A PLAY OUTLINE:TRAPPED IN THE THEATRE BUS

TRAPPED IN THE THEATRE BUS

RECOMMENDED AGE GROUP: LEVEL 4

SYNOPSIS:

A group of students of and Adult School taking Secondary and two teachers do an extra school activity. They are seeing a play which is an adaptation of the film Shakespeare in Love at the “Theatre Bus””, this is a company that performs plays on a bus driving through Madrid. In the middle of the play there is a power failure and they have to stop and wait for the technician who will unlock the bus and let them free.

CHARACTERS:

NARRATOR

ACTORS: William Shakespeare, Thomas Kent/Viola de Lesseps, Christopher Marlowe, Henslowe.

TEACHERS: Ana and Maribel.

STUDENTS: Rodolfo, Susana, Lola, Jaime, Begoña, Víctor, Enrique.

ALL THE STUDENTS

DRIVER

TECHNICIAN

CHARACTER OBJECTIVES:

NARRATOR: He introduces the scenes of the play Shakespeare in Love.

ACTORS: They belong to a creative company. They want to perform their play for the students and they are very enthusiastic about it.

TEACHERS: Ana is a veteran teacher (the Head of the English Department, by the way) who prefers conventional classes rather than experiments and is very reluctant about this activity. Maribel is the opposite, she is a young teacher.  She wants to involve the students in new activities and try new methods to teach English.

STUDENTS: They are studying Secondary level II in an Adult School. They have different ages, aims and attitudes. They often clash about any matters.

DRIVER: He will retire in a month. He is only worried about driving the bus and finishing the crazy trip as soon as possible.

TECHNICIAN: A handsome young man. He feels important because he is the responsible of unlocking the bus. He is arrogant and self centered.

CLASS PREPARATION:

The students have recently watched the film Shakespeare in Love in English with subtitles in Spanish. This activity has been organized by the English and the Spanish Departments. Both departments have done activities to exploit the film. So this is the point of departure for our play inside a play (like in Elizabethan plays) in an unusual (but real) setting. Actually there is a theatre company that performs plays on a bus and I thought it would be funny to trap our varied students in a place like that. I told them and they liked the idea. I use my blog with my students and when they see the outline published, we will discuss what to do. We do not have much time to rehearse and perform a play. We have two classes a week and most students work but we could write a collaborative script.

SCENE BREAKDOWN

Madrid. Students from a CEPA do an extra school activity: “Theatre Bus”

SCENE 1

The teachers meet the students at school and give them general information about the activity. Some students look interested in it, some look bored, some are missing.

SCENE 2

The narrator welcomes the audience to the “Theatre Bus” and the play starts.

SCENE 3

Henslowe follows Shakespeare impatiently and worried begging for his play. Shakespeare tries to sneak away.

SCENE 4

Shakespeare meets Marlowe at an inn and confesses he has no inspiration. Marlowe gives him some ideas for the plot and Shakespeare feels relieved.

SCENE 5

Auditions start. Shakespeare feels fascinated by the actor Thomas Kent, who is reciting his verses.

SCENE 6

The lights go off. There is a chaos among the actors and the students. The driver says the electricity has collapsed and they have to stop and call the bus company for help. He phones his boss and they have to wait for a technician for about half an hour. They try to leave the bus but nothing works. They are locked.

SCENE 7

The actors try to continue the performance but students get nervous and some lose control. They start having arguments. Even the teachers quarrel about the usefulness of that activity and other things. The driver feels miserable. Most people are speaking on their mobile phones.

SCENE 8

Ana takes control of the situation. People calm down and start sharing water, food and even confessions. They learn to respect the others, at least most of them.

SCENE 9

The technician arrives. They all get excited but it is not as easy as they thought. He shows off but is not very efficient. The driver feels desperate and dreams about his retirement.

SCENE 10

The technician fixes the power. They all celebrate it noisily. They escape from the bus. The actors insist on continuing the play another day but Maribel says that only as long as it is performed in the assembly hall of the school. The technician takes the driver to a bar to celebrate their successful work.

Written by Ana Hernández