A Play by Phil Thomas

Performance: September, 2003
Community School South, East Palo Alto


Time: 2003, 12:51 in the morning. Fall time.
Place: Junk yard. We see the crusher, used tires, old pieces of wood, and a
bunch of old cars abandoned.
At rise: Jo-Jo the transforming car is sitting in the junkyard wakin’ up.
Hypnotic, a bottle of blue fresh water, in the driver’s seat.



Hypnotic:

Why you gotta bail on me like this?

Jo-Jo:

What do you mean?

Hypnotic: Just what I said –
Jo-Jo:

Time is runnin’ out! We’re about to get crushed by the crusher!

Hypnotic:

Well let me up out of this car! Let me up out of this car!

Jo-Jo: You know what? It’s all bad. You can’t get out because the doors don’t work.
They jammed because I don’t have no energy. If you let me sip some hypnotic,
I’ll be a party animal with you for life.
Hypnotic: For real?
Jo-Jo:

Nope! It’s not in my nature to be a party animal. I don’t want to be a party
animal for life. I’m here to get at how I live.

Hypnotic: If you stay, I could get your door open.
Jo-Jo: How you gonna get my door open?
Hypnotic: Man, don’t trip. I’ll just open it.
Jo-Jo: Keep it real and just tell me.
Hypnotic: You the last car! You got three more cars ahead of you for the crusher. What
we gonna do?
Jo-Jo: We got to get out of here one way or another. I’m not trying to get crushed
because my life is at stake; my future is at stake, and my dream’s at stake too!
Hypnotic: Why are you dreams at stake?
Jo-Jo: Why are my dreams at stake? I want to be a stunner – someone everyone heard
about, so that if I was to leave I be remembered by stories that make goods
examples for everyone. Kickin’ it with the kids in the neighborhood, helpin’
them toward their education. If I was to follow the wrong path and get into
trouble, I could end up in jail or even dead. It’s gonna take time and a lot of
energy. I’m gonna need to succeed by reachin’ out to everyone else. Not just
thinkin’ about myself. My dream is my number one priority on my list. I can make
a change to the community and to little automobiles. I just want to see
everyone with a smile on their face and full of happiness.
Hypnotic: Man! Don’t nobody want you. You’re a piece of junk made of metal.
Jo-Jo: Well, this piece of junk is going to pursue his dream. Calling me a name is
nothin’.
(Hypnotic cuts on the music and starts dancin’ around the car, shakin’ his
glass. Jo-Jo bites into the feeling that the music is on.)
Jo-Jo: Oh yeah, let me shake my tail pipe…No! No! I can’t do this!
Hypnotic:

Do what?

Jo-Jo:

Partyin’! Hypnotic Man, you gotta keep it real, but you got to be real with yourself first – and that two heads are better than one. So if we work together, we could get out of here together. And you know what else? We could probably be famous together. What is your dream?

Hypnotic: My dream is to be famous and to be a party animal. That’s my favorite subject!
Jo-Jo:

OK, I could dig it. Do you like to dance?

Hypnotic: Yeah I like to dance!
Jo-Jo: That’s it! You could be the motivation dancer. You could be my co-partner and
make the kids happy by doing silly things. Motivation dancing is like
partying. If you can do for me, I can do for you. We help each other out.
Hypnotic: What’s it like on the other side of the fence?
Jo-Jo: It’s a lot more automobiles. It’s more space, even fresh water. And dancers
– and party animals.
Hypnotic: Party animals? That’s my type of city! What are we waiting for?
Jo-Jo: We have to get off the crusher. If I get crushed my dream will get crushed
also.
Hypnotic: Only if I can get out the door.
(The crusher is shaking the car. Hypnotic’s bottle bottom fell up against the
window lock and opened the window.)
Hypnotic: My bottle hurt!
(He doesn’t know the window was down.)
Jo-Jo: You did a beautiful thing! You found a way to make the window come down!
Hypnotic: What I do? What I do?
(sniffs)
Jo-Jo, do you smell that? It smells like giant teeth with bad breath!
Jo-Jo: Man, I don’t smell nothin’.
Hypnotic: I smell the crusher, man! We the next car Jo-Jo!
(Hypnotic runs around the car waving his bottles)
Jo-Jo: Otay, we need four tires and a large piece of wood.
(Hypnotic jumps out the window)
Jo-Jo: OK. Now put the board behind me.
Hypnotic: Ready Jo-Jo?
(Jo-Jo backs down to the bottom of the board)
Jo-Jo: Hop back in the car, Hypnotic!
Hypnotic: Open the door!
Jo-Jo: Wow! My door open too?
(A used car comes out of the air. It was dropped from the crane that drops
cars into the crusher. Dropping fastly, it hits the board and they are flying.
Hypnotic and Jo-Jo are screaming. They land on the other side of the fence.)
Hypnotic: Are we here yet?
Jo-Jo: I can’ believe it. I did it. See how easy that was? If you just keep it real,
your dreams will stay real too.
Hypnotic: Is that all it takes?
Jo-Jo: That’s all it takes. You gotta have heart. Then you’ll be rewarded with
gifts. That gift is your dream. You could be a stunna with me and you could be
remembered as Hypnotic the motivation dancer.
Hypnotic: That has a ring to it. I like that!
     
    The End.


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