-- *Mar*Excellent — let’s turn the same philosophical theme (from YM Sarma’s *Speed, Haste, Hurry and Rush*) into a *short stage drama*.
Here’s an *original one-act play* titled *“The Lesson of the Living Tree.”* ------------------------------ 🎭 *THE LESSON OF THE LIVING TREE* *A One-Act Drama in Four Scenes* *Genre:* Philosophical / Educational Satire *Setting:* A modern university obsessed with speed, grades, and productivity. ------------------------------ *Characters* - *Professor Velocity* – A brilliant but impatient teacher who measures learning in minutes. - *Meera* – A thoughtful student who questions the university’s obsession with haste. - *Dean Clockwell* – The stern administrator; worships punctuality and statistics. - *Root* – A mysterious voice of nature (can be represented by lighting, sound, or a puppet). - *Students (Chorus)* – Speak in unison, symbolizing society’s collective rush. ------------------------------ *Scene 1 – The Furnace of Haste* *(Bright lights, a ticking sound. Students type rapidly. Professor Velocity storms in with a stopwatch.)* *Professor Velocity:* Time is knowledge! Learning must accelerate! You have sixty seconds to explain the meaning of life. Begin! *Students (in chorus):* Success! Progress! Speed! Grades! *(They chant faster and faster until they blur into noise.)* *Meera* *(quietly)*: Professor, what if the meaning of life needs silence to speak? *Professor Velocity:* Silence is failure, Meera! The world rewards only those who arrive first. *(Bell rings sharply. Lights fade to red.)* ------------------------------ *Scene 2 – The Crack in the Floor* *(Dim light. A faint cracking sound. A root appears, breaking through the tile of the classroom.)* *Dean Clockwell:* Who authorized this organic intrusion? Cut it down immediately! *Meera:* Please, let it stay. It’s trying to tell us something. *Professor Velocity:* Nonsense. Trees don’t teach. Numbers do. *Root (voice from beneath the floor):* You cut me, yet you grow weaker. You rush, yet you understand less. Why? *(Silence. The ticking clock stops.)* *Dean Clockwell (uneasy):* Who—who said that? *Meera:* Understanding has arrived, Dean. Slowly. *(Lights dim. Sound of wind.)* ------------------------------ *Scene 3 – The Lesson* *(The classroom transforms; walls fade into forest projections. The students remove their watches and laptops.)* *Root:* Children of haste, do you know the taste of time? It is not numbers. It is rain soaking into roots. *Meera:* We never learned that, Root. We learned formulas. *Root:* Then unlearn. Feel the pulse beneath your feet. *(A deep heartbeat sound fills the stage. Students place hands on the floor.)* *Professor Velocity (softly):* I can feel it. It… moves. Understanding moves. *Dean Clockwell (trembling):* Perhaps… perhaps we have been grading ghosts. ------------------------------ *Scene 4 – The New Lesson* *(Morning light. The tree now stands tall in the center of the stage. The students gather around it.)* *Meera:* Today’s lesson has no clock. We’ll listen until the tree stops speaking. *Professor Velocity:* And if it never stops? *Meera:* Then we’ll keep learning. *Dean Clockwell (smiling faintly):* Maybe that’s the real degree. *(Students laugh softly. The Root glows. A gentle breeze fills the air.)* *Root:* Remember: Understanding waits for those who wait. *(Lights fade. The ticking clock resumes—slowly, like a heartbeat.)* *Curtain.* ------------------------------ 🎓 *Themes* - The dehumanizing speed of modern education. - Mutual understanding between humans and nature. - The rediscovery of learning through stillness and empathy. ------------------------------ Would you like me to adapt this drama for a *school or college performance* (with time limits, props, and staging directions), or make it more *philosophical and poetic*, like a modern allegory? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CACDCHCKZgxmfyQPBac0rU_UDBNPcUA5cabSVGc8w0rbXBXkQfA%40mail.gmail.com.
