie
Oh yes, Denise, you always picture it so lovely. A beautiful morning; I can smell the pines already; like the weeks I spend at my Grandma and papa’s lake cabin. In the morning, that’s when he air was so fresh, grandpapa handed me that old cane pole, and row us out on the lake. Gonna catch us our dinner, he’d say.
Denise
You see, it’s going to like, like, well like we only see on television. This part will be over in moments, moments and once we’re froze, you won’t know a minute has past before you find yourself thawing out and ready to live again.
Tark
Here’s how it goes. Picture it. Years ago when the sky was clear, and there were geese, people could see fleets of them flying south. They made a big V up there. That’s what we’re going to be. The head one will have the surveillance equipment, cameras, computers and the like. Could take a million, billion years, but we’ll all be froze and have no minds to count the …well wouldn’t be seconds, would it; something like centuries. He laughs.
Jean
Mindless in space, millions of years; counting the centuries like we’ll be in an ancient grave yard. I wonder if we really did think this out.
Bob
Like now? Two weeks of drinking Polly whatever, and now you wonder if we really thought this out.
Jodie
Mom, why do you want to ruin it?
Jean
No, you’re right. I have to get over this. It’s just the freeze part. No, no I don’t want you and Josh only see what it was like on television and then alife of video games. Dad and had a some of that world you saw; where you could go outside, have friends, play games. We didn’t know how wonderful it was until the change. There was so much and I do want you and Josh to have it. We’re going. I’m a little afraid of the freeze part, but, but I’ll get through it. Why don’t you go to the window with Josh and see what you can see?
Josh
There’s people down there. Bob, Jean, Jodie and Tark go to the window. The mother and dad along with their two children take up the space at the window. Tark stand behind the shorter kids. Denise walked over but stands behind. She does not try to look out. Connie remains seated.
Josh
They just come out from over there and they’re going in that door over there.
Tark
Yeah, that’s where we’re going to get froze. Ha, look, you see that puff of steam come out. That has to be the heat from somebody’s body. Ah, there’s another puff. Looks like it’s pretty quick. Oh, yeah now they’re coming out on that conveyor belt. He Chuckles. Knees up, they fold them. Those men over there, they’ll load them into the ship. That’s why it’s on its side. Once they fill it, they’ll turn it up to the sky and, yeah off we go.
Jodie
Oh no, they’re all naked. Naked mom. Ick, ick. Are we going to be naked when we get there?
Josh
No, Jodie. Look up where they’re loading them. See, they’re putting them in brown bags.
Tark
Oh yes, there’s the science of thawing out. It’s in the material. Once you’re thawed, you can use it for a robe like monks wear.
Jean
I hope it’s quick.
Tark
Quick? In two days we’ll pass the moon and in nearly a year the fleet will pass Mars. It will be nearly fifty years before we break out of our solar system. Sounds like a long time, but that doesn’t matter. We’ll all be froze and mindless. Time doesn’t exist without a mind. From there we’ll head to the Milky Way. That’s a dust storm of billions of suns and even more billions of planets. The ingredients are there and like a cook in a soup kitchen can tell you: what happened once can happen again. Ah, there’s the elevator. It’s time we get down there.
The elevator light lights up, the people look and they go in and the door shuts.
End of Act I
Act II
The theater darkens. On the stage is a large screen of the universe, stars everywhere, some larger than others, some brighter. It can be silent, the sound of rockets soaring up into space or some classical music can be played. This would last for up to five minutes or so, and then the stars disappear and the curtain opens to Act III.
Act III
The set is a field of tall grass and flowers, daisies and black-eyed-susans. In the grass are brown sacks which are the people in this play. There is movement in one, a poking out the material and a struggle. A head come out and it is Josh. He struggles to stand. As he does he finds that the sack is a robe with sleeves and a hood. He looks about, and mouths Wow. Shortly there is movement in another sack and with the same struggle, Soon Jodie is standing looking about with the same show of amazement.
Jodie
It’s like television.
Josh
It is and …and it’s real. Jodie it’s real.
Jodie
And everywhere and look, look a sky that’s blue, blue Josh and the flowers and trees. She opens her arms, swirls around and laughs.
Josh
He whirls around also and he laughs. Everywhere, it’s everywhere.
The two stop and look this way and that, pointing to one thing or another as four other sacks show the people inside have thawed and are pushing and pulling to get their head and arms out. It is a struggle, get their heads out, stand and find the sleeves.. One by one Bob, Lydia, and Denise’s head pop out. Tark stands before getting his head out, pulls his and his face is in the hood. He has to retract his arms and twist it around. Jean touches herself, face, hands, arms as if testing to see if she is thawed.
Jean
It’s like I just stepped into where they froze us. And now, I’m already thawed. But where’s Jodie and Josh?
Jodie
Right here mom.
Jean
Of course, who else could it be. I guess we all look like monks.
The group is silent as they look about in wonder.
Bob
It’s beautiful. The sky, everything.
Josh
Down there, is that a lake?
Bob
Oh yeah, yeah it is. All those pines; if I didn’t know better, I’d say we’re on a hill in Northern Minnesota.
Tark
Nice scenery, but we got a lot to think about. It’s a start over and we’ll have to survive, simple as that.
Denise
Why don’t we just enjoy it for now. And it is just like I said. It is. Connie did you see, Connie? Oh no, that must be her on the ground.
Jean
She isn’t moving inside. Shouldn’t she be? I mean we all thawed out.
Tark
She’s pretty old, eighty something. Maybe it was too much for her.
Denise
Don’t say that. I was the one who encouraged her to do this. She only wanted to the blue sky again. That’s all. No, no she’s just taking longer. Connie, Connie.
Jean
Maybe I should just shake her a little.
The group stand around Connie in her sack and suddenly there is movement inside. Then she poking out the material every which way
Denise
Oh good, she’s here.
Connie
Help.
Bob
I’ll help her up. He leans down and lifts her up while Denise pushes the material down for Connie’s head to come out. Connie shakes her head, finds the sleeve of her left arm and hand comes out. She struggles with getting her right arm in the sleeve.
Jean
What’s the matter, you can’t find the sleeve?
Connie
No, no. I’m just having trouble getting my bible out. Ah, ah there.
Tark
They let you take that bible? How’d you do that? We weren’t supposed take anything.
Connie
I just opened it up and he took it. I mean what use would money do me here?
Tark
A bribe; I wish I would have thought of that. I could have brought my survival book; maybe some matches. But that bible will be useful. We can start some fires.
Connie
Are you insane? I’ve had this bible since I was twelve years old.
Tark
Yeah, okay, Just a thought. Don’t worry, we’ll find ways to make fires. I was just talking. We got a long road ahead of us; gotta start thinking about what we’re going to eat. I don’t see anything here, but maybe flower seeds, lots of flowers here.
Connie
Daisies and black-eyed-susans. I use to pick bouquets of them with my grand mom on a hill just like this. You can’t eat them, but there could be blackberries around here somewhere. We’d come up on that hill and pick them too. She’d make grand-pop and me a beautiful pie. I can almost smell it now.
Tark
No, no we can’t be thinking about pies. We got to be realistic. This is survival. That lake down there; new planet like this, it has to be teaming with fish. I can go down there and maybe even catch them by hand.
Denise
I think I’d rather go swimming. Survival stuff can wait. Do you realize we’re out in the open breathing air?
Tark
We’ll need more than breathing the air. Ah, what’s this?
Liddie enters. She is a woman in her forties and dressed as a woman would in 1970, jeans and button down, short sleeve shirt, shoes and sock. She has a pocket knife with which she has cut some daisies.
Liddie
Hello. She waits for a return greeting, but the group only stares at her. I didn’t expect to see anybody up here. You’re ahh.
Jean
We just got here. We’re ah, we’re ah….here. She nods and smiles.
Liddie
She looks at the bible Connie hold. “Your robes, What religious order are you?
Tark
Religious order?
Liddie
Catholic, monks…I never met…
Connie
Catholic? Of couse not. Catholics? Lutheran.
Liddie
Lutheran? So am I. I wasn’t aware of, well the way your dressed. You much be in the American synod or another…we don’t.
Connie
No, the Miss….miss. stops and only stares at Liddie
Liddie
Misssouri, So am I. Well, I ah, I just never knew some dress like.. She stares at the bible. That’s funny, your bible; it has a big purple stain on it. That’s just like the bible I gave to my granddaughter for her conformation. She went and got a stain it just like that…eating blackberries.
Jean
Your granddaughter? You don’t look like you could be that old.
Liddie
Thank you. But I am. And she’s twelve already. She would have been with me picking these daisies and those black-eyed-susans. But Connie’s out fishing with grandpapa. He gave her that big old cane pole out they went.
Connie
As if in a trance Gonna catch us our dinner.
Liddie
Yes, how did you know?
They all look at Connie and he curtain closes.
end