Micci, Ronald (American
playwright, advertising proofreader, editor, 1948-____), “Love’s Cousin
in the Carolinas,”
a 13-minute romantic comedy
in English, set at a park bench in the suburban Northeast, U.S.A., a Saturday
afternoon in late summer, 1998,
1m1f
;
• ©
1998 by Ronald Micci; • script/rights available from Ronald
Micci, U.S.A., telephone (home) 201-438-3267, (work) 212-297-7290.
• Cited by Ronald Micci, via ftp January 8, 1999; Micci says,
§
Dramatis Personae Robert (m), a young man open to love; Felicia
(f), a stranger.
§
Synopsis “Robert enters, surveys the scene, and with an arch
word or two, deposits himself on the park bench to scope things out. Felicia
enters—a stranger—with a few arch words of her own, sizes him up,
and then performs the fainting and drop the handkerchief routines. She
then proceeds to tantalize and torment him into trying to guess her name.
Finally, when he’s all but panting to get some solid information on her
because she’s very attractive and has got him under her spell, she has
him fetch the handkerchief and while he’s occupied, she leaves. But the
play ends on an upbeat note—just as he despairs of seeing her again, she
reappears, reveals she was sent to fetch him—he’s late for a surprise party
his family had staged—and they go off hand in hand, presumably to live
happily ever after.
§
Comment “A college-age boy and high school girl meet cute on
a park bench, and her mysterious flirtations prove enormously frustrating
to his desires. This is a perfect piece for ingenues—she is filled with
coy flirtations and arch little droppings of her handkerchief, and she
displays elegance and wit.”
Addendum 020312: “Love's Cousin in the Carolinas
(1m,1f) (15 min.)
The mystery of a drop-dead beautiful high school girl's
identity
proves torment to a young college guy on a park bench.”
§
Themes bench, coquetry, courtship, faint, family, first encounter, guessing game, handkerchief, park, people watching, surprise party.
See also Ronald 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
-
“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
-
“A Public Service
Announcement,” a bare-stage 5-minute contemporary surrealist farce
in English, set in an abstract area, daytime,
2001, 1m1f
-
“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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