Waiting for Jon

Ahh…communicating your feelings in play form, excellent idea. Here’s a little drama I like to call “Waiting for Jon (to finish Dead Souls).”  Now, it’s still in workshop so there are probably a few kinks that need to be worked out. It’s a little Krapp’s Last Tape meets Waiting for Godot with just a dash of Brigadoon:

Waiting for Jon (to Finish Dead Souls)
a play in one act 

The lights come up on a stage that is bare except for a single tree set Center Stage. The tree is leafless and bedraggled. Beneath the tree sits Justin. Justin stares out into space twiddling his thumbs.

Enter a Townsperson who stops at the tree.

Townsperson: Hello.
Justin: Hi.
Townsperson: What are you doing?
Justin: Waiting.
Townsperson: Waiting for what?
Justin: Waiting for Jon.
Townspeople: Huh?
Justin: Waiting for Jon to finish Dead Souls.
Townsperson: (Knowlingly) Oh, I see. Well, I must be off. (Exits the stage.)

Justin picks up a banana. Peels it. Eats it with relish. Enter Vladimir and Estragon from Beckett’s  Waiting for Godot.

Estragon: Wow, that Godot. He’s something else.
Vladmir: Yeah, could you believe that he got that tenth plate spinning….(Sees Justin. Both stop.) Hello.
Justin: Hi.
Estragon: Howdy.
Justin: Hi.
Estragon: What are you doing?
Justin: Waiting.
Vladimir: We know how that goes.
Estragon: What are you waiting for?
Justin: Jon.
Estragon: Huh?
Justin: Waiting for Jon to finish Dead Souls.
Vladimir: Good luck with that.
(Vladimir and Estragon break into highland dancing as the curtain comes down.)

Scene.

I will be honest, Ship of Fools was not the book I was anticipating you’d pick. But you know me, I love a nice, obscure, Pulitzer Prize winning novel just as much as the next guy. (And bonus points for this book: it takes place on a boat! I love a nice maritime character study.)

Anyway, I don’t want you to have to waste too much time reading this post when you could be finishing Dead Souls, so I will wrap it up. 

Happy reading, and be sure to say hi to Chichikov for me.

Justin