Friday, August 28, 2015

The Most Confusing Slice of Pizza I've Ever Eaten

The Most Confusing Slice of Pizza I've Ever Eaten
A Play in One Act

Dramatis Personae

Rebecca
A recent college graduate

Neighbor Man
Some man sitting with his friends and family on the sidewalk

Neighbors
Two fathers, two mothers, assorted small children

(A neighborhood cul-de-sac. The NEIGHBORS sit on the sidewalk. REBECCA enters stage left, slowing to a walk after running around the neighborhood. She is listening to music through headphones.)
  
REBECCA: (walks past the families at a fast pace, exits stage right)
 
NEIGHBORS: (eat pizza while sitting on the sidewalk, enjoying the weather)
 
REBECCA: (enters stage right, still walking quickly)

ALL NEIGHBORS: (whisper to each other)

NEIGHBOR MAN: (waves frantically at REBECCA, gesticulating at pizza box)
 
REBECCA: (confused, approaches NEIGHBOR MAN and takes off headphones) Sorry?
NEIGHBOR MAN: You're working hard, exercising. How about a slice of pizza? (holds up a slice of pizza)
 
REBECCA: (aside) This man just offered me a slice of pizza-- the ultimate sign of friendship! I'm not exactly in the mood for food at the moment, but how could I refuse? It's such a friendly gesture! (to NEIGHBOR MAN) Are you sure?
NEIGHBOR MAN: (slightly taken aback) You're out here walking around, huffing and puffing, and you want this slice of pizza?

REBECCA: (laughs) I've got this! (aside) This is strange. He seems reluctant to give me the pizza.

NEIGHBOR MAN: Well... All right, you called my bluff. Here you go. (hands REBECCA a slice of pizza)
 
REBECCA: (accepts the pizza and begins to shuffle back toward the street) Thank you.
NEIGHBOR MAN: (turns to the other NEIGHBORS) You owe me a slice of pizza!
 
(REBECCA walks downstage. LIGHTS DOWN on the NEIGHBORS, SPOTLIGHT on REBECCA)
 
REBECCA: I am so confused. If the man didn't want to give me pizza, why did he offer in the first place? Was it some sort of bet? Am I the victim of a cruel joke? Did I just take his dinner? (beat) Well, it serves him right. First of all, he shouldn't be messing with people like that. Second of all, you should never expect a young adult to turn down free pizza. That's just stupid.

(She takes a bite of the pizza.)
 
REBECCA: This is really good pizza.
(Curtain.)

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Random Fact #24

Random Fact #24: A town crier could also be known as a "bellman" because they often carried bells with which to attract everyone's attention.

Source: Wikipedia's "Town crier" article

I was watching a cutscene from an Assassin's Creed game. In the scene, a town crier got everyone's attention by shouting "Oye, oye!" instead of "Hear ye, hear ye!" I wondered if that was common for town criers, so I hopped online to do a little informal research and discovered that interesting tidbit about the name "bellman."