Mrs Worthington's Daughters one act play script

ONE ACT PLAYS

MRS WORTHINGTON'S DAUGHTERS
by Mark Rees
Mark Rees’ prize-winning satire on fame and modern society’s obsession with it.

PLOT RESUME
Melanie is a 16 year old teenager determined to succeed in show business at all costs. With her mate Tracy she enters the sleazy world of celebrity, talent shows and agents. When she fails and Tracy succeeds (at a price), Melanie tries to withdraw from the rat-race but cannot, with tragic consequences.
With four main parts and ten choral parts, the play is ideal for a teenage cast.
ISBN 1 904930 42 5

CAST OF 15 TEENAGERS: 2 MALE 3 FEMALE 10 MALE/FEMALE

Melanie
Tracy
Chorus 1
Chorus 2
Voice 1
Voice 2
voice 3
Voice 4 Voice 5
Voice 6
Voice 7
Voice 8
Voice 9
Voice 10
The Agent
Jake

SET
Composite

TIME - the present
DURATION - approx. 35 minutes

Script Sample

Tracy is sitting on a stool. During this speech Melanie brushes Tracy’s hair and puts it in a bad ponytail on the side of her head. Halfway through they swap over and Tracy brushes Melanie’s hair

Melanie Somebody said that fame was a four-letter word, it isn’t to me. I want it so much it hurts. I feel that all my life I’ve been in the audience, but now it’s my turn, my time, my fifteen minutes. (Pause) I want to be an actress, to be on the stage, or in TV, or in films, or maybe a dancer. I’ll do anything. I can, I’m an all-rounder! Aren’t I, Tracy?
Tracy (engrossed in her book) Yeah.
Melanie I’m sixteen for goodness sake, I’m not some silly kid with her head in the clouds. My time’s coming and I intend to grab it with both hands. This time next year I’ll be famous! Won’t I,Tracy?
Tracy Yeah.
Melanie I go to singing classes on Monday and Wednesday nights, Tuesday it’s dancing, Saturday it’s my drama class, a good voice is so important, don’t you think? I’m toying with doing a yoga class on Thursdays, I’m not really sure though. It might help me to find my ‘inner-self’, as Stanislavski says “One can’t create the character of someone else, until you know yourself.” It might help to tone up my body as well. A good body is so important don’t you think? And for that reason I go to the gym on Sundays for a really good workout. On Friday evenings I go to Miss Cratchet for my elocution class. But I’m not neglecting my studies, you can still be an actress or singer or dancer or model and still have a brain. A good education is so important, don’t you think? (Pause, while she looks in the mirror and straightens her clothes) I told Mummy that I might have to do some ‘glamour’ modelling to get started, you know page three stuff, purely as a means to an end. Lots of actresses have done it and it hasn’t affected their career. She was quite cool about it, but then she went and told Daddy and he went mad! I said to him that I was a woman now, you can be over the hill in the modelling game for example by the time you’re twenty-one, if you’re not careful! Daddy just doesn’t understand, he still thinks I’m his “little girl”. It’s my body and I’ll do what I like with it! He is such a control freak! It’s like last week, Justin came round to mine, he’s my ‘significant other’, and we were in my room getting on with some serious kissing when Daddy burst in. Well that was embarrassing enough, but then he asked if I could lend him some money to save him going to the bank. I didn’t have any, but Justin said he had ten pounds in his wallet Daddy could have. So he opened his wallet to give him the money and a condom fell out and landed at Daddy’s feet. There was a silence for a few seconds. And Daddy just stood there with his mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. Justin grabbed the ‘thingy’ and ran downstairs and out of the front door. It was so embarrassing. We haven’t, you know, ‘done’ anything, Justin and me, but I’m glad he was prepared. I think a good boyfriend is so important, don’t you?
This is my best friend Tracy, she’s going to help me to be famous, aren’t you Tracy?
Tracy Yeah.
Melanie I think it’s really good to have a best friend who is plain, don’t you? There are fewer arguments then about boys and things. You’re not competing with each other. Tracy’s going to be my PA, aren’t you Tracy?
Tracy Yeah. What’s a PA?
Melanie It’s a personal assistant. They sort out a person’s diary, take bookings and get them to the venue and stuff. They do all the menial things, it’s a very responsible job.
Tracy Okay then. When do I start?
Melanie Now. Here’s my phone, my hairbrush and my diary, but no reading the personal stuff! This is it, Tracy, the first step on the ladder to fame.

A silence

Tracy What happens now?
Melanie We wait for the phone to ring.

from Mrs Worthington's Daughters, Scene 2

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