The winners were announced on October 31, 2014. I found out that weekend that my play did not make the final top ten. Of course, I was crushed. Upon further research, I discovered eight out of ten winners were either established, award winning playwrights and/or professionals in the acting field. Although I found this disheartening, I also took solace that it would be hard to compete with professional playwrights.
The date and time for the performances has yet to be announced (rescheduled from November 22, 2014). If I lived in L.A., I would attend, alas, I am on the opposite side of the United States. I hope that her performance is a success and Gates McFadden exceeds her funding goals.
Without any further ado, here is my rejected play:
The Amazing Krusades of Doctor Krusher Presents:
“The B.I.G. I.D.E.A.”
Written by:
Rose Marie Rose
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Doctor
Krusher: An elderly, brilliant woman, who has seen both the wonders
and the horrors of the universe.
Gwen Astor: A seventeen-year-old girl who is
intelligent and curious.
Crispin Jegger: Space pilot.
Professor
Shelley: The creator of the B.I.G.
I.D.E.A.
Drones 1 & 2: Victims of Professor Shelley.
Act One
(The action takes
place on a dreary night. There is an old
cottage
with a fireplace inside where Doctor
Krusher sits reading a book.)
[Gwen and Crispin approach the cottage.]
Crispin: You better be right about this Gwen. I nearly broke my ankle back there
when we cut
through that cemetery.
Gwen: This is the place I read about in Doctor
Krusher’s journal. I am certain of it.
Crispin: But we don’t even know if she is here. You said she travels through space
helping people.
Gwen: She did many years ago, but she’s older now,
retired most likely.
Crispin: I hope it wasn’t her tombstone I tripped
over.
Gwen: Hush now!
She’s not that old.
[Gwen knocks on the cottage door. Inside the cabin, Doctor
Krusher
becomes alarmed. She gets out of her
chair by the
fireplace, grabs a candlestick
and waits by the door, ready
to strike.]
Crispin: See, she’s not here. We’ve wasted our time on this forsaken
planet.
Gwen: There’s fire glow coming from under the
door. Someone is inside. The
door is
unlocked. I’m going in.
[Gwen opens the door. Doctor Krusher swings down with the
candlestick. Gwen
jumps back and all three of them scream.]
Doctor Krusher: Who are you?
If you’ve come to rob me, there’s nothing here but some
old love letters
and some canned goods in the pantry.
Help yourself to the food, but
leave my love
letters alone.
Gwen: Doctor Krusher, you probably don’t remember
me. I’m Gwen Astor, from
Phantos
Colony. Twelve years ago, you came to my
planet to help our people
develop seeds
that would thrive with very little water on our arid planet.
Doctor
Krusher: You were the little girl who
drew me pictures of flowers that you
hoped you could
grow for real one day. I still have some
of your drawings,
here,
somewhere. Look at you now, you’re all
grown up. Who is this young man
with you?
Crispin: I’m Crispin Jegger. I moved to Phantos Colony four years ago.
Doctor
Krusher: That is why I do not recognize
you. Are you two engaged?
Crispin: Not quite.
Doctor
Krusher: Well then, what brings you all
the way here to this desolate planet? I
am certain you
haven’t traveled several light years just to say hello.
Gwen: Doctor Krusher, we need your help. Do you recall Professor Shelley who was in
charge of the
seed project?
Doctor
Krusher: The arrogant fellow with his
head too large for his ears? He’s the
reason I left
as quickly as I did. I had planned to stay to see the results from
the first harvest,
but he kept questioning me on technology that your colony was not
ready for, and
I had no other choice but to leave.
Gwen: Do you remember that hand-held computer you
use to carry with you?
Doctor
Krusher: Yes, of course. I’ve had one like it for many years. Professor Shelley
wanted one, but
I could not give it to him. It was too
advanced for your society.
Crispin: The Professor somehow managed to get the
specs of it, though. He created one
that also
included a communication interface.
Gwen: He named it I.D.E.A. – Informational Data
Emersion Application. Everyone on
the colony
started to use it to communicate with each other. At first, it was little quips
about how their
day was going, what they were eating - just small things.
Crispin: Then this concept of communication took over
the colony. Co-workers and
families who
were in the same room began communicating only through I.D.E.A. The
continual
typing made everyone’s hands ache.
Doctor
Krusher: So you’ve come for my help
about your colony’s outbreak of carpal
tunnel syndrome?
Crispin: It’s far worse than that, Doctor.
Gwen: In an effort to prevent more cases of carpal
tunnel, Professor Shelley developed
the B.I.G.
I.D.E.A.
Doctor
Krusher: What exactly is the B.I.G.
I.D.E.A.?
Gwen: Brain Interactive Grommets attached to the
colonists heads to communicate with
their thoughts
through the Informational Data Emersion Application.
Doctor
Krusher: It sounds dangerous. Your people agreed to this?
Crispin: Happily so.
The colonists waited for days in line to get fitted with their
grommets. When
the colonists started communicating through thought only, they quit
going to
work. Children stopped going to school.
Gwen: Some people stopped their daily routines. Simple things like showering.
Crispin: And
eating. A few of the colonists starved
to death before the Professor
discovered what
was happening then he began feeding them intravenously.
Doctor Krusher: If
the Professor has the entire colony under his control. I have to ask, why aren’t you two
attached to it?
Gwen: I was, but the grommets caused me to break
out in a terrible rash.
Crispin: I found her huddled on a street corner
scratching at her head. Her face was all
bloody. She did not even realize she was hurting
herself, so I disconnected
her from the B.I.G.
I.D.E.A.
Doctor Krusher: Why weren’t
you connected?
Crispin: I’m old
fashioned, or maybe I like hearing myself talk too much. The whole concept was beginning to creep me
out. I was planning to move off that
rock and take Gwen with me.
Gwen: But that’s when
I remembered your journal. You must have
forgotten it when you left the colony. I
found it when I was a child and kept it all these years. That’s how we discovered
where you were. You wrote fondly about
your Grandmother’s home, and we took a chance that you would be here.
Doctor Krusher: What
you are telling me about the Professor and what has happened to the colony is horrific,
but I don’t know how I am supposed to help you.
Gwen: We need you to
help us stop the Professor. He used the
original design from your hand-held computer.
We have very little knowledge about how the technology works, but you
do. Together, we can find a way to shut
it down.
Crispin: The
colonists are dying and they don’t even know it.
Gwen: You will help
us, won’t you?
[Doctor Krusher picks up the photo
of a handsome,
distinguished
gentleman in a red uniform.]
Gwen: Who’s that?
Doctor Krusher: My
former Captain and my friend.
Gwen: By the way you
were looking at that photo; he seems to mean more to you than that.
Doctor Krusher: You
are very perceptive, Gwen. Well, we
better get some sleep. We leave at dawn.
Crispin: So, you will
help us?
Doctor Krusher: On my
oath as a doctor, I have no other choice.
End of Act I
Act Two
(The action takes place in the overly lit lab of
Professor Shelley, who is working inside with
two drone colonists.)
[Doctor Krusher,
Gwen and Crispin run up to the
entrance to
Professor Shelley’s lab.]
Gwen: I can’t believe
we’ve made it this far. We’re really
going to do this.
Crispin: We enter at
the count of three, okay? One, two,
three…
[Crispin,
Doctor Krusher, and Gwen enter the room.
The
Professor,
unalarmed turns to greet them.]
Professor Shelley:
Ah, perfect timing. Doctor
Krusher, it is a pleasure to see you again.
You are looking older.
Doctor Krusher: And
you are same arrogant egomaniac I remember.
Professor Shelley:
Always with the quick wit, aren’t you?
So, what do you think of my ideal society?
Doctor Krusher: Those
colonists out there are only shells of their former selves. By hooking them into this mainframe of yours,
you have robbed them of the individuality, their sense of purpose.
Professor Shelley:
Individuality is overrated, Doctor Krusher. I have created a society where there is no
crime, no greed, no hatred or jealousy.
Everyone shares their thoughts, and there is absolute equality. My society is nearly perfect.
Gwen: Our people are
dying out there, Professor. Don’t you
care about that?
Professor Shelley: Of
course, I care. That is why I brought
Doctor Krusher here. Isn’t that right,
Crispin?
Crispin: Yes,
Professor.
Gwen: What does he
mean, Crispin? You were helping us to
stop this maniac.
[Crispin grabs Doctor Krusher by the arms
before she can take action.]
Crispin: So sorry,
Gwen. I needed you to believe that, but
my real mission was to find Doctor Krusher and bring her here to the
Professor. The Professor knew you were
close to her as a child, and you were our best chance at finding her.
[Gwen tries to pull Doctor Krusher from
Crispin’s grasp, but the
two colonist drones grab
her arms to keep her from moving.]
Doctor Krusher: What
do you want with me?
Professor Shelley: The
colonists are dying, but with your advanced medical and technical knowledge, we
will work together to save this society.
Doctor Krusher: I
will never help you sustain this atrocity.
Professor Shelley:
You have no choice, Doctor Krusher.
Once I have attached the Brain Interactive Grommets to your mind, you
will be more than willing to assist me.
[Crispin takes Doctor Krusher to the
Professor and he forces
her into a chair. The Professor begins his procedure.]
Gwen: No! Crispin!
Don’t let him do this.
Crispin: I was never
on your side, Gwen. Get over it.
Professor Shelley:
Not to worry, Gwen, just as soon as I am finished with Doctor Krusher
here, I will introduce you back into the society, where you will live a life of
complete bliss.
Gwen: Never again,
Professor!
[Gwen breaks free from both the drones and
runs to the control
panel and starts pushing buttons. Crispin pulls a blast gun from his holster
and shoots Gwen. She falls to the ground.]
Professor Shelley: Did
you really need to shoot her Crispin?
Crispin: She was
annoying me.
Professor Shelley:
What a waste. Well, then, we’re
about ready to start, dear Doctor. Let
me just plug myself in here.
[The Professor attaches two grommets to his
head and flips a switch.]
Professor Shelley:
Welcome to my world, Doctor Krusher.
Soon your mind will be a part of the greatest social experiment in the
universe. You will become…wait…
something is wrong.
Crispin: What’s the
matter Professor?
Professor Shelley: I
am not in control.
Crispin: Who is?
Doctor Krusher: I am.
[Doctor Krusher uses the back of her fist
and smacks Crispin
in the face, knocking
him out cold. She stands up from the
chair.
The Professor is
horrified, but unable to move.]
Doctor Krusher: Gwen
must have changed the settings in the database, giving me complete control of
the mainframe. I can feel the allure,
Professor, hearing everyone’s thoughts like you are some kind of god. So much control, it is almost like an
aphrodisiac, but I don’t want to be anyone’s god. No one should have so much power. I am shutting this down Professor. Goodnight.
[The Professor and the two colonist drones
collapse to the floor.
Doctor Krusher removes
the grommets from her head and runs
over to Gwen. Gwen is barely conscious. Her wound is mortal,
and Doctor Krusher knows
it.]
Gwen: Did we save the
colonists?
Doctor Krusher: We
did. Thanks to you. I am going to see to
it that this mainframe is dismantled and destroyed.
Gwen: There was
something I wanted to show you earlier.
There’s a photo in my right front pocket.
[Doctor Krusher pulls out a photo and looks
at it. She begins to cry.]
Gwen: It’s a photo of
my garden. All the flowers I wanted to
grow as a child. You helped make it
possible.
Doctor Krusher: They
are beautiful. Just like you, Gwen.
Gwen: Just like you,
Doctor.
[Gwen
dies. Doctor Krusher places her hand on
Gwen’s chest,
mourning her loss.]
The End.
I appreciate any feedback I can get. Just remember, it is so short due to the contest guidelines. Thanks for reading.
Until next time, I am,
Sci-Fi Fan FL
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