Grave Sitter
This
fifteen-minute experimental play explores the troublesome nature of
ghosts. As the play opens, the
18th-century Wealthy Man has hired a Grave Sitter to prevent the theft of the
body of his freshly buried child. As the
Wealthy Man explains the Grave Sitter’s graveside duties, the Ghost Child
appears, visible only to the Grave Sitter.
Attempting to gain the attention of the Wealthy Man, the Ghost Child
only manages to terrify the Grave Sitter, who relies on liquor and tobacco to
dampen his fears.
Into this mix is injected the advice of the Baby Sitter, a 21st-century child-rearing specialist. But the Grave Sitter finds it difficult to deploy her suggestions, because the Ghost Child is more than an unruly youngster. This androgynous creature tries to tell the truth of its otherworldly existence, and finally topples the Grave Sitter’s resistances, utilizing the poor man as a means for conveying that knowledge back to the Ghost Child’s family and the wider world.
Play Structure: |
1 Act: 15-minute play |
Cast size: |
4 |
Gender: |
1 female, 2 male, 1
androgynous |
Period: |
The static time of the burial
ground. |
Location: |
18th-century burial ground
and 21st-century advice/lecture room. |
Set: |
A mostly bare stage. All locations are commingled onto a single
stage, with no furniture or props to separate them. |