Back to PLAYS page  Back to High School One-Acts page

licensing btn

Copyright © 2004,
by Stephen Bittrich


THE SIGN

A Ten-Minute Play

Edited for a
High School Audience

By Stephen Bittrich

 

The Sign was first presented Off Broadway at Access Theater in New York City in June, 2004. This version of the short play is slightly altered from the original to better suit a high school audience. The original uncut version can be found on this page.

licensing btn

To License, E-mail:
SBittrich@aol.com
.

[ bottom ]




                      
                                   "THE SIGN"

                                   BY STEPHEN BITTRICH


            SETTING:

                                   High in a tree.  About two and a half
                                   stories up in the air in the backyard of
                                   a one story house on Prospect Street in
                                   Seguin, Texas.  The branches are
                                   horizontal and strong like a ladder up to
                                   the sky.

            AT RISE:

                                   Lights come up slowly on ROBERT, 28ish
                                   sitting on a branch on the stage right
                                   side of the trunk.  His purpose in being
                                   there is to pray, but he's not the
                                   praying type normally, so he just sits
                                   there, trying to be open, putting his
                                   thoughts in the front of his brain, so
                                   they can be received...if prayers really
                                   work.  Lights then come up next on TIMMY,
                                   30ish, standing on a branch on the other
                                   side of the trunk.  ROBERT speaks with a
                                   drawl that has all but faded away, or
                                   been systematically erased, while TIMMY
                                   speaks with a drawl that is proud and
                                   very much alive and well.


                                   TIMMY 
           I think I finally get it.

                                   ROBERT
           What?

                                   TIMMY
           What your grandmother was so upset about.  I think I finally get
           it.

                                   ROBERT 
           Oh that.  I know.  It's pretty damn high.  I can't even look
           down.  

                                   TIMMY
           When I was a kid, I didn't think twice.  Just up, up, up.

                                   ROBERT
           Me neither.  Somethin' ta do with not realizing one's own
           mortality.

                                   TIMMY
           You almost gave her a stroke.

                                   ROBERT
           Well, she's eighty-three now, and stout as a horse, but I did
           give her a helluva fright that day.

                                   TIMMY
           I don't think I've since witnessed that exact tone of voice. 
           Urgent like a house was on fire--

                                   ROBERT
           --Or like a boy was about to plunge to his death--

                                   TIMMY
           Yet controlled and calm like a, like a cop talking down a
           suicide jumper.  "Robert--come--down--NOW.  Slowly."  And she
           was across the street!  I mean there must have been some volume
           behind that voice to carry from across the street to the
           back of my house and forty feet up in the air.

                                   ROBERT
           Yep.

                                   TIMMY
           But I don't remember her shouting!

                                   ROBERT
           You're right.

                                   TIMMY
           She's across the street, and yet it's like she's sitting right
           beside you, whispering in your ear, with no room to doubt that
           she's not serious as a heart attack. 

                                   ROBERT
           Well, I got down.  Slowly.

                                   TIMMY
           So did I.  Scared the crap out of me, and she ain't even my
           grandma!

                                   ROBERT
           I tried to explain to her that we did that all the time, but she
           wasn't havin' any of it.  "While your parents are away, I'm in
           charge of you, and you will not be climbing any trees, mister."

                                   TIMMY
                         (looking down)
           I kind of see her point now.

                                   ROBERT
           Yeah.

                                   TIMMY
           My own kids like to climb.  I guess that's God's cruel sense of
           humor. 
                         (pause)

                                   TIMMY (cont'd)
           Hey, I can still see the Texaco sign.

                                   ROBERT
           Yeah?

                                   TIMMY
           There.  Just peaking out of the trees.

                                   ROBERT
           Wow.  The trees are taller than when we were kids.

                                   TIMMY 
           Poor old sign.  

                                   ROBERT
           It's seen better days.

                                   TIMMY
           It's not the tallest thing in town any more.  There's a high
           rise on Guadalupe.

                                   ROBERT
           I saw it driving in.

                                   TIMMY 
           Eyesore.  Six stories of eyesore.

                                   ROBERT
           Listen to you.

                                   TIMMY
           What?

                                   ROBERT
           You sound like one of the local old biddies in a Town Hall
           meeting.

                                   TIMMY
           Yeah, that's me.  That's all we folks have to do in Seguin is
           talk about the high rise.  Must seem quaint to someone who moved
           on to bigger and better things.
(long pause) TIMMY (cont'd) Did you sleep with my sister? ROBERT What the hell? What makes you think you can ask me that? TIMMY I dunno. I'm a little drunk, I guess. ROBERT Jesus. That's not really any of your business. But no. (beat) Unless you count the time that I slept over in your living room, so we could all stay up to watch Project Terror on TV. Then I guess I slept with both of you that night. TIMMY (in a creepy voice) "WAHW! WAHW! WAHW! WAHW! Project Terror! Where the terrifying emerges." ROBERT "Emerges"? TIMMY Yeah. ROBERT "Where the terrifying...where the terrifying...Eee...Erupts." TIMMY Emerges. ROBERT Just doesn't sound right. TIMMY It's right. ROBERT Why did you ask me that? TIMMY I dunno. I guess I was always curious. ROBERT Does it matter? I mean, would you be upset if I had? TIMMY Mmmmm, not sure. Depends on when, I guess. ROBERT Whatever. (beat) She showed me her underwear once when we were kids. TIMMY Okay, never mind. ROBERT She was wearing her Brownie uniform at the time. Very hot. TIMMY Okay, Okay, enough. I crossed the line. ROBERT She liked me... when we were kids, you know. Liked me like a crush. TIMMY I know she did. Not just when you were kids. ROBERT She wrote me a letter sometime around the Brownie Uniform, uh, encounter. Something like "Do you like me? Yes or No?" With check boxes. I never answered it. I was too scared to show feelings to girls. TIMMY (or an appropriate sound) Hmmpf. ROBERT I dunno. Why do people drift apart? TIMMY I don't know about people, but you moved. ROBERT Yeah, but I moved less that a mile away--what--about eight blocks? She and I were in the same class. Went to the same Junior High School, the same High School. But we never hung out anymore. TIMMY You got too good for us. ROBERT Shut up, man. TIMMY That's the truth. ROBERT No, it wasn't. TIMMY You got in with the country club crowd. ROBERT You're getting me confused with someone else. I never did that. I was an occasional amusement to certain members of the country club crowd when they were slumming. (beat) Was she okay? Later. Was she okay? TIMMY What do you mean? ROBERT Was she happy? Did she lead a happy life? TIMMY I dunno. I guess. Whudda you care? ROBERT Come on. You know. (beat) I worried about her. TIMMY Oh yeah? How much did you worry about her? ROBERT I-- TIMMY Did you worry about her enough to talk to her? Did you ever talk to her again after you moved out of the neighborhood? ROBERT I can't remember. TIMMY You can't remember? ROBERT Maybe a few times. TIMMY I mean, what does that...? I don't get it, man. Why are you even here? ROBERT Because...she was important to me. TIMMY Right. ROBERT I guess you don't believe me. But she was important to me. I don't know why we all drifted apart. But my memories of you from back then, my memories of her, are so vivid. In-between it's all kind of fuzzy. But climbing this tree, playing imaginary space alien or monster games, it's... I can taste it. She's a part of me forever. Deep deep inside. TIMMY (with a tinge of acridity) That's sweet. ROBERT (after a beat) I did. We did. Once. TIMMY I know. She told me. You broke her heart. ROBERT What? No! TIMMY Why'd you do it? Why'd you even mess with her like that? One damn night? Was it worth it? ROBERT It was a mistake. TIMMY Didn't she mean anything to you? ROBERT Yes! She did. It was a mistake, my mistake, because I couldn't be with her. I couldn't do until death do us part. I don't have any good reason why, but it wouldn't have worked out. If I could take it back, I would. It changed our--it changed us. TIMMY Because she loved you. ROBERT Come on. She had a crush. TIMMY Hey, whatever you can live with. ROBERT Well, I don't know what to say. I loved her in my own way, I just screwed it up. You can believe it if you want. (beat) A long time ago, at an important time of my life, you and she were the world to me. The world. That's a truth that won't ever change. No matter what came later. No matter what is to come. (pause) TIMMY (with difficulty) She loved you. And she forgave you. That what you were looking for? ROBERT Maybe. (beat) Probably. (beat) Yes. (pause) TIMMY Remember when that Texaco sign went up? ROBERT Yeah. TIMMY We felt like we had the biggest damn secret in the world. We saw this little town from the top, like no one else did. We were as high as the highest thing around. Nobody else had a tree like this one. And nobody else could see that sign the way we did. They all saw it from the ground, looking up. (beat) Kinda stupid when you think about it. It's a damn sign. For a gas station. How dumb is that? (beat) I miss that. Feeling that way about things. Like they're special or secret or magical. (beat) I'll miss that. (Lights fade to black) (END OF PLAY)
 

 

 

[ top ]