Cabin 16

A play in one act

Characters:

Abby: girl of about 15; long blond hair and blue eyes; short with a curvy figure; argumentative and stubborn; loud and sometimes blunt; outgoing and talkative; has a 32 year old lesbian sister named Amy, who has a partner (Tanya) and three children (Jerry, Ella, Ruby) and loves them very much; very defensive of family; has known Hillary for a long time and is her good friend

Helen: girl of about 15; long light brown hair and hazel eyes; tall; shy, quiet, and secretive, yet nurturing; dad died of cancer when she was 12, doesn’t like to talk about it; goes for cancer screenings once a year

Hillary: girl of about 15; shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes; short with a curvy figure; extremely talkative; stubborn, hyper, and messy; recently diagnosed with mild ADHD, but is keeping it secret; feels like there’s something wrong with her; has known Abby for a long time and is her good friend

Maggie: girl of about 15; long chestnut brown hair and brown eyes; medium height and average figure; often bitchy and snooty, but secretly troubled; parents recently divorced, which she blames on her gay older brother, who she does not talk to anymore

Steph: girl of about 15; long dark hair and brown eyes; medium height and very thin; kind, but insecure; perfectionist; secretly anorexic and obsessed with weight loss; often feels fat, contrary to reality

Paige: girl of about 15; long, wavy red hair and green eyes; medium height and average figure; loves everyone and is the peace-maker; optimistic despite her problems; orphaned as a child and lives with her grandparents; sometimes cries at night but usually remains hopeful and happy; hopes her parents would be proud of her; religious and close to God, convinced he loves everyone no matter what

Lydia: girl of about 15; medium length, curly dark hair and green eyes; short and petite; sweet but with an air of sadness about her; kind, but depressed; mother recently committed suicide; often wonders if her mother’s death was somehow her fault; losing faith

Kristin: young woman of about 20; can look however; the cabin counselor; kind and caring, but mostly oblivious to the problems in her cabin

Setting: Summer; cabin 16 at a sleep-away camp. There are three bunk beds (USR, USC, and USL, end to end, about 3 feet between each of them) and two regular beds (one off to SR, the head US and the foot DS, the other between the USC and USL bunk beds, the head DS and the foot US), all with sheets, pillows, and sleeping bags of various colors. The USR bunk bed is shared by Helen (top) and Lydia (bottom), the USC bunk bed is shared by Paige (top) and Steph (bottom), the USL bunk bed is shared by Abby (top) and Hillary (bottom), and the regular bed between the last two bunk beds is Maggie’s. The bed off to SR is Kristin’s. There are posters on the walls and trunks and duffels under and between beds. SR is the front of the cabin and SL is the back.

Time: the present

Scene I

(Day. At rise, all are in the cabin except for KRISTIN and HELEN. LYDIA is lying on her bed, listening to her CD player. ABBY and HILLARY are playing cards on the cabin floor, CS. MAGGIE is reading a book on her bed. PAIGE is on her bed, drawing in her notebook. STEPH is sitting on the floor with ABBY and HILLARY, watching them play cards. Enter HELEN. All stop what they are doing and look up.)

ABBY: Hey, Helen, where’ve ya been?

HELEN: …I just had to go do something out of camp, that’s all.

HILLARY: What was it? (looks very curious)

HELEN: Nothing, just a thing.

HILLARY: Aw, come on, you can tell us!

HELEN: It was… it was just a cancer screening, no big deal.

PAIGE: (in a panic) CANCER SCREENING?! (leaps off of bunk and runs over to HELEN, grabbing her shoulders) Oh my gosh, are you ok?!

HELEN: (gently brushing her off) Yeah, I’m fine.

HILLARY: Then why were you getting screened for cancer?

HELEN remains silent and looks down at the floor. She sits down on KRISTIN’S bed.)

STEPH: (coming over to her and putting her hand on her shoulder) What is it, Helen? Are you ok?

HELEN: Yeah, I’m fine. I just went to get screened cause of… my dad. He, um… he… died of cancer when I was twelve. They check me cause, you know… sometimes it runs in families.

STEPH: Oh, you poor thing! (hugs her)

HILLARY: (getting up and running over to hug her) Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have asked.

HELEN: (gently breaking out of the hug and going over to her bunk) It’s alright, you didn’t know.

(there is a very long and awkward silence, in which HILLARY starts to shift uncomfortably)

HILLARY: Um… anyone up for tetherball?

ABBY: (getting up) Yeah, I’ll go.

HILLARY: How ‘bout you, Helen? Wanna come?

HELEN: No, but thanks anyway.

HILLARY and ABBY exit SR)

LYDIA: (getting off her bunk) I’m going to go see if I have mail, I’ll see you guys later.

STEPH: Hang on a sec, I’ll come with. (they exit SR)

MAGGIE: Paige, you wanna go play tennis or something?

PAIGE: Yeah, sure. Helen, you sure you’re ok?

HELEN: Yeah, I’m fine.

PAIGE and MAGGIE exit SR. During all this, HELEN has gotten her diary and a pen out of her trunk and has climbed up onto her bunk. She sighs and we see that she is crying softly. She begins to write, and the audience hears her voice in a pre-recorded monologue.)

HELEN (pre-recorded and from offstage): July 16, 2004: I went in for the screening that Mom asked the camp nurse to take me to today. Everything seems ok, no tumors or anything. When I came back, some girls in my cabin started asking me questions about where I had gone, and I told them about Dad. I hate doing that. It was really hard for me to lose him in the first place, and telling people about it is like reliving it. Now I can’t stop thinking about him. I miss him so much. Sometimes I wonder why things like that happen, but I guess no one really knows. I just think it was unfair that he was taken from Mom. She’s such a good person, and she never did anything to deserve that kind of pain, and neither did I. I’m just glad that my cabin-mates aren’t here to see me cry. I’m going to try to take a nap now to forget about all this. Signed, as always, Helen.

(Note to readers: more scenes will soon be posted. I decided to do them one at a time.)