Written by Joe Janes
10/30/09
285 of 365
CAST:
Joni, 30s
(A lone chair sits on stage. Joni enters. She is casually dressed and looks bored. Very, very bored. She looks around the room. There is nothing to do or see. She sits in the chair. And she sits. And she sits. She is so freaking bored. From offstage, a normal-sized red balloon -sans helium- comes out onto the stage. Joni sees it. Maybe not at first, but eventually. She regards it with curiosity. She picks it up. A song like “Hooked On A Feeling” by BJ Thomas plays. She begins to play with the balloon, gently tossing it up into the air and catching it. She is enthralled. She gives the balloon a little hug. She has truly found a playmate. She waltzes around the stage with her balloon. She stops to give her balloon a kiss and it suddenly pops, the music stopping cold. She is stunned with sadness. She sits. She looks very sad and looks like she is about to cry until her quivering frown turns into a yawn. She is bored, again. Very, very bored. A very heavy red bowling ball or medicine ball rolls out onto stage. Joni sees it. She approaches the ball with forced enthusiasm. She picks it. “Hooked On A Feeling” begins to play. She struggles to play and waltz with the bowling ball as she did with the balloon, maybe even dropping it on her foot and continuing to dance with a limp. Lights fade.)
1 comment:
Kind of reminds me of the movie Castaway, but shorter and less complex, but same feeling. Instead of the balloon popping (hard to do on stage?) you could have a child come in and take the balloon from her, then she could get a medicine ball, and a person in workout gear could take it from her, and start using it to stretch. Then she could have some small balls from the floor, and a clown juggler could take them from her, so she is essentially a fish out of water in a land of balls. Poor Joni.
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