A one-act drama by Danny Rothschild

A NINTH TIME A one-act drama by Danny Rothschild This script is for evaluation only. It may not be printed, photocopied or distributed digitally under any circumstances. Possession of this file does not grant the right to perform this play or any portion of it, or to use it for classroom study. www.youthplays.com info@youthplays.com 424-703-5315

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CAST OF CHARACTERS STORYTELLER, an ancient man, sly, speaks very convincingly. KOJO, 19, Paki's best friend, has no family, a troublemaker. PAKI, 20, Kojo's best friend, paranoid, shy, Ngozi's grandson. DAKO, 50, the chief of the Aja tribe, an authority. NGOZI, late 70s, Paki's grandmother, her health is diminishing. VILLAGERS, an ensemble, chanters, create music. In the Aja tribe, present time. SETTING STAGING NOTE Most of the action revolves around a large tree, center stage. Throughout the entire play there is a light in the tree that does not fade out until the end. Characters for the most part do not exit the stage. Lights rise and fade to show changing of scenes. HISTORICAL NOTE The different stages that the slaves go through are based off of real things. In Oudiah (the capitol of slavery in West Africa, located in the country of Benin), there are monuments along the slave route to show where each stage used to be.

A Ninth Time 5 SCENE 1 (STORYTELLER walks out from behind the tree and addresses the audience. The stage is dim.) STORYTELLER: Nine times, isn't it? Yes, nine. Nine rounds are how long it takes to forget who you are. It's been so long now is this tree still alive? Is its magic still carved deep within the wood? It's bark peels off so easily, like breaths from my life: tearing away, waiting, longing to fall off before someone rips them away. (Beat.) I forgot to introduce myself. Who am I? I am the storyteller of this Aja tribe. I tell the stories I was told when I was young. I'm like this tree, beautiful, old and worn. It's been over a century now. I'm getting weaker everyday, and I've told almost every story I've heard. (Storyteller walks around the tree.) A first time, and you forget your wants, hopes, desires. (Pause.) When I was younger, I used to climb this tree; I liked to search for things in it you'd be surprised at what you can find. Now what do I want? I can't remember any desires. All I want to do is...i have a few stories left, and the ones I do have, I don't fully remember. There's one last one I want to tell, about this tree...about my past. Do you have time for a story? It won't be long, I promise.

6 Danny Rothschild SCENE 2 STORYTELLER: Forgive me, I am old and my memory is failing, so help me out think back a hundred years. We are in Oudiah, a village on the coast of West Africa. Think of a busy market. (Lights rise; PAKI, KOJO and DAKO enter as a CROWD fills the stage from all sides. Merchants carry baskets on their heads, women carry pots of water, others lay out mats on the floor and start laying out fruit.) I believe it was a Sunday. The market is always most exciting on Sundays. PAKI: Kojo! KOJO: Paki, brother! How are you my friend? PAKI: Glad the week's over I need these few days to rest. KOJO: We are not going to rest! We will feast until the sun goes down! PAKI: Don't be silly, the suns already down. It's nearly six! KOJO: Well then we will feast until the sun comes up! (He grabs a melon from a vendor's basket; they don't notice.) PAKI: You must stop doing that! What is he going to say when he finds out he is missing a melon? His dad will be angry. You are always causing trouble, Kojo. (Kojo drops the melons in a different vendor's basket.) KOJO: Are you happy? Now she'll get punished for taking them and we'll have nothing to worry about! PAKI: I don't understand you, how you can do these things and laugh about them. KOJO: (Laughs:) What's the worst that can happen? Causing a

A Ninth Time 7 little trouble, telling a little lie...things like that never really cause enough damage to ruin a life. PAKI: Karma, my brother, someday things will come back and slap you in the face! KOJO: You think too much. PAKI: I have a grandmother to support; I have to be mature enough for two! KOJO: We're still young; we have a life ahead of us! Why be mature? PAKI: What about when we meet girls? And have families? KOJO: I don't think I'll ever live to see the day you talk to a girl! PAKI: Someday, I'm sure of it! I'll marry her and she will be the most beautiful girl! We'll have three little boys, and they will KOJO: continue a family business? PAKI: Why do you ruin my daydreams right at the best part! KOJO: The kids are the best part! You'd think the girl would be... PAKI: No, not the kids, our bakery! They will continue our bakery! KOJO: If we ever have enough money to open one up. PAKI: Someday, I am sure of it! (Kojo picks up a rock, scratches words into a wall.) KOJO: We will call it "Brother's Bread" and underneath it will say "Freshest bread in all of Africa!"

8 Danny Rothschild DAKO: Kojo, what trouble are you causing now? Damaging more property? KOJO: No, chief, I was just imagining PAKI: We are just now returning home, chief. DAKO: Good. How is your grandmother feeling? PAKI: She is doing well, chief. I am taking the best care I can. DAKO: Send her my regards. PAKI: I will, chief. DAKO: Maybe you can teach Kojo how to take care of himself, too. Have a good night. (Dako exits.) KOJO: What have I done to deserve all his hostility? PAKI: Let him be! He is lonely, he has no family. KOJO: Nor do I! PAKI: But you have me, what more do you need! KOJO: Ha. We'll see how long you put up with me. PAKI: I would never give up on you! You know that. (Paki and Kojo exit together. Storyteller walks around the tree.) STORYTELLER: A second time, and you forget what people look like. (Pause.) Now, I don't remember any faces, but I clearly remember the names. How could I not? I was there. I was there since the night it began. (Beat.) And now you will be too. (Market disappears as lights fade.)

A Ninth Time 9 SCENE 3 (In the shadows, Paki climbs over a fence with a filled bag and silently makes his way across the stage to a thatched roof with an oil lamp hanging underneath. Storyteller observes him. NGOZI sits in her chair, wrapped in a blanket. Paki enters and kneels next to her.) PAKI: (Speaking softly:) Grandma! Wake up, look what I have! Do you know how long it's been? (Pause) Grandma? Grandma, please wake up. NGOZI: (Very softly:) Where have you been? I have been worried. PAKI: I've...I've been out. (Beat.) I brought back something for us NGOZI: Don't leave me for so long... PAKI: you'll never guess what! NGOZI: I don't feel good, my boy. PAKI: Are you listening to me? I brought back something. It will make you feel better. (Beat.) Chickens, grandma! Do you know how long it's been? NGOZI: Quiet down, I am old and fading fast. PAKI: Grandma, you are not dying. NGOZI: My body is drained of strength. PAKI: We have two chickens to eat! NGOZI: Chickens? PAKI: Yes, help me pluck them! NGOZI: I can't pluck chickens, I barely have the strength to get out of my chair and see the sunrise.

10 Danny Rothschild PAKI: I'll clean them, don't worry about it. NGOZI: You are too good to me, my boy. PAKI: You are my family. You're all I have. NGOZI: You have so much more! Take care of yourself, and you will do great things. (Long pause.) I'm sad I won't be there to witness them. PAKI: Don't talk like that. Of course you'll be there: you will be fine! (Paki starts plucking the chickens.) NGOZI: I am getting weak. My body is so frail. PAKI: Well eat something and you will feel much stronger! NGOZI: We have no food... PAKI: I am cleaning two chickens! NGOZI: Chickens? PAKI: Yes, two of them! NGOZI: But Paki, where did you PAKI: No "but." NGOZI: How did you pay for these? (Long pause.) Who did you steal them from? PAKI: Eat, grandma, eat. (Lights fade on the thatched roof.) STORYTELLER: In voodoo, stealing is bad. Very bad. The gods will turn against you, everyone knows that. Do I look like someone that would steal? Of course not, right? (Chuckles:) When it happened, there would be consequences. There had to be: few get away with stealing. The sound of

A Ninth Time 11 footsteps, the sound of breathing, the sound of nerves shaking inside you you can't get away with stealing. (Storyteller walks around the tree.) A third time, and you forget rhymes, beats, sounds. (Pause.) A meeting was called: all the village people gathered around this tree. No whistling wind. No birds singing any songs. Only silence screaming with breaths. Where was I that day? I was there...but which one was I? You decide. (Lights fade.)

12 Danny Rothschild SCENE 4 (Dako stands CS. VILLAGERS enter from all sides and form a semi-circle around him.) DAKO: You all know why you are here. My chickens have gone missing. I have not heard their clucking. My guess is they have already been eaten. If the culprit would like to step forward, then your afternoon will be spared. (Silence.) Anyone? (Silence. Dako starts getting louder:) Their smell should still be on the thief's breath. Must I go around and smell each of your breaths, one by one? (Dako walks up to a villager, smells his breath.) KOJO: (From behind the crowd:) What if we ate our own chickens? DAKO: (Beat.) Step forward, Kojo. KOJO: Pardon? I can see just fine from back DAKO: I said step forward. (Kojo steps out from crowd.) So it was you. KOJO: Me? Of course not! (Dako walks up to Kojo.) DAKO: You spoke up, didn't you? KOJO: I was just asking a question, thinking maybe somebody else was too afraid. DAKO: But you...you, Kojo, you aren't afraid. You weren't afraid when you accidentally set fire to our field last year. You had no problem catching snakes and leaving them in our homes. You are always making trouble. Now stealing? Even for you, I didn't think it would go this far.

A Ninth Time 13 (While he speaks Paki exits.) KOJO: I didn't steal, it wasn't me. DAKO: We will auction you off to the slave market. KOJO: (Shivering:) It wasn't me! Someone else. I know I have brought bad luck to our tribe but this time it wasn't me, I would never DAKO: You will go through every stage: drink from the river, be locked up in the Zomai room, walk around the tree, and if your spirits aren't already broken, we will send you away. KOJO: (Tearing up:) I can't even eat two whole chickens! I have nobody to support, no family. DAKO: Then saying goodbye won't take too long. KOJO: I didn't do it this time! (Dako slaps Kojo who falls to the ground.) DAKO: Don't you dare lie to me! (Two MEN carry Kojo offstage. There is a silence. Villagers start shuffling.) STORYTELLER: The taste was still in someone's mouth. It was still on someone's breath, it had only been one night. Was it my mouth? (Storyteller walks around the tree.) A fourth time, and you forget the taste and smell of things. (Pause.) What do chickens taste like? All I tasted, all anyone tasted by then was the stale air and the dust settling in their lungs. Want to read the entire script? Order a perusal copy today!