THE FOURTEENTH CHALLENGE: write a reaction play.
Reaction to what?
Normally I have you
read something someone else wrote, and write a reaction piece to it- ideally
with some sort of opposition or violent take on it.
So… that… or
Anything. You just
have to link it at the top of your piece so that we can see the context.
React to:
Another play from the
challenge (already stated)
An advertisement to
make you mentally healthy
A news story
A television show
Be sure to LINK TO IT
RULES: This is all
about dogmatism and catharsis and PLOT PLOT PLOT
Don’t get trapped in
the ethical or factual blah blah blah- this is not a text book! This is a play.
Move that plot.
Make us care about
something fast and then MAKE THINGS HAPPEN
LET’S MOVE PEOPLE!
(in terms of speed)
And
LET’S MOVE PEOPLE!
(in terms of emotion)
Like, idk kill a baby
to win your point. Set something on fire.
WIN THE ARGUMENT
React fully and
perhaps irresponsibly.
Nobody is ever glad
they went to a play because of how responsible it all was. Right?
“I will forever
remember this one play where every character was just so mature and responsible
about every subject that came up.” - nobody ever
(today, I just need to write
and get something out of my system)
LAST CHRISTMAS
WADE
This
is going to be Dad’s last Christmas.
MACKENZIE
Hasn’t
everyone been saying that for a few years now?
WADE
This
time, the nurses say so.
MACKENZIE
The
regular nurses or the hospice nurses?
WADE
The
fact that he has both teams of nurses keeping an eye on him should be the first
clue.
MACKENZIE
Hospice?
WADE
Hospice.
MACKENZIE
You
need to hop a plane?
WADE
Not
yet. At least not according to the
hospice nurses. I mean, he likes Christmas. He likes the visit I make the week before
Christmas. All indications are he’s hanging
on for the big holiday.
MACKENZIE
But
after - ?
WADE
My
stepmother isn’t making plans for his 91st birthday in
February. And my stepsister says we
could still be having this conversation in March, but she’d be surprised.
MACKENZIE
Stepmother
having you proofread and help edit the obituary again?
WADE
Final
polish time.
MACKENZIE
Yikes.
WADE
Unbidden,
the other day he said to the pretty music therapist who brings her guitar and
sings the old hymns with him, he just up and said, “I think I’m going to die
soon.”
MACKENZIE
That
the depression talking again?
WADE
No,
it wasn’t one of the “why am I still here?” conversations. Just a statement. Because at base, we human beings are still
animals. And on some level, animals
know.
MACKENZIE
I’m
sorry, man.
WADE
Can’t
be helped. And there’s nothing I can do
about it all the way out in the middle of the country like this.
MACKENZIE
But
they’re feeling pretty OK that he’s gonna make Christmas?
WADE
There’s
a checklist the hospice nurses have.
There’s three different team members and between them, they cover the
week. They see him, they compare
notes. If they start checking off the
majority of the boxes on that list, it’s time to call the family, tell ‘em he’s
got maybe one, two weeks left.
Or
he could just go in his sleep tonight and we get a call out of the blue
tomorrow.
It’s
frankly a miracle he made it this far, the clusterfuck of things that are wrong
with him. All the different medications
with the countervening side effects, all balanced just so, so they help him
instead of accidentally killing him. He
can afford the best care, and he’s getting it.
My stepmother sees to that.
But
she’s also very practical about their finances.
She wouldn’t have called in the hospice cavalry if she wasn’t expecting
this to stretch out for years, or even months.
MACKENZIE
So,
funeral time?
WADE
Not
right away.
Again,
stepmother is very practical, thinking ahead.
She
wants to wait till spring. So everyone
can plan ahead. And it’s a nice set of
surroundings, good weather for travel.
MACKENZIE
He’s
being cremated.
WADE
Yes. So, you know, he’ll keep till spring.
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