In the Cave-Scary Play Script

In the Cave is a short play for two children. Pat and Terri are hiking in the woods when they get caught in a hail storm. They take refuge in a nearby cave but soon begin to hear odd noises. Could it be bats? Spiders? Snakes? Bears? Pat wants out of the cave but Terri convinces her that it is all just her imagination. They sit down for a snack when the true creature finally reveals itself! It will be an adventure that Pat and Terri will never forget!

This play is also included in Plays For You And A Friend Or Two, a compilation of twelve short plays, each with 2 or 3 characters, and simple staging. The plays are written for elementary school children and include: THREE STICKS; LOST AND FOUND; THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER; THE MAGIC HAT; PIRATE TREASURE; CALYPSO, THE ROYAL DRAGON; TWO FUSSY FROGS; IN THE CAVE; GLOOMY, RAINY DAY; NEVER EMPTY STEW POT; HICCUPS; and FOR YOU OR FOR ME?. These fun plays are full of friendship, humor, fantasy, and magic and children will love to perform them in class or on stage!

Phyllis J. Perry lives in Boulder, Colorado. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, holds a Masters Degree from San Francisco State, and a doctorate from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She has been active in three community theaters. Phyllis is a retired teacher who writes for children and adults. She writes fiction and nonfiction books, poetry and plays. A list of her 92 books can be found on her web site, www.phyllisjperry.com.

 

Excerpt from the play:

CAST OF CHARACTERS

THE PLAYERS:
Two children, Pat and Terri.

THE SETTING:
Deep in the woods, just outside a cave, (created by a blanket thrown over chairs or a table, leaving an opening for entrance and exit.) It has been raining hard and now has turned to hail.

PROPS:
Two backpacks, a flashlight, crackers for a snack.

AT RISE: As the scene opens, the two children are running toward the entrance of a cave trying to protect themselves from hailstones.

PAT
Ouch! That hail hurts.

TERRI
Look! We’re in luck! It’s a cave. We can get out of the hail and keep dry in here until the storm’s over.

PAT
Good! I’m wet and cold, and those hailstones hurt. (Crawls into the cave.) This is a pretty big cave. See? It goes back a long way. (Points back into the darkness.)

TERRI
(Terri enters cave, too, and both take off their day packs.) I’ve got a flashlight in my pack. (She takes it out and shines the light around the cave.)

PAT
I’m sure glad you brought a flashlight. It’s kinds of spooky in here, you know. (She looks back over her shoulder and sniffs.) It smells kind of funny, too.

TERRI
(She sniffs.) It does smell smoky. (She shines her flashlight back into the cave.) Darn it. I can’t see very far. (She gives her flashlight a shake.) The batteries must be about gone. (Squints back into the darkness.) The light’s so dim, I can’t make things out very clearly. (She moves deeper into the cave.)

PAT
(Pat follows Terri.) Aieeee! (She suddenly screams.) There’s something in my hair. Bats! (Dancing up and down and pulling at her hair.) I think it’s a vampire bat.

TERRI
Hey! It’s okay. It’s not a bat. (She smoothes her friend’s hair.) It was just a cobweb, that’s all. It’s gone now.

PAT
A cobweb? Yikes! Spiders! Are there poisonous spiders all over me? (She frantically brushes herself.).

TERRI
(Shines her flashlight and looks all over her friend.) You’re fine. I don’t see any spiders or any bats. Really.

PAT
But there could be snakes! Farther back. (She points.)

TERRI
(Shines her weak flashlight.) I don’t see any snakes.

PAT
Listen! Do you hear that?