The February People’s Choice Goes To…..
The people have spoken … The February People’s Choice Award goes to Nicki Spencer for her short play, For Mālama ʻĀina and Linda and Kyle from Booger Hole, presented as a staged reading on Zoom on February 8th. Congratulations, Nicki!
Courtesy of Ms. Spencer, we’re pleased to share the first few pages from the award-winning script. Enjoy!
“For Mālama ʻĀina and Linda and Kyle from Booger Hole”
by Nicki Spencer
Synopsis:
A tourist “steals” a lava rock from the Hawaii Volcano National Park, while possibly disregarding an ancient curse…..
Character list:
RANGER LOH – a park ranger at Hawaii Volcano National Park, who loves nature, but complains about her job….
TABITHA – a tourist, privy to the lore of the Hawaii Volcano National Park…
(LIGHTS UP. It’s another day in paradise at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A blue sky, as big and breathtaking as the ocean below it, compliments the gorgeous black volcanic terrain. But TABITHA isn’t really enjoying the views. Instead she’s too obsessed with a small piece of lava rock on the ground.
RANGER LOH enters, holding a large, heavy box. When Tabitha sees her, she quickly puts the rock in her pocket.)
RANGER LOH
Hey! Hey, I saw that!
TABITHA
Saw what?
RANGER LOH
You stole that lava rock.
TABITHA
No, I didn’t.
RANGER LOH
You put it in your pocket! I could give you a big ticket for that, ya know–
TABITHA
No! Please! I can’t afford it! I lost my job. And I broke my arm. And my mom has
cancer! And… it’s my birthday!
RANGER LOH
Wow. Either you have really bad luck, or those are made up excuses…
TABITHA
They’re not made up.
Ranger Loh gives Tabitha a look of disbelief.
TABITHA
Alright fine, it’s not my birthday. But it was… only a few months ago. And the rest of it is
true! Besides, I didn’t take anything. Really. See?
(With her good arm, Tabitha turns out her pockets. There’s
no rock. Ranger Loh studies her, half-way convinced.)
TABITHA
Please don’t give me a ticket…
RANGER LOH
Huh, I must be seeing things… Sorry, it’s just, lots of tourists come here and steal the
rocks hoping to take a little piece of paradise home with them. It’s a big problem.
TABITHA
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m sure they don’t mean any harm.
RANGER LOH
They’re not thinking about all the ramifications.
TABITHA
You mean ecologically.
RANGER LOH
Well– yeah of course that. Hawaii has like 9 or 10 million tourists a year. And if each of
them wants to take some lava rocks, it obviously has a big impact on our ecosystem, but I
wasn’t talking about those ramifications. I was talking about the curse.
TABITHA
The… curse…
RANGER LOH
Pele’s curse. According to local lore, Pele, the volcano goddess of Hawaii’s Big Island,
sees lava rocks as her children. If you take one of her children away from her, she gets
her revenge by casting bad luck on you until you return her child to the place where you
found it. And that is why you should never steal a lava rock from Hawaii.
TABITHA
Seems like a big punishment for a small crime.
RANGER LOH
Yep– so you might want to put the one you took back–
TABITHA
I didn’t take one!
RANGER LOH
Ok… You’ve been warned…
TABITHA
Even if I did, which I didn’t, I don’t believe in curses and all that stuff.
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Join us on March 8 for the next Monday Night PlayGround on Zoom! Click here for more info.