ISLANDERS #6
SCENE 1: Curtains Open
PROPS: Toilet plunger with feathers (for spear), plastic wall mount, sticky stuff
(ALL ISLANDERS are on stage to begin this scene. A “spear” is stuck to the wall, as if it had been thrown so that it pierced a tree)
BELINDA: Ahh! Look everybody! There’s a spear stuck in this tree! I’m scared!
CAPTAIN: Yup . . . that’s a spear all right.
JILLY: Maybe it’s been there for many years.
BELINDA: No, Jilly; you don’t understand. That spear wasn’t even there last night! I know, because I used this tree to hang up some of my clothes to dry.
DR. XOCHILT: That means there are natives on this island! Maybe the Maruvi are here!
(ALL ISLANDERS look at each other in fear, except the CAPTAIN)
CAPTAIN: Oh, don’t worry everybody . . . I’m sure the Lord will protect all of us.
[SOUND EFFECTS: Duck Quacking]
(ALL ISLANDERS look up in the sky)
JILLY: It’s a duck! And he’s coming in for a landing.
CAPTAIN: (excited) I’ve got an idea! If we wrote a little message and tied it around that duck’s neck, I bet somebody would read it and send help to rescue us!
DR. XOCHILT: (excited) The Captain is right! Those ducks can fly thousands of miles to places in North America. We could be rescued!
BELINDA: He’s landing over there (she points to the right) Hey, Mr. Duck!
JILLY: No, don’t say that. You’ll scare him away. Call him like this: quack, quack, quack.
BELINDA: Okay. Quack, quack.
DR. XOCHILT: Quack, quack.
CAPTAIN: Quack, quack.
(ALL ISLANDERS EXIT through side door, quacking as they leave)
SCENE 2: Curtains Open
PROPS: Tall plants, spear
(Close curtains and remove spear. Place tall plants center-stage. BELINDA and JILLY stand at opposite sides of stage to begin this scene. BELINDA holds the spear.)
JILLY: (slowly moving toward plants) Quack, quack, quack.
BELINDA: (slowly moving toward plants) Quack.
JILLY: Quack, quack, quack.
BELINDA: Quack.
JILLY: Quack, quack, quack.
BELINDA: Quack.
(JILLY reaches through the plants to try to grab the duck. BELINDA also reaches through on the other side. They grab each other’s arms.)
BELINDA: Oh, it was just you!
(CAPTAIN and DR. XOCHILT ENTER)
CAPTAIN: Hey! Did you catch the duck?
JILLY: No.He got away.
(THE 2 NATIVES ENTER from back door. They slowly and quietly walk toward center-stage)
DR. XOCHILT: I hear somebody coming!
BELINDA: It’s the Maruvi!
CAPTAIN: Let’s hide!
(ISLANDERS all try to hide behind the plants while the NATIVES approach. The NATIVES EXIT through the side door, one by one. Just after the last NATIVE exits, BELINDA sneezes.)
JILLY: God bless you (she quickly covers her mouth, but it’s too late. The NATIVES REENTER through the side door. The ISLANDERS, knowing they have been caught, come out of hiding).
CAPTAIN: Uh, hello. Me - Captain. (he points to and introduces each islander) Belinda – Jilly - Dr. Xochilt. We – stuck - on – this - island.
OWATAGU: Bummer, man.
SIAM: Yeah. Like, so sorry you feel stuck here.
OWATAGU: Yeah, we reallylike it here.
CAPTAIN: (surprised and happy) You speak English!
OWATAGU: Yeah. I’m Owatagu.
SIAM: I’m Siam.
BELINDA: (still nervous) Uh, do you collect anything?
OWATAGU: I collect rocks and seashells.
SIAM: I collect baseball cards. (OWATAGU looks at her like she’s nuts) Well, I only have one so far, but I’m hoping to get more of them.
BELINDA: (relieved) You don’t collect heads?
OWATAGU: Heads? Of course not! That is so gross, man!
DR. XOCHILT: Are you the Maruvi?
OWATAGU: No, we’re not the Maruvi;we’re the Garuvi. We live over on the next island, but we come here to play sometimes.
SIAM: Yeah. We like people all right, but we looove nature!
OWATAGU: We don’t kill anything . . . not even bugs. We just eat fruits and vegetables. Peace out (she makes the peace sign).
SIAM: No, it’s peace in (she makes the peace sign)!
OWA: Peace out!
SIAM: Peace in!
BELINDA: Does this spear belong to one of you?
SIAM: Uh, yeah. That’s mine (she reaches for the spear and BELINDA hands it to her).
OWATAGU: Siam! Like how come you have a spear? That’s for killing, man!
SIAM: Well . . . every once in a while I get hungry for some meat. This morning I saw a duck that looked pretty tasty.
OWATAGU: You shouldn’t do that, man.
CAPTAIN: But God made lots of tasty animals for us to eat, like cows and chickens.
SIAM: Don’t forget about ducks.
BELINDA: No! Don’t kill our messenger duck!
CAPTAIN: Yeah, don’t kill that duck. We’re hoping to send him away with a message so we can be rescued. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with eating animals. God made lots of animals on this earth for us to eat because he loves us so much!
OWATAGU: He did?
CAPTAIN: Yeah, he did.
OWATAGU: Well, we’ve got to get back to our island, man. Our family is going to be eating dinner pretty soon. But you really gave us something to think about. I get tired of just eating berries and bananas all the time.
SIAM: Yeah. See you cats later.
JILLY: (confused) We’re cats?
OWATAGU: We call you a cat if we think you’re cool, man.
JILLY: (still a bit confused) Okay. See you Garuvi cats later.
(NATIVES EXIT through back door; ISLANDERS EXIT through side door)
THE END