End of the Line—A Play in One Act

Abstract

In this short play, the playwright drew on her experience as a voiceover talent for bus transportation and Global Positioning Systems. The drama humanizes a voice we love to hate, and subsequently adds layers of back-story and meaning to a deceptively slight one-act, which begins in one reality, and ends in another.

Character List:	BUS DRIVER, any age or race.
	BOY, any age or race. The tenor of the play changes according to the boy’s age. Final casting decision is at the director’s discretion.
	WOMAN, any age or race. Again, experimentation is encouraged.
	FEMALE VOICEOVER (VO), the voice of the bus.
Gender Breakdown:	1 boy
	1 man
	1 woman
	1 female voiceover
Genre:	Drama
SETTING:	A metropolitan bus.
AT RISE:	BUS DRIVER comes to the end of the line, parks the bus. He notices a BOY sitting by himself.
		DRIVER
Are you lost?
		BOY
No, sir.
		DRIVER
Is this your stop?
		BOY
No, sir.
		DRIVER
You realize we’ve reached the end of the line.
		BOY
Yes, sir.
		DRIVER
I don’t start up again for another few minutes.
		BOY
Yes, sir.
		DRIVER
And then I just go back the way we came.
		BOY
Yes, sir.
		DRIVER
You’re just going to sit here, then?
		BOY
Yes, sir. If that’s okay.
		DRIVER
Okay by me.
		BOY
Thank you.
		DRIVER
I just saw you back here and wanted to make sure you were, you know…
		BOY
I’m not lost.
		DRIVER
Okay. Just checking.
		A WOMAN gets on the bus.
		DRIVER
You’re welcome to sit, ma’am, but we don’t get to moving for another few minutes yet.
		WOMAN
Oh, I see. Can you turn the air on?
		DRIVER
No, ma’am, I’m sorry. I gotta keep everything cut off until I’m back on line.
		WOMAN
Oh, I see.
		DRIVER
Yes, ma’am.
		WOMAN
I’ll just wait then.
		DRIVER
Suit yourself.
		SHE sits. DRIVER addresses BOY.
		DRIVER
You gonna be all right, then?
		BOY
Yes, thank you.
		DRIVER
Okay. I’m right outside if you need me.
		BOY
Um, there is one thing, actually.
		DRIVER
What’s that, son?
		BOY
Can you make the bus talk?
		DRIVER
Talk?
		BOY
Yeah, you know.
		DRIVER
Oh, you mean the GPS voice?
		BOY
I don’t know what you call it. The voice that says what the next street is.
		DRIVER
Yeah, yeah. The GPS voice.
		BOY
Can you play it?
		DRIVER
Well, I have to switch the motor on to do that.
		BOY stares.
		DRIVER
I’m sorry, son.
		BOY
Okay.
		DRIVER
Like I told this lady, I can’t run the air either, so…
		BOY
Okay. I’ll just wait.
		DRIVER
Aw right. We’ll be leaving here in a few minutes.
		DRIVER leaves the bus. WOMAN turns to the boy.
		WOMAN
I like the bus lady voice, too.
		BOY
Yes, ma’am.
		WOMAN
I don’t see so good, so I like it she announces the next stop.
		BOY
Yes, ma’am.
		SHE unwraps a piece of gum.
		WOMAN
Would you like a piece of gum?
		BOY
No thank you.
		WOMAN
I have more than one.
		BOY
No thank you.
		WOMAN busies herself with gum, purse, belongings.
		WOMAN
Which one is your stop?
		BOY
None.
		WOMAN
None?
		BOY
No, ma’am. I don’t live on the bus route.
		WOMAN
You don’t?
		BOY
Nuh uh.
		WOMAN
Then why do you ride the bus?
		BOY
Because it talks.
		WOMAN
Ooooh, you like that it talks.
		BOY
Yes ma’m. I like the voice.
		WOMAN
It’s nice, isn’t it?
		BOY
Yes, ma’am. It’s my mother.
		WOMAN
What’s your mother, dear?
		BOY
The voice.
		WOMAN
You mean it sounds like your mother?
		BOY
No ma’am. It’s my mother.
		WOMAN
The bus is your mother?
		BOY
No ma’am. Just the voice.
		WOMAN
Oh, I see.
		BOY
She’s dead.
		WOMAN
Who’s dead, dear?
		BOY
My mother.
		A beat.
		WOMAN
I see. So you—
		BOY
Ride the bus. Yes ma’am.
		The driver gets on the bus.
		DRIVER
Okie dokie. Back the way we came.
		HE starts up the bus.
		FEMALE VO
Welcome to the Greater Metro Transit System. Please have your Go Pass ready.
		WOMAN
That’s your mother?
		BOY
She’s not finished.
		FEMALE VO
I love you, Reggie.
		The BOY smiles at the bewildered woman. The bus pulls away.
		END