TWO SHORT PLAYS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
 
Little Old Lady (3w 3m)
& Shoeshine (1987)
(17 characters to be played by 9 actors: 5m 4w)
 
SYNOPSIS
Little Old Lady: Set in the carriage of a moving London underground train. Two youngsters, an old lady, and others if extras can be afforded. At one of the stations a thuggish young man enters and begins to smoke. Smoking is forbidden. The old lady challenges him to put it out. He refuses. She asks the others to join in with her protest. No one dares. She threatens to pull the cord to stop the train. The thug intimidates her. Everyone waits to see if she'll pull the cord.
 
EXCERPT
"I suppose he's imagining he's exercising his democratic rights. Well let me tell you, sir, if you'll forgive me lecturing you, sir, and I know I'm only a foolish old woman with everything finished and failed behind me, and you're a splendid young man with everything brave and shining ahead of him, let me tell you - democratic rights have their limitations. They have! Your democratic rights are limited by our democratic rights. And it's our democratic right not to have to breathe in the foul smoke of your cigarette or run the risk of going up in flames. What do you say to that?"
 
SYNOPSIS
Shoeshine: A student of philosophy achieves his degree but discovers philosophy can't earn him a living. Decides to open a shoeshine box - survival is essential. Family and friends argue that it is demeaning to shine people's shoes. He cannot understand why. The days of servility are past, they tell him. He can't accept their arguments. If there is no other work then he must do what is needed to survive. He considers their moral arguments hollow. In the street where he sets up his shoebox he encounters further hostility - beaten up by young thugs. Undeterred, he returns, to set up his shoeshine box.
 
EXCERPT
"Let me see if I understand you correctly. You think I should live on dole money which is less than I might earn from shining shoes because shining shoes is more humiliating than collecting dole money? (pause) It's not always easy to respect the intelligence of those who are near and dear to you."
 
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