Reel Stuff
Inspired in part by Apollo: To the Moon
CHARACTERS: (2 m)
Eddie, 12
Reuben, 12
SETTING: Eddie's room
EDDIE and REUBEN are best friends. They have been assigned to make a video for a class at school. They are at EDDIE's house, in his room, pitching ideas to each other. Both boys have very vivid imaginations, and like to use their voices, bodies, and available props.
REUBEN: OK, Eddie. We can start our video like this. There's this spaceship, and it lands right beside the Washington Monument. (He has a plastic model of a spaceship, and creates the landing moment, complete with great vocal sound effects.) Then everybody runs around screaming! Then the army brings out hundreds of tanks and guns, but nothing happens. So they wait.
EDDIE: (Accompanying his friend's description with scary music sounds.) Be-du! Be-du!
REUBEN: And wait! More music, Eddie.
EDDIE: (Picking up his cue.) Be-du! Be-du!
REUBEN: Finally, the door of the spaceship slides back. (He makes a spaceship-door-opening sound.) And out walks this guy in a silver space suit.
EDDIE: Is he human?
REUBEN: He looks pretty human, so nobody gets too scared. But then, this big robot guy comes walking out.
EDDIE: I'll be the robot! I'll be the robot! (EDDIE starts moving across the room with big slow monster steps.)
REUBEN: He's made outta this special steel.
EDDIE: (In big robot voice.) Special steel.
REUBEN: And he's got no face.
(EDDIE pulls his shirt up over his face.)
REUBEN: OK. Now I'm the space guy. "I come in peace." But then this army guy shoots him in the arm. Ahh!!
EDDIE: (Popping his head out of his shirt.) Why do they shoot him?
REUBEN: That's what army guys do!
EDDIE: Oh.
REUBEN: Anyway!
(EDDIE resumes his robot stance and shirt-over-face.)
REUBEN: This makes the robot really mad, so he lifts up the visor on his face -
(EDDIE slowly pulls the shirt down.)
REUBEN: And he vaporizes the weapons of the army guys. (Both boys make fabulous shooting and vaporizing noises.) Then the space guy escapes. And he hides out where this kid named Bobby lives with his Mother. And Bobby and the space guy become friends. Then, the space guy says he wants to get all the scientists of the world together so he can tell them something really important. He says it will save the earth! Save the earth from something terrible. (Bursting into scary music.) Be-du! Be-du!
EDDIE: (Joining in.) Be-du, Be — Hey wait a minute. I've seen this movie. It's an old black-and-white flick!
REUBEN: Yeah, it's fantastic! The Day the Earth Stood Still.
EDDIE: But we're supposed to make our own movie for class.
REUBEN: So, we'll do a remake. I can play Bobby and the space guy –
EDDIE: I'll be the space guy.
REUBEN: You gotta be the robot.
EDDIE: But the robot doesn't talk.
REUBEN: That's why it's a remake, so you can talk.
EDDIE: I got another idea. What if we make a movie about two kids in a haunted house.
REUBEN: Boy, that’s original!
EDDIE: Listen, this is cool. See, the house got built on top of an old graveyard. And at night, when the kids are trying to sleep, the ghosts of all the people buried under the house come tapping on the door — (He taps creepily.) And scratching on the windows — (He scratches creepily.) So the kids look out, and they see this figure — this guy who's got no bones –
REUBEN: What are you talking about?
EDDIE: The flabby man… — (EDDIE moans and imitates the frightening flabby man.)
REUBEN: That's not scary, and anyway how would we make a guy without any bones?
EDDIE: How are we gonna make a spaceship land in the middle of Washington??!!
REUBEN: Scale models! Easy. I got 'em all right here. (He heads for a box of stuff to pull out.)
EDDIE: Wait! I got another idea. There's these two kids in a haunted house –
REUBEN: Again!
EDDIE: And their Mother locked them in there 'cause she's crazy. And there's a pack of man-eating dogs who live in the basement… (He imagines being chomped by one of the dogs.) Ahhh!
REUBEN: What's the point?
EDDIE: And they manage to escape, but then they get kidnapped by these two crazy guys. They blindfold the kids, and tell them they're gonna drop them over a five hundred-foot waterfall into a pool of piranhas if they don't tell them where the money is!
REUBEN: What'd they do with the money?
EDDIE: They hid it under the bricks in the fireplace of the haunted house…
REUBEN: Jeez, Eddie!
EDDIE: What?
REUBEN: Why's everything gotta be so creepy with you? There's enough real stuff to be scared about. Why do you always make up more?
EDDIE: Your idea's scary, too.
REUBEN: But it's got a happy ending. All the people in the world come together, so they're not scared anymore.
EDDIE: Oh. I can do happy endings. So, how do you think a robot talks?
REUBEN: (Walking and talking like the robot-monster.) Like this. "I will save the earth!"
EDDIE: (Joining in.) "I will save the earth!"
REUBEN: "Come with me, in my spaceship. To worlds unknown."
EDDIE: I'll go get the camera.
(REUBEN takes out his plastic model of a spaceship and sails it upward as both boys make flying spaceship noises.)
End of Scene.