The Moon Dream

In the 1950’s the race was on to send the first man to the moon. But what about a family pet watching this spectacle on TV? The Moon Dream plays with the thoughts and aspirations of Buddy, the family dog, who has some pretty big dreams of his own. This play is about friendship and never giving up on your dreams, no matter how crazy they seem.

Laura Rohrman is a playwright and actress who grew up in Northern California and moved to New York City to pursue playwriting many years ago. She is the founder of Playwriting for Kids, a specialized program where kids write and perform their own plays. Laura’s plays have been produced all over the world. She is published by Smith and Kraus. MFA: New School for Drama.

Visit her website:
www.laurarohrman.com

Excerpt from the play:

CAST

NARRATOR(S)
BUDDY THE DOG
MOM
DAD
AMELIA
SUNNY THE CAT
FLICK THE BLUE JAY
RUSSIAN ANNOUNCER
STINKY THE LIZARD
POLICE
DESMOND THE NEIGHBOR
FLAURA (She also happens to be a VIOLIN TEACHER & PET PSYCHIC)
NASA SECURITY GUARD

SCENE 1

NARRATOR 1
Once upon a time, a long time ago, before Man had gone to the moon, there lived a dog named Buddy who had big dreams.

BUDDY
I’m Buddy. I’m dark and scruffy and dorky. I’m a mutt. I have a white spot above my eye, and I love space travel.

MOM (OWNER)
Buddy had extremely cool owners.

DAD
Yeah, extremely cool.

NARRATOR 2:
He lived with the Henderson family. There was a mom who was great cook.

MOM
Let’s have spaghetti everyone!

NARRATOR 2:
And a dad named Michael who worked as a newspaper reporter, and their daughter named Amelia, who played the violin and liked to get into mischief.

AMELIA
That’s right. I’ve always got something up my sleeve.

SUNNY
And I’m the adorable cat…at least that’s what people tell me. I’m Sunny. The best cat ever.

MOM
Dinner’s ready everyone!

DAD
Oh yummy! Spaghetti. My favorite. Let’s all eat in front of the television. Tonight, is the big rocket launch. I’ve been writing about this for my job at the paper. The Russians are sending a dog to space, but we will be the first country to put a man on the moon. Just you wait!

BUDDY
Wait a minute, a dog is going to the moon?

NARRATOR 3:
That night Amelia and her family watched an important rocket launch to the moon. It was 1957 and the Russians sent a dog into space –Laika. And someone else watched too.