‘A Present for the Future’ - Operation Noahoperationnoah.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PDF_version... · 2014-06-17 · ‘A Present for the Future’ – Marc Norris CHRISTMAS

SHOP LESS. LIVE MORE. SAVE THE EARTH

www.operationnoah.org/reclaimchristmaswww.tententheatre.co.uk

‘A Present for theFuture’A short drama for young people

by

Marc Norris

Produced by Operation Noah in association with

‘A Present for the Future’ – Marc Norris

shop less. live more. save the earth

The action takes place in three different years. 1945, 2008 and 2045

CAST

2008

GRACE – Girl in her teens

THOMAS – Her Brother, roughly same age

MUMDADA TIME TRAVELLER

1945

PHYLLIS – Grace’s Grandmother as a child

JACK – her brother

1945 MUM1945 DAD

2045

JENNIFER ANISTON – Grace’s Niece

LEWIS HAMILTON – Grace’s Nephew

2045 MUM

2

A Present for the Future


CHRISTMAS 2008

The Christmas Dinner table. MUM enters.

MUM Thomas! Grace! Dad! Dinner’s ready! Happy Christmas!!

Enter THOMAS, GRACE and DAD they sit down.

DAD Right, one more present before dinner!

MUM This is for you, Thomas! (She gives him a present)

THOMAS (Unwrapping present) Please just have got me what I askedfor…Please… (Opens it) Mum!! What’s this??

MUM It’s what you asked for, sweetheart. Super Mario Kart 3

THOMAS That’s not what I asked for.

MUM Yes it was.

THOMAS NO. I asked for Super Mario Kart 3 SPECIAL EDITION. This isthe standard edition.

GRACE Come on, they’re all the same.

THOMAS Are you having a laugh? – The Special edition has 2 extratypes of car, a hidden race track, and it comes with thesteering wheel controller..This just has the normal controller(he holds it up) – Look – its rubbish! I hope you kept thereceipt mum, ‘cos this is going straight back to GameZone…

MUM I’m sorry sweetheart..

THOMAS Yeah, yeah.

3



DAD Now, Grace – Gran says she’s sorry she couldn’t make it, but –

THOMAS You couldn’t be bothered to pick her up!

MUM That’s not true! It’s all just a bit too hectic today. We’ll pop inand see her next week. Anyway, Grace..Gran sent you this.

GRACE opens present. It’s a toy monkey.

THOMAS Ah, what is that?!

GRACE It’s a toy Orangutan...

THOMAS It’s old! It’s second hand – she probably got it from a jumble sale!

GRACE There’s a card as well – ‘It’s something that meant a lot tome when I was your age. I’d like you to look after it now.’Thanks Gran.

THOMAS Just keep that thing away from me.

MUM Now, does everyone have enough gravy? Potatoes?Stuffing? Good.

THOMAS Right, let’s get this down my neck. (He goes to start eatinghis dinner)

MUM Wait, Thomas – Dad needs to say grace first.

THOMAS Does he have to?

DAD It’s tradition, son – the Evans family have always given up afew words before the Christmas Feast.

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THOMAS Go on then, just be quick.

DAD Lord, thanks for the dinner, goodwill to all and please blesspoor people. Amen. Right! Get stuck in!!!

THOMAS Hold on. Where are the sausages wrapped in bacon?

MUM Iceland ran out, so I replaced them with parsnips.THOMAS What!! That’s not a replacement! I can’t believe it!

GRACE Oh, will you just eat your dinner!

THOMAS No! I want my sausages wrapped in bacon!

MUM Don’t be so ungrateful!!

THOMAS Maybe I wouldn’t be ungrateful if people got me what I asked for!

DAD It’s not the end of the world, son.

THOMAS Yes it is! It’s a disaster! No Mario Kart 3 Deluxe, no sausageswrapped in bacon! Just second hand monkeys!! What hasChristmas become?!!

GRACE Good point!

THOMAS What?!

GRACE Dad just said a prayer about goodwill and helping the poor.And you’re sat there moaning and complaining in front ofenough food to feed an army.

THOMAS Don’t have a go at me!

5



GRACE I’m not having a go – I’m just tired of us arguing everyChristmas and wasting so much on stuff we don’t want or need.

MUM Come on, dear, it’s a special treat – Christmas is a time fortreats, after going without for the rest of the year.

GRACE But we don’t go without! The fridge is always full with stuff!It all just goes off and we throw it away. And why have we gotall those lights on the front of our house? It’s like Las Vegasout there!

DAD Hey! That display won 3rd prize in GMTV’s Christmaslights competition!

GRACE But, Dad, it uses up more electricity that rest of the streetput together!

DAD It’s a celebration.

GRACE Of what?

DAD You know – the Nativity.

GRACE The Nativity? Where’s the baby Jesus?

DAD There’s the Three Wise Men.

GRACE Santa, Rudolf and the Chief Elf do not count as the three wisemen! We’ve even got Elvis out there! The last time I checked,The Son of God was born in a humble stable in Bethlehem, notthe Lobby of The MGM Grand!

THOMAS What’s your problem? What sort of Christmas do you want, eh?No lights? No presents? No Turkey? Is that what you want?

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GRACE I want to remember why we’re celebrating. What it means.At the moment it just feels empty – like we’re having thismassive party for someone we’ve forgotten to invite.

THOMAS (Sarcastically) Are you saying that you want Jesus to turn up?

DAD We’ll need another turkey if he does!

GRACE Well, in a way – maybe…yes… yes I do!

BANG!!

THOMAS and the rest of the family freeze like statues. THE TIME TRAVELLER appears

TT Ha! I made it, Hello Grace!! I’m not late, am I?

GRACE Oh….My.....G-

TT Oh, no no no. I’m just a scientist. A time traveller. From thefuture – what year is it, by the way?

GRACE 2008

TT Fantastic!! Spot on! They said it couldn’t be done – I managedto punch a hole in the time vortex – I control the whole thingwith this! (He holds up modified Wii controller) Does that makeany sense?

GRACE No – What are you doing here?

TT No time for that – you have to come with me.

GRACE Mum!! Thomas! Dad! What have you done to them? (She looksat the frozen family)

7



TT Don’t worry, it’s just a temporal lock – they won’t notice a thing.Come on, there are some things you need to know – We haveto be off!!!

GRACE Where?

TT Not where, WHEN! Fast Rewind!!

He moves the controller backwards in a circle and DAD, MUM and THOMAS go

offstage. They are replaced by JACK, PHYLLIS, 1945 MUM and 1945 DAD, Frozen.

TT Excellent!!

GRACE It’s the same room, but it looks different…That wallpaper’shorrible…

TT December 25th, 1945. It’s the first Christmas after the end ofthe war. Your Great Grandfather has been away since 1940 –his wife and children been waiting often with no letters formonths, not sure if he was dead or alive. But he’s back nowand it’s time to celebrate their first Christmas together in years.

TT You may recognise those two…

GRACE It’s my Gran as a kid! And that’s Great Uncle Jack..

TT Play! (He presses button and 1945 family come to life)

1945 DAD Now then, Jack – Your present is in the garden…

JACK runs to the window and looks out.

JACK A load of old wooden boxes!!

8


1945 DAD Not just any old boxes, I got those off my friend Mario at thedocks and tomorrow, we’re going to get the tools out and turnthese boxes into the fastest go-kart you’ve ever seen!

JACK Great! Thanks Dad!! (He sits)

1945 DAD And for my favourite girl. (He gives her a toy monkey)

GRACE That’s my Orangutan!

1945 DAD I saw lots of these when I was in Borneo during the war.

PHYLLIS Were they scared of all the fighting?

1945 DAD I think we were all scared sweetheart. But It’s over now andtime to start again – Peace and Goodwill to everyone!!

1945 MUM Right, before we begin, Dad, would you like to say grace?

1945 DAD Lord, we give thanks for all we have, for our wonderful mealtoday and our family. We remember my friends George andBill, and all the others who didn’t make it back from the war.And that after all the things that Mankind has done to yourEarth and to each other during the last six years, we offerthanks that we can begin again and pray for the strength to putthings right and make your world a better place for everyone.

PHYLLIS And thanks for my monkey…

JACK –And my Kart!

1945 MUM –And for bringing Dad home safely!

FAMILY Amen.

9



1945 DAD Right, tuck in!!!

The 1945 family start putting things on their plates.

GRACE There’s not much food.

TT They’ve lived on rations for years. A chicken instead of aturkey, tiny bit of boiled ham, plenty of vegetables though –but it’s more than they’re used to..

GRACE Look how happy they are. A simple dinner, a few wooden boxes,a toy monkey. But they’re together again. I suppose they’re alljust so glad that the war’s over – that they’re all still alive.

TT There’s a special joy that comes from being given asecond chance.

GRACE So is that what it is? Does everything need to be taken awayfor people to actually see what’s really important…

TT Perhaps. But it’s better if it doesn’t have to get to that point.Let’s go forward in time.

GRACE To 2008?

TT No, further forward. Much further. We’re going to see my family.

He moves the controller in a circle the other way. The 1945 family disappear

and are replaced by LEWIS HAMILTON, JENNIFER ANISTON AND 2045MUM.

They sit frozen.

TT We’re here…December 25th 2045.

GRACE Why is it so dark?

10


TT Thick cloud cover. Smog. The power is very intermittent, sowe’re lucky if we get two hours of power per day. Rest of thetime they use the dynamo generator.

GRACE What’s that?

TT Bit like the wind up radio but for a house – Lewis Hamilton hasbeen winding it for two hours already.

GRACE Lewis Hamilton?

TT In the future, most children are named after popular figuresfrom your time. We called our son Lewis Hamilton.

GRACE What’s the girl’s name?

TT Jennifer Aniston. My wife’s choice. Play! (He presses buttonand family come to life).

2045 MUM Lewis Hamilton, this is for you. Happy Christmas!

LEWIS unwraps a small red racing car.

LEWIS Wow! Is this a model of HIS racing car?

MUM Yes, the man you were named after drove a car just likethat one.

LEWIS Did you ever see cars go?

MUM We drove them everywhere when I was a girl.

LEWIS And they used to run on petrol, didn’t they?

11



MUM Yes, they did.

LEWIS I can’t believe that – it’s like gold now. Didn’t anyone think thatit would run out one day?

MUM Well we kind of knew, and we tried a bit, but obviously notenough. The bad times always seemed in the future, just overthe horizon. But then one day, the bad times were here.

GRACE Stop!! (She pushes the button – the family freeze) Whathappened, was there another war?

TT Not exactly. Around the year 2020, there was a tipping pointin the earth’s climate whereby it became too late to make adifference after that point. The floods and hurricanes becamemore frequent.

GRACE Couldn’t you have built defences against them?

TT We tried, but after the first few, but then, we didn’t haveenough time to repair everything before the next one came.It was like a runaway train. The seas rose. The temperaturerose – the world that we knew, the world that your greatgrandfather fought for, isn’t even recognisable anymore.There hasn’t been a blue sky in ten years and there’s nosuch thing as snow anymore.

TT pushes button, the family come to life again.

2045 MUM Well, I’ve done the best I can – Happy Christmas.

GRACE What’s for dinner?

12


TT Tinned corned beef and artificial vegetables. It’s difficult toget hold of fresh food these days. The floods decimated hugeareas of farm land. Energy and fuel are in such low supply thattravel has reduced dramatically. It’s basically just a series oftowns where few people travel between. It’s almost like beforethere were trains.

GRACE They’re still happy to be together. But they all look so greyand tired. As if they’ve run out of time.

2045 MUM (Says grace before dinner) Lord, we pray for Lewis Hamiltonand Jennifer Aniston and for their father who is away for verygood reasons. We also ask that somehow you can find the timesomewhere for us to put things right. To try and make thingsbetter than they are. And we pray that one day, impossible asit may seem now, that we will see the sky again…

LEWIS And thanks for my car..

JENNIFER – And please bring Dad back safely.

2045 MUM Oh, I totally forgot – Here’s a present for you, Jennifer Aniston– Your auntie wanted you to have it to look after.

She unwraps monkey.

JENNIFER It’s so old. It’s cute though – an Orangutan, right?

2045 MUM Yes.

JENNIFER Did you ever see them?

2045 MUM Hm. One time, in a zoo, years ago.

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JENNIFER There are none left now though, are there?

2045 MUM No.

JENNIFER Well, I’ll look after this one.

2045 MUM Auntie Grace would like that.

GRACE Stop!!... I’m their Auntie?

TT Yes.GRACE And you’re their dad?

TT Yes.

GRACE That means… you’re Thomas?

TT Hello, sis. I don’t know if any of this can change. But one thingI realised too late was that we form our future by the choiceswe make in the present. Back when we were kids, I rememberthat you used to talk about changing the way we did things.To make a few sacrifices, live more simply and be lesswasteful. But I didn’t care. And I wouldn’t care then even Icame from the future and told myself face to face. But youcare enough to make a difference.

GRACE What can I do?

TT You already know. It’s in your heart. You just need to makeit happen.

GRACE But it’s so difficult.

14


TT As opposed to easy? The easy way gave us a world withouta sun and a life without hope. I chose Christmas as the day tocome back to because... well, I guess it’s when we celebratesomeone who put pure love into action and changed the world.

GRACE I know.

TT Then help me to change, Grace. Help mum and dad to try andmake some kind of difference to the way we thought wewanted to live then so that we don’t have to live like this now.

GRACE OK… Tell Lewis and Jennifer that auntie says hello.

TT Before I came to get you, I asked them what would be theirbest Christmas present. They said they wanted to see a bluesky again. Time to go back. (He holds up controller.)

GRACE Is that the controller you got for Christmas that time?

TT Yeah. Few modifications, of course.

GRACE You said it was rubbish..

TT I know. Came in quite handy in the end, didn’t it?

GRACE Thomas.

TT Yeah?

GRACE (Half smiling) You’d better listen!

TT (Smiling) I will – eventually. See you in forty years, sis. (Hepresses button) Reset!

15



He disappears and 2008 family re-enter and take their places, just before TT arrived.

THOMAS What’s your problem? What sort of Christmas do you want,eh? No lights? No presents? No Turkey? Is that what you want?

GRACE I want to remember why we’re celebrating. What it means.At the moment it just feels empty – like we’re having thismassive party for someone we’ve forgotten to invite.

THOMAS (Sarcastically) Are you saying that you want Jesus to turn up?

DAD We’ll need another turkey if he does!

GRACE Well, in a way – maybe…yes… yes I do! (She look, expectingto see TT again. She then looks at each of her family and thenat the toy monkey) Mum….Mum, do we still have those oldphoto albums of Gran from the war?

MUM They’re up in the loft somewhere.

GRACE Can we find them? – look at them later?

MUM I suppose so….Yes, of course, that would be nice.

GRACE And tomorrow, we should do something we haven’t donefor ages.

The family get up, move the table to the back of the stage and come forward.

They are walking outside.

THOMAS It’s freezing!! Why on earth did we have to come for a walk inthe middle of nowhere?

MUM Grace wanted us all to have a walk together.

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THOMAS But we never walk.

GRACE Well we do today.

DAD It is a bit cold though, eh? There’s no cloud cover.

GRACE It’s a blue sky. Thomas – look.

THOMAS looks up.

GRACE You’ve got to admit – it’s beautiful, isn’t it?

THOMAS It’s alright, I suppose…Can we go home?

GRACE Not yet. Can we have just a little bit more time here... Please?

The family stand there looking at the sky.

THE END

17

Operation Noah

The Grayston Centre

28 Charles Square

London

N1 6HT

Tel: 020 7324 4761

[email protected]

www.operationnoah.org

© Marc Norris 2008

c/o Ten Ten Theatre,

PO Box 49063,

London,

N11 1YU

Documents

‘A Present for the Future’ - Operation Noahoperationnoah.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PDF_version... · 2014-06-17 · ‘A Present for the Future’ – Marc Norris CHRISTMAS