The December People’s Choice Award goes to…
The people have spoken… The December People’s Choice Award goes to Damian Alejandro Arteaga for his play, The Family with a Short Fuse, presented as a staged reading at Monday Night PlayGround on December 11th live at Broadwater Second Stage and simulcast via Vimeo Livestream. Congratulations, Damian!
Courtesy of Damian, we’re pleased to share the first two pages from the award-winning script. Enjoy!
The Family with a Short Fuse
By
Damian Alejandro Arteaga
Character Breakdown:
Alyssa Turner – Female, Adult. Mother of the Turner family. Loses her temper quickly and tires to help her family through the rough times.
Sandra Turner – Female, Young Adult. Daughter of Alyssa and Dennis. Tries to hold things
together as best as she can.
Alex Turner – Male, Young Adult. Son of Dennis and Alyssa. A little aloof but has a big heart
hidden under his exterior.
Dennis Turner – Male , Adult. Father of the Turner family. Focused a lot on work to the point that others things slip past him. Will also provide the voice over for Santa.
The interior of the Turner Household. The Christmas decorations are up, but they are not given proper care. It is like they were put up within minutes. There is a table in the center where there is leftover cookies and half drunken milk.
Next to the cookies and milk is a large Christmas present. It uses bright red wrapping paper and has a large ribbon on the top of it. It is a joyful centerpiece for the whole room.
The family enters. ALYSSA, SANDRA, ALEX, and DENNIS all walk into the room. They look like they have just woken up from a long slumber. Once they notice the present they all become more awake.
ALL
What is that?
ALYSSA
Which one of you bought this big old thing?
DENNIS
Don’t look at me. I got you all one present each, no more than that.
ALEX
Well, I call dibs on it.
ALYSSA
You can’t call dibs yet. It could be addressed to me.
DENNIS
Hey, I think I’ve earned an extra Christmas present. I worked double overtime yesterday.
Sandra has already walked towards the present. She notices a tag on the top and
reads it.
SANDRA
Guys. It says it’s for all us…from Santa!
ALYSSA
Honey, are you sure you aren’t trying to play a joke on us?
DENNIS
Some fake Santa trick isn’t going to work on these guys, let alone you.
ALEX
Stop waiting around! Let’s open this bad boy up and see what’s inside.
Alex grabs the top of the box and raises it above his head. He is the first to look
inside. His jaw drops.
ALEX
Holy shit.
ALYSSA
Watch your tone young man. Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean you can swear like a-
ALEX
It’s a bomb!
ALL
What the fuck!?
The entire family looks inside the present box. They all see a complicated bomb
with a series of colorful wires and a countdown clock that is ticking down as they
speak.
ALYSSA
Alex what kind of stupid prank is this?
ALEX
Why do you think I did this?
ALYSSA
Oh, you are always doing stupid stuff like this. You tried pranking us on Thanksgiving too!
ALEX
I just put some toothpaste on the pumpkin pie. This is a whole bomb!
DENNIS
He’s right. This takes some serious craftsmanship. The outer casing is finely put together, and the wires almost have an artistic quality to them.
ALYSSA
Stop complimenting the bomb!
DENNIS
Hard work needs to be appreciated! Not like you appreciate the hard work I do for this family.
Join us for the next round of PlayGround-LA on January 8th! For more info, click here!