Plastic World-Play Script

Plastic World is a short play about pollution for actors to perform for students, teachers, and parents at an assembly. In this piece, one actor is the presenter of an environmental seminar with three actors portraying “volunteers”. The seminar presents facts and figures to enlighten the audience and encourage everyone to do their part to solve an ever-pressing problem in our world. Great for middle school and high school students!

Corrina Bryant is a freelance writer living in London.  She has written for radio, magazines, local and national press and media websites.  Corrina has written plays for the Director’s Cut Theatre Company showcase at the Southwark Playhorama use in London, as well as written for professional actors performing at fringe theatres in the city.  She is currently writing a novel for teenagers/young adults and is delighted to be writing for Drama Notebook.  She wishes all the students and teachers every success in their work and would love to hear from them.

Excerpt from the play:

CAST OF CHARACTERS

PRESENTER – male or female
ROSIE – female student
ELIZABETH – female; widow
MAX – male teacher

SETTING:
Three chairs positioned facing a flip chart. At the top of the paper is written the words ‘Our Plastic World’.

Four cast members enter the stage. Audience participation is required.

PRESENTER
Welcome, everyone. Come in; take a seat.

(Cast sits)

PRESENTER
I see we have some younger audience members today which is great and some not so young (laughs) – you are all very welcome.

(ROSIE and MAX awkwardly wave to each other)

PRESENTER
Oh, do you two know each other?

ROSIE
No!

MAX
No, not really, no.

PRESENTER
Right, well, I don’t think anyone else is coming, so I think we’ll make a start. As Barak Obama once said – ‘One voice can change a room’. Okay, so I am a World Volunteer, working in the UK. None of us give our names for security reasons, Twitter abuse etc., but I’ll be leading the discussion this evening. I want tonight to be as much about you and your thoughts, as it is about the world we live in and I am pleased to introduce our three volunteers who have agreed to bravely sit on the front row and help with the presentation. So perhaps, you three can introduce yourselves to your fellow audience members. Who wants to go first?

MAX
(Max puts his hand up and turns to face the audience). Hi, I’m Max.

PRESENTER
Hello, Max, and what brought you along here today?

MAX
(Turns back to face the presenter.) I was inspired to come by one of my students – I’m a teacher.

PRESENTER
Great! Who’s next?

ROSIE
(Rosie puts her hand up and turns to face the audience). Hi, I’m Rosie and I’m here today because a total stranger I met in a café told me about these meetings and inspired me to find out more.

PRESENTER
Fantastic, Rosie. Just what we need – some fresh young enthusiasm. And finally, who do we have on the end here?

ELIZABETH
(Elizabeth puts her hand up and faces the audience). Hi. I’m Elizabeth and my daughter suggested I come to see what it was all about.

PRESENTER
So you were all recommended and inspired by someone else – that’s brilliant and exactly what we are hoping to achieve. To get people talking and caring. Right, to get us started, I am going to ask the three volunteers at the front here – Rosie, Max, and Elizabeth, for the first word that enters their head, when I say the words ‘Plastic World’. So starting with you, Rosie – ‘Plastic World’?

ROSIE
Pollution.

PRESENTER
Pollution. (Writes the word on the presentation). Pollution – what a horrible word. According to the dictionary, it means “a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects”. Okay Elizabeth, would you like to go next? What do you think of when I say the words ‘Plastic World’?

ELIZABETH
Recycle.

PRESENTER
Recycle. (Writes the word on the presentation). A much more positive word meaning – “to convert waste into reusable material”. And finally, Max – what’s your word?

MAX
Rubbish.

PRESENTER
Rubbish? (Writes on the presentation). Another negative word, which means – waste, refuse, or litter. (Pointing to the board) So we have Pollution, Recycle, and Rubbish. All things that our volunteer panel associate with the words – ‘Plastic World’. Now if I draw a line linking Recycle to Rubbish (draws a line), and Rubbish to Pollution (draws a line) and Pollution to Recycle (draws a line), we have our first goal. If we all recycle our rubbish, there will be less pollution!