Cath-ar-tate. Make a change now. Brave NoWorld

You see somethin’wrong with the worldand there’s onlyone question yougotta ask yourself:What are yougonna do about it?

You see somethin’wrong with the worldand there’s onlyone question yougotta ask yourself:What are yougonna do about it?

Drama/Comedy byDrama/Comedy by

Laurie BrooksLaurie Brooks

Brave NoWorld:Brave NoWorld:Community.

Identity.

Stand-up

Comedy.

Community.

Identity.

Stand-up

Comedy.

9 7 8 1 5 8 3 4 2 5 5 2 7 >70020

Community. Identity.Stand-upComedy.

This imaginative new work asserts thatif you look beyond the surface,

you’ll see that the world is what YOU make it ...and the time to start creating it is NOW.

Cath-ar-tate. Make a change now.

DistinguishedPlaywright

Award

CH

ORPENNINGCUP

Front cover: The Kennedy Center,Washington D.C., production featuring Daniel Frith.

Photo: Carol Pratt. Cover design: Susan Carle.

Drama/Comedy. By Laurie Brooks. Cast: 1m., 1w.

-

To Kill a Mockingbird, The Invisible Man Brave NewWorld

Bare stagew/ props. Optional music CD available (underscoring and transi-tion music). Approximate running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes. Code:BC5.

Popular high-school senior John has a secret: He loves books. But he’s afraid totell anyone for fear it’ll ruin his “angry-cool” rep. When his motherremarries, John is suddenly step siblings with Lexie, an honor stu-dent who couldn't be more his opposite. Their many differences—from their upbringing and skin color to musical interests andfriends—lead each to make flawed assumptions about the other.But when John and Lexie least expect it, they discover that the oldadage “never judge a book by its cover” still rings true. Mixingpowerful storytelling and contemporary music with stand-up com-edy “rants” about culture and society inspired by such literary clas-sics as and

, this imaginative new work asserts that if you look beneaththe surface, you’ll see that the world is what YOU make it ... andthe time to start creating it is NOW. Commissioned by and pre-miered at The Kennedy Center. Standards based high-schoolclassroom materials focusing on the analysis of hip-hop lyrics to“provide students with a greater understanding of rhythm, form,diction and sound in poetry,” which include activities, readings,and links to related lesson plans and websites, are available fromthe National Arts and Education Network (ArtsEdge), a programof the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

13 ISBN: 978-1-58342-552-710 ISBN: 1-58342-552-7

COMMISSIONED FOR THE KENNEDY CENTER’SINAUGURAL FAMILY THEATRE SEASON

Brave No World:

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Printed on Recycled Paperwww.DramaticPublishing.com

Colorized covers are for web display only. Most covers are printed in black and white.

BRAVE NO WORLD:Com mu nity. Iden tity.

Stand-Up Com edy.

ByLAURIE BROOKS

Dra matic Pub lishingWoodstock, Il li nois • Eng land • Aus tra lia • New Zea land

© The Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois

*** NO TICE ***The am a teur and stock act ing rights to this work are con trolled ex clu -sively by THE DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM PANY, with out whoseper mis sion in writ ing no per for mance of it may be given. Roy alty mustbe paid ev ery time a play is per formed whether or not it is pre sented forprofit and whether or not ad mis sion is charged. A play is per formed anytime it is acted be fore an au di ence. Cur rent roy alty rates, ap pli ca tions and re stric tions may be found at our Web site: www.dramaticpublishing.com,or we may be con tacted by mail at: DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM -PANY, 311 Wash ing ton St., Woodstock IL 60098.

COPY RIGHT LAW GIVES THE AU THOR OR THE AU THOR’SAGENT THE EX CLU SIVE RIGHT TO MAKE COPIES. This law pro -vides au thors with a fair re turn for their cre ative ef forts. Au thors earntheir liv ing from the roy al ties they re ceive from book sales and from theper for mance of their work. Con sci en tious ob ser vance of copy right law isnot only eth i cal, it en cour ages au thors to con tinue their cre ative work.This work is fully pro tected by copy right. No al ter ations, de le tions orsub sti tu tions may be made in the work with out the prior writ ten con sentof the pub lisher. No part of this work may be re pro duced or trans mit tedin any form or by any means, elec tronic or me chan i cal, in clud ing pho to -copy, re cord ing, vid eo tape, film, or any in for ma tion stor age and re trievalsys tem, with out per mis sion in writ ing from the pub lisher. It may not beper formed ei ther by pro fes sion als or am a teurs with out pay ment of roy -alty. All rights, in clud ing, but not lim ited to, the pro fes sional, mo tion pic -ture, ra dio, tele vi sion, vid eo tape, for eign lan guage, tab loid, rec i ta tion, lec -tur ing, pub li ca tion and read ing, are re served.

©MMVII byLAURIE BROOKS

Printed in the United States of Amer icaAll Rights Re served

(BRAVE NO WORLD: Com mu nity. Iden tity. Stand-up Com edy.)

ISBN: 1-978-158342-552-7


www.dramaticpublishing.com

www.dramaticpublishing.com

IM POR TANT BILLING AND CREDIT RE QUIRE MENTS

All pro duc ers of the play must give credit to the au thor of the play in allpro grams dis trib uted in con nec tion with per for mances of the play and inall in stances in which the ti tle of the play ap pears for pur poses of ad ver -tis ing, pub li ciz ing or oth er wise ex ploit ing the play and/or a pro duc tion.The name of the au thor must also ap pear on a sep a rate line, on which noother name ap pears, im me di ately fol low ing the ti tle, and must ap pear insize of type not less than fifty per cent the size of the ti tle type. Bio graph i -cal in for ma tion on the au thor, if in cluded in the playbook, may be used in all pro grams. In all pro grams this no tice must ap pear:

Pro duced by spe cial ar range ment withTHE DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM PANY of Woodstock, Il li nois


For KPK


Brave No World: Com mu nity. Iden tity. Stand-up Com -edy. was com mis sioned and pre miered by The John F.Ken nedy Cen ter, Wash ing ton, D.C., for the 30th an -niversary of the Imag i na tion Cel e bra tion and the in au gu ralsea son of the Fam ily Thea tre.

The John F. Ken nedy Cen ter for the Per forming Arts STEPHEN A. SCHWARZMAN, Chair man

MI CHAEL M. KAISER, Pres i dent

FAM ILY THEATERJan u ary 2006

Dan iel Frith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JohnBrie Eley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lexie

Di rec tor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wendy McClellanAs sis tant Di rec tor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian FrankCo-com poser/Sound De signer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin HillCo-com poser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shaun CozartSet De signer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ja cob MuehlhausenLighting De signer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Em ily LagerquistCos tume De signer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blair GulledgeProps Ar ti san . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dreama J. GreavesPro duc tion Stage Man ager . . . . . . . . . . . . Selena AnguianoCast ing Di rec tor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eli DawsonUn der studies. . . . . . . . An drew Jessop, Audra Analise PolkEx ec u tive Pro ducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Darrell M. AyersPro ducing Di rec tor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kim Pe ter KovacPro duc tion Man ager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Hill

6



Stand-up Com edy.

CHAR AC TERS:

JOHN . . . . . . 17, white. Takes his style from black cul turein body lan guage, dress and speech.

LEXIE . . . . . . . . . . 17, black. Up wardly mo bile, good girl.More white in style than black.

TIME: Now.

PLACE: Any where in Amer ica.

SETTING: A bare stage. Two mi cro phones are in the space and books are scat tered ev ery where.

MU SIC/SOUND: You are wel come to cre ate your own mu -sic and sound de sign for this play, or use the CD of mu -sic/sound cre ated for the orig i nal pro duc tion by Kevin Hill(CD avail able from Dra matic Pub lishing). If you cre ateyour own mu sic, please fol low the mu sic cues in the script. If you use the CD, forgo the cues in the script and fol lowthe cues on the cue sheet pro vided with the CD.

7



Stand-up Com edy.

(MU SIC. SPOT LIGHT on JOHN, 17. He ap proaches the mike.)

JOHN (to the au di ence). Y’all are goin’ along, livin’ yourlives, not payin’ much at ten tion to what’s around.What’s goin’ down. Your lives are all about you, aren’tthey? You and your lit tle world. Me, too, un til now. Sowatch my story and ask your self: Am I livin’ in a braveno world or a Brave New World?

(MU SIC RATCHETS UP. Lights change.)

JOHN. Cau tion: This play may be dan ger ous to the sta tusquo and may not be suit able for chil dren or those whodis like change of any kind.

Listen up. Yo.Aldous told the truth, he had it right/ ’bout what theworld would be and all that dog was tight/ he looked atthe future wrote down what he saw/ knew even thenhow it’d turn out and all/ “Oh brave new world, that has such people in it”/ that’s Shakespeare’s Tempest island

9


with a ship that got wrecked on it/ if you dig Aldous’vision, then you know the drill/ that idea inside yourbrain/ you better kill it/ chill it/ will it gone/ thinkin’?/that’s treason/ you’ll be banished/ outcast for no freakin’ reason.

I call itBrave No WorldI call itBrave No worldI call itBrave no world

JOHN. “Oh, Brave new world, that has such peo ple init…”

(MU SIC OUT.)

That’s how the book starts. Maybe you read it and youalready know. The world’s all wrong the way it is.Totally, incredibly, indelibly wrong, know what I’msayin’? We didn’t get it right yet. We still got poverty,racial intolerance, elitism, violence, and unfair treatmentof those groups who got no power. Am I right? Well,am I? That’s pathetic. I can’t hear you. Am I right?You’re right, I’m right. It’s scary how right I am. Andso was Aldous when he wrote that book way back in the dark ages, 1931.

I know what you’re thinkin’. What’s this dog talkin’about? I never read Brave New freakin’ World. Don’tworry about it. You’ll catch my drift. This here’s a callto action, a wake-up-and-smell-the-scent-of-the-future.

10 BRAVE NO WORLD:


So get ready ’cause this here’s rant number one. It’s’bout what pisses me off in this brave no world, turnsmy blood boiling, starts down in my toes and travels upto my brain like the Indy 500. I got a list, man, beenbuilding inside me so that I don’t say it, it’ll eat mealive, cannibalize me from the outside in. So here’s mylist, forever and for better or worse ’til death do us part.

(MU SIC.)

JOHN (shouting).Injusticelack of respect,false authority,curfew,random stupid rules,people who are just plain mean, stereotypes,sex education,hate mongers and liars and followers and hangovers.

Not that I ever had one. Lemme see, did I forgetanything? What boils your blood, sautés your brain?What’s wrong with the world?

(MU SIC RATCH ETS UP.)

JOHN. Com mu nity, iden tity, all that sta bil ity/ al low it tobe come you/ it’s your new re al ity/ I don’t know aboutyou, but I make my own de ci sions/ it’s wack makin’ the peo ple live the same freakin’ vi sion/ and free dom, jus -tice, what about all that crap?/ in es cap able so cial des -tiny, what the bleep is that?/

Com mu nity. Iden tity. Stand-up Com edy. 11


I call itBrave No WorldI call itBrave No WorldI call itBrave No World

(MU SIC FADES. En ter LEXIE.)

LEXIE (to JOHN). Get over your self. You’re white.

(MU SIC OUT.)

JOHN (to the au di ence). Lexie. What a b-i-t…well, you get the idea. Be aware. There’s a whole list of words youcan’t say in the holy space called thea tre. Us young stersgot to be pro tected. It’s all about PG-13. And if I breakthe rules they shut me down just like that. Don’t wantthat to hap pen, I’m just gettin’ started. So I won’t besayin’ any a those naughty words, but we all know what they are.

JOHN (to LEXIE). S’up, Lexie?LEXIE. Hey, John. (LEXIE turns away.)JOHN. That’s it. Then she’s pass ing me by. Hanging with

her girls or talk ing to some teacher. You know thetype—honor so ci ety, vice pres i dent of the se nior class,year book ed i tor, stuck on her self, but ton-down Lexie.

LEXIE (to the au di ence). Good grades take time and en -ergy but not al ways the kind you might think. For in -stance, I’ve de vel oped an ap proach, a method, and itworks. Would I steer you wrong? (To imag i naryteacher.) Mr. Forbes, do you have a min ute? I was won -

12 BRAVE NO WORLD:


der ing about the home work as sign ment. Would yourather we con cen trate on com par ing and con trast ing themain char ac ters in Farenheit 451 and Brave New Worldor did you want us to fo cus on an a lyz ing their lit er aryel e ments?

JOHN. I got Eng lish and government wid her. High estfreakin’ grade in both classes.

LEXIE (to teacher). I know it’s my choice but I just won -dered if you had a pref er ence. Huxley’s use of sat ire isso in cred i ble. I mean, he makes the im pos si ble seemsen si ble. I’d re ally like to spend some time ex plor ingthat, if it’s okay with you.

JOHN. Can you say suck up?LEXIE (to the au di ence). It’s not like I re ally care about

the an swer to the ques tion. Ei ther es say’s okay with me.The im por tant thing is to make an im pres sion. Keep onthe teacher’s ra dar. I got it raised to an art form.

JOHN. I never liked her.LEXIE (to the au di ence). John? (She play-mocks his phys i -

cal style.) I catch him look ing at me. He’s hot, no doubt, but he should get over him self. He’s a playa. And Iwould n’t mind that so much, it’s how many girls are allover him that creeps me out. And he’s never with onegirl. Al ways a herd of heif ers. “You’re so fine,” theysay, push ing their chests in his face. “John, will youreach this for me. You’re so tall. John, will you openthis. You’re so strong.” Gag me. It’s enough to makeyou lose your lunch. Those girls just don’t get it. Themore they go af ter him the less he re spects them. Girls,let me give you some free ad vice. If you think a guy’shot don’t treat him like he’s hot. Guys don’t want some -



thing they know they can have. It’s not in trigu ing. Youcan see him shut down when those girls start.

And in class he’s like a statue with attitude. How hemanaged to get into AP I’ll never know. We’re readingBrave New World right now. John’s like nodding hishead all the time in class when Mr. Forbes talks, like heagrees. Maybe he’s finally worried about passing. Idoubt he has a social conscience and I know he didn’tread the book. That’s a miracle waiting to happen.

He’s way too busy hangin’ with his boys. It takes themabout an hour just to greet each other. They got moremoves than Shaq.

JOHN. S’up, homes. Jamal. Loafer. (JOHN does elab o rate, over-the-top hand shakes with his in vis i ble friends.)

LEXIE. See what I mean? And he’s white, but he acts likehe’s a brotha. Ev ery thing about him—his clothes, hisstyle, his speech—is street. Crowd he runs with, I un der -stand it, but I hope it’s not just an act, ’cause I can’tstand it when peo ple are two-faced.

JOHN. She never liked me.

(MU SIC.)

JOHN. So here’s my deal. Me and my moms moved to our cur rent crib on accounta the di vorce. Trans la tion: pov -erty. That was the sum mer be fore high school. I hid inmy room the whole month of Au gust. I did not have ca -ble. So I musta read about a thou sand books. I did nothave ca ble. That way I could for get, well, sorta, whatwas ac tu ally happenin’ in my lit tle world. I was un avail -

14 BRAVE NO WORLD:


able for com ment to my moms or my dad. I was notgonna be the go-be tween for ei ther one.

My favorite books, the ones that made me forget mycurrent situation? The Rose That Grew From Concrete,Tupak. Yeah. And The Grapes of Wrath , JohnSteinbeck. Tupak rocks, a’ight, enough said. And TomJoad’s my brotha. You never read Grapes of Wrath? Iprob’ly wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t been hibernatin’. ButI’m glad I did ’cause Tom Joad’s a inspiration to me.(As Tom Joad.) “Then I’ll be all around in the dark. I’llbe e’rywhere, wherever you look. Wherever there’s afight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Whereverthere’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there.” I mean it’sthe same now as back then. People bein’ oppressed.Nothin’ much has changed.

So it’s all good. I’m survivin’.Then comes the first day of high school. My momsdrags me out of bed and throws me in the shower. I’mtwice her size now, but then…I was still waiting for that growth spurt e’rybody was talkin’ ’bout. So I’m aboutthis tall and I got size twelve timbs. I looked likefreakin’ Alfalfa, dog. I got this huge Adam’s applesticks out to about here. I coulda eaten my lunch off that thing. I wore a lot a turtlenecks that year. And trust me,turtlenecks are not cool in the ’hood. I got this hatpulled down tight coverin’ my hair which won’t do what I want no matter what I put in it. You don’t wannaknow. And I got a even more singular problem that Icannot hide no matter what. I got zits. Not a few zits,oh, no, I got the Grand Canyon on my face, know whatI’m sayin’. Hills and valleys, yeah. I mean it was Abu



Ghraib the first few weeks of school. Two friends savedmy life—Jamal and Loafer. They taught me survival,know what I’m sayin’. They watched my back.

I was sick a lot that year. Anything to stay outa school.Stomachache, fever, flu, viruses, pulled muscles,allergies, sore throat, cough, I learned all the tricks. That year I had meningitis, double pneumonia, Asian bird flu, typhoid fever, and the HIV. And most of ’em worked.Well, not the HIV. My moms never did see the humor in that. But she felt guilty about the divorce so I milked itfor all it was worth.

(BACK GROUND MU SIC.)

So I’m walkin’ the halls and my fantasy life’s richerthan anything happenin’ in the classroom, dog. ’Causethere’s girls e’rywhere and they’re filled out in all theright places, know what I’m sayin’. But they are offlimits to crater-faced, big-footed, upper-octave clownslike me and they are not shy about showin’ it .EEEEwwww, is the most often overheard comment. Iwouldn’t go out with him if he won Survivor. You getthe picture.

Summer of my sophomore year, I wized up. I went tothe derma-dude to deal with my acne, as Moms called it. Really sounds like what it is, dog, ack-nee. So thederma-dude looks me over and gets this look on his face like I’m terminally ill. “That’s quite a face you’ve gotthere,” he says, and I want to punch him in his little,smiling, puny mouth. Kill yourself. Die slowly. But hegives me these miracle pills. Antibiotics. Yo, in two

16 BRAVE NO WORLD:


weeks the zits magically disappear. And I grow about afoot, my Adam’s apple shrinks to fit my neck and myvoice drops two octaves. Miracle drugs, dog. Pretty soon e’ry dime piece in school wants to get wid me. How didthat happen? Now I like havin’ ’em all available, butword, dog, I can’t stop thinkin’ about how they wastoward me when I was a troll.

LEXIE. Since Mama died it’s been me and Daddy. I lookaf ter him, like she used to look af ter both of us, cookour fa vor ite dishes, keep the house clean, hang up hisshirts when they come back from the laun dry. At night,af ter din ner, Daddy and I sit to gether in the study. Heworks on his cases and I do my home work. Some timeswhen we’re to gether like that I look up and see Mamaread ing on the couch, like be fore she died. She’s not re -ally there. She’s just in my mem ory. Wish ful think ing Iguess. Ev ery one tells me I look like her, but I can’t seeit. She was so beau ti ful and so phis ti cated. I try to be like her, at least what I can re mem ber.

Daddy and I are doing okay on our own. Don’t laugh,okay? I’m gonna be a lawyer, too, and maybe do somegood in the world. I take a lot of flak at school forhaving a social conscience. I mean, if you don’t fit insome little pre-measured box then you’re fair game. The street kids call me names that suggest I’m one color onthe outside and another color on the inside. You knowwhat I’m talking about. But just because I don’t comefrom the ’hood and speak Ebonics does that mean I’many less black?

(BACK GROUND MU SIC.)



JOHN. So how this whole thing started, my moms goes ona date. A date! How twisted is that. I mean, that calls up thoughts that I do not want to share, know what I’msayin’. I mean, she can talk to guys, but that’s all. Andthe idea of her being alone with some playa? Too muchinformation. It is the first time I’ve seen her knees intwo years and she is decked out in old-lady bling.

So she comes home from this “date” and she’s allsinging and glowing. Don’t get me wrong, I want mymoms happy. But not this happy—ever. She’s all, “Didyou see the stars tonight?” Does she seriously think Ilook at stars? “Aren’t they beautiful, honey?” That’swhen I start to worry. And I got reason ’cause she startstalking about this dog and how great he is. Name’sLincoln. Like he’s the freakin’ president or something.No, wait, it gets worse. Turns out his daughter goes tomy school. Moms wants me to “be friends” with her.And guess who it is. (JOHN indicates LEXIE.) Goahead, say it. (Audience response: Lexie.) You got thatright.

LEXIE (to the au di ence). So Daddy’s never home any -more. And he’s act ing weird. No, I mean re ally weird.It’s like he’s off in an other world. I’m talk ing to himand I can tell he’s not even lis ten ing. And he boughthim self new un der wear—not the tightie-whiteies he used to wear, oh, no, Joe Boxers. And here’s the fi nal straw.Get this, he’s lis ten ing to Lionel Ritchie. Uh-huh. It’sbad enough I have to lis ten to Lionel Ritchie (gag me.)but when he’s not play ing the CDs he’s sing ing thesongs. It’s all Lionel Ritchie, all the time. Retro powerbal lads. Agggg! I fig ure it can only be one thing. Go

18 BRAVE NO WORLD:


ahead, say it. Go on. (Au di ence re sponse.) No, not love.Y’all are so lame. It’s sex.

LEXIE & JOHN. Aaaahhhhh!JOHN. So pretty soon, all my moms can talk about is this

guy, Lin coln. Lin coln says, Lin coln does, Lin coln is.Lin coln’s a law yer, pro bono cases that help poor, down -trod den folks like us. I want to erad i cate him. So I sayto Moms, You gettin’ se ri ous with this dog or what. Becare ful, a lot a playas out there. Don’t want you to gethurt. But she’s throw ing cau tion way, way into the wind.

“You know Lincoln’s daughter, Lexie, right?” Yeah, Iknow her. “Lincoln wants to invite us for dinner, but itmight be awkward for Lexie not knowing us and all, socould you help me make her feel comfortable?” Makeher feel comfortable? What about me? I’m your ownflesh and blood. How about my comfort? I say, I don’tknow, Moms. “She’s in your English class, isn’t she?”She’s done her homework, gotta give her that. I’mtrapped. “Be nice to her so she’ll feel like she knowsyou when we go over there Friday night.” Friday night?When was she gonna tell me?

(To LEXIE.) S’up, Lexie?

LEXIE. Hey, John. (LEXIE turns her back.)JOHN. Then she gives me her back. Yo, Miss Honor So ci -

ety, third in the class, freakin’ teacher’s pet, think you’re better than ev ery one else, Lexie. (LEXIE ig nores him.)Later I’m glad she did n’t hear me. I tell Moms, me andLexie move in dif fer ent packs. Enough said.



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Cath-ar-tate. Make a change now. Brave NoWorld