A Scene of Anger

A Scene of Anger

[The stage is empty. Still. It’s eerie. There should be so much stillness on the stage that the audience is afraid to breath. Each time this sketch is performed the SPIRIT will have to use his discretion. He may only speak when the tension in the theatre is exceedingly tangible. Then and ONLY THEN may he speak. Hopefully, his first words will shock the audience and he will elicit a few laughs and nervous chuckles.]

SPIRIT: [The SPIRIT is never seen. His presence is signified by a great booming voice that is at time obnoxiously loud and at other times insanely quiet.

>>>A Character Note<<<
The SPIRIT is not just a voice, even though that is all the audience thinks they know of him. The SPIRIT is merciful. (If you believe in a kind and benevolent God who acts as the Father and weeps for those who have fallen away and sent His only Son to atone for all the sins of humans, then you will have a fairly easy time imagining the disposition and complexity of the SPIRIT. For those of you who do not believe, my suggestion is that for this sketch, find a way to. ACT if you must – and the next time you have a free moment, look up Pascal’s Wager. I dare you.) Thus, the SPIRIT is all things – comic relief, protagonist, perceived antagonist, judge, executioner, plot twist, the gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe, the voice inside your head telling you that no matter how insane you think I am, there is a reason for you to keep reading past this character note... the SPIRIT must represent all that and more. He must not BE these things, but he must represent them. It is a said that good actor becomes his role. In most cases, this is true. In the case of the SPIRIT, it is not. The actor playing the SPIRIT must only represent the fact that the SPIRIT is everything in the previous list. If the actor becomes the SPIRIT, then the very essence of the play will be lost and you may as well burn your copy of this script… or just recast the SPIRIT.
>>>End Character Note<<<

[The SPIRIT’S voice cuts through the silence and shakes/shocks/scares/amuses/confuses/or has no effect on the audience (It which case, it is probably not being said right)] CRASH!!! [DRIVER is whisked to center stage. He is sitting in the seat of a car, seatbelt and all, with a wheel in front of him and petals at his feet. He is facing the audience. He is supposed to be driving on a highway, so there will be pantomimed lane changes. The DRIVER must look very natural. “Driving” while not driving. At first he is alone on stage, driving comfortably along.]

DRIVER: [Each time he speaks, he turns to the back of the stage and calls over either shoulder. All of his comments are empty and dry, with forced emotion. Like a piece of cardboard talking. Only when he begins to get angry does emotion start to show. Throughout his sarcasm and anger, the audience should feel compassion for this man – they should feel that he is right. They should feel like yelling with him.] Thanks for letting me in…. … … Nice turn signal!... … … I like that you’re not talking on your cell phone while driving… Sure! Merge. Merge! [An ANGER zips on stage and stands directly in front of the DRIVER’S “car.”

>>>A Character Note<<<
The ANGERS are big shiny cubes with legs. At least, they are when then first enter. They remain like this until a place indicated further on in the script. At this point, the sides of the cubes fall away from the ANGERS to reveal a mass of bladed gears. There is also one long vacuum like tube attached to the “top” of them. They use this to suck the skin and muscles off the DRIVER. But for the moment, they are big shiny cubes.
>>>End Character Note<<<

DRIVER: HEY! Watch it bud! Blind man driving… they let anyone on the road these days…. [After every line more and more ANGERS enter so that by the end of this monologue, the DRIVER is completely surrounded and the stage is full. The DRIVER is getting angrier and angrier with each word, making crazy maneuvers to try to “get around” the other bad drivers.] Sure just CUT ME OFF! THANKS!... …. … DRIVE FASTER MABEL! FASTER! C’MON! WHAT’RE YOU DOING!... … … Oh yeah? RIGHT BACK ATCHA BUDDY!... … … So you think you’re gonna get in pal? AH HA! I THINK NOT!.... …. … STOP RIDING MY TAIL!.... FUCK OFF! [At this point the DRIVER just begins to improv angry driving insults, always looking over his shoulder when he speaks, even if the comment is directed at someone who would be pulling in front of him. The stage should be filled with ANGERS. Now, one by one (and quickly) they begin to transform into their true form (the gears.) One by one, they latch their tubes onto the DRIVER and the stage is filled with the sound of vacuum cleaners. Each begins to vacuum the skin and muscles right off of him. In only a few moments, he is just a skeleton, but the ANGERS keep sucking.]

SPIRIT: Driving shouldn’t be that stressful, my son. My question is how you see without any eyes, and how you are still angry without a brain telling you that you should be. It’s eaten away at you, can’t you tell? Can’t you feel the absence of your body? Or are you so filled with anger that you comprehend nothing? If you would only nod your head, I could rebuild you piece by piece and squeeze that anger out of every inch of your being. Nod your head, and they will remove their tubes so that I may lay my hands on you. Just nod you head, my child. Nod your head… [The lights fade with excruciating slowness on the dismal scene. The audience should be afraid of the anger that they were feeling at drivers who didn’t even exist. They should feel afraid at the true anger they feel at real drivers and other people in their lives. They should never want to feel that again. Finally, the stage disappears into blackness.]