Micci, Ronald (American playwright, advertising proofreader-editor,
1948-____), “A Public Service Announcement,”
a bare-stage 5-minute contemporary surrealist farce
in English, set in an abstract area, daytime, 2001,
1m1f
;
• © 2001 by Ronald Micci, scripts
and rights available from Ronald Micci,
75 Vreeland Avenue, Rutherford, New Jersey 07070, U.S.A., phone (home)
201-438-3267, (work) 212-297-7290, e-mail RVMicci@comcast.net.
Cited by Ronald Micci via ftp, May 10, 2001; Micci says,
§ Dramatis Personae Man (m), presumably
middle-aged; Woman (f), presumably middle-aged.
§ Synopsis “Two actors on bare stage,
Man and Woman. And the peppier, the zippier, the zanier, the better. Man
begins: ‘Plummeting suicidal through thin air. . . .’ Woman: ‘A man once
asked profound questions of the universe—’ Man: ‘Like, where are my black
socks?’ Woman: ‘Falling, falling, tumbling over and over, hardly able to
catch his breath—’ The dialogue continues in this manner until the man
crashes through the roof of his house. Then the same routine is repeated,
albeit slightly modified, more bizarre and frantic in tone, between Man
and Woman. ‘And please take your kids to church.’ They pack up their crayons
and ad-lib out.
§ Comment “This is almost improv
material. It can be done on a completely bare stage using no props. But
it would be even more effective, even zanier, using SFX gadgets. Horns.
Bells. Buzzers. When it was done in Skillman, they used a desk, papers,
and a fake handgun.”
Addendum 020312: “A Public Service Announcement
(1m,1f) (10 min.)
‘Plummeting suicidal through thin air, a man once
asked profound
questions of the universe. . .’
And a woman, as well.”
§ Themes civic duty, crash, domestic routine, dream, falling, inversion, loss of control, nightmare, perspective, plummeting, philosophical question, plunging, suicide, upside down, vantage point, view.
See also Ron Micci’s:
-
“Addie and Me,”
a melodrama, set in the bedroom of Melanie, a teenage girl, night, 2000,
1f
-
“Attack of the
Radar People,” a 15-minute radio farce, set in an old-time radio broadcast
studio, 1950s, 2m1f (or 3m1f)
-
“Biff Bang, American
Hero,” a 10-minute comedy spoof of radio cliffhangers in English, set
in the cockpit of Biff’s fighter bomber, 1998, 2m1f
-
“Dark Snow,” a
10-minute melodramatic monologue in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s
home
in the New York woods, 1997, 1f [see items below for 2f versions]
-
“Dark Snow,” a
5-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home in
the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow, Evening,”
a 10-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home
in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow, Morning,”
a 10-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home
in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow,” definitive
version, a 20-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s
home in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dink Fast, Harry!” a 10-minute detective
comedy-melodrama in English, set in Harry Dinker’s dumpy office, daytime,
1998, 2m1f
-
“Director's Cut,”
a 7-minute film noir, set on a Hollywood set, 1940s, 2m
-
“Flying Medusas,” a 10-minute contemporary
farce in English, set in the theater of the absurd, at no specified time,
1m1f
-
“The Grackle,” a 10-minute radio melodrama-farce
in English, set in a radio broadcast studio, 1930s, 2m1f (but could be
played with any combo of m/f)
-
“Happy Endings,”
a 15-minute comedy-fantasy in English, set in
the living-room of Cornweevil homestead in Midwest, 1996, 2m1f
-
“Harry Dinker,
Private Eye,”a 10-minute detective parody in English, set in Harry
Dinker’s office in the “downtown section of a grimy city nobody has any
use for,” afternoon, 1998,1m1f or 2m
-
“Heat Lightning,” a 15-minute comedy-melodrama
in English, set in the downstairs parlor of a broken-down Southern
mansion, on a stormy night, May, 2001, 1m1f
-
“Herman,” a 10
minute comedy in English, 1m3f
-
“High Concept Harry,”
a 20-minute dark comedy in English, set in Harry Fleck’s literary/talent
office in Hollywood, afternoon, 2000, 2m
-
“I, Dadius,” a
15-minute comedy-drama in English, set in the living room of a cozy suburban
home, winter, 2000, 1m
-
“I Sing to You
of Robin Hood,” a 15-minute comedy in English, set in a tavern in Nottingham,
12th century, 3m1f
-
“Kid Valium,”
a 15-minute comedy in English, set in a big city gymnasium, the day of
the big title fight, 2000, 3m1f
-
“Love’s Cousin
in the Carolinas,” a 13-minute romantic comedy in English, set at a
park bench in the suburbanNortheast, U.S.A., a Saturday afternoon in late
summer, 1998, 1m1f
-
“Moonlight’s Little Madness,” a 40-minute
drawing room farce in English set in the parlor of the Prescott country
estate, England, a spring evening during the Victorian Era, 2m
-
“Mr. Gilkey’s Flagpole,”
a 15-minute comedy in English, set on the lawn of Mr. Gilkey's home in
England, afternoon, 1998, 1m2f
-
“November,” a
15-minute tragedy in English in two scenes, set (1) in the downstairs of
a house on a lake in the Northeastern United States and (2) on the lake,
a November afternoon, 2000, 1m1f
-
“Parasites of Ol’
Broadway,” a 15-minute comedy/melodrama in English, set in an alleyway
on Lower Broadway, October, 1997, 2m1f
-
“Rough Cut,”a 10-minute
comedy/melodrama in English, set in a men's haircutting salon (barber shop)
in Beverly Hills, October, 1997, 3m
-
“Tea Cozy,”a 12-minute
melodrama, in English, set in The living room of a suburban home, midday,
1998, 2f
-
“Thank You, Charlie
Chan,” a 10-minute crime melodrama. set in a hotel room in midtown
Manhattan, night, 1930s, 3m
-
“Thebes Like Us,”
a 10-minute spy parody in English set in a cafe on the Nile, 1996, 2m1f
-
“Thin Laughter in Heaven,” a 10-minute bare-stage
melodrama in English, set on a cliff overlooking a lake, May, 2001, 1m
-
“Tragic &
Trapped in Teaneck,” a 13-minute comic melodrama in English, set in
the parlor of a home in Teaneck,New Jersey, U.S.A., afternoon, turn of
the last century, 2m1f
-
“Wild About Harry!” a 15-minute detective
farce in English, set in a sleazy gin joint; later, Harry’s apartment,
night, 2001, 2m1f
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Page entered May 14, 2001, and updated May 15, 2001,
March 12, 2002, December 5, 2003, by the site Webmaster.
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