By Kendra Thomas Copyright 2017, Pioneer Drama Service, Inc. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that a royalty must be paid for every performance, whether or not admission is charged. All inquiries regarding rights should be addressed to Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., PO Box 4267, Englewood, CO 801. All rights to this play including but not limited to amateur, professional, radio broadcast, television, motion picture, public reading and translation into foreign languages are controlled by Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., without whose permission no performance, reading or presentation of any kind in whole or in part may be given. These rights are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America and of all countries covered by the Universal Copyright Convention or with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations, including Canada, Mexico, Australia and all nations of the United Kingdom. ONE SCRIPT PER CAST MEMBER MUST BE PURCHASED FOR PRODUCTION RIGHTS. COPYING OR DISTRIBUTING ALL OR ANY PART OF THIS BOOK WITHOUT PERMISSION IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN BY LAW. On all programs, printing and advertising, the following information must appear: 1. The full name of the play 2. The full name of the playwright 3. The following notice: Produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., Denver, Colorado
BOXES By KENDRA THOMAS CAST OF CHARACTERS (In Order of Appearance) # of lines JACK...typical student; anxious about 120 grades, expectations CHRIS...allegedly carefree; lives without 62 a box LAURA...obsessed with grades and 14 getting into the right college NEDDY...quirky but needy; has little use 4 for academics RACHEL...hard-working, friendly, and fair; 0 dealing with parents divorce HOLLY...self-confident leader; a voice 43 of reason LUCY...a twin; mischievous busybody 49 BLAIR...the other twin; selfish gossiper 42 CHORUS...at least two; they place 13 items in others boxes SETTING Time: One school day, present day. Place: The gathering place of any school and Neddy s house. SET DESCRIPTION Staging can be as simple or elaborate as the director desires. In the original production, there was no static set. The students used four black folding chairs and a trashcan to create each scene. An optional table can be added for the scene at Neddy s house. ii RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT
1 10 1 20 2 30 3 BOXES Scene One AT RISE: JACK, a boy in middle school or high school, sits cross-legged CENTER. His face is in his hands as he stares at a plain, medium-sized cardboard box directly in front of him. An ever-widening frown stretches across his face. Behind him is a trashcan with two chairs on either side. CHRIS, a student a bit older than Jack, ENTERS at a casual pace, his hands in his pockets. He is walking by and whistling a tune that catches JACK S attention. JACK: Hey! CHRIS: (Stops.) Who me? JACK: Yes, you! You don t have a box. CHRIS: What? JACK: A box. You don t have a box. You re clearly old enough to have a box. CHRIS: (Pause. Shrugs.) Yeah. JACK: Why don t you have a box? CHRIS: I threw it away. JACK: What? CHRIS: (Almost condescending.) Let me guess. You just got your box? JACK: Well yeah. CHRIS: So, it s probably your birthday, right? And you were expecting presents! But instead you got a box. A wrapped-up box with nothing in it. Am I close? JACK: Yeah, I mean, it was empty when I unwrapped it CHRIS: And then your parents started putting things in it? JACK: How did you know? CHRIS: Listen, kid. We all get a box at that age. The age when we re theoretically ready. Everyone goes through this. You ll be fine. (Starts to walk away, but stops when JACK speaks to him.) JACK: But you said you threw away your box? CHRIS: Some of us do. JACK: Can I? CHRIS: (Turns back to look at JACK.) Why do you want to throw your box away? (JACK lifts a piece of paper out of the box and hands it to CHRIS.) Your report card? JACK: (Nods.) My mom put that in there. It s the one she s so proud of, the one from when I made all A s. I m supposed to always have an A-B report card. 1
1 CHRIS: And? JACK: I think I m going to have a C in math this quarter. I haven t told her. CHRIS: Oh. JACK: (Pulls a basketball jersey out of his box and holds it up to his chest.) This was my older brother s. He went to school on a basketball scholarship. Division II but not bad! CHRIS: Your dad put that in there? (JACK nods.) I had one, too, from my dad. Football. He wanted me to go for Division I just 10 like my cousin. JACK: And you? CHRIS: (Defensive.) Like I told you, I threw my box away, so it doesn t matter, does it? No one gets to tell me what to do anymore. Listen, if you want to throw your box away get rid of that report card and 1 the jersey you throw that box away. Don t let anyone tell you that you have to worry about what s in that box, all right? JACK: Okay. (Reluctant, takes his box to the trashcan while CHRIS watches. JACK looks into the trashcan and then looks into his box. He looks back at CHRIS, who crosses his arms and shakes his head.) 20 CHRIS: You can t do it, can you? JACK: It s really hard. CHRIS: Once you get rid of the box, you ll be fine. You ll be completely free! JACK: Free? Free of what? (LAURA shuffles ON, mumbling equations 2 to herself. She carries a small box, neatly decorated with fractions and vocabulary words.) CHRIS: Hey! (LAURA ignores him and keeps walking. CHRIS physically stops her by blocking her path and putting his hands on LAURA S shoulders.) Hey, stop for a second! We just want to ask you about 30 your box. LAURA: (As though waking up.) My box? JACK: Yeah, could you show us what s in your box? LAURA: Sorry, there s no time. I have to study. (Starts to walk OFF, but CHRIS reaches inside her box as she passes and pulls out a college 3 catalog. The college should be a top-notch regional school, or an Ivy League university.) Hey! Put that back! CHRIS: Is this where you re going to college? LAURA: It s where my mother, my grandfather, my great grandfather, and half my cousins have gone to school so, yes, that s where I m 40 going to college. JACK: Is that what you want? 2
1 10 1 20 2 30 3 40 LAURA: Who cares? It s all that matters. (CHRIS snatches her box from her and looks inside before turning it upside down.) CHRIS: There s nothing else in here. LAURA: Of course not. CHRIS: Most people have at least a dozen things in their box. LAURA: Who has time for anything else? I m going to a prestigious university. That s the only expectation my parents have for me, and that s all I have time for. Now, excuse me. I have to go study. (Grabs the catalog and box and shuffles OFF, continuing to mumble to herself.) JACK: Is that what these are? Expectations? CHRIS: Sure, I guess so. I mean, everyone just comes along and puts them in your box, so JACK: Everyone? CHRIS: What else do you have in there? JACK: (Looks in his box.) Well, right now it s just the stuff from my parents. The jersey, the report card. And my little sister gave me this stuffed Valentine s Day bear. (Shows it to CHRIS.) I have no idea what that s about. CHRIS: You ll figure it out. And you just wait, there will be more. (HOLLY ENTERS, smiling. She seems a little more mature and confident than the two boys and walks with a bounce in her step. She carries a brightly colored box that she has decorated herself. She brightens even more when she sees JACK with his box.) HOLLY: Jack! You got your box! Congratulations! JACK: Um thanks? HOLLY: (Turns to CHRIS with an almost maternal tone.) What have you been telling him? (CHRIS crosses his arms and turns away from her.) Look, Jack, I m not exactly sure what Chris has told you about that box, but know that having a box is super great. JACK: (Brightens.) Really? HOLLY: Sure! I ve got report cards, old school programs, the belts I ve gotten in Judo. All kinds of things. CHRIS: (Rolls his eyes and mocks her.) All kinds of things. Sure. Nothing bad about the box if you re little Miss Perfect. HOLLY: (Glares at CHRIS, then turns back to JACK.) I ll see you in class, Jack. Don t listen to Mr. Know-It-All over there, okay? (Turns and sticks her tongue out at CHRIS, then EXITS.) CHRIS: Well, that was real mature. Holly s been marching around with her box like she s some kind of queen. I don t think anyone s ever given her anything that s a real burden. If she had to carry around 3
1 10 1 20 2 30 3 40 an expectation she couldn t meet, I bet that bounce would fall right out of her step. Ha! She s not like us, Jack. JACK: I don t know, Chris. I still don t think I can throw the box away. CHRIS: Hey, suit yourself. I ll catch you later, okay? And you can fill me in on your first day with the box. Maybe we ll meet up by the trashcan. (EXITS. JACK stares into his box, then looks up, suddenly realizing CHRIS is gone. JACK pulls his cell phone from his pocket to check the time. With a heavy sigh, he picks up his box, sits in one of the chairs, and sets his phone down on his knee or nearby. SOUND EFFECT: SCHOOL BELL. Other STUDENTS plus CHORUS members ENTER, sitting and standing casually as if waiting for classes to begin. Every STUDENT has a box of some kind. There is much chatter. HOLLY talks to friends nearby. NEDDY and RACHEL sit with JACK. NEDDY S box is decorated sloppily, but displays some creativity. RACHEL S box is decorated with a mix of academic items and artistic drawings.) NEDDY: Hey, man, I see you got your box. JACK: (Unenthusiastic.) Yeah. NEDDY: It s all right. We all felt that way at first. No one likes it when they first get their box. But we got used to it and you will, too. RACHEL: Yeah. You ll get used to it. JACK: I just don t know how I m supposed to tell my mom I m going to get a C in math. RACHEL: What?! You re getting a C? NEDDY: Oh, come on. That s no big deal. RACHEL: No big deal? No big deal?! NEDDY: Sure! I mean, look at this! (Pulls a wedding invitation from his box.) My dad s marrying his girlfriend. JACK: You mean Trisha? (NEDDY nods.) Blah! NEDDY: Yeah! And he expects me to come to the wedding and be all (Makes very sheepish and fake smiley faces.) RACHEL: Ick. I remember when my mom married her boyfriend. I was cool with it, okay? But now (Pulls a Father s Day card from her box.) he wants me to call him Dad, and I just can t do it. I love him and everything, but he s not my dad. He never will be. JACK: Well, I guess I feel better about my C in math. RACHEL: No way! (Pulls a report card from her box and kisses it.) Straight A s! I nailed it. I wouldn t trade this for the world. JACK: Aww, man. NEDDY: It s okay. I mean, at least you ll only have one C on your report card. It s not that big a deal. I think I ll have one in both math and 4 RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT
1 10 1 20 2 30 3 40 English. B s in everything else, though. (RACHEL suddenly picks up JACK S phone and tosses it into his box.) JACK: Hey, what was that for? RACHEL: I expect you to call me so we can set up a time to study together. No friend of mine is going to have a C on his report card. NEDDY: What about me? RACHEL: (Serious.) I ve given up, Neddy. You re a hopeless cause. JACK: It s okay, Rachel. It s too late anyway. The teachers have already turned in their grades. RACHEL: I don t care. We ll get a head start on next quarter so this never happens again. NEDDY: You guys are such nerds. RACHEL: Whatever, Neddy. NEDDY: (Unfazed.) Oh, and here. (Tosses a marker from his box into JACK S box.) JACK: Not you, too! NEDDY: That s for later. I need your help making posters for my student council run. Oh, and (Tosses in a ballot.) you d better vote for me, too. JACK: Sure. I will, I mean why wouldn t I? NEDDY: Because Holly s running. Holly! JACK: So what? NEDDY: She s never lost at anything, and RACHEL: And she s smarter than you. (NEDDY glares at her.) Well, she makes better grades, and she got second place in the district science fair. NEDDY: The science fair? That means nothing, Rachel. It says nothing about her leadership ability. It has nothing to do with student council. For student council, you need someone with a strong voice. Someone who will stand up against raising the cost of the cheesy chips in the snack machine. Someone who will fight for new dress code policies and RACHEL: You do know that s not what student council does, right? NEDDY: Sure it is. RACHEL: No. You plan homecoming, all the dances, and other student activities. The school principal isn t going to listen to us when it comes to dress code, and I don t think she has any control over the cost of the cheesy chips in the vending machine. NEDDY: But these are issues way more important than dances and the school cook-out, Rachel.
1 10 1 20 2 30 3 40 RACHEL: Oh, give me a break. NEDDY: You are going to vote for me, right? (Offers a ballot to RACHEL. After a moment, she sighs and puts it in her box.) Thank you! RACHEL: But Holly s still my friend, okay? I m not going to ignore her just because you re running against each other. NEDDY: Whatever. (Takes a piece of paper, writes IOU on it, and hands it to JACK.) For your box. JACK: An IOU? NEDDY: I ll need to borrow a dollar at lunchtime to get a soda. JACK: But you never pay me back. NEDDY: Exactly. RACHEL: Jack, seriously. Soon you ll have things to put in our boxes, too, and it won t be so awkward. In the meantime, you d better organize more space in your box so you can make it through the day. NEDDY: Yep. You don t have a single thing in there from your teachers yet. Ugh, they ll be sure to load you up! Just wait. (SOUND EFFECT: SCHOOL BELL. EVERYONE shifts positions, and JACK emerges from the crowd to stand CENTER. The CHORUS, NEDDY, and RACHEL form a semi-circle around JACK. As they speak, they come to him and drop different objects in JACK S box. The pace of this section should accelerate until it s almost frenetic. [NOTE: This scene is flexible. See PRODUCTION NOTES.]) CHORUS ONE: You project is due next Monday. CHORUS TWO: Basketball tryouts are Wednesday afternoon. CHORUS THREE: You have to be nice to him, even when he s not nice to you. NEDDY: Don t be such a nerd! CHORUS ONE: You re a good student, and I can always count on you to do your best. CHORUS TWO: I know you can work harder in my class. RACHEL: Do you want to come over after school? CHORUS THREE: Get up! It s time to go to church! NEDDY: Vote for Neddy! CHORUS ONE: You always do so well on all of your assignments. CHORUS THREE: That work is just not going to cut it. RACHEL: You ve got to practice harder. CHORUS TWO: I m excited by what you ll accomplish! CHORUS THREE: You should explore at least ten college options. RACHEL: No one likes her anyway. CHORUS ONE: Do you have a date for the school dance yet? 6 End of Script Sample
PRODUCTION NOTES PROPERTIES ONSTAGE Trashcan, four or more chairs, optional table. PROPERTIES BROUGHT ON Scene One: Cell phone (JACK) Paper list (CHRIS) Book (LAURA) Cell phone (RACHEL) A variety of box items for CHORUS to deliver to JACK (See ABOUT THE CHORUS notes below) Scene Two: Markers, poster board (JACK, NEDDY, RACHEL, and LAURA) Poster reading A Vote for Neddy Is a Vote for Teddy! with a picture of a teddy bear and Teddy Roosevelt (RACHEL) ABOUT THE BOXES Every student, including the chorus members, should have a box, with the exception of Chris. Jack s box is very basic as he has just received it. Holly s box should be the most brightly decorated. The other students should have boxes that fit their character. While the boxes may contain more items, they must contain the following: Basketball jersey, Valentine s Day teddy bear, report card, pen, paper (JACK) Prestigious university catalog (LAURA) Wedding invitation, markers, pens, ballots, plastic fork, combination lock (NEDDY) Father s Day card, phone, paper, markers, pen (RACHEL) Report cards, theatre programs, newspaper article, a smaller box (HOLLY) Friendship bracelet, report cards, family photo (LUCY/BLAIR) ABOUT THE CHORUS The scene where the CHORUS gathers to put things in JACK S box is flexible. The objects delivered by the CHORUS are at the director s discretion, but one must be a basketball and others should characterize the respective dialogue of each CHORUS member. Feel free to modify CHORUS members lines as needed. Directors may also add lines to this scene that are topical or relevant to their own community. 21
School bell, doorbell SOUND EFFECTS FLEXIBLE CASTING The gender of each character is extremely flexible. Directors may change the gender of any role and choose a similar character name if desired. 22
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