fuonlyknew

The Moldy Orange Bandage:

Playbooks and Short Stories

by Lirio Blanco Show

Genre: Literary Fiction

As much as we may love our families and friends, they
possess the ability to drive us crazy!

In this pair of theatrical playbooks (with a few short
stories as an added bonus), two family-friendly plays for tweens and up
showcase two different dramas.

In The Moldy Oranges, married life between an
American husband and his Latin immigrant wife never proves dull . . .
especially when the mother-in-law lives under the same roof. And then, when
their trusted neighbor requests a mysterious brown bag be hidden in their
closet, it provides the trigger for family secrets, suspicion, and intrigue.
What is in the brown bag? A diary? Stolen jewelry? A secret detonator for a
kitchen stove, perhaps?

Based on the events of Atlanta’s 2014 ice storm, a group of
middle school girls are trapped in their after-school classroom, seemingly
abandoned by the last faculty member, who flees to protect her own family
during the crisis. Three girls and the class bully must learn to cooperate for
survival until help arrives in The Box of Bandages.

From architect/author Lirio Blanco Show, these stories
provide a peek into family life with an in-law, stranded girls struggling to
cope with a bully, as well as a handful of short animal stories . . . some
based on true events, some completely fiction. Who dares to say which is which?

The answers lie within…

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(All four adults begin arguing incoherently with one

another. CARMEN begins pacing around the room,

watching with a suspicious look in her eyes. She kneels

down and picks up the oranges, one by one, from the

floor and carefully places them on top of the dining table. Calmly watching the argument as it escalates, she

then glances at the audience and rolls her eyes, sighing

heavily. She picks up a single orange and begins to peel

it, then begins to eat it. After a few bites, CARMEN begins coughing hard, puts her hands on her chest, as her

face begins to turn red. She motions to her throat, trying to signal the others that she’s choking. Suddenly,

CARMEN collapses on the floor and stops moving.

ALEXA turns toward CARMEN with a shocked realization that her daughter is lying on the floor.)

 

ALEXA:

Carmen! (Shrieking) Carmen?

 

(A deep silence overtakes the room, the lights dim, and

a spotlight on CARMEN starts to brighten.)

 

(ALEXA and KIRA kneel down next to CARMEN in

complete silence.)

 

ALEXA:

Mom, is she okay?

 

KIRA:

Oh God, she is alive, but her pulse . . . it’s so weak. She is purple. Oh God! What happened?

 

ALEXA:

(Crying) I don’t know! Mom! What are we going to do?

What are we going to do?

 

(REGINA pushes the two aside and kneels down over

CARMEN.)

 

REGINA:

Get out of my way, you two!

 

DONOFRIO:

Yes, let Regina check Carmen! She’s a nurse!

 

REGINA:

Her face is purple . . . blue . . . She must have eaten or swallowed something that has blocked her airway.

 

DONOFRIO:

But what?

 

(DONOFRIO begins walking, looking around, and notices the orange peels on the table.)

 

DONOFRIO:

She ate oranges! She ate oranges, but how could that

cause her to choke?

 

REGINA:

The seeds! The seeds, Donofrio . . . Come on . . . Help

me lift her. We need to proceed with the Heimlich

maneuver!

 

(DONOFRIO lifts up CARMEN while REGINA supports her from behind and then presses her chest to forcefully eject the seed. REGINA makes several attempts to no avail while ALEXA and KIRA are desperately crying in the background.)

 

REGINA:

Oh no! Oh no, Carmen! This . . . is not your day, sweetie, no . . . Not today. C’mon, Donofrio, lay her on the floor again . . . Come on!

 

(DONOFRIO follows her directions, and REGINA

starts thrusting her fists against CARMEN’s chest, al-

ternating with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After

three attempts, CARMEN starts coughing and spits

out the seeds. All surround her and give a collective

sigh of relief.)

 

CARMEN:

(Still coughing) What happened?

 

REGINA:

If it wasn’t for your little choking scene here, I was about to lay someone ELSE out in this room. Anybody

want to guess who?

 

(REGINA stares down ALEXA, who backs away.)

 

REGINA (CONTD.):

Or why?

 

CARMEN:

(Coughing less) No! No idea . . .

 

REGINA:

Because your mother started talking to me the same

way you talk to each other in this house—with dis-

respect to me and total disregard to my feelings.

That is why . . . and that my girl, that is not going to

happen . . . again!

 

ALEXA:

But Regina . . .

 

REGINA:

Oh no! No, Alexa . . . This time, you . . . and the rest of you . . .

 

(REGINA points accusingly at KIRA and DONOFRIO.)

 

REGINA (CONTD.):

. . . are going to be quiet . . . and listen to what I have to say. Get that child some water.

 

(DONOFRIO nods meekly and fetches a glass of water

for CARMEN, who is still lying on the floor. He kneels

down and gives it to her.)

 

REGINA:

Do you see this girl lying on the floor? She is the victim here! Yes . . . she is.

 

KIRA:

How dare you, Regina, talk to us like that?

 

REGINA:

My question to you, Kira . . . is how dare you talk to

your family the way you do? You talk to neigh-

bors . . . strangers on the street you never laid eyes

on in your life . . . with more respect than you talk to

your family. Why is that?

 

(KIRA tilts her head down meekly, in tears.)

 

REGINA (CONTD.):

I have been visiting this house for more than fifteen

years, and I know more than anybody else the great

love that bonds this family together. You all have

been through hardships and joyful events, but always

bickering about the most miniscule things . . . While

doing so, today, all of you might have lost the most

precious thing in all your lives . . . Carmen, this

sweet girl . . . who never harms anybody, a creature

full of love and innocence.

 

(REGINA pauses briefly, and silence envelopes the  room.)

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