Urgent Drama:Folkteatern Göteborg

Urgent Drama - a series of digital scenes that reflect the state of the world right now
Short play by Mona Mansour: Things in Order.

In times of global crisis there is also a global commitment. Therefore, Folkteatern has contacted playwrights from all over the world, and asked them to reflect on the current situation. And it is urgent. They spend a few days writing a short scene, which Folkteatern then films just as quickly with the theater's actors. The result will be presented here on Folkteatern's digital platform Fjärde Scenen. Read more about Urgent Drama and the other scenes here

Excerpt

WOMAN
…

In the front row are things you might eat every day: pasta, basics, bread, bread

This many cans of food

This many packages

Things that don't go bad

Things you cook or prepare

And things you can eat just as they are 

She grabs a couple of these things---

See?

(And now she tosses these things on the floor. She doesn't seem crazy, or angry necessarily. just a bit unhinged)

We got it covered

My husband and I

Wait.

He left.

HAND OF GOD

Commissioned by the Public Theater for its Play At Home Series

by Mona Mansour

CHARACTERS

THE YOUNG BOY - he's 11 or so. Pure kinetic energy. He should be playing outside. Sports are his mythology. You'll see.

THE ONE GRANDMA - she's getting her nails done. She talks a lot

THE OTHER GRANDMA, WHO IS MOSTLY QUIET - she is basically not doing anything but eating something and watching what everyone is doing and occasionally saying something

THE AUNT, 30s - she's doing the one grandma's nails

THE DAD, 40s - he's trying to fix something on the laptop

THE OLDER BROTHER, late teens - on his device

THE MOTHER, 40s - you won't see her right away

The time is a little bit into the future of this very difficult now.

At top - Everyone except the MOTHER is in the living room. It's a working-class apartment in the city. They've been there all day, every, every day, for a while. There are a couple couches, a couple chairs, a rug in the middle.  

Ethnicity can vary depending on who you are at home! There's a section that can include a language other than English -- feel free to put it in your own language if different from English.

THE YOUNG BOY is bored. He bounces off the couch where his dad sits with a not-new laptop, trying to figure something the f*ck out.  THE YOUNG BOY goes to the middle of the room.

THE YOUNG BOY

Let's do this

It's time to do it

Come on now

THE DAD

Not today

THE YOUNG BOY

Come on

THE DAD

You're working. We're working. You're supposed to be working. Wait patiently

THE YOUNG BOY

I know but you can't get on the site

THE DAD
I will get on the site, and then you'll do your whatever the damn thing is you're supposed to do first. The assignments.

THE YOUNG BOY

Okay.

THE DAD

I don't understand this. The school sent you 25 passwords. It's ridiculous.

THE YOUNG BOY

I know.

THE DAD

Like it's a secret government site. It's education.

THE YOUNG BOY

--Okay. Ready?

THE DAD

Just for five minutes.

And now the boy moves - he moves really well, he does a move he's watched over and over and over: He dribbles an imaginary ball, he throws, the arm farthest away from the 'basket' curving up and over his head as he throws.  

THE YOUNG BOY

(as he moves)

Okay he takes it, then there's a stutter step and then SKY HOOK, baby sky hook, AND BOOM. Who is it?

THE AUNT

Magic Johnson.

THE YOUNG BOY

That's right. Why?

The boy re-enacts the move.

THE AUNT

Why what?

THE YOUNG BOY

Why a baby sky hook and not just a sky hook.

THE AUNT

I don't remember.

THE YOUNG BOY

Come on.

THE AUNT

I don't know.

THE YOUNG BOY

"Baby" because you use the wrist, not the arm. This was Magic doing what had been Kareem's signature move, people didn't expect it from Magic just that moment. When?

THE AUNT

We don't know.

THE ONE GRANDMA (GETTING HER NAILS DONE)

1987.

THE YOUNG BOY

You got it grandma. Grandma got it! Grandma. Got it.

He goes over and tries to hug his grandma.

THE ONE GRANDMA

I pay attention.

She tries to hug back, moves her hand.

THE AUNT

Don't move please.

THE ONE GRANDMA

"Don't move please." Okay okay.

THE AUNT

You want me to do a good job, right?

THE ONE GRANDMA

I want to go to a salon.

THE YOUNG BOY

Grandma knows her shizz.

THE AUNT

Yeah you're in school. You know that right? You're actually in school right now. Okay? Okay?

--Can you acknowledge that you're hearing that.

THE YOUNG BOY

I hear you.

THE AUNT

Okay.

THE YOUNG BOY

Why are you not on him?

(meaning: the older brother sitting on one of the couches, silently on his device)

THE OLDER BROTHER

Because I'm doing my assignments.

THE YOUNG BOY

Fortnite!

THE OLDER BROTHER

So? I get my work done.

THE YOUNG BOY

Okay guys here's another.  Iconic.

He does another move, another basketball move, a throw from the foul line - and in it goes.

THE YOUNG BOY

He drifts to his left, makes a jump shot, and IN.

Who is it?

GUYS.

THE OLDER BROTHER

MJ, 1989, Game one, Cleveland Cavaliers, iconic.

THE YOUNG BOY

Iconic.

THE OTHER GRANDMA (WHO IS MOSTLY SILENT)

Did they say we can go back to work? When can we go back to work?

THE DAD

I don't know mom. Soon.

THE OTHER GRANDMA

I'm sick of being with just you all. I really am. I've got friends in the neighborhood I want to see. I like being busy.

THE DAD

I know mom.

THE YOUNG BOY

There's this.

Now he switches gears -- he's a baseball player holding a bat, waiting for a pitch. He does a bat waving, gum chewing thing.

THE AUNT

Jeter.

THE YOUNG BOY

This one.

Another stance, another type of bat wave.

THE DAD

Gary Sheffield

THE YOUNG BOY

This.

THE AUNT

Hm.

THE YOUNG BOY

You don' know?

THE ONE GRANDMA

I'm not sure

THE AUNT

The fat white guy

THE ONE GRANDMA

They're all fat white guys

THE YOUNG BOY

No they aren't. You just named two who aren't.

THE AUNT

Younis.

THE ONE GRANDMA

Younis that's right. Him.

THE OLDER BROTHER

Youklis. It's Kevin Youklis.

THE YOUNG BOY

Yeah it's Youk. Boston Red Sox. Craziest stance of anybody.

THE AUNT

Okay

THE ONE GRANDMA

Okay

THE AUNT

 Yeah that's a weird one.

THE YOUNG BOY

Yeah.

They get quiet. The aunt does the grandmother's nails. The Dad is still trying to sort out admin on the computer. The Young Boy pivots between his sports. Maybe does some soccer moves as well.

THE ONE GRANDMA

Get it on the side.

THE AUNT

What do you mean?

THE ONE GRANDMA

I mean, scrape it. Scrape the polish off. -- Let me do it.

She uses her own hand to scrape the nail polish off a part of the other hand.

THE AUNT

Why would you do that? Now you've got nail polish on your finger.

THE ONE GRANDMA

That's what they do at the salon, if they make a mistake.

They just scrape it off. Simple. Just give me the polish remover.

THE AUNT

This is why I don't like doing this. You correct me before I'm finished. And then you mess it up.

As she uses nail polish remover to fix her nails, The One Grandma waxes poetic about her own sports story.

THE ONE GRANDMA

There was one soccer game we all went to

A funny little game in our town

And this crazy thing happened.

The guy was you know, going down the field

Toward the other team's goal,

and I don't know exactly what happened, but the guy

The ball goes into the air and his HAND hits it in

Everyone could see it

Everyone

But the referee

And the guy says, you know what?

That was the HAND OF GOD.

That's what that was

And some of us that day, we thought that too

We got so mad in the stands.

A beat.

THE YOUNG BOY

No.

THE ONE GRANDMA

Huh?

THE YOUNG BOY

No. That's not

You weren't

That wasn't a game YOU saw

That was the WORLD CUP

England versus Argentina
It was Maradona!

THE ONE GRANDMA

Okay. Whoever it was.

THE YOUNG BOY

You were not there.

THE AUNT

Just let her say it

THE OLDER BROTHER

Yeah just let it go.

THE YOUNG BOY

THAT was the World Cup.  The WORLD CUP. Do you know what the world cup is?

THE ONE GRANDMA

Yes I do! of course I do

THE YOUNG BOY

EVERYONE knows about that grandma.

That's not some match you were at.

THE ONE GRANDMA

So what.

THE YOUNG BOY

I'm saying everyone knows about it. it's not like some secret thing you happened to see

THE ONE GRANDMA

Okay okay

THE YOUNG BOY

and also? You weren't THERE

I don't know why you're saying that

Thinking I am not gonna notice?

That's like saying  I was there when Ali did Rope a Dope. I wasn't there.

THE ONE GRANDMA

How do you know where I was or wasn't? Have you ever asked me? Have you?

I used to go to some things.

THE AUNT

Stop with this anyway.

THE YOUNG BOY

You said if I couldn't go outside --

EVERYONE EXCEPT THE YOUNG BOY

You can't go outside!

THE DAD

You can't go outside

THE AUNT

You can't go outside.

THE YOUNG BOY

you said if I couldn't go outside I could do this

THE AUNT

he's supposed to be doing the virtual learning. He's supposed to be in school right now.

THE DAD

Yes

THE AUNT

He really is

THE DAD

I KNOW! OKAY. I've been at this. I'm not an administrative person. I don't like this thing of five screens open at once.  I don't like that they make you put all the passwords every time. I don't like that. I don't like getting five emails for every class. This makes me feel like an idiot. I don't like it.

THE YOUNG BOY

I don't either.

THE DAD

See? It logged me out again. Why do they care if you log in or don't log in? Who's going to steal this information? Someone's going to steal this information? About the math class and the literature class? Who is going to steal that?

THE OLDER BROTHER

it's not the stealing they need to make sure he's doing it

THE DAD

I'm not a teacher here. Okay? I'm really not. For fuck's sake! Why

He almost throws the computer. He's had it. He's tried to keep it together. Beat. The Young Boy sees all this, of course, then --

THE YOUNG BOY

Then there's this one. Ready?

He starts to slow-mo the big home run that Kirk Gibson hit off Dennis Eckersley -- and just then THE MOM comes through the door. She's naked. Nearly. She has taken off her clothes, postal worker clothes. She kicks them inside, into the apartment, and closes the door behind her.

THE MOM

Don't anyone touch that.  

The Dad goes up to her.

THE MOM

No.

THE DAD

I know, I know. Hi baby.

THE YOUNG BOY

Hi Mom.

THE MOM

Hi. I'll go shower.

She goes. Now, like clockwork, the Dad finds a way to pick up her clothes without touching them. He uses a broom or something. He picks them up and takes them into the kitchen. All the frustration he had with the stupid computer is gone -- he's very careful as he does this, uses very minimal movements. He's like one of the sports dudes his son embodied. Everyone watches. The Older Son gets up, finds a trash bag and they put mom's clothes inside that. It's a dance they do every day. The Dad finishes wrapping up the clothes. The dad senses the shift in the room.

THE DAD

(to Young Boy)

Who you gonna be now?

THE YOUNG BOY

Let me think about it....

end of play.

RE-LEAVING.

Short written for Noor Theatre’s 10th anniversary by Mona Mansour and Hadi Tabbal. Directed by Sarah Blush.