Eleanor Henderson

Morning Dilemma

A Play in One Act

Target audience: Kindergarten to Second Grade students, animals as the characters

Dramatis Personae

Iris and Bobby are stuffed animals. Iris wears a lavender dress.
Iris: A mature, enthusiastic female bunny
Bobby: A mature, cautious male bear

Scene: Breakfast area in the comfortable suburban home of Iris and Bobby
Time: The present, morning
The characters sing the dialogue.

Iris: Would you like to go for a walk?

Bobby: No I walk too slow.

Iris: Or take a drive into town?

Bobby: That’s too far to go.

Iris: Or sit on the deck,
and watch the garden grow?

Bobby: (thunderously)
NOOOOOOOOOO!
I gotta be me, I gotta be free,
I gotta sit in this chair and drink coffee
And watch the news on TV.

Iris: (Surprised and hurt)
Oh.
(Cheering up)
I think I’ll go out to the garden,
And water all the plants,
And watch the bees and butterflies
Do their little flower dance.

Iris and Bobby move apart and face in opposite directions.

(Sob) Iris: He just doesn’t get me.

(Sulking) Bobby: She just doesn’t get me.

Iris: I like to get up and go.

Bobby: I start up slow.

Iris: I love the feeling of the morning hours.

Bobby: I like to start up slow and feel my powers.

Iris: I don’t know why they call it the news;
It’s always the same; They should call it the olds.

Bobby: She makes great coffee – it’s nice and zesty –
But she never makes rolls.

Thoughtfully
Iris: He starts out grumpy, but he’s really sweet.

Annoyed
Bobby: (Spoken) She talks too much.
Wistfully
(Sung) But she has funny bunny ears and furry feet.

Wistfully
Iris: I kind of miss him, he’s my best friend.

Hopefully
Bobby: Sometimes we have spats, but they always end.

Iris and Bobby turn back towards each other.

Spoken:

(Feigning surprise.)
Iris: Oh, hi.

(Shuffling his feet.)
Bobby: Um, uh, nice morning.

Sung:

(Shyly)
Bobby: We could go into town, and walk around.

(Encouraging)
Iris: And have a seat; get something to eat.

Bobby: Or sit on the deck and watch the garden grow.

Iris: Oh! That’s my very favorite place to go!

Bobby: I could make coffee and rolls.

Iris: And we could watch the olds.

Bobby: I don’t care where we go.

Iris: I don’t care what we do.

(Affectionately)
Iris and Bobby: I just want to be with you. Yeah, I just want to be with you.

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