A play for a lot of people . . .

Missing: IT


List of Characters. Note that this play has enough characters for the entire classroom or for everyone at the party to have a role. There are small roles for shy people.

Narrator
Maggie
Zelda, the cat
Rosie
Mailman
Athletic girl: Sarah
Angry driver of a car
Petulant little boy
His mother, any age
Crying woman, any age
Two scholars
Old woman with invitation
Dorcas, the Great Dane (may be imagined)
Aunt Florence, elderly
Barbara, early 30s
Uncle Orlin, elderly
Sister
Various relatives (walk on parts)
Kids of all ages
Jimmy, early teens


Maggie and other characters pantomime, script-in-hand, what the narrator says, unless you are performing with the readers seated. Props may be imagined or used as you wish. Animals must be imagined, except for Zelda.
We have found that the play works as a combination of some seated readers and some active players reading script-in-hand. I have included actions, but any actions you can’t pantomime must be read by the narrator.




Missing: IT

Narrator:
Here’s what happened. Maggie sat all alone by herself on her bed in her bedroom. Sighing. Feeling sad. Just like Maggie—always missing . . . well, everything.
She had missed yesterday and the day before and the day before that. She had missed knowing her father and her mother. She missed aunts and uncles, cousins, not to mention grandmothers.
Maggie was all alone. Today as every day. Sad . . .

Maggie:
. . . as usual.

Narrator:
Not even the Zelda the cat stuck around, not even for petting and stroking.

Maggie:
Bye, Zelda.

Narrator:
All alone.
Pause
Suddenly, something, something odd shaped and lively looking, something jumped up, and away it flew! Out the door, but not before knocking half of Maggie’s books off her bureau. Maggie jumped off the bed and she chased it past the bathroom door, down the stairs until it flew out through the crack at the bottom of the drafty front door.

Maggie:
Maggie runs around the stage and finally stops, nearly slamming up against the front door.
Whew. Gotta catch my breath.

Narrator:
Yes, Maggie was out of breath after all that running. So by the time she yanked the door open, whatever it was had flown—just like the tail end of a dream you chase as you wake up and it seems to fly around the corner just ahead of you.
But . . . what was it?
Well, it wasn’t Zelda the cat. Zelda was rubbing figure 8’s around Maggie’s legs.

Maggie:
Now you want to be petted! Now, I’ll never catch up with it. What to do, what to do.

Narrator:
Maggie and Zelda went outside and sat on the porch, thinking. Zelda, who could talk, suggested that Maggie make signs to put up around the neighborhood.

Zelda:
That’s what people do when cats are missing.

Narrator:
Sensible.

Maggie:
Good idea.

Narrator:
So Maggie got up and made some signs and set about putting copies in the neighborhood.
Maggie holds up the sign
The sign said:

Missing: IT.
Reward.
Ask for Maggie, at the yellow house on the corner.

Enter Rosie, a 50’s housewife.

Narrator:
Maggie’s neighbor Rosie leaned over the fence between their houses, watching Maggie struggle to nail up her poster on a telephone pole.

Maggie:
Have you seen IT?
Points to her poster.

Rosie:
Oh, no. No I haven’t. And I sure miss my dog, oh; I surely do, oh, my Dorcas!!
Rosie burst into tears.

Maggie:
Oh, Rosie, I’m so sorry! I miss Dorcas, too! She was so sweet.

Narrator:
But Rosie had scurried back into her own house.
Rosie sobs loudly off-stage.

Maggie:
I couldn’t have lost Dorcas, could I?

Enter Mailman. Maggie shows him her sign.

Maggie:
Have you seen IT?

Mailman:
Oh, my goodness, young lady. So you’ve missed it. So have I. I missed my calling. Yes, I did. I should have been a Baptist preacher. That’s where my gifts lay. Yes, I missed my calling. [Muttering to himself] No one to talk to but myself.
Stops and strikes a ministerial pose.
And the Lord God saith unto you. The Lord God saith . . .

Narrator:
Shaking his head, sadly trudging on with his heavy sack of advertisements and bills. Maggie felt sorry for him.

Maggie:
Those ads must weight a ton. No one reads them and no one listens to him.
But I’d better get more posters up.

Enter Sarah, a girl from the neighborhood.

Sarah:
Hey, Maggie! Catch!

Narrator:
Maggie caught the ball and tossed it back.

Sarah:
Oops, darn! Missed it!

Narrator:
Sarah dashed across the street after the ball.

Enter man driving a car.

Maggie:
Watch out! Here comes a car!
Screeching of brakes, sounding of horn.

Angry Driver:
Hey! Watch where you’re going, kid! You’re right lucky I missed you!

Sarah:
Sorry! Don’t know what got into me!
Muttering as she moves off stage.
What are ya doing, ya looney? . . . ya never miss a catch . . . get it together, girl . . .

Narrator:
. . . and then Maggie could hear no more. Of course, Sarah completely missed seeing her sign. Maggie sighed and moved on down the street heading towards the busy corner.

Enter petulant little boy with his mother.

Little Boy:
My turn! It’s my turn!

Mother:
No, my young man, you missed your turn because you were staring at that train set in the window and you didn’t listen when I called you and called you so . . .

Little Boy:
. . . Wail !

Narrator:
Another conversation trailed off into the crowded street.
Pause
The street was now completely crowded with people heading towards . . . well? Maggie had no idea.

Maggie:
If it’s a parade, I’m not going to miss it!!

Enter a woman running by, crying. . .

Woman:
Oh, how I miss my sister! Oh, I surely do.

Maggie:
There, there. Cry all you must. Missing is terrible.

Woman:
Oh, oh, oh . . .

Maggie:
Now I feel like crying.
My goodness, everyone’s running so fast and they’re all going that way.
To audience
Are you also missing something? What are you missing?

Wait for some audience response.

Enter two elderly scholars, walking quite slowly.

First elderly scholar:
My dear colleague, you miss the point entirely.

Second elderly scholar:
My esteemed colleague, you overlook the most recent research.

First elderly scholar:
If you mean from the journal that went missing from the library, well . . .

Maggie:
At least these guys aren’t running.

Both Scholars:
Turning to her.
My dear, we are moving as fast as we can.

Finally, all available characters repeat their phrases at once.

Maggie:
This is terrible, terrible! This is no parade. It’s a universe of . . . of . . . confusion!

Enter old lady with an envelope.

Old Lady:
Tut, tut. It is terrible. Everyone in a hurry. You lose things when you’re always in a hurry. And then you miss them. Here, young lady. Step this way.

Narrator:
Maggie opened the envelope the old lady gave her. In it, she found an old black and white photograph of a picnic with a crowd as large as a parade, an announcement of a family reunion.

Maggie:
[Reads] “Troutman-Williams Family Reunion. At the First Church down by the Old Farmstead on Troutman Road. If you miss the old times, don’t be late!!” Hum. . . . Should I look there? But how will I get to Troutman Road . . .

Narrator:
And the old lady gave her a yank.

Maggie:
Whoa!

Narrator:
She barely had time to grab Zelda, and together they slammed into the picnic.

Set turns color, if you can make that happen. The Narrator may have to say much of what follows. Chairs appear. And old man and an old woman sit down and Maggie sits down between them. Gradually, the stage fills with people, including Rosie who is reunited with Dorcas. People bring a table. Others bring food. Kids fill the stage, running around, playing tag. The narrator and the old lady who gave Maggie the invitation join in and sit down at the table, perfectly naturally.

Maggie and Zelda sat themselves down between an old man and an old woman near a table piled with food.
The Narrator grabs a plate and helps himself to a piece of fried chicken. Note that from now on, he has a pronounced Southern accent.

Maggie:
Zelda, is that Dorcas? I do believe it is!
Enter Aunt Florence, carrying a recipe box, talking to a lovely young woman, Barbara.

Aunt Florence:
My goodness. Yes, I’ll certainly give you this recipe.
Muttering as she flips through the box.
Now where can it be? Where did I put it? Oh, here it is. There you go, darlin’.

Barbara:
Aunt Florence, I do hope you’re not one of those cooks who leave out a necessary ingredient.

Old Woman:
You must be joking, Barbara. That’s awfully mean. Missing ingredients, indeed!

Narrator:
Ah, I do believe I’ll have some of those deviled eggs if you’ll be so kind as to pass me the platter.

Barbara:
Surely. But, no, ma’am, I’m not joking. My best friend’s grandmother used to do it. On purpose. Mean old lady.

Narrator:
And is that a pitcher of sweet tea I see over there?

Aunt Florence:
You don’t say! Share and share alike, I’ve always lived by. They’s lemonade, too, Larry. And don't miss out on Audrey's buttermilk biscuits.
Exit.

Old Woman:
Now, where are my glasses? Has anybody seen my glasses?
Turning to Maggie and Zelda
Maggie, have you seen my glasses? What a pretty kitty.

Maggie:
Turning to Uncle Orlin, an old man seated on the other side of her.
Have you seen Aunt Hilda’s glasses? She needs them to find a recipe for Mama.

Uncle Orlin:
Say again? What did you say, my girl? Durn hearing aid’s been missing for months.

Old Woman:
He can’t hear you, dear. Where are my glasses? Has anyone seen my glasses??? These old bones . . .Come here, Maggie, and just look around my chair, will you?

Maggie:
Here they are. Must of just fallen out of your apron pocket.

Uncle Orlin:
Why that there’s John’s girl! Lordy, last time I seen you, you wasn’t but knee high to a grasshopper. Where is John, anyway? He’s been missing about an hour. I sure hope he’s not hittin’ the. . .

Old Woman:
Little pitchers have big ears, brother.

Re-enter Barbara, moving quickly.

Barbara:
Here, honey, here’s your plate. And a little chicken skin for Zelda. Well. Gotta get back to that kitchen before Audrey misses me . . . .

Younger sister runs by.

Sister:
Maggie, Where’s Daddy? Hey, where’d you get that kitty? How come you got a kitty and I don’t? I miss out on everything.

Maggie:
Well, you got a puppy, don’t you?
Pause.
Let’s see if they’ll let you get yourself a kitten and then maybe I can have a puppy too.

Sister:
Naw, they’ll just tell us to share.
Runs off.

Narrator:
Look at all those kids playing tag. How come you don’t play, Maggie? You just going to watch all afternoon? You missing all the fun!

Enter young teenager, Jimmy, rushing at Maggie and tagging her.

Jimmy:
Gotcha! You’re IT.
Shouts to the kids.
Maggie’s IT! Everybody run!

Maggie:
I’m IT? What am I supposed to do?

Narrator:
I guess you gotta join in.

Maggie:
I’m it, I’m it, I’M IT!
Pause for a beat. Then shouts to the yard in general.
Ready or not, here I come!


End of Play