Introducing the SparkLife Theater Department!

Welcome to the first meeting of the newly formed SparkLife Theater Department. Here you will learn the art of performing. You will learn about drama. You will experience the true meaning of the word "act." All of your talents will be put to the test. This is…theater!!!

Are you ready? Can you handle this? If so, please take a seat and pay attention.

What is the SparkLife Theater Department? It is everything!

To be more specific, each month we will post a brand new, original scene or short play of our own creation. There's no room for Pippin or Fiddler on the Roof in this theater department. Why go back to the classics when our brain thoughts are filled with even better stories?

One month may bring a romance, the next a sci-fi mermaid horror comedy. And yes, we will include a musical...or eight. We'll cover every genre imaginable.

After reading and studying the scene, YOU perform it! Grab a video camera and record you and your friends acting out the scene. If your friends are being jerks, use action figures, or puppets, or animate the scene somehow. There are no rules to this. Interpret the scene any way you wish.

Upload the final product to YouTube and send a link to contribute@sparknotes.com. Tag the videos with "SparkLife_Theater_Dept." During the last week of the month, we'll share the videos in a special SparkLife post. We may even grade them. But don't worry. We'll be nice.

To kick things off, here's a short little scene.

Dinosaur Ghost Hunters

By Daniel Adam Bergstein

Characters:

Bethany Daniels - Veteran ghost hunter and adventure seeker.
Lisa - Bethany's dim-witted but lovable sidekick.
Goggles - The team's tech expert and van driver.
Mrs. Bishop - A woman.
Alan - Bethany's ex-boyfriend. (He's not in the play, but his existence should help define your lead character's motivations.)
Todd Bartleby -The local robot repairman. (He's not in the play either, but he's cool.)

Setting: Outside on a nice winter's day in Ohio or Alaska.

Bethany and her team are walking through a park.

LISA: So I'm right-handed, but I think I'm left-kneed…and that's probably why I feel tired and dizzy all the time.
BETHANY: Fascinating!
LISA: Really?
BETHANY: No. Not your story. Did you just feel something? Something in the air?
LISA: Ooh! Like an orange?
BETHANY: Um…no.
GOGGLES: I felt it, boss. Something's not right here. Something's…odd.
BETHANY: Hand me the Hazberg Scope!

Goggles hands her a high-tech piece of equipment.

BETHANY (using the scope): Wow! Are you getting this?

[Goggles has taken out another device and is scanning random things]

GOGGLES: The TTT meter is going crazy.
BETHANY: I got 50 under 7 on the Hazberg. Lisa, stop eating your hair. It messes up the readings, and it's gross.
LISA: I wasn't eating it. I was just tasting it.
BETHANY: [looks around the sky] It's here. It's right here.

As the team looks around, Mrs. Bishop walks past. Bethany grabs her.

BETHANY: Excuse me, ma'am. We can't let you leave the park just yet. Things have gotten…complicated.
MRS. BISHOP: Heavens! What's all this about?
BETHANY: We detect a level 88 ghost in the area. Big one. Maybe more than one. If you leave the area, or make any sudden movements, it could ruin everything. Please stand still.

Mrs. Bishop struggles.

MRS. BISHOP: Ghost? Why, I never! Let go of my arm!
GOGGLES: Ma'am, you need to be quiet. You'll scare them away!
MRS. BISHOP: There's no such things as ghosts. Don't be silly!
BETHANY: Look at my face. Do I look silly to you?
GOGGLES: Ghosts are real, ma'am. They're everywhere. Millions of 'em. That's why they have all those Ghost Hunter TV shows.
BETHANY: But the people on those shows never find anything, and do you know why?
MRS. BISHOP: Because ghosts aren't—
BETHANY: Because they're too busy looking for people ghosts. People are small. The ghost of person can curl up into a sock drawer or toilet tank. But my team of ghost hunters is going bigger. We can prove ghosts are real by finding the giant ghosts. The ghosts of things larger than people. Dinosaur ghosts!
LISA: [Starts singing made up theme song] Dun-dun-duuhhhhhn! Dino-ghosts! Hunters! Hunting the ghosts of the dinosaurs! Gonna see the ghosts and so much more! Dino! Dino Ghosts! Yeah! They're totally real!!!
BETHANY: Thanks, Lisa.
MRS. BISHOP: Dinosaur ghosts? Please let me go.
GOGGLES: I'm picking up crazy movements in the ultra-sphere!
BETHANY: [whispers] Please, ma'am. We need this. If we can prove that ghosts are real, then it opens up a world of possibility for science. And finding dino ghosts is easier than finding people ghosts. We're so close. Don't ruin this.

There's a gust of wind and everyone ducks suddenly.

MRS. BISHOP: What? What is it?
BETHANY: There's got to be, like, six dinosaur ghosts here. This is it, gang! Get the camera!

Goggles takes out his cell phone camera.

BETHANY: There! There it is! Do you see it? [Points to the sky]
MRS. BISHOP: See what? What are you pointing at?
BETHANY: That dinosaur ghost! It's right there! We did it! [stifles a scream of joy] We did it!
MRS. BISHOP: You mean that cloud? That's a cloud, dear. Those are clouds.
BETHANY: Nope. Dinosaur ghosts. They're the right size and everything! Wow! [high-fives Goggles and Bethany]
MRS. BISHOP: [blank faced] Those aren't dinosaur ghosts. Those are clouds. It's water vapor.
LISA: You're water vapor!
BETHANY: [still gazing at the sky] That one was probably a T-rex! And that one was a stegosaur!
LISA: I see a Godzilla!
BETHANY: Goggles, tell me you're recording this.
GOGGLES: Got it, boss. We're going to be famous!
MRS. BISHOP: I’m leaving.
BETHANY: Science thanks you for your help, ma'am.

A breeze hits their faces as Mrs. Bishop marches away

BETHANY: Did you feel that?
LISA: Oh my god! Yes!
GOGGLES: That's probably, like, three ghost triceratops rushing past us.
MRS. BISHOP: [from off camera] It's wind, you fools. Wind!
BETHANY: No. No, it's not. It's…ghost dinosaurs!
LISA: Duh!

CUT to credits as Lisa's theme song plays. Her rhymes are very off, but she's singing her heart out.

Post credit scene. They're still in the park.

LISA: Now what?
BETHANY: Now we have to help the dinosaur ghosts move on from this world. They're going to need our help to deal with their problems and help solve their murders.
LISA: So this isn't over?
BETHANY: [wraps scarf around her neck dramatically] It's only just begun.

THE END