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The Gardener's Family collab w/David Gardner-performance script

by Kathleen Wilson

Lights up on the garden. Sheila, elbows in the earth, sings to
Nancy, her oldest daughter, from her first marriage.
Thea, Sheila’s mother, sleeps on the porch swing.
Benny, a mute, stares at the sun. He tears up.
Carla, Sheila’s fat sister, hums along with Sheila’s song.
Taffy draws a picture in the dirt with a short stick.
Edna pulls dandelions even though her eyesight is bad.
“Bulldog,” Sheila’s youngest child trims the hedges with intense excitement.
Bustimante brings out the lemonade. He shakes the tray; he seems nervous.
And Pete, let’s not forget Pete, Sheila’s current husband, he paints the whole picture on some canvas. He loves:
+ Dolly Parton.

~~~


Sheila (the mom, humming) Like the exotic parrot mask she's wearing, she's a bit wing tipsy.
Nancy (her daughter) Soaking one foot in the lotus pool while painting her toenails bright blue.
Thea (Sheila's mother on the porch swing, sleeping) She's got that dream realizer hooked up to her, blaring interference!
Benny (the mute) His sunflower costume has a bib to catch his tears.
Carla (Sheila's fat sister) Munching candied hibiscus flowers and large lavender cookies.
Taffy (drawing a picture on ground with a short stick)Simultaneously it's projected on the garden wall marked explicit.
Edna (dandelion picker with bad eyesight) Pulls and eats each dreamily, in time with Sheila's song.
"Bulldog" (Sheila's youngest son,excitedly cutting the hedges) Signals the neighbors to bring their ladders right up to the hedge.
Bustamente, (nervously carrying the lemondade)This pitcher is artist made blown glass and shaped like an exotic flower.
Peter (Sheila's current husband, painting the scene who loves Dolly Parton) Got that one projected on the line drying pink silk bedsheet king size of course:
(Dolly Parton) And everyone's figure is magnified by 2.

~~~


(Sheila) Look-ing Bet-ter than a Bod-y has a right to...
(Nancy) Love it, Mama. Love it. You sing so good! Look at my toes! This color is called Cobaltic Sea.
(Thea) I take turns with Anastasia. We circle Anne Frank's house. Amelia flies our sky.
(Benny)
(Carla)Cookies are never out of tune.
(Taffy)Look, Pete. Looks like a crop circle.
(Edna)You know each stem has one-sixteenth of an ounce of milk?
("Bulldog")Joe! Jim! Juniper! Hurry up with them footstools!
(Bustamante)Squeeeeeezed fresh!
(Pete)Yep, might be a crop circle.
(DP?)An' here I go!


~~~

(Sheila)"can it be?" (narrator adds)(she suddenly hears herself).
(Nancy)(narrator says:)dramatic music from somewhere is turned up loud as she lifts her foot high, giant lotus balanced upon it as if the time has come.
(Thea) (Pete says?)"turn down the volume her propellers are roaring!"
(Mute Benny) mama (Sheila) sings "wring out his bib" and Nancy reaches over obligingly,(wring it out) flowerfoot in air.
(narrator says) Carla covers both ears with huge round scalloped edge cookies, rocks back and forth in time...
(Carla says?) "Taffy! that's not where you should put it!" (Taffy putting the short stick somewhere, actor's discretion)
(narrator says) Edna's rhythmically spitting out dandelion heads one by one. Nancy says: ( How could she?)
(narrator) Neighbors heads perched expectantly, all with video cameras. ("Bulldog" along with them)
(Bustamente) he begins to lemon water the cat.
(Pete)(narrator:) Pete's in the pink bedsheet "oooh striptease anyone?"
(DP?) (offstage? voice or maybe Nancy?) "I'm meditating" (Pete? says:)(who said that???)

12/15/2007

Author's Note: first and third stanza are by David, the second and fourth --I am hoping to perform this poem tonight at a reading, with a narrator and players. This will be the working script. It is a challenge... but such a vivid scene! I hope to use masks and a few props... You might be able to guess which? Interesting realizations: the first stanza really introduces the characters, and their situatation in the garden. The second expands that, and introduces more action. The third stanza (by David) is "dialogue"! All the characters speak. I am working on the last, mine, which is a mix of dialogue and more action.

Posted on 12/15/2007
Copyright © 2024 Kathleen Wilson

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 12/15/07 at 05:17 PM

Ok, this is just a hoot! These characters jump off the page and I am so jealous I won't be there to see it in person!!! Funny, bitey stuff, great dialogue and I like that I had to read their physical descriptions first before I "heard" their words. A delicious reveal.

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