Oral Training II Spring 2005 play ideas

Oral Training II Spring 2005
Play ideas

Please print this page out, read over each idea carefully, then choose the five ideas you like best. We will vote on the ideas in class on March 8.

1. Characters: Mr. Martin Robot (The owner of the store) Mrs. Martin The Eltons (Neighbor of the Martins) Son and Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin
Outline of the play: The Martins live happily in a serene and pure town. One day, a fantastic store opens. Since this has for a long time been a place where commercial activities are rarely seen, the opening of the store causes a great sensation. The shop is selling a kind of chip. Engineers in the store design a program for it for people’s various needs. People who buy it can ask for things such as a higher intelligence quotient or attractive appearance. After that, the chip is implanted into a person’s brain and then they get whatever talent they want. The father of the Martin family is an unsuccessful manager and, recently, his boss has replaced him with a young and good-looking guy as the manager. He is so dejected that he seeks hope in the newly opened store. After he implants the chip, everything goes well at first. But soon something unexpected happen. He finds himself so perfect that there leaves nothing to be desired in his life. He loses the courage of pursuing goals and becomes even unhappier than ever.

2. Cinderella Jr.
Place: the palace/ the Dreams’ house
Main characters: the king, the queen (Cinderella), Cinderella Jr., Joy Fairy, Hatred Fairy, Harry Dream (Mr. Dream), Sally Dream (Mrs. Dream), Lily Dream (the Dreams’ daughter)
Plot: Remember Cinderella, the girl who owns the glass slippers and lives a happy life after marrying the prince? This is a story about Cinderella’s daughter! After getting married, the prince and Cinderella have a daughter as beautiful as Cinderella, and then they decided to name her after her mother. As a convention, they held a celebration party for the baby princess, and both Joy Fairy and Hatred Fairy are invited. Joy Fairy wishes Cinderella Jr. not only joy but also the magic power as a special gift. On the contrary, being an enemy of Joy Fairy, Hatred Fairy curses the little baby that she’ll disappear and turn into an ordinary girl because of the ownership of the magic power. The king and the queen are very worried about this, so they don’t let Cinderella Jr. touch anything with magic. However, when Cinderella Jr. becomes seven, she’s very curious about everything. One day, she uses her unique magic power accidentally. As a result, she disappears from the palace and becomes an unexpected guest in the Dreams’ family. The Dreams are in the habit of daydreaming. They lack confidence to fulfill their dreams. And this play is about how Cinderella Jr. uses her magic power to change the Dreams’ family and help them.
Act One: the birth of Cinderella Jr. and the party
Act Two: Cinderella has grown up gradually and her parents’ prohibition against Cinderella’s use and contact of the magic power
Act Three: Cinderella Jr. uses her magic power accidentally and appear into the Dreams’ family
Act Four: the process of helping the Dreams and the return of Cinderella Jr. to her sweet home

3. Characters: Friend A, Friend B, Friend C, Cheater, Boss, The elders
In a distant and remote mountain area, there is a small village. People there are conservative and seldom leave the village during their lifetimes. Among the villagers, there are three good friends, who are fascinated with the world outside of the mountain and often get together discussing their ideal plans of making some businesses in a big city. Many elders in the tribe think their dreams are totally impracticed, laughing at their deeds. However, despite many objections, the three good friends still decide to leave. After arriving in a prosperous city, they encounter many difficulties, including a cheater who takes away all their money, a boss treating them badly…….these things make them disappoint and doubt whether their decisions are right until they receive a letter from the village. In the letter, those elders do not scourge them; instead, they encourage them to keep pursuing their goals. Reading the letter, the three good friends move to tears and make up their minds to fulfill their dreams. They work harder than before. Finally, they succeed. To pass along a favor, they go back to their hometown and help more people like them make their dreams come true.

4. Characters: Paris, Helen, Menelaus, Agamemnon
1. Paris arrives, Menelaus welcomes him with feasts and songs
2. Menelaus orders Helen to take a bath and dress up beautifully
3. Menelaus indicates Paris to Helen’s bathing room on purpose
4. Paris and Helen fall in love with each other in bathing room (a bit erotic)
5. During the feast, Paris and Helen flirt with each other, Menelaus encourages them by getting extremely drunk on purpose
6. Paris and Helen go to bedroom and have sex
7. Paris persuades Helen to run away with him and succeeds
8. Menelaus reports to Agamemnon having accomplished his mission

5. Journey to the East:
Characters— The Monkey King, Tripitaka, Pigsy, Sandy, Voice, Monster (1-2 one can act many roles)
Plot— It begins from the year of 500 years after making for the west to get the sutras. The Monkey King is still single although his other two brothers, Pigsy and Sandy, already have their own family. Gradually, they all find that human beings are losing their own values nowadays, not knowing why they are here working and breathing on the earth. Crimes are everywhere, and the world is a mess. Therefore, they call their master, Tripitaka, and decide to start the journey again. But this time, they change the direction to the east. The journey east is packed with actions and adventures, of course. And they keep finding the most ideal sutra which is suitable for the modern people. But, in the end, they find that there is no perfect and flawless sutra in the world. What kind of sutra do the modern people need most? Maybe the best one has already been hidden inside people’s heart.

6. Basically, it is a play presenting a murder case’s investigation. There are five characters in the play. One plays the victim, one plays the detective and the other three are the suspects. The first scene is the death of the victim. The second, third and forth scenes are the reasons why the three suspects become suspects. Each scene presents one reason. The final scene reveals the answer. The victim is an old man or an old woman. The three suspects are his /her daughter/ son, his /her old friend and his/ her servant. The detective is not really a police but only a friend of the son or daughter. He/she is invited to dinner and because he/ she is the outsider, he/she can see the truth and analyze it. At the first scene, four of them are having dinner and the servant is attending them. Then, the victim excuses himself/ herself and leave to another room. The three people are chatting happily in the dinning room and the servant is busy in the kitchen where the three people can see from the table. However, the host excuses himself/ herself so long that the rest of people are suspicious. Four of them come together to the door. They knock at it but there is no response. They become anxious. They try to open it but the door is locked inside. Finally, they break the door and rush in. The son/ daughter runs in first to check what happened. When they get in, they find the man/woman dead. There is a knife on his/ her back. They are totally confused by this situation. There are no other people in the room except five of them. Where is the murderer? Does he/ she kill himself/ herself? The knife is on his back with an angle that is not possible for one to do it himself. Both the door and the window are locked inside. The killer can run nowhere. It must be one of the five people. But how does he/ she do it? The next three scenes are the reasons of the son/ daughter, the servant and the friend’s motivation of killing the host. Three of them accuse each other. The reason of the son/ daughter can be the money or something like that. The reasons can be discussed. Finally, in the last scene, the detective reveals the truth. He/ she explains how the murderer does the crime and why can’t it be someone else. The murderer then confesses. The end.

7. Plot: After a long period of silence, two friends come across each other in a cafe. Still wary around each other, they tread their gradual paths towards reconciliation across a conversational minefield: Just how many times could one say the wrong thing at the exact wrong time?
Structure: Inspired by David Ives's one-act comedy, "Sure Thing", this play intends to explore the myriad variations that a well-meant attempt can possibly go awry as a result of awkward timing or lame choices of words. In this play, the two characters are trapped inside a time zone that is similar to the one in the movie, "Groundhog Day": whenever a character makes a faux pas or unwisely touches a sore spot, the bell rings and the time retreats to the starting point for another chance to get it rightly done.

8. Main characters: A: sloppy man with a simple mind. 40 years old. Often led by brother's decision.
A's wife: Moderate and kind woman, but very naive. 35 years old.
B: A cunning 36 year-old man. A good conspirator who, however, is very easily attracted to women.
B's wife: B's wife: A pretty women. A sensually pretty woman. 34 years old, right now losing her sexy shape and her husband's attention.
Father: A father who really understands his sons' appetite. Very smart and cool-minded. Now in his sixties.
Secretary: Sensitive and cruel 28 year-old woman. Possessing mature attraction which can easily kill a man.
Story: A and B are sons of a owner of a big company who is extremely rich. Recently, the brothers both got fired and seriously in debt. Concerning their desperate financial situation, they try to ask for some aid from their father. However, since the father has considered his sons too incapable to inherit his property, their request is rejected. Just as A and his wife feel disappointed, they hear a plan from his brother B and his wife of how to grasp his father's money. A decides to join, however, as the plan goes, he realizes the plan is actually a murder of their wealthy father. Will he leave and stop this conspiracy, or, complete the murder in the end ? On the other hand, their father and his secretary begin to notice their unusual behavior and are trying to figure out the whole plot. What will he do after he knows the truth?

9. In the play, there will be two roles: a doctor and his wife. This doctor is a young handsome man who has made much money. Recently, he has married a pretty lady. They are a perfect couple envied by many people. One day, the doctor goes home with a disappointed sigh. His wife gives him a tender hug. After their intimate interactions, the doctor starts to describe what happened at his hospital in the morning. He says that one of his patients died in the morning and he thinks that something in his heart made him die. It seems that the patient has had a relationship with a woman which ended badly. When the patient was dying, he gives a half piece of a movie ticket to the doctor. However, he discovers an explosive secret in his wife’s little box.

10. Characters: Daughter, Mother, Father, (Little Brother of the Daughter) (4: 2 females and 1(2) males)
Setting: In the kitchen
Main Theme: An intelligent girl, after pondering on her family and herself, decides to end her life before she winds up miserably. An evening, coming back from the place where she studies, she sits in the kitchen, drinking water from a glass, with the door to the back yard opened. Her mother comes back, happy to see her daughter, and tells her that she has something for her. Then an argument begins, ranging from subject to subject for different reasons, intervened by the father’s opinions and the presence of the little brother.
1. The Daughter: Do you really want to give me that thing?
The Mother: Of course! I know you will love it! What’s the matter with you?
The Daughter says something about the life her mother wants her to have……
2. The dog barks. The Mother: We give Dog bones because we know he likes it, and we know it’s good for him.
The Daughter: Do you compare me to a dog?………am I your daughter or not?
3. The Father comes in with The Little Brother, answering the question, asking what’s wrong. The Mother: Nothing. Honey, (to The Little Brother) could you please do the laundry for me? The Little Brother: Okay. The Mother: It’s just that, your daughter is weird today. The Daughter: “Your” Daughter”? Whom was I born for? Why did you have me?…
4. The Daughter: It’s you that said there is something for me. The Mother: The Little Brother comes in, complaining about the reversed shirts of his father, and his mother goes on with her son. The Little Brother walks away. The Father says something negative about his son, indicating that he is not man enough.The Daughter: Do you think it’s wrong for a man to take care of his family, to do the house chores? ……The Father gets angry. Scolded her for the conflict, switching the subjects. The daughter points his intention out and lays bare his attitude towards his wife. Also says that it all began by her mother feeling that she is going to give her something. The Mother : Anything but a conflict like this. The Daughter: Conflict is the helper of love.
5. The Daughter is scolded. The Daughter: I learned that from you. Didn’t you vote for someone who wars for peace? I say things to clear out truth!
6. She goes upstairs and shuts the door. The Father asks The Mother what does she wants to give her daughter. It turns out to be a new diary.The Father: A diary? What made you want to buy that for her? The Mother: Nothing. Tomorrow will be the day I started to keep my diary when I was 20. The Father: You kept a diary?The Mother: I keep it. The Father: Why? The Mother: For no reason. Maybe I want to stay as a girl by some means. Maybe…I want to record my life as a girl. But some how, I’ve lost the ability to write things like that. I hope she can do that. I always want her to be a girl.
7. The Daughter overhears it. And thinks to herself: It’s no use to kill myself, because I would kill a person whom no one knows. I have to live. I have to protect the real me. Even under pains.
8. They eat dinner. The Daughter acts extremely happy. The three laugh. When the little brother does the dishes, he asks himself :“If peace is brought by wars, what’s the meaning of peaceful lives?”

11. Play outline: adapted from a Chinese traditional story "Chang-E flying to the moon"
Characters: Armstrong, Chang-E, Hou-yi, Wu-gon, Rabbit, Xi Wang Mu
Sun Moon Legend: When Armstrong lands on the moon, to his disappointment, he sees barren landscape, but in a distance, a glittering palace draws his attention. Walking into the palace, he sees a silver rabbit and an ugly, old woodcutter carrying a bow and arrows on his shoulder and an ax in his hand. The moment he enters the hall, a blind, old woman, Chang E, shows up and approaches him, crying “Yi, is that you?” Then, the old woodcutter, who is named Wu Gon, tells a story to Armstrong. Once upon a time, Hou-yi, a heroic archer, shot nine suns off, rescuing people in the world from heat. God appointed him to be the emperor and made his daughter, Chang E, marry him. In their wedding, Chang E finally sees Yi, to her disillusion, Yi was very old and ugly. In spite of his hideous appearance, his kindness to people and tenderness to her made beautiful Chang E ignore his ugliness, and love him. However, Yi wanted to become younger and handsome, so he went to Xi Wang Mu, the Mother Goddess, for an elixir. XI Wang Mu gave him three elixirs, one for youth, another for handsomeness, and the other for immortality. On 15 August night, Yi took the two elixirs of youth and handsomeness, except the elixir for immortality, because he was unwilling to live alone immortally without Chang E. When Chang E saw a handsome Yi, she could not believe her eyes. However, unfortunately, Chang E found out the last one elixir by chance, out of her curiosity, she took it. An incredible thing happened: after Chang E took the elixir, she floated and flied toward the moon. She cried to Yi, “What happened? I don’t want to leave you.” “After ten years in the moon, which is 5000 years on earth,” says Wu Gon, “Chang E turns to be old quickly and becomes blind because of constant crying and sadness.” Wu Gon sighs. “Then, she gets news that Yi passed away and went to the Sun.” After hearing the story, Armstrong asks, “Then how do you be here, Wu Gon?” The silver rabbit hops and talks suddenly, “Oh, it’s because he didn’t do bad and good things during his life, both the heaven and the hell rejected him. Thus, having nowhere to go, he came to our moon.” Wu Gon smiles and takes a look at Chang E, when she walks toward them. Chang E hands Armstrong a letter and says, “Could you send this letter to Yi in the Sun for me, please?” Armstrong promises her reluctantly. Wu Gon sees Armstrong to his shuttle and says, “I know you can’t reach the Sun, so give this letter to me, I can be the messenger.” “How?” Armstrong inquires. “ I’m also a good archer, I can shoot it to the Sun,” says Wu Gon. Then he takes out his bow and shooting an arrow toward the space. After Armstrong leaves, Wu Gon kisses the letter and puts it in his pocket, murmuring, “Dear, I’m here with you.”
Actually, after Yi died, he went to the heaven to be judged where to go. God granted him entry to paradise because of his good deeds during his life. However, Yi said to God, “No, I’d like to go to the moon.” God consented him, “But there is a contract that you can never reveal your real identity to anyone, even your most close wife, or you’ll be degraded down to the hell.”

12. Marty is eight years old, lives with his father in a little town. Marty’s father is a mechanic, he is always exhausted, he is always unhappy and Marty think he doesn’t like him because once he was drunk he shouted at Marty that he killed his own mother, his dearest wife. Although scared and sad, Marty was not quite understood what did that mean. He has a picture in which Daddy was smiling, Mom was good looking; Daddy must love her more. Marty can’t go to school so he doesn’t have friends. He always plays in the muddy backyard with himself. One day his father brings back a dirty, mended Teddy Bear. It was the disposal of mayor’s grandson; mayor gave him because his father had fixed their radio. Marty is very happy, he eats with Teddy, plays with Teddy, sleeps with Teddy and talks to Teddy. He is not anymore lonely! Then he finds that Teddy seems to have some magic power… every wish he tells Teddy will be fulfilled in a mysterious way! Teddy seems to understand him and be good to him better than Dad or anyone else. Until Dad dies in an accident…

13. 1. Very old couples living alone, the dilapidated ceiling dripping water. Husband has hearing problem; wife has to repeat again and again her say.
2. A middle-aged man intends to borrow water
3. The man comes back claiming he is a mechanic and can help mend the roof.
4. (aside) Wife doesn't trust the man, husband deems the man dependable.
5. The man robs the couples and leaves
6. Same as 1. but with more tenderness.

14. Hamlet’s father was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. His father’s ghost wanted Hamlet to take revenge on Claudius, but because Hamlet was not sure whether the ghost’s words were true, he pretended to be crazy and devised a method to test Claudius. During his pretense of being mad, Hamlet killed Polonius, hurt the hearts of his mother Gertrude, and his lover, Ophelia. Hamlet was angry at his mother's remarriage with Claudius, and disappointed by Ophelia's behavior--that she listened to her father for everything and couldn't be a person to share his secret with. However, through the device, which Hamlet used a play/drama to see if Claudius would be frightened or irritated, showed that Claudius was really the murderer of his father. But Claudius also found out that Hamlet knew his crime, therefore he asked Laertes to fight with Hamlet. At last, all the members in the royal family died. And the Norway army has conquered all Denmark.

15. Ever since the father and the mother discovered that their daughter has a passion, as well as the potential, for swimming, they strongly encouraged her to practice day and night so that she will be better than other swimmers. Gradually, the support shown by the father and mother turned to demand. They even hired a coach for their daughter and expected her to practice whenever possible, taking away all her other pleasures in life. They made her enter competitions and insist on her getting first place. The daughter started to get headaches and was unable to practice anymore. The parents decided to turn to a therapist for help. The therapist eventually discovered that the headaches were caused from the pressure that the parents were giving to the daughter. The parents hadn’t realized that they were putting stress on their daughter, since they have always thought she enjoyed swimming. After the therapist treated the daughter, he also talked to the parents. He discovered that the parents were also having problems in dealing with stress that could possibly have caused from their own family. The parents were surprised to find that they had been deeply influenced by their own past and were determined to change. They stopped pushing their daughter and gave her more free time to do other things. The daughter occasionally participated in other swimming competitions but nobody cared for first place anymore. [Characters: 4]

16. Characters: 1) Two kids 2) A pregnant woman, 3) Father from church, 4) Two poem presenters, 5) A soldier/ policeman, 6) A politician/businessman, 7) A drug addict/ an alcoholic, 8) An old fellow
Setting: A Confession cubicle with two poem presenters on either side of the stage.
Summary: This is a play of ridicule so it is hard to tell the storyline in a nutshell. It does not follow logic. However, my main purpose is to satire the following
themes: child neglect, conflict of mankind, materialization, etc.
Necessary props: masks, kids' fighting toys

17. A smith asked his lazy son to earn 1000 dollars himself in order to exchange the heirloom of the family. The lazy son first cheated but was later forced to go out for work. After he completed the mission and came home in several months, he finally got the heirloom and found it worthy.

18. Title: True Love
Characters: John, Jennifer, Jennifer’s father, a doctor, and members in the company.
Outline: Jennifer, an extraordinarily fat woman, has a good heart. She has every good trait that a wonderful woman can possess, excluding beauty. Few men can find that because people all focus on beautiful ladies. John, a very rich, superficial man, enjoys having one-night stands with girls. He is a colleague of Jennifer’s father. One day he is somehow tired of his sex life. He asks a doctor for help. The doctor uses hypnotic suggestion to change his values and judgment. From that day, he can only see a girl’s heart but not her outer appearance, meaning that he thinks a girl beautiful because she is kind. He can no longer judge a woman by looking her looking and figure. The deal will last for half a year. That’s why John has a crush on Jennifer. He thinks she is the prettiest girl he has ever met. He even admires her slim figure to other working companions. The two suddenly fall in love.
The news has become public very quickly because every one knows very well that Jennifer is the daughter of the chairman of the board and she is fat! People judge them sarcastically by thinking John wants to gain power and money. Jennifer starts to doubt their love, and finds the secret of the hypnotic issue. She flees from him and is almost heartbroken. Six months have passed; John suddenly realizes people’s doubts and taunts of him. Jennifer is extraordinarily fat. However, he knows what‘s in her heart, because he has once experienced it himself firsthand. He chooses Jennifer as his partner and they live a happy life.

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