Hairball Sample
Hairball Sample
Hairball
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Hairball
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Hairball
Copyright © 2006 Lindsay Price
Theatrefolk
www.theatrefolk.com/licensing
help@theatrefolk.com
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HAIRBALL 3
Characters
14M/27W total roles.
Minimum 3M/5W with the following doubling:
All characters take part in the hair montage at the beginning. There are 11
characters in the montage, so if you have less than 11 actors, just double up.
If you’re going with a smaller cast, I strongly suggest the werewolf wears a
mask (instead of glued-on hair) so the actor can play other parts.
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HAIRBALL 5
The stage is bare except for two cubes stage left, two
cubes stage right and one cube up centre stage.
Thunder and lightning. Spooky lighting comes up
on the up centre stage area. Two actors hold up a
curtain so we can’t see what’s going on behind. NOTE:
it doesn’t have to be held by two actors, it’s just the
easiest way. It could also be one of those moveable
hospital curtains on wheels.
An assistant stands off to the side with what should
look like a hospital tray, but actually holds a variety of
hairdressing instruments. It should all be very TV-MD
and serious. The DOCTOR unseen behind the curtain,
reaches out his hand for the things he requests.
DOCTOR: Curling Iron. (The ASSISTANT hands it to him. There is thunder
and lightning.) Hairspray. (The ASSISTANT hands it to him. There is
thunder and lightning.) Gel. (She hands him some. He throws it back
out.) Not that kind. The other. The one we always use. Keep up,
Marie! I don’t have time for mistakes.
ASSISTANT: (handing him the right gel) Sorry, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Comb. (the ASSISTANT hands it to him) That’s it. That’s it.
(He comes out from behind the curtain, wiping his hands and brow
on a towel.) I can’t do anymore. My masterpiece is complete! (He
throws his arms out and there is accompanying thunder and lightning.)
Drop the curtain! See what you have become!
The two actors drop the curtain. The DOCTOR thrusts
a mirror at the CUSTOMER who looks in it, then
screams the “Bride of Frankenstein” scream. But, as
she keeps looking, she gets a pleased look on her face
and stops mid-scream.
CUSTOMER: Aaaaaaaaa – you know that’s not half bad. (she fluffs
her hair) That’s kind of cute. I like it, I like it. You really had me
worried with the whole “masterpiece” thing, but that’s really
cute. Good job, Julio.
DOCTOR: Doctor Julio, please.
CUSTOMER: See you in six weeks!
Everyone exits. The lights change. Music begins to play for the
“hair montage.” Clearly the timing of this is going to depend on
the music you choose and the choreography. Have fun with it!
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6 LINDSAY PRICE
THREE different HAIR walkers enter and exit: These are people
who walk as their hair dictates. Possible hair types are the clean-
cut, crew-cut soldier, the slacker dude with the hair in his face,
the princess with the perfect up-flip, the spacey chick with the
tie-dyed hair, the tough with the Mohawk.
At the same time, A GIRL enters with a towel on her head,
rubbing her hair dry. When she’s finished, she wraps her hair up
in the towel and exits. At the same time, a GUY with long rocker
hair saunters in. He has a walkman on and is clearly listening
to music. He gets halfway across the stage and starts to do the
classic head banger hair move. A YOUNG GIRL enters and stares
at the GUY doing the head banger move, twirling a piece of hair
between her fingers as she does so. GUY notices the YOUNG
GIRL staring, stops what he’s doing and tries to exit, with a shred
of coolness intact.
HAT BOY crosses the stage. He passes YOUNG GIRL and shoves
her. YOUNG GIRL sticks her tongue out at HAT BOY. Before HAT
BOY can exit, he gets a call on his cell phone. While he’s talking
on the phone, YOUNG GIRL sneaks up on HAT BOY and steals
his hat. She runs off. HAT BOY is someone who is never without
his hat. He frantically tries to cover his head with his hands and
runs off.
ONE enters, moves downstage and uses the forth wall as a
mirror. She starts playing with her hair, trying to make it perfect.
TWO enters, stands beside ONE and does the same. ONE starts
to check out TWO’s hair and steps up the speed with which
she works her own hair. THREE enters, comes to stand beside
TWO and does the same. All three are checking out each other’s
hair and furiously try to make their hair the best. They are back
combing, they are finger waving, they are shaking their hair out,
anything and everything. At the same time, all three whip out
hairspray cans and go to town, causing all three to be hit in some
way by the spray of the other girls. They all get it either in their
eyes or their mouth. This causes them to get grossed out and
they pass out on the floor.
The DON’T CARE GIRL enters. She walks across the stage, quite
happily. She looks down at the three girls on the floor. She looks
up into the mirror. She pushes her bangs out of her face and
she’s happy. She walks off. The lights fade. Everyone exits.
Lights come up on the stage left cubes. (NOTE: Or whatever side
of the stage the three girls from above are not on). BRADLEY
rushes on to sit with DR. GOODSTEIN, the high school guidance
counsellor.
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HAIRBALL 7
8 LINDSAY PRICE
HAIRBALL 9
10 LINDSAY PRICE
HAIRBALL 11
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12 LINDSAY PRICE
RAPUNZEL: You know what? You want my hair so bad, bub, you can
have it. I’m sick to death of it!
She throws her hair (wig) at him and climbs down off
the cube and exits, muttering all the while. PRINCE
THREE is left with her hair in his hands.
PRINCE THREE: Is this really how it’s supposed to go?
He exits.
Two snotty girls sit on the stage left cubes. They are
scoping out the cafeteria and mocking.
MADISON: Do you see her?
KAITLYN: Do you see her?
MADISON: How long did she spend on that?
KAITLYN: Hours. It takes hours to get straight hair to curl like that.
MADISON: Such a show off. And it’ll never hold.
KAITLYN: I know.
MADISON: It’ll be flat by last period.
KAITLYN: (seeing another girl) Do you see her?
MADISON: Do you see her?
KAITLYN: Bang Alert! Bang Alert!
MADISON: Those bangs are so last century.
KAITLYN: I know.
MADISON: They’re so big. They’re very…
KAITLYN: Bangy.
MADISON: They’re very bangy.
KAITLYN: (seeing another girl) Do you see her?
MADISON: Do you see her?
KAITLYN: One can of hairspray or two?
MADISON: Three. She’s single-handily depleting the ozone layer.
KAITLYN: (hi-fiving MADISON) Good one!
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HAIRBALL 13
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14 LINDSAY PRICE
MADISON: Trau-ma.
KAITLYN: It’ll fall out.
MADISON: She’ll have huge clumps coming out in her hands.
KAITLYN: Hair dye causes cancer too.
MADISON: She’s gonna get a big old head tumour and it’ll be her own
fault.
KAITLYN: Hair is not meant to look like that. Hair is meant to look
nice.
MADISON: Nice hair, nice girl.
KAITLYN: Words to live by.
CLAIRE enters.
MADISON: What took you so long? Lunch is almost over.
CLAIRE: I was talking to Paula.
KAITLYN: Paula who?
The two look at each other and gasp.
MADISON: Paula of the purple hair?
KAITLYN: Eggplant head?
CLAIRE: Yeah. I like the colour and I asked her where she got it done.
The two gasp again.
MADISON & KAITLYN: What?
CLAIRE: She said she did it herself and she’s gonna do mine for me on
the weekend.
MADISON & KAITLYN: What, what?
CLAIRE: I feel like a change.
MADISON & KAITLYN: What, what, what?
CLAIRE: Paula’s really nice. She’s not all those things we call her.
MADISON: You can’t change.
KAITLYN: We never change.
MADISON: How are you going to get a boyfriend with purple hair?
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HAIRBALL 15
CLAIRE: Maybe I’ll find a guy who likes me and not the colour of my
hair. And for the record, hair dye does not cause cancer. See ya.
CLAIRE exits. The other two are left with their mouths
open. They look after CLAIRE; they look at each other
as the lights fade.
In the dark there is thunder and lightning. Spooky
lighting comes up. VERN and EMMA huddle together
as they enter. They are walking through a dark forest
alone.
EMMA: I can’t believe I agreed to take the shortcut.
VERN: We’re not lost.
EMMA: We look lost.
VERN: We’re not lost.
EMMA: Do you know where we are?
VERN: No.
EMMA: Then we’re lost.
Off in the distance there is the sound of “something”
howling at the moon. The two look at each other.
EMMA: What’s that?
VERN: (not very confident) Nothing.
EMMA: I’ve heard strange things about these woods.
VERN: It’s nothing. Just a bunch of stories.
EMMA: I’ve heard there’s a werewolf –
VERN: There’s no such thing as werewolves!
Again there is the sound of a howl at the moon, a lot
closer now.
EMMA: That was a lot closer.
VERN: No it wasn’t. You’re just imagining things. There’s no such thing
as werewolves!
The WEREWOLF jumps out. He snarls at them and
bays at the moon. EMMA screams and gets into a
classic damsel in distress pose.
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16 LINDSAY PRICE
EMMA: Save me! Save me, Vern. Save me! Help oh help oh help! Save
me from the – (VERN is not paying any attention to her cries) Vern!
What are you doing?
VERN has moved away and is pouting. EMMA
is confused, so is the WEREWOLF. He growls in
confusion.
VERN: It’s not fair. It’s just not fair!
EMMA: Vern, we’re about to be attacked here.
The WEREWOLF makes an agreeing growl.
VERN: Some guys have all the luck!
EMMA: What are you talking about?
VERN: How does HE do THAT?
He points at the WEREWOLF’s face. EMMA looks
at the WEREWOLF, the WEREWOLF feels his face,
trying to figure out what VERN is pointing at.
EMMA: What?
VERN: (to WEREWOLF) How do you do that?
EMMA: What are you talking about?
WEREWOLF: (very guttural) Huh?
VERN: His beard. Look at his beard. I’ve been trying to grow a
moustache for over a month now and it just won’t come in. Look
at him. Look at all that hair. I would love to have that much hair.
EMMA: You would?
WEREWOLF: Huh?
VERN: Sure! Then I could have a Fu Manchu moustache one day, or a
goatee, or big mutton chop sideburns, or a mountain man beard,
or that stupid little tuft of hair right under the lip that some guys
have that make no sense because it doesn’t cover anything but I
would do it because I could! I would have so much fun. But look
at me!
He points to his upper lip. EMMA looks and shakes
her head. The WEREWOLF looks and winces.
VERN: Nothing. My mom keeps wiping my face ‘cause she thinks it’s
dirt.
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HAIRBALL 17
18 LINDSAY PRICE
HAIRBALL 19
20 LINDSAY PRICE
KAREN: Good.
BONNIE: Karen!
KAREN: If they stare long enough, maybe they’ll ask what’s wrong
and if they ask I can actually talk about it instead of pretending
everything’s all right and normal. Because it’s not normal. I’m
tired of getting pressured to pretend.
BONNIE: Like me with the wig.
KAREN: Like you with the wig.
There is a pause.
BONNIE: I didn’t mean… I was just trying to… I’m sorry. I’ll go.
She gets up to go. KAREN goes running after her.
KAREN: No, Bonnie, wait. It’s not really you.
BONNIE: You don’t have to –
KAREN: It’s not! This is fine. I know you’re just… It’s not really the
wig. I swear. (she gives a sigh) If you’re really quiet, I’m sure you
can hear my mom singing the “everything’s all right, we’re going
to survive this just fine, and no one in the family has any cancer of
any kind” rag. If I hear that song and dance one more time I will
vomit. Voluntarily vomit, not chemo vomit.
BONNIE: What kind of dance is it? Samba? Maybe cha cha?
KAREN: Tap. The shoes make a great sound on my skull.
They laugh for a second. Then BONNIE remembers
her best friend has cancer.
BONNIE: I’m sorry.
KAREN: Don’t. Don’t do that. (she hugs BONNIE) Thanks for being my
friend.
BONNIE: Maybe we could dye the wig. Hey, how about a fauxhawk?
KAREN: Now that’s way better than normal.
They laugh and exit together. AMBER enters. SEAN
and TRISHA enter behind her, laughing. NOTE:
AMBER must be blonde. SEAN and TRISHA laugh
through the whole scene till AMBER looks at them.
SEAN: What’s the difference between a blonde and a shopping cart?
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HAIRBALL 21
TRISHA: What?
SEAN: The shopping cart has a mind of its own.
TRISHA: Hey, hey, how do you know when a blonde has been sitting at
your computer?
SEAN: How?
TRISHA: There’s white-out all over the screen.
SEAN: How do you make a blonde laugh on a Friday?
TRISHA: Tell her a joke on a Monday!
The two are falling over themselves. AMBER finally
turns and stares at them.
SEAN: You’re not mad, are you Amber?
TRISHA: We’re just kidding around.
SEAN: They’re just jokes.
AMBER: Mad? Why would I be mad? Why should I be mad over the
loquacious verbiage of a pair of addle-brained inept ignoramuses,
who couldn’t acquire enough gray matter between them to turn
on a light bulb and the complete lack of percipience is astonishing
but by no means surprising and therefore I have absolutely no
reason to feel any animosity whatsoever.
TRISHA: Huh?
AMBER: (cheerful, not sarcastic) I have dictionaries if you need them.
She exits.
SEAN: Ignoramus is a good thing, right?
They exit. Lights change. Very young and kid-like
(perhaps music box) music plays.
A group of very young kids enter to sit on the ground
reading, colouring, playing games. They are all laughing
and having fun. The teacher, MS. GREEN, is helping
one of the kids. Seeing that the teacher is occupied,
TOMMY reaches over and pulls one of CANDACE’s pig
tails.
CANDACE: Oww!
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22 LINDSAY PRICE
TERI: (her arm shoots up in the air) Ms. Green! Ms. Green! Ms. Green!
Tommy, ah, he pulled Candace’s hair AGAIN, Ms. Green.
Ms. GREEN stands up.
MS. GREEN: Tommy, come over here please.
All the other kids go “Oooooooh” as TOMMY pouts
and slouches his way over to MS. GREEN.
MS. GREEN: That’s enough, class. Back to what you were doing. Now
Tommy, come over here. Why did you pull Candace’s hair?
TOMMY: (very sullen) Don’t know.
MS. GREEN: You must know. You do it every day. I’m surprised that
girl has a pigtail left.
TOMMY: (strangely fascinated) You mean I could pull it right out?
MS. GREEN: No, no, no, forget I said that. Tommy. Tell me why you
pull her hair.
TOMMY: I don’t know.
MS. GREEN: That’s not good enough. I want you to think for a few
minutes about what you’ve done. I expect a better answer.
TOMMY: (pouty, very much a kid) I don’t know why I pull her hair!
The lights change to a spotlight. Everyone else
freezes. TOMMY moves into the spot and turns to the
audience. He gets very philosophical and less kid-like.
TOMMY: I can’t say I think about it much. It’s rather instinctual. See
hair. Pull hair. See hair. Pull hair. Why, oh why, does there have
to be more to it than that? I don’t suffer from any hair pulling
trauma in my family. I never saw my fragile mother sobbing into
a handkerchief because of the aftermath of having her curly locks
tugged savagely. It’s just there. It’s hair. Candace sits in front of
me. She’s always wearing pigtails. Do I have to draw a diagram?!
See hair! Pull hair! (pause) Although, I must admit, if I’m being
completely honest with you, Ms. Green, there are few things in
my young short life that give me much more satisfaction than
pulling hair. I check if the coast is clear. There’s a twitch in my
fingers. The moment before as I agonize once again over doing
something so terribly wrong, but feels so terribly right. Perhaps
I’m not well after all. Perhaps there’s something quite wrong
with me. I know I should not torment Candace Finley-Pratchit
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HAIRBALL 23
day after day after day and yet I do. Lock me up if you must and
throw away the key. My name is Tommy Marsh. I am a hair puller.
Lights change. They exit left. STACEY and TODD
enter stage right to sit on the cubes as if they were in
the front seat of a car. He is confused. She is fuming.
Really, really fuming. He has no idea what he did
wrong, and after a moment of silence tries to broach
the subject.
TODD: Stacey, I –
STACEY: Don’t talk to me.
TODD: But I –
STACEY: Don’t do it.
TODD: I just want to –
STACEY: I said don’t talk to me. When I’m ready for you to talk to me,
I will let you know. Until then, the thing to do is not talk.
They continue. She – fuming. He – confused. He
makes faces to himself as he desperately tries to figure
out what he did wrong.
TODD: Was it the –
STACEY: Not ready yet.
They continue. Finally STACY closes her eyes and lets
out a deep breath. She turns to TODD.
STACEY: All right. You can go.
TODD: Go where?
STACEY: You can go, you can talk.
TODD: About what? Oh! I can go! OK, Stacey all I wanted to ask you
was… I’m not sure… you look really upset.
STACEY: I am.
TODD: And I did something to make you upset.
STACEY: You did.
TODD: And I have no idea what that is.
STACEY: You don’t?
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24 LINDSAY PRICE
HAIRBALL 25
TODD: Uh huh.
STACEY: You were talking about me and you told the girls… you told
them… (she’s traumatized) You told them I had Pageant Girl hair.
TODD: Yeah I did! It’s so fluffy and pretty and it looks just like (seeing
her face) and obviously this is not a good thing and I should not
have done it and I’m very very sorry.
STACEY: No, you’re not.
TODD: I sure am.
STACEY: You just there, just that second thought that Pageant Girl hair
was good.
TODD: Nope I don’t. Not at all, no way. (pause) So why isn’t it good?
STACEY: It’s Pageant hair. Beauty Queen hair. It’s girls in ugly evening
gowns, and parading around in not much more than high heels
and a smile, and old fat balding judges drooling over them and
it’s all about looks and girls being mean to each other and
backstabbing and saying “oh, you look so pretty” when they don’t
mean it and falsies, and Vaseline on the teeth and “I’m going to
feed the homeless” platforms and it’s all gross and icky and I can’t
believe you think I look like that!
TODD: Stacey. You curled your hair. You don’t usually do that. I
thought it looked nice. You looked… special. And I was trying to
say so and it was the first thing that came to my mind. I am now,
officially, sorry.
STACEY: I’m never curling my hair again.
TODD: OK.
STACEY: OK? Is it really OK or are you just shutting me up?
TODD: I like you with straight hair, curly hair, short hair or long hair.
You can get a buzz cut if you want, I don’t care. I like you.
STACEY: (very pleased) Really?
TODD: Really.
STACEY: That’s nice, Todd.
TODD: Are we square now?
STACEY: Yes.
TODD: Good.
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