SonnyShort
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Sonny
The Soup Sipper
By
Bill Truby
Pete McLeod
with adaptations
by Jim Pappas
Adapted version Copyright 1999
By
Jim Pappas
Description of Characters and Performance
Technique used:
Although the play can use as many as eight actors it was
originally done by Bill and Pete using 1 narrator and 2
actors. The two actors had a hat tree with several hats which
they changed with each switch of character.
They used, and we suggest you do the same, the off-stage
focus technique of Reader's Theatre. (See our brief
description). Each hat change was accompanied by a vocal,
accentual and physical change. There was also an electric
piano used for scene changes, sound effects, etc. Such
insertions are left to your creative imagination. With a
larger cast most of the sound effects can be done live.
Otherwise a recording or sampling keyboard is useful.
Mimes are copiously used in our productions and are quite
effective.
We used no props other than hat & dress. Lighting can be used
to set the mood but is optional.
Cast can be all male, all female, or mixed. Change pronouns
to suit
Sonny: Young, clean (white hat) pure. Impressionable, open,
dissatisfied with the rat race.
Kelly: Same type as Sonny but more of a daredevil, leader,
mischevious, rough and ready, big dreamer. Not enough ability
to make his dreams come true. Not concerned about work.
Western accent (cowboy hat)
Tommy: Follower, same basic type as Sonny, and Kelly. Hick
accent (cow-boyish hat)
Micky: Dumb, not a thinker, gullible. A perfect drone.
Black Angel: (Black hat & coat) Devil's advocate.
White Angel: (White hat & coat) God's Angel
Phillip: Scandinavian accent. Hard worker. Personable,
musician, artistic, (Ski hat)
Hans: Old man, German accent, hunch back, time-worn. Bitter.
(French Beret)
This script is free as described in the honorary contract.
However, there is provision for you to donate to my ministry
if you should so feel impressed. The amount is entirely up to
you. Click on either of the links below. I wish you blessings
and I hope you enjoy the script.
Jim Pappas
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Sonny The Soup Sipper
(Introduction accompanied by sound effects of a giant soup
factory such as motors, belts, clanging cans, pouring and
bubbling liquids, etc.)
Scene I
Narrator: In the beginning there was the Boss. He created the
Sovereign Soup Company. The Boss had the ultimate
administration in His company, the chief assistant being His
vice president. Now, no one knows exactly when, or even why,
but one day the vice president rebelled. He took part of the
working force into his own administration and then rebuilt
this particular soup factory complete with his own inferior
decorating design. Being in control now, he also wanted to
change his title. So he change it. No longer is he called
Vice President. He is now called the President of Vice.
In case you hadn't noticed-you are in his rebel soup factory.
Like everyone around you, your overalls are covered with
grease and old soup. You can never get clean.
Look around you; Have you met your fellow workers yet? Meet
Tommy the Tub Tipper. He tips the tall tubs. From him the
soup is forwarded to the various facets of the factory's
facilities.
After the commodity has been consumed, the empty cans are
catered to Kelly the Can Crusher, who, of course, completely
crushes the cans enabling them to be recycled. But the person
everyone depends on most is Sonny. Sonny The Soup Sipper.
Sonny sips soup sort of systematically seeking satisfactory
soup. Of course if it's not, that is to say somewhat
substandard, Sonny simply sets the silly substandard soup
aside.
Now these are just three of your fellow workers. All of you
who work here were born in this greasy factory. You live
here, and you will die here unless . . .(interrupted by
Tommy's first line. The sounds of the factory get louder)
Tommy: Hey! Let's get some more tubs over here.
(Mime pulling lever down to tip the tub into passing cans and
muttering to himself)
I don't know that they'd do without me around here. Seems
that nobody is worth their pay anymore. Wages keep going up
and work keeps going down.
Meanwhile Kelly has been crushing cans-mime actions of the
crushing and the cans being carried away on the conveyor
belt)
Kelly: Yeah, they sure do. Pity. Real pity.
Tommy: You know, Kelly, it's really lucky that we, two good
friends, get to work together in the same department of this
huge soup factory.
Kelly: Yeah, fate, it's gotta' be.
Tommy: You know, I really don't know that they'd do without
me around here. From me all the soup goes to every other part
of the factory. It all starts right here!
Kelly: And Me! What would they do without me? All these cans
would be piled up so high that nobody could even walk around
in this factory.
Tommy: Those turkeys out there think the whole factory
revolves around them.
Kelly: Well I've got news for them. It doesn't!
Cast: IT REVOLVES AROUND ME!! (They both react with surprise
to that and then return to their own work pretending not to
have heard)
Tommy: It's about time you brought another tub over here!
Kelly: Just stack them cans there. I'll crush them in a
minute. Man! Is there ever an end?
SCENE II
Sonny: Hey Micky! Come over here a
minute would you? This belt sounds
squeaky.
Micky: Yo kay, Sonny. They don't call me Micky the Mechanic
for nuthin'.
Sonny: Here, listen. Can you hear that squeak? It's driving
me crazy!
Micky: Hear it! I bet they can hear it on the outside the
factory walls.
Sonny: Yeah. If there is anything outside of these dirty,
greasy walls. Look at them. Four dull, high, cold, damp
walls! No doors, no windows, no nothing except for this
endless belt and a lot of clanking noise and nothing! Just
nothing!
Micky: Just remember what the President of Vice says, Sonny.
"You only get out of something what you put into it."
Sonny: Get out of something! I'll tell you what, Micky. I'd
like to get out of this place. I'm sick of being dirty.
Micky: Hey! Like the V-Pres sez - "Four walls do not a prison
make."
Sonny: Are you happy with this life here, Micky? I'm not. I
want to go someplace where it's clean and warm with color and
beauty and fresh air.
Micky: Hey! What'a'ya gonna do, man? Fly up through the
ceiling? You know there ain't no doors or windows.
Sonny: (Looking up) There is the one window.
Micky: (Looking up) How do we know it's a window? Oh, sure,
light comes from there and lights up the whole factory, but
is it really a window? Or is it just a giant square light
bulb? I mean, how do we know?
Voice: Hey! Mickey!
Mickey: (Looking off stage) Yeah, yeah, I'm coming! Just hold
your soup can. There's always something to fix. Micky the
mechanic. Micky the mechanic. That's all I ever hear!
Sonny: (Thoughtfully) Micky?
Micky: Yeah?
Sonny: I'm going up there someday. (Keeps looking up)
Micky: (Dismisses the idea with a wave of the hand)
Yeah, sure, Sonny.
SCENE III
News Boy: (Shouting as he crosses
the stage) Hey ya, hey ya, hey ya!
Read all about it. Boss makes same
offer again! Get yer Sovereign Soup
Sentinal right here!! Hey ya, hey
ya, hey ya, Read all about it . . .
Sonny: Hey boy! Where'd you get those papers?
News Boy: Oh, they just fell through that window again.
Sonny: How much?
News Boy: Just three labels off yer number ten can.
Sonny: O.K., here.
News Boy: (Exit on line) Hey ya, hey ya, hey ya! Boss makes
same fantastic offer again! Read all about it. Hey ya, hey
ya, hey ya . . .
Sonny: (Reading Paper) "Dear Children." He always calls us
that. I wonder why? It kind of makes me feel warm inside.
Black Angel: (To audience) Yuck!
Sonny: "This message is to remind you once again that no one
need continue to be a slave in the Soup Factory. I will
gladly take you out of the futile work of the factory and
give you a more joyful and abundant life."
Black Angel: (To audience) I think I'm getting ill.
Sonny: Boy! Wouldn't that be great! "All you have to do is to
acknowledge that you are dirty and that you are ready to be
cleansed." Hmmph! He says that every time-it seems so simple.
Black Angel: Don't tell me you're gonna believe that old
line!
Sonny: Too simple. Besides, I've heard it over and over again
since I was a kid. I wonder if it's really true?
White Angel: Come on! You're smarter than that!
Sonny: I suppose if I'd just use my brains I'd see that it's
just too good to be true. Course, it might be true . .
Black Angel: It's not!
Sonny: Ya know, it really could be true . . .
Black Angel: It's not, I tell ya! It's not!
Sonny: Aw, it's probably not. Besides, it sounds so real what
the President of Vice says.
Black Angel: Now you're thinking kid. You just stick with us
and someday we'll bust through these walls. And when we break
through to the outside you'll see there's warmth and beauty
and fresh air.
Sonny: He says if we stick with him, that someday we'll break
through these walls and see all our dreams come true. That's
what I want! I want to be freed from the dull mindless
routine of this crummy soup factory.
(Black Angel walks off quite pleased with himself. Enter
White Angel who is eyed suspiciously. Black Angel comes back
and during the next few lines sends punctured, booby-trapped,
or otherwise dangerous cans down the line to Sonny. The White
Angel renders all of the dangers safe for Sonny, even putting
himself into personal danger)
White Angel: Doesn't the light make you feel good, Sonny?
Sonny: Boy, I sure enjoy that warm light.
White Angel: Wouldn't you like to take the Boss's offer and
get out of the darkness of this place?
Sonny: (Picks up newspaper again) Man! I feel really
confused. The Boss tells me one way to get out of here and
the President of Vice tells me another. One tells me to just
confess and believe and the other tells me work and achieve.
But neither of them has come through yet.
White Angel: That's because you haven't said that you're
ready yet!
Sonny: The Boss says to just say I'm ready. But I'm not ready
to say I'm ready! And yet, there doesn't seem to be any way
to break through these walls ourselves either. I'd like to
believe the Boss. They say He's a good man. I just wish I
knew that He really did care for me. If I could just see some
evidence . . .
White Angel: Evidence! (All this time the angel has been
protecting Sonny but Sonny never noticed. SFX Noon Whistle)
Sonny: Say! Is that the quitting whistle already? I can't
believe how quick the time has gone. And this has actually
been an easy day. I'm not tired and I didn't even cut my
hands on those funny punctured cans like I usually do.
SCENE IV
Kelly: Hey, Tommy. Have you noticed
anything different about Sonny
lately?
Tommy: Yeah. He's been acting pretty weird since the last
edition of the paper fell through that window.
Kelly: All he talks about all the time is that light up
there. If you ask me He's really getting fanatical.
Tommy: Well, I guess everybody's wondered about that light
from time to time. But I don't have time to sit around and
try and figure out what that light thing's all about.
Kelly: Well somebody's gonna figure it out, Tommy.
Tommy: Oh, yeah? Who?
Kelly: Me!
Tommy: You? Now how you gonna do that?
Kelly: Well, I'll let you in on a little plan if you can keep
a secret.
Tommy: Oh yeah? You gotta plan? Hey, you know a good friend
can keep a secret. You bet, buddy.
Kelly: (Motions for Tommy to come close for a secret) Well,
I've been figuring a bit, see.
Tommy: Yeah?
Kelly: Now I know it's a long ways up to that there light,
see . . .
Tommy: Yeah, yeah.
Kelly: . . . and I've heard the stories and read the paper
just as much as you have.
Tommy: Yeah, I know.
Kelly: . . . and it seems just as hoaky to me as it does to
you. So . . . Ta da!
Tommy: Ta da, what?
Kelly: Here's what I'm planning on doing. I've been sneaking
a few of the cans from the crusher day by day.
Tommy: You have?
Kelly: Yeah, I have.
Tommy: What for?
Kelly: Well, instead of crushing them I've been welding them
together and building myself this huge scaffold over in one
of the vacant corners of the factory.
Tommy: What for?
Kelly: Just a minute and I'll tell ya. I've been figuring
that in just a few more shifts I'll have enough scaffolding
to reach clear up to that light in the ceiling.
Tommy: Clear all the way up there? Man!
Kelly: You bet! I figure I'm gonna settle it once and for all
what's really up there. I'm sure I'll prove all those
dreamers wrong who think there's something better up there.
Maybe I'll even help out our old buddy, Sonny.
Tommy: Wow! Sounds terrific. You gonna let a good buddy in on
the operation?
Kelly: You Bet! I figure to have it ready in a couple of
weeks. Meet me here on Friday the 13th at 3:00 A.M. sharp!
Tommy: You got it pal!
SCENE V
Kelly: There! That looks pretty
good to me. I just hope that one
joint holds up.
Tommy: It uh . . .looks sort of wobbly to me, Kelly. Maybe
we'd better wait.
Kelly: Aw, it's O.K. I don't have time for petty details.
'Sides, people will start coming for work soon so we best get
a move on. You wanna go up with me?
Tommy: (Mime an inspection of the weak joint) Uh, I uh... No.
I think I'd better stay down here and steady it for ya.
Kelly: O.K. But it's gonna be excitin'! (Mime-starts to climb
and looks down) Whoa! Tommy! You wouldn't believe how the
factory looks from here!
Tommy: (Looks around himself) It looks exactly the same from
here.
Kelly: No! Not from there, from here!
Tommy: That's what I said. Hey, You'd better be careful, Kel.
That thing is a swayin' some.
(The Black Angel appears - lights a cutting torch and begins
to cut one of the legs out from under Kelly. Neither of the
other two can see him)
Kelly: So steady it. Say! I still can't get over the view.
Tommy:(SFX of metal bending and creaking) Kelly! You'd better
stop climbing! That joint is starting to crack and bend.
You'd better come back down quick! Oh no!!! (Kelly sways and
falls to the ground. The White Angel catches him and eases
his fall)
Tommy: Kelly! Kelly! You allright? Say something to me . . .
Come on, buddy, say something.
Kelly: (Half conscious-mumbles) Fresh air!
Tommy: Huh? What's that, Kel?
Kelly: It was easier to breath up there.
Tommy: Hey, take it easy, pal. You had a real tumble on your
head.
Kelly: I'm O.K., Tommy, really. Ya know, the air was actually
fresher up there.
Tommy: Yeah, sure pal. I'm sure it was.
Kelly: No really! No more burnt soup smell, no more grease
oder. It was clean and clear and . . .
Tommy: And what?
Kelly: Well, yer not gonna believe this, but I think I
smelled flowers!
Tommy: Flowers! Come on, Kelly. You know as well as I do that
flowers are an extinct species. And take it from me, pal,
fossils don't have no smell.
Kelly: No, Tommy. I saw something brighter than here.
Tommy: Sure, sure. What you saw was stars when you bonked yer
beanie, thats what. It's a wonder you're still alive after
that fall.
Kelly: No, Tommy! I know what I saw and felt. It was brighter
than anything I've ever seen before. I just can't explain it.
And! It was warm up there too!
Tommy: Yeah, sure. You're probably running a temperature or
something. I better get you home. Man! That was some fall.
Scene VI
(Both Hans the Handyman and Phillip the Fiddler are carrying
on action and monologue independantly of each other. Hans at
a funeral home with his dead daughter-Phillip at the hospital
waiting for the birth of his baby)
Hans: May I see the body? Yes, yes I am Hans the Handyman,
her father. (Walks forward to body-looks down for a moment)
Life is so short. It goes by so fast.
Phillip: (Pacing) Oh, how time drags. She's been in there a
whole half hour.
Tommy: (Looking at the body) You have made her up well,
coroner. She was wearing that dress on her first date, you
knew.
Phillip: (Still pacing) They said any minute five minutes
ago! Next time I think we'll find a faster hospital.
Hans: She didn't date much though. She worked hard. Too hard.
Phillip: (Still pacing) It's got to be a girl. I want a girl,
my wife wants a girl. Everybody wants a girl. Oh, I'll be so
dissappointed if it's not. I want one of those cute little
dolls that will be a knock out to every guy in the place.
Hans: I listened to what everybody said. I wanted the best
for my daughter. I trained her to be the best in the factory.
And this is the reward I get!
Phillip: (Stops pacing for a second) What if it's not a girl?
(Resumes pacing) Oh, but it will be. I know it will be. It's
just gotta be.
Hans: Yes, I will take the body. In the tradition of the
factory workers I will bury her myself. (Mime of picking up
the body and slowly walking towards where Phillip is)
Phillip: (He stops pacing and listens-someone has called his
name). Yes? Yes, I am Phillip the Fiddler. It is? It's a boy!
It's a boy! Oh, you don't know how much I wanted a boy. (Mime
taking the baby from the nurse) Thank you. Oh! He is sooo
cute! (Looking up the first person he sees is Hans) Hans!
Hans! My Son!
Hans: (Hans motions to the dead body with his head) Phillip.
My daughter.
Phillip: Oh, Hans. I'm. . . so sorry.
Hans: I am happy for you.
Phillip: How did it happen?
Hans: She died from overwork. She came back to our cell last
night more exhausted than ever. I called the Dr. but he had
so many cases to see that it was late when he came. Too late.
Phillip: Oh, I'm sorry.
Hans: When he saw her he said she was just like all the
others. Worn out. He told me there was no hope.
Phillip: I'm sorry, Hans. Really sorry.
Hans: (Bitterly) She worked! She worked harder than anyone.
That's what they ask in this factory if you want to got
ahead. But look what it gets you! Death! That's what! Death!
(Softer) Choose something better for your little one,
Phillip.
Phillip: (Looking down at the baby) I had hoped that she, or
rather he, would carry on my work of entertaining the factory
workers. They say my fiddle can make a statue smile.
Hans: Even your fiddle cannot comfort me now, Phillip. But
even if it could, what about when you stop playing? Who would
comfort me then?
Phillip: I don't know, Hans.
Hans: Nor do I. I find no comfort or peace inside of me. Only
in things outside of myself that do not last. But when the
music stops? Then What?
Hans: It is true, Phillip. The work is empty. Without the
praise it would be nothing. But what else is there for my
son?
Hans: I'll tell you what to do. Don't believe the Vice
President who tells you that hard work and wild weekends will
make you happy. It is a lie. Do what you have to to stay
alive and take time for those you love. No more!
Phillip: There must be something better, Hans.
Hans: (Bitterly) No! There is nothing better! There is
nothing here but work! Work! Work! There is nothing else,
Phillip . . . except . . .
Phillip: Except what, Hans?
Hans: It is too late for my daughter, but, there is the
Boss's offer. (He looks up wistfully at the window)
Phillip: (Looks at the dead daughter, at his son, then up at
the window) But Hans? Is it true?
Hans: I don't know. If it is not then there is nothing!
Scene VII
White Angel has hands together praying while Black Angel is
messing up labels on cans)
Black Angel: What in the soup factory are you doing?
White Angel: I'm talking to the Boss. What in the soup
factory do you think I'm doing?
Black Angel: I have no idea. It looks like you're warming up
your hands or something. What are you talking to Him about?
White Angel: Sonny.
Black Angel: Yeah? So what about him?
White Angel: He was just telling me how much He loves Sonny,
like He does all the workers.
Black Angel: Yeah? Well the President of Vice likes him too
cuz He's a good worker. So what's new? (Returns to messing up
labels)
White Angel: What are you doing with those labels?
Black Angel: Oh, I'm just having a little fun doing some
switching here and there. I've put the Split Pea labels on
the Tomata cans and the Tomata labels on the Potata cans.
It's a riot to watch the Anderson Family sit down to open up
a can of Split Pea soup for supper and find Tomata. It busts
me up!
White Angel: But Sonny gets blamed for all of that doesn't
he?
Black Angel: Yea, But he can handle it. Remember, He's a good
worker. (He laughs) Hey, you hear anything more from the
boss? Ha ha ha.
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