DEATH AMONG THE PALM TREES
Recommended age: Upper secondary (14-16)
Characters:
Elloise, Fred, Rich, Debra: They all like to experience strong emotions but then they look really frightened and worried. At the end Fred is puzzled then sighs in relief. The rest show their complicity.
3 muggers: Very aggressive at first, humorous at the end
Synopsis:
A very young couple (Fred and Elloise) are spending their holidays on an adventure holiday resort on an island in the Caribbean. There they meet another young couple: Rich and Debra. They make very good friends with them and from that moment on, they enjoy all the parties at the resort together and they go to every excursion the hotel offers.
They all have an adventurous heart so, in spite of being advised not to leave the resort by the hotel managers, one night they dare into exploring the surroundings. Once out of the resort, they are on their own. No safety guards are to protect them any longer. They are a bit afraid but that is part of the adventure. They take a path that leads to a nearby town. They just want to explore. After a while walking in the dark, they are stopped by three young boys who order them to give them all they have, money, jewels. Rich tries to fight them back and Fred, at seeing his friend’s reaction, hurries to help him. In the meanwhile one of the muggers gets hold of his gun and aims at Debra while he grabs Elloise. When the boys realize they have a weapon they shock stiff. The muggers take advantage of this to get hold of them all.
Elloise, Debra and Rich will stay with them sitting on the floor of some ramshackle premises bound foot and hand. Fred must go back to the hotel in search of more money. He just has 2 hours left. If he fails to do so or warns anyone about the whole thing, his friends will be killed one after the other. And they mean it.
Fred leaves not knowing what to do. He doesn’t want to put his friends’ lives in danger but he is not sure what the muggers will do once he is back. He eventually decides not to take the risk and goes to his room to take all the money he has there. When he tries to access Rich and Debra’s room for the rest of the money, he realizes he won’t be allowed in as he has no key to the place so he decides to break in through the window.
At last he has all the money he has been able to gather but getting it was no easy task and he is now late. He is absolutely out of his mind at the thought of any of his friends getting hurt. Once he gets to the place he discovers his girlfriend lying still on her own blood while one of the muggers is aiming his gun at Debra about to shoot her. He cries in pain. The muggers then free the two of them who are still alive and tell them to leave as soon as they can, before they change their minds. When they start to walk away, Elloise stands up to let Fred know this was just another adventure included in the hotel program.
Setting:
Scene I: Elloise and Fred appear at the hotel bar having a drink. They meet Rich and Debra who are also at the bar next to them. They introduce themselves and decide to write their names down for an excursion organised by the hotel. They then join a party in an adjacent room.
Scene II: The four of them are now in the middle of a palm forest. It is as dark as pitch. We can just hear them a bit frightened but we see their black shapes. The three muggers come out of the darkness and fighting starts.
Scene III: Some indoors place in the forest. All the characters are on stage. Debra, Rich and Elloise are tied up sitting on the floor. Fred is shivering with fear listening to the muggers’ instructions.
Scene IV : Just Fred on stage. He is in a room of the hotel, then we can see him jumping through a window. He is in an increasingly agitated state.
Scene V: Again all the characters on stage. The setting is the same as in scene III. Elloise lies still on a blood puddle. Rich and Debra are still on the floor utterly terrified. One of the muggers is holding his gun aiming at Debra. Fred is horrified at the sight. Then once freed, they still appear afraid until Elloise “comes back from death”. Fred is clearly puzzled. Elloise, Rich and Debra smile in an act of complicity. All laugh amused at the end.
