I'm one of those strange teachers who actually enjoys working with middle-schoolers. And I see as one of my prime missions to offer experiences that will empower the children to take their innate playfulness and wild imaginations along with them. A ten-year-old's ability to step right into a "what if?" situation is a precious skill. And I'll be darned if I'll let them toss their creativity aside because of peer pressure.
The one-semester course I designed (and then constantly worked to improve upon) had both individual work (as in preparing and performing a monologue), lots of improvisation and theater games, and culminated in staging an original play. The first year we had a sixth grade, I picked an agreeable version of Alice in Wonderland. We had fun both in rehearsing and in performance. But I noticed something strange. The children playing these known and loved characters often seemed uncharacteristically tense and a bit unhappy. After several attempts to find out what was up, the White Rabbit told me that she just couldn't get the voice right. Right? What do you mean, Jenny? Like the real White Rabbit, Uncle Bear!
Ah-ha. I'd been hijacked by Disney! But even knowing what was going on, it still took a lot of precious class time to show all the actors that our play would have our own versions of the characters, not the cartoon's.
I tried the following year with a dramatization of the beloved children's story, Charlotte's Web. Here the challenge was more in the area of kids counting lines and feeling dejected and even "worthless" with a smaller part. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and the end result was touching and very cooperative by all. I just didn't see these tender ten- and eleven-year-olds as quite ready to dig my theatrical credo about "no small parts, just small actors."
So I took action. At the beginning of each semester, as I began to get to know the students, both individually and as a group, I'd write a play for them! All the parts were good, everyone was busy most of the time, and they really knew they were to create their own version of the characters, as most times, I had written the characters for the actors.
So as the years rolled by, I wrote a whole bunch of ±16- to 18-character, 20- to 30-minute one-acts for my sixth graders. I explored lots of themes in these little plays, almost always in a light-hearted manner and of course always with a satisfying (if not always "happy") ending. I loved working with the dance teacher and the choral teacher to include dances and songs.
Today I'd like to share one here with you, dear reader. My professional friends are always trying to get me to publish these so that other teachers can use them as class projects or the like. Maybe this foray will further encourage me to do just that!
[To be read aloud, as one family loves rhyming couplets, while another always sings, and the third speaks in iambic pentameter. Enjoy!]
Verse Us
by Bear Capron for Drama 6
This play takes place in a public park on an early day in summer. The opening scenes introduce us to the three families on their way to the park, each family separate from the others and unaware that they will have to share the space for their family picnics. As we are introduced to each family, we hear the musical theme associated with that group.
The Hobnobs:
Papa, the dad, Dover
Mama, the mom
Lana, the teenager
Gigi, younger sis
Fayray, even younger sis
Nini, the grandma
The DeLong family:
Marie, loves fun, 26
Denise, slightly younger sister
Tyrone, third born, a bit of a worrier
Louise, Tyrone’s fiancee
The Melodias:
Mo, actually Maureen, Mama Melodia
Jay, younger son, 14
Lee, older son, 16
Saul, the grandpa
Bea, the grandma
Joe, Mo’s uncle, Saul’s brother, cranky
MAMA: Slow down kids. Is this the way?
PAPA: Come help me with this bag, Fayray!
GIGI: Come on, you guys, we’re almost there!
LANA: (looking in hand mirror) Wait up, I’ve got to fix my hair.
FAYRAY: Papa, what’s in this bag? It’s heavy!
NINI: We left my boombox in the Chevy!
MAMA: Oh no we didn’t, Mom, it’s here. Gigi, slow down...
GIGI: (to her sister, Fayray, as she passes the baby carriage to her) You push, I’ll steer.
FAYRAY: I’ll put the bag in here..
NINI: But maybe...
PAPA: Fayray, watch out! You’ll squish the baby!
FAYRAY: Come on, you guys, there’s lots of room.
GIGI: I’ll help you push!
FAYRAY & GIGI: Vrrooom, vrrrooom!
NINI: (to the Mama, her daughter) What’s the deal with these bratty girls?
LANA: Oh, gee, just look at these awful curls!
(The Hobnobs have now crossed the stage and their musical theme fades. In a moment or two we hear a second musical theme, that of the DeLong family, also on their way to a prime picnic spot.)
MARIE: I think we’re almost there. Is this the path?
DENISE: It doesn’t look the way it used to look.
LOUISE: The last time that we came it was July.
DENISE: Last year?
LOUISE: We threw a party for Marie.
DENISE: Oh, I remember now...
MARIE: That was so cool! And everyone had ice cream and balloons.
TYRONE: Denise embarrassed everyone that day.
MARIE: It didn’t matter.
DENISE: No one else was there! I tried to teach you losers how to dance.
TYRONE: Don’t call us losers!
MARIE: Yeah, we’ve got our pride. Besides, we learned your dance...
TYRONE: What was it called?
LOUISE & DENISE: “The Winnebago”...
TYRONE: I remember now.
LOUISE: It goes like this...(she starts to demonstrate along with Denise)...and one, and two, and three...
DENISE: And then you go like this...
TYRONE: Come on you guys! We’ll never get there if we stop to dance.
DENISE: Tyrone, don’t be a partypooper, please!
MARIE: It’s fun! Join in!
DENISE: Marie, you know it still?
MARIE: The Winnebago? How could I forget?
TYRONE: But don’t we have to hurry for a spot? You guys, our secret picnic spot...
DENISE: Okay. But first let’s dance.
MARIE: It’s early yet. Let’s dance! All right, Tyrone, let’s show our pals here how we know the dance at least as well as they. The Winnebago!
LOUISE: Take positions please.
TYRONE: Gee willekers. You win. But hurry up.
DENISE: What better way to start a picnic day!
(The DeLong family does their Winnebago dance and then exit. We hear singing from off stage. The Melodia family approaches. They sing everything they say.)
JAY: Gramma! Grampa! I’ve found the trail.
LEE: I’ll bet we’re nearly there.
BEA: Ah, Saul, it smells like summertime.
SAUL: There’s pollen in the air!
JOE: Ah-choo! Ah-choo! I feel it, too. It tickles in my nose.
MO: Now Uncle Joe, please don’t complain. This is the place we chose for our annual family retreat, far from humanity...
JOE: I think I hear some other folks up there beyond the trees.
LEE: Oh, no, what will we do if our prime picnic spot is gone?
MO: Now kids, don’t fret, I know there’s lots of space out on the lawn.
BEA: (to her daughter, called Mo, short for “Maureen”) Maureen, my dear, I love to see my grandchildren run wild.
SAUL: Ah, Bea, do you remember when Maureen was just a child? She’d run ahead to scout a spot, tell us to “Hurry up!” Remember, Joe?
JOE: Oh yeah, that Mo was such a spunky pup!
JAY: Gee, Mom, it’s hard for me to picture you so young and free.
MO: It wasn’t very long ago!
LEE: In 1963!
BEA: To your ol’ granny dear it seems like it was yesterday.
JAY: Hey, Lee! Come on, I know a shortcut...
JOE: Slow down, Lee and Jay.
MO: Great Uncle Joe is moving slow.
SAUL: You sure you know the way?
LEE: I know the route...
JAY: It’s right down here...
BEA: We’ll get there by midday.
(The older folks, Saul, Bea and Joe, set their stuff down as they sing and dance a jig, with Mo clapping the rhythm and the kids, Lee and Jay, hopping around, eager to proceed. After their dance, the Melodias pick up their gear and, still singing, exit on their way to the picnic spot. The lights go down and then come up again, this time lighting up the whole stage area, the actual “secret picnic spot.” The Hobnobs are the first to enter.)
LANA: The starlet makes an entrance on the scene. The carpet spread before her, velvet green. She seeks a spot where she can rest her weary feet.
PAPA: Thank goodness.
NINI: We’re alone!
MAMA: Oh, what a treat! Where are the girls? Fayray! Gigi! We’re over here!
PAPA: Come on out girls! The coast is clear.
(The younger sisters, Gigi and Fayray, enter playing a game pretending to be secret agents, practically glued to the scenery to “avoid apprehension.”)
GIGI: Agent 008, you’re late. Watch out! They’ve got us in their scopes.
FAYRAY: I’ve got the x-ray shields. You got the ropes?
LANA: Oh please, Fayray. Come on, Gigi. Grow up! Now don’t embarrass me!
MAMA: Oh, Lana, no one else is here. Put down your things and help me, dear.
NINI: And help your grandma. I’m not used to such long walks. You can put the ice chest over here by my boombox. (to Papa, her son-in-law) Now ain’t this grand, a picnic on our secret field of clover?
PAPA: Just what you wanted, privacy!
MAMA: Uh-oh, you hear that, Dover? Another family’s voices from down yonder in the woods..
LANA: Oh, no...
FAYRAY: Oh, gee..
GIGI: We’re not alone! Dad, keep them out...
PAPA: I’d do it if I could.
NINI: Now, kids, don’t be so fussy. This here park’s a public place. With all this grass and trees and sky, you know there’s lots of space.
FAYRAY: But grandma, we’re the first ones here...
LANA: Come on, help spread our stuff.
MAMA: Help with this blanket, Gigi, dear.
GIGI: If they don’t like it, tough!
(The Hobnobs are busy spreading out their possessions as the DeLong family enters.)
LOUISE: Aw, phooey..
TYRONE: Darn!
MARIE: Oh, rats!
LOUISE: Doggone!
DENISE: Boo-hoo....
MARIE: Our “secret picnic spot” is occupied!
TYRONE: Okay, Louise, so what do we do now? While we were dancing, they were setting up. Hey, we have rights as well...
LOUISE: Come, let’s spread out. Marie, our basket, if you please...
MARIE: Of course.
DENISE: (to Lana) If you don’t mind, we’d like a little space.
LANA: Why, naturally, though we were first...
LOUISE: Some lemonade?
MARIE: I’ve such a thirst! (taking a cup from Louise) Oh, yum!
NINI: Come, girls, get sunblock...
PAPA: (to Tyrone) Excuse me, chum, but this one spot’s reserved for us.
TYRONE: I didn’t see a sign that said “Reserved”!
MAMA: Now, Dover, please don’t make a fuss...
FAYRAY: Of all the nerve!
(Here follows the Territorial Dance, with both family groups winning and losing space as the tide moves back and forth between the groups. They are trying, with varying degrees of success, at acting civil to one another, and are indirect rather than confrontational in claiming and re-claiming space. Nonetheless, the dance culminates in a tense stand-off between the two family groups. Just then, the music changes and the Melodias enter, oblivious in their joy. The first two groups are temporarily speechless on either side of the stage as the Melodias blithely take over the center area for their picnic. As the dance music comes to an end, the Melodias sing their words, as usual.)
MO: (sung as an ascending scale) Yo, Jay and Lee, help Gramps and Joe.
SAUL: (these two lines sung in descending scale) Mo, you help Bea.
BEA: Don’t move so slow.
LEE: Hey, Jay, look out there on the water. I see swans.
JAY: Yeah, Lee, I see, but check out the “chicks” here on the lawn.
(He is pointing out the Hobnob girls. Lana, especially, has taken notice of the two teenaged boys and is trying to act nonchalant.)
JOE: So much for that “shortcut” of yours, Jay...
LEE: I think we’re in for quite a lovely day. The scenery is great, don’t you think so?
JAY: Come on, just lighten up, Great Uncle Joe!
MO: (to the other astonished families) Hello, you all, and how are you today?
PAPA: Ah-hem...
TYRONE: Well, we...
MAMA: I mean...
GIGI: We’re here to play. But if you folks all spread out in this way...
DENISE: And disregard the areas we’ve chosen...
FAYRAY: Why then, I don’t know if my folks will stay...
MO: Would you all like Italian ice?
SAUL: It’s frozen!
BEA: We made it up ourselves before we came.
JOE: With lots of lemons, and some berries, too.
DENISE: Italian ice!?
LANA: (to Jay) I’m Lana, what’s your name?
NINI: (to Joe) I’m Nini.
JAY: Jay.
JOE: I’m Joe. Unmarried, too!
PAPA: My goodness, that ol’ guy is moving fast!
MAMA: He’s showing his young friends there how to pass.
TYRONE: (to Saul) Excuse me, sir, but don’t you think that we could have some peace and quiet to relax?
SAUL: I say, young fella, cool it. Try some ice.
MARIE: I guess we could chill out, Tyrone, come on.
BEA: Try this. Say “yes,” ’cause we won’t offer twice!
FAYRAY: (to Gigi, peering through binoculars) Agent 005, call out the spies! We are surrounded by a group of guys.
GIGI: I think they may be agents in disguise. Agent, check ‘em out. What do you see?
FAYRAY: One says his name is Jay.
LEE: Hi, girls, I’m Lee.
LANA: Oh, please ignore these brats, they’re such a pain.
DENISE: With our luck now, you’ll see, it’s bound to rain.
MARIE: Chin up, Denise, the skies are clear and blue.
MO: (to Denise & Marie) Young ladies, I’m Maureen. And who are you?
MARIE: Marie.
DENISE: Denise, it’s nice to meet you, too.
MARIE: And that’s Louise. She’s Tyrone’s fianceé.
PAPA: What a jolly group we’ve got assembled here today.
LEE: Hello there, Lana, I’m Jay’s brother, Lee. I wondered if you’d like to come and see the carp I saw there swimming in the lake?
LANA: The carp? I think you’re making a mistake. Those fish are koi, I know, because they’re orange...
JAY: Yeah, Lee, you dork, they’re koi...
GIGI: (to Fayray) Look how she’s flirting with that boy.
FAYRAY: But when she finishes with “orange” what does she expect from him?
GIGI: I guess something like “door hinge,” but her chance is getting slim.
MAMA: (to her daughters) Lana, Fayray, Gigi, now don’t get too close to the water! (now to Mo) It looks like they are having fun, your sons there with my daughters!
MO: My lads are just beginning to get interested in girls.
MAMA: When Lana sees a teenaged boy, her head, it fairly whirls!
PAPA: They say that girls grow faster, that they’re quicker to mature.
MO: Before we know it, they’ll be dating!
MAMA: Scary!
MO: That’s for sure!
NINI: Well, Joe, I’m pleased to know you.
JOE: The pleasure’s mine. You like to dance?
NINI: I’ve got some steps I’d like to show you...
SAUL: (to Bea) Now just watch the old guy prance!
BEA: Hush, Saul, don’t spoil their fun. I haven’t see Joe smile in weeks.
SAUL: If he starts dancing in the sun, he sure will get some rosy cheeks!
JOE: (to Nini) I’m not as spry as I once was.
NINI: Oh, I don’t give a fig.
BEA: My bro-in-law is quite a guy...
SAUL: He’ll show you how to jig!
LOUISE: If you folks like to dance, then ask Denise to show you how to do our favorite one...
DENISE: The Winnebago!
MARIE: Show them now!
LOUISE: We made it up, when was it ‘Nise?
DENISE: In 1993. When we were on vacation. It was in Yosemite.
MARIE: Tyrone was all upset because we lost our camping spot.
TYRONE: Kind of like today, except the weather’s not so hot.
PAPA: When you say “not so hot” do you mean you don’t like it here? Or do you mean Yosemite was too hot? It’s not clear.
TYRONE: It’s clear as it can be!
PAPA: You mean the sky?
TYRONE: No, what I said!
DENISE: You’re getting me confused.
MARIE: Yes, please...
TYRONE: You’re messing with my head!
MAMA: My, my, you guys, let’s take a break, and please don’t fight again.
MO: Been there, done that, now let’s have fun.
BEA: Hey, we could have a swim!
JAY: Oh, Gramma Bea, the water’s yucky.
BEA: Yucky?
JAY: Can’t you see?
FAYRAY: It must be full of fish poo..
LEE: Carp crap...
GIGI: Don’t forget, swan pee!
LANA: Like oh my gosh, you guys are gross. Don’t talk about the water.
MAMA: Spoken like my one and only sixteen-year-old daughter.
SAUL: Now kids, in my day...
JAY: Please, Grandpa, don’t tell us about “your day.”
NINI: Us old folks know a lot!
JOE: That’s right!
NINI: (to Saul) What were you going to say?
SAUL: Oh, never mind, it doesn’t really matter anyway.
MO: If it’s too hot to dance, then we could sing. Music melts our differences, makes light of everything. (to Tyrone) Tyrone, is it? You start us off.
LOUISE: Tyrone, come on. You dare it?
TYRONE: I wanna sing a song you know, the song that’s called “We Share It”!
We Share It (tune= Be Our Guest)
ALL:
Make no fuss.
Bear with us.
Only just give us your trust.
If you care to
You can share who
You would like to be with us.
Come, let’s play!
Anyway, this is such a splendid day!
We’re aware it’s fun to share it,
So toss all your cares away.
In our race for this place
We forget our sense of grace.
If you love it, you won’t shove and push for space.
So step right out and share
This water, land and air!
Make no fuss!
Bear with us!
Bear with us!
Being mean
In this green
Wonderland of field and stream
Makes no sense.
You must be dense if you
Don’t know just what we mean.
Summertime’s
So sublime!
Sing along now with our rhyme.
You can share it,
Come and bare it,
Far from city’s grit and grime.
In our race for this place
We forget our sense of grace.
If you love it, you won’t shove and push for space.
So step right out and share
This water, land and air!
Make no fuss!
Bear with us!
Bear with us!
THE END
Copyright Bear Capron
Revised April, 2001