The March People’s Choice Award goes to…

The people have spoken… The March People’s Choice Award goes to George Rose for his play, Nature’s Final Solution, presented as a staged reading at Monday Night PlayGround on March 17th live at the David Brower Center and simulcast via Vimeo Livestream. Congratulations, George!

Courtesy of George, we’re pleased to share the first two pages from the award-winning script. Enjoy!

Nature’s Final Solution
by
George Rose

CAST OF CHARACTERS:
WANDA – Female, any adult age or ethnicity
BRAD – Male, 50’s, any ethnicity
RONALD – Cyborg, Male, 20-30 yrs, any ethnicity

SETTING: An office, circa 2050 C.E.

WANDA is on her cell phone, pacing.

WANDA
Hey, Ron. Good. Yeah. Look, I’ve been looking over the data we’ve been picking up on this new class of virion that N.I.H. has been tracking, yeah, that one… I’m not sure, but some anomalies are popping out and I’m wondering –

BRAD enters.

BRAD
Look who’s got donuts!

WANDA
No, I checked that. Look, the thing is –

BRAD
Here. Have one. I got your favorite.

WANDA
(irritated, to BRAD)
Not now –
(to the phone)
All right. Okay. I’ll keep at it. Right. I’ll let you know.

BRAD
(waving two tickets at her)
I’ve got two tickets to the game tonight. Wanna come with?

WANDA
You know I hate basketball.

BRAD
That’s because you don’t understand it, Wanda. I can help with that.

WANDA
(holding and looking at printouts)
You know what I don’t understand? This data on that new virion our labs have been picking up.

BRAD
What about it?

WANDA
It’s a completely new kind, unrelated to anything we’ve ever seen before.

BRAD
So? It’s benign, isn’t it? Just another harmless virus. It doesn’t even mutate. No big deal.

WANDA
We can’t figure out where it came from or how it spreads. It just appeared, and suddenly its everywhere. Ghana…Mongolia…Argentina. Hell, every scientist at the South Pole tests positive for it.

BRAD
It’s benign, Wanda. Ignore it.

WANDA
But where did it come from? We’re not able to identify any vectors at all.

BRAD
Man, these glazed mothers are outstanding today.

WANDA
(Using the desk phone intercom)
Judy? It’s Wanda. Send up an R-32…on my authority…yes, I know. Just do it.
(hangs up)

BRAD
Whoa. Aren’t you overreacting a little?

WANDA
Something’s not right, Brad.

Enter RONALD.

RONALD
You called for me?

WANDA
Yes. Have a seat.
(RONALD sits)
Call up the complete data set on TK BKNyV. Give me a morphology analysis and index its transmission curve and probable lethality over time.

BRAD
I’m telling you, you’re looking for a problem that isn’t there.

WANDA
Something doesn’t feel right.

RONALD
Command completed.

WANDA
What do you have?

RONALD
TK BKNyV is a Class III Isomere with indices H and K at 0 where h and k are the indicated axes of the inclined array of capsomeres. Symmetry and orientation of capsomeres is atypical. Molecular structure is undefined based on known parameters.

BRAD
Nothing to see here.

WANDA
(to ROLAND)
Identify its vector type.

RONALD
I am not authorized to share that information with you.

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