Arthur and Buster Get Stood Up

(Muffy and Francine enter stage left. They walk to center stage, a high school hallway.)

Muffy: Finally, after all these years...

Francine: ...in Mr. Ragburp's 4th grade class...

Muffy: ...we're in our senior year of high school...

Francine: ...and it's time for the prom.

(Muffy and Francine exit stage left and then Arthur and Buster enter
stage right.)

Arthur: Hey, Buster, who do you think I should ask to the prom?

Buster: Do you need to ask that? You've had the hots for
Francine since the 4th grade!

Arthur: Yeah. But she doesn't like me. I think she likes the Brain. He's much smarter than me and wears better cologne.

Buster: Dude, don't put yourself down like that. You are much smarter than him. Well, maybe not smarter but you definitely wear better cologne. I've smelled it - essence of toad turds.

Arthur: Cut it out, Buster! Who are you asking to the prom? Prunella?

Buster: Oh sick! Arthur! I like... I like... um... um... I won't tell you.

Arthur: If you don't tell me I'm gonna tell Mr. Stiffshit that you skipped his class yesterday to play hooky.

Buster: Yikes! Ok ok I'll tell you! But it's embarrassing so don't laugh!

Arthur: It can't be that embarrassing unless it really is Prunella.

Buster: Oh shut up!

Arthur: Fine just tell me!

Buster: Ok, but don't tell anyone.

Arthur: Fine, now just tell me!

Buster: Alright here it goes. I like um um Mm-Mm- Muffy.

Arthur: Holy shit, Buster, you like Muffy?!

Buster: Shhhh... not so loud!

Arthur: Dude, I thought you liked Sue!

Buster: Why would you think that?

Arthur: Because you always hang around her.

Buster: Arthur, you sick puppy, Sue is my cousin!

Arthur: Ohhhh oops hee hee. Well, anyway I think we should ask them at lunch.

Buster: Them who?

Arthur: Muffy and Francine, you dip!

Buster: Ohh, ok, at lunch.

Arthur: Alright and then... Wait! There they are now! Let's go for it!

Buster: Alrighty, Arthur, after you, ladies first!

Arthur: Well at least I'm brave enough, Buster.

Buster: (charging forward, not to be outdone, runs into Muffy, knocks her down, landing on top of her, and blurts out) "Muffy, will you go to the prom with me?"

Muffy: Sorry, spazo, someone already asked me, someone who didn’t have to jump on me to ask. Now would you mind getting off me?

Buster: Yeah, sorry. (shoulders drooping, walks past Arthur and off stage right) Good luck, good buddy.

Arthur: (walks up to Francine) Francine, will you go to the prom with me?

Francine: Sorry, Arthur, someone already asked me.

Arthur: Awwww, man! You too? Who got to you first?

Francine: Ummm…the Brain.

Arthur: Man, I knew it!

Francine: Oh, and Arthur?

Arthur: Yeah, Francine?Francine: Your fly is down.

(Arthur runs crying off stage right.)

Francine: Whoa, that was close. We’re alone now.

Muffy: Why do we have to keep this a secret? I can't take it anymore!

Francine: Well me either! You don't think I'm not upset about us
having to plan our prom in the janitor's closet! Huh?!

Muffy: No, of course not! It's just that I hate the fact that we can't have a happy relationship because of a new president!

Francine: Yah! I know. I hate that Dick Chaney guy!

Muffy: Totally! He's such a prick!

Francine: Yah! Why is he sooo offended about two people of the same sex having a relationship?

Muffy: Yah! I mean what's the big deal?

Francine: If he knew we were going out he would make us break up.

Muffy: I wouldn't be able to live without you!

Francine: That's so sweet Muffy! I wouldn't be able to live without you either. You're the first person I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last person I think about before I go to sleep.

Muffy: I feel the same way. I think about you all day long.
When Buster asked me to the prom all I could think about was you. And how much of a giant bruise I’m going to have on my ass.

Francine: I felt the same way when Arthur asked me.

Muffy: I'm so lucky I found you! Now I what true happiness is.

Francine: I get all tingly just thinking about you.

Muffy: Well, babe. You give me goose bumps. (bring, bring, bring)

Francine: Well, that's the bell. Let’s go to lunch, honey.

(Muffy and Francine exit stage left.)

(All characters return to stage: Buster and Arthur from stage right holding hands and Muffy and Francine from stage left holding hands.)

All: But don’t worry, we all lived happily every after. We all found our true loves. (Muffy and Francine kiss and Buster and Arthur kiss.)

THE END

Muffy and Francine's Dialogue without Saying I Love You

Muffy: Why do we have to keep this a secret? I can't take it anymore!

Francine: Well me either! You don't think I'm not upset about us having to plan our prom in the janitor's closet! Huh?!

Muffy: No, of course not! It's just that I hate the fact that we can'thave a happy relationship because of a new president!

Francine: Yah! I know. I hate that Dick Chaney guy!

Muffy: Totally! He's such a prick!

Francine: Yah! Why is he sooo offended about two people of the same sex having a relationship?

Muffy: Yah! I mean what's the big deal?

Francine: If he knew we were going out he would make us break up.

Muffy: I wouldn't be able to live without you!

Francine: That's so sweet Muffy! I wouldn't be able to live without you either. You're the first person I think of when I wake up in themorning and the last person I think about before I go to sleep.

Muffy: I feel the same way. I think about you all day long.When Buster asked me to the prom all I could think about was you.

Francine: I felt the same way when Arthur asked me.

Muffy: I'm so lucky I found you! Now I what true happiness is.

Francine: I get all tingly just thinking about you.

Muffy: Well, babe. you give me gose bumps. (bring,bring,bring)

Francine: Well, that's the bell. I'll see you at lunch, honey.

Muffy: Bye, sweety! (Muffy & Francine blow kisses)

Playwrighting exercise due August 5th

Exercise: Write a dialogue in which the characters express love (or hate) for each other, but don’t say the word “I love you,” don’t ever talk about their feelings for each other.

Play Assignment

One Act

The drama should be complete, not a fragment of a longer piece. It should run about 4 pages or 15 minutes.

Because you are writing only a short work, you must limit yourself.

• All the action should take place entirely in one scene.
• There should be no more than four characters (excluding very minor characters with dialogue under three lines).
• Everything must be able to be performed onstage within a reasonable budget. Bill Gates is not your patron.

Remember that all past must somehow be brought into the present—mostly through dialogue, but other means are possible.

Be aware of stage directions. Give us what we need to know to produce the drama, but not more than necessary. Don’t go overboard and try to direct the play from the writer’s chair.

Consider the freedom of drama to comment on its theatricality. Feel free to break the fourth wall if you want.

Don’t neglect sound, special effects (if needed) and silence.

Lastly, remember that you are writing for the stage, NOT film or tv. It has to take place on a stage.

Your drama is due Tuesday, August 12th.

Rodney the Robot By Sammi Goldfeld (when I was ten)

Once upon a time there was a robot named Rodney Copperbottom. Rodney was seven feet and six inches tall with a square head and rectangular body and limbs. He was shiny and silver except for his blue eyes and blue hair. His blue hair, which was made of iron, stood straight in the air in a crew cut style. He liked to drink motor oil and eat screws. When Rodney was a teenager, he stopped a world time diamond thief, and became a hero. He became so popular that he ran for President against George Bush and won. So Rodney is now President of the United States in the human world. He misses the robot world where his mom and dad live. The robot world is where all the robots live.
Sometimes he dreams that his mom and dad are in danger. In a recurring dream he sees a headline in the newspaper: “MR. AND MRS. COPPERBOTTOM GET KIDNAPPED AND DIE.” The story continues on to say that they died because their son Rodney was not there to help them. He was too busy with his own work to even go to the funeral. After he finishes reading the article, he wakes up scared stiff. He worries continuously that the nightmare will come true and something terrible will happen to his parents.
One day, Rodney was listening to the news and heard something about a robot, so he turned up the volume. It was about his mom. “Mrs. Anne Copperbottom was kidnapped at twelve o’clock midnight,” said news reporter Johnny Apple. “When husband, Mr. Philip Copperbottom, found out at three o’clock in the morning that his wife was gone, he got dressed, then without a second to lose, ran after her to try to save her. The kidnappers took Mrs. Copperbottom to Detroit. Police are on their way there now to investigate.” Then Rodney turned off the TV and went to his house, which was the scene of the kidnapping.
At his house, it was dark and gloomy. Rodney stood there thinking. Then he made up his mind. He was going to fly to Detroit the next morning. When he got to Detroit, he immediately saw a huge building right in front of him. He saw some people pushing two robots inside the building. They were Rodney’s parents. He waited until they were inside the building, then climbed to the roof, opened a glass panel, and slipped inside the building down a rope with a hook at the end.
After he was in, Rodney looked for his mom and dad. He found them asleep in a cage. Rodney yelled, “Mom! Dad! Wake up!” His mom and dad woke up and said “Rodney!” at the same time. “Are you all right?” his mom asked. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said. “You have to get out of here!” whispered his dad. “No,” declared Rodney firmly, “I’m not leaving without you.” “Then what are you doing here?” asked his dad. “I’m going to free you,” said Rodney decidedly. “Look out, “exclaimed his mom, “they are coming!” “Who is coming?” asked Rodney. “The bad guys! Hide quickly!” “But…” stammered Rodney. “Go! GO GO!” ordered his mom.
The bad guys took Rodney’s mom and dad to a big piece of dynamite and tied them to it. “That should do it,” said one of the bad guys. The bad guy was fat and looked liked he hadn’t shaved or showered in years. He was lighting the fuse. “Two minutes until destruction,” said a computerized voice. “Let’s go to a restaurant,” said the other bad guy, who was skinny, bald, wore ripped jail clothes, and stunk like a dung beetle. With that, they promptly left.
After they left, Rodney came out of his hiding place quietly and went straight to his parents. He started to untie them from the dynamite. “One minute until destruction.” After his mom and dad were untied, Rodney started running outside with them but got his leg stuck in the rope and couldn’t get free. “One second until destruction.” Then the dynamite blew up with Rodney attached to it. BOOM! Then the smoke cleared. There was Rodney, in a million pieces on the ground.
“He risked his life for ours,” whimpered Rodney’s mom, her lip quivering. Then she burst into tears of oil. “I know, honey, I know,” comforted Rodney’s dad. “He didn’t even know that the bad guys took us because they wanted all Rodney’s money,” wept his mom. “Those dirty, greedy rats!” she yelled forcefully. “He didn’t even know!” With that, the grief stricken parents walked out of the building and away to hide in their house away from everybody forever.
Then Rodney woke up and exclaimed, “That’s it! No more pizza before bedtime!” At breakfast, Rodney thought, “I guess I won’t be having any more nightmares. I am glad to know that I would risk my life for my parents if they were really in danger.”
THE END

The Story of Esau and Jacob By Sammi (when I was six)

Rebecca who married Isaac had two twins. The first one who came out was red and had lots of hair. They called the first boy Esau, which means “lots of hair.” The second boy came out holding on to Esau’s heel. They called him Jacob, which means “heel.” The first boy that came out would be the new leader of the Jewish people. Jacob was jealous of Esau coming out first.
They grew up. Jacob liked to help his mother in the kitchen. His mother was proud of him. She said he was her favorite son. Esau liked to be outside and hunt.
One day after hunting, Esau came home and said, “Jacob, please give me some of that delicious soup.” Jacob said, “Okay, but first you will have to pay me. I will give you some soup, but only if you give me your birthright.” Esau gave him his birthright and ate the lentil soup.
Isaac said that Esau was his favorite son. One day his father could not see. He was afraid that he was going to die, so he told Esau, “Go get me some meat and tell your mother to cook it the way I like and I will give you a special blessing.”
Jacob’s mother said, “Dress like Esau and put Esau’s furs around your arms. Go get me a lamb, and I will cook it for your father how he likes it.” Then Jacob brought his father the meat. Jacob said, “Eat the meat and give me my blessing.” Isaac said to Jacob, “Let me smell you. You smell like Esau, but you don’t sound like him. Give me the meat, Esau.” Isaac ate the meat and gave Esau’s blessing to Jacob.
A few minutes later the real Esau came with the meat. Esau said, “Eat this meat and give me my blessing.” Isaac said, “Who is this?” “It is I, your son, Esau,” Esau said. Isaac said, “Then who just came to me and gave me meat?” “Jacob tricked you,” Esau said. Isaac ate the meat, and Esau said, “After my father dies, I will kill Jacob.” Isaac gave Esau another blessing. “This is a good blessing, my son,” Isaac said. “Jacob was stealing from me,” Esau said. “First he stole my birthright. Then he stole my blessing.”
Jacob became the leader of the Jewish tribe. But it turned out that after his father died, he did not kill Jacob. He thought that was not right to do.


It feels sad to be chosen by only one parent. Both children should be favorites. Parents should treat them both like they are favorites. The child not chosen would feel mad at the parent and jealous of the sibling.

No show

Hi guys

I can't make it this week. I've got a presentation to do and a TAB meeting (Teen Advisory Bord) see you next week.
P.S. I might bring cupcakes!