A Short Play
*
SETTING: The stage is bare except for an open shoebox center in a pool of light.
AT RISE: The actors, there may be as few as two or as many as twenty, stand in a line behind the box. Each steps forward into the light, “reads” a greeting card, and then drops it into the box and returns to the back of the procession.
d
ACTOR
There is no gift more precious than the gift of new life. Welcome to the world, baby girl!
ACTOR
Ice cream and lollipops and candy kisses too. And a special birthday wish for a girl as sweet as you.
ACTOR
May you dream big and then make those dreams come true. Happy Graduation.
ACTOR
Make this birthday alcohol free… Get your friends to pay!
ACTOR
A word of advice to the college graduate…Grab your diploma, before they realize their mistake.
ACTOR
Congratulations on your new job!
ACTOR
You’re engaged!? Many cheers to many years!
ACTOR
On your wedding day, remember to always cherish each other and not let a single moment pass you by. May God bless you on your new journey together.
ACTOR
May happiness be at your door. May it knock early, stay late, and leave the gift of good fortune behind. Best wishes in your new home.
ACTOR
He has arrived. It’s love at first sight. He will bring you constant delight. You never knew there could be such joy. Congratulations on your baby boy!
ACTOR
What do you mean you didn’t get a birthday card from me? At your age, I’m surprised you even remember who I am. Happy belated.
ACTOR
With a mom as great as you, everyday should be Mother’s Day!
ACTOR
Happy Boss’s Day! We don’t know what we’d do without you.
ACTOR
And the World’s Greatest Grandma Award goes to… Drum roll please… You! Happy Grandparents Day!
ACTOR
Seize the day and celebrate! Happy Birthday!
ACTOR
Now it’s your job to sit back, relax, and enjoy this new chapter in your life. Congratulations on your retirement.
ACTOR
Your love has stood the test of time and is an inspiration to us all. May it blossom for many more years to come. Happy Anniversary.
ACTOR
Get well soon.
ACTOR
With deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers. May your treasured memories comfort you in this time of loss.
(The final ACTOR closes the lid
to the box and all exit, leaving
the shoebox, as the pool of light
gets smaller and smaller and
then darkness sets in.)
(CURTAIN)
AA
A
Stacey Lane’s plays are published with Dramatic Publishing, Playscripts Inc., Smith and Kraus, Eldridge, Pioneer, Heuer, Brooklyn Publishers, Next Stage Press, Manhattan Theatre Source, JAC Publishing, Thunderbolt Theatre & Film Productions, Seraphemera Books, San Luis Obispo Little Theatre, Sterling, Freshwater, Poydras Review, The Quotable, Euphony Journal, Mock Turtle Zine, Indian Ink, The Other Otter, Canyon Voices, Steel Bananas and Scene4. Her scripts have been performed at over three hundred-fifty theatres from coast to coast in the U.S., as well as in Canada, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Venezuela. She is the recipient of the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Residency Grant, the Montgomery County Arts & Cultural District’s Literary Artist Fellowship, winner of the Unpublished Play Reading Project Award at the American Alliance for Theatre and Education and producer of SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day Dayton. Visit her online here.