An absurd play in one act, one scene
Characters:
1) Puff, the dragon (dressed in formal green suit with vest and necktie.)
2) His inner voice (dressed in formal black suit with vest and bowtie.)
3) John (Jackie) Paper, a little boy in the past, now a respectable herpetologist (a specialist in reptiles) (He never appears.)
ACT I
Scene 1
Music behind the curtain and while it is lifting:
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff,
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff. Oh
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff‘s gigantic tail,
Noble kings and princes would bow whenever they came,
Pirate ships would lower their flag when Puff roared out his name. Oh!
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.
His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
Puff no longer went to play along the Cherry Lane.
Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave,
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave. Oh!
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
(a song from 60-s written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow)
A cave near the ocean. A blue road sign “Honah Lee” without the road. Puff is writing a letter. PUFF (as he writes)
“Dear friend, I miss you a lot, remembering our games and flights; our sailing and fights...”
Pause.
He finishes, folds it, breaths fire on it to melt the sealing wax, seals the letter, puts it into a green, ancient-looking bottle, replaces the cork; some more fire and sealing wax, and away it goes into the water. Puff reclines dreamily.
INNER VOICE (coming out of the cave) He will not write back to you. He has other toys.
PUFF
You! Inner voice*, stop immediately or else!
INNER VOICE
OK, OK, OK. He disappears into the cave.
PUFF
Pause.
Sometimes it’s so lonely; there is not a soul to talk to.
INNER VOICE (coming out of cave)
What about me?
PUFF (bitterly)
O, yes, sure! You don’t count: I’m part of you, I mean that you are part of me, I mean
...whatever.
Pause. He takes a round stone and sends it skipping along the surface of water, towards the
audience. He counts the jumps, following each with his eyes and head.
One, two, three, four... thirteen. Pause.(repeats) Thirteen again! (sighs) Sometimes I feel so
forgotten, unimportant...
INNER VOICE
You should! You don’t even exist!
PUFF (offended)
Well, then neither do you! (Silence. He throws more flat round rocks.)
INNER VOICE
By the way, why this silly green costume? Didn’t they find something better in the dressing room?
PUFF (Apologetically)
I had green scales, but they “fell like rain” from loneliness. I couldn’t run around naked!
What about your own fancy suit?
INNER VOICE
Mine is like yours, only better! (Mockingly) Look at you! Green! Color of Hope! I never in
my life saw such a silly optimist! And what’s good in this? You always hope, and always
become disappointed.
PUFF (sighs in silence.)
INNER VOICE
My suite is black: no hope whatsoever! No hope – no disappointments! I’m always in a good
mood: all the possible disasters already have happened in my mind, so in front of me – only
better possibilities are left. And yet silly people think that I’m optimistic! (laughs.)
PUFF
How paradoxical... (Starts to throw stones again)
But seriously! This loneliness, day after day... (Starts singing): “A dragon lives forever but not
so little boys —” O, no! (Short pause) Forever! (Short pause) Alone for eternity!
INNER VOICE
People are ephemeral; they do not deserve your friendship.
PUFF
I heard that because their lives are so short, their love and friendship are really strong.
INNER VOICE
Not at all! Not so with small kids; they think that they are immortal, they are always looking for new things and new friends.
PUFF (after a silence)
How nice it was when Jackie Paper was a little boy. Now he is probably thirty. Jackie, I mean
John, Paper. He’s now a respectable herpetologist.
INNER VOICE
Herpe...What?
PUFF
Herpetologist, a specialist in reptiles... (Off stage to the audience) Seriously! It’s true; you can
Google him! Long pause. Puff starts throwing stones again. Then stoops, takes from the
ground a kite in the shape of a dragon with painted wings and starts walking along the shore
forward and back, dragging it by the string like a child would drag a toy-car behind him.
Maybe he never received my letter; the Postal Service is not dependable nowadays. Or
maybe he just forg—
INNER VOICE
I told you! I told you, he forgot!
PUFF
Now you’re going to get it!
He runs into the cave, returns with duct tape, and tapes it over the Inner Voice’s mouth.
Satisfied, he reclines looking at the ocean. Pause.
What is that? Something shiny!
With the help of his long tail he fishes a green ancient-shaped bottle that looks exactly like the
bottle he threw into the ocean earlier.
A bottle, a bottle! From Cherry Lane! (Puff looks with a victorious smile at the Inner Voice.)
I told you, I told you, he remembers!
He removes the cork and unfolds the letter. He reads, looking triumphantly from time to time
at the Inner Voice.
“Dear friend, I miss you a lot!” See! See! He remembers! He misses me too! Now you have
nothing to say back! (He continues to read aloud.) “...remembering our games and flights; our
sailing and fights...”
Inner Voice tries to protest, to show Puff’s mistake with gestures; finally he gives up. Beautiful sunset. It gradually gets darker. The song “Puff the magic dragon...” (last stanza) becomes audible, then louder. Curtain.