Partial+Script+Treatment-+Dealin'+with+the+Drought+Episode+2

EPISODE TWO- DEALIN’ WITH THE DROUGHT SCENE I In this episode, Chase calls the Playscapers together because his community is dealing with severe drought and everyone is on emergency water restrictions. The kids need to learn how to conserve water. In this first scene, Chase is having a disagreement with his older, teenage sister, “Tanesha,” about taking too long a shower. Not only has she used up all the hot water in the tank, but she has used up their entire family’s ration of non-potable water for the day. Chase cannot take his shower as a result. CHASE (frustrated, banging on the bathroom door)

Tanesha! Get out of the shower! You’re steamin’ up the whole place!

Tanesha is 15 years old and is getting ready for school. She is singing loudly and can’t hear Chase from inside the shower TANESHA (singing a Hannah Montana song) “I Never said I didn’t love you baby...” (acknowledging the banging on the door) What??? CHASE Get out of the shower! You’re taking too long! It’s my turn, and you’re using up all the hot water! TANESHA Get lost...I’ll be out in a flash. (goes back to singing) “Baby, baby...oh baby...I said I always loved you...” Fifteen minutes have gone by. Tanesha is still in the shower. Chase’s parents have already left for work. Chase’s parents are scientists and employees of NASA in Huntsville, Alabama. They must leave earlier than their kids who have to catch the school bus at 8.Chase’s grandparents live down the street for emergencies and helping with sibling disputes. Chase knows he can call them if he is having no luck with his older sister. Before he decides to call them, he has an idea to get her out of the shower. He makes one last calculated plea with Tanesha. CHASE Tanesha!!! Get out of the shower! You’re boyfriend’s on the phone!

TANESHA Tell him I’ll text him from the bus. I’m almost out Chase...I’m just putting on my conditioner. Five minutes have now gone by, and Chase still hasn’t seen the bathroom free. He decides he’d better call his grandparents for help. Just as he is picking up the phone, the bathroom door swings open with a bang, and Tanesha emerges from the bathroom, still singing, oblivious to Chase’s concern about the water situation. The shower is now free. It is 7:45 a.m. Chase won’t have time to take his shower. CHASE (angrily) It’s too late and I won’t have a chance to take my shower before school. You’ve used up all our hot water and there isn’t any left for me! Tanesha ignores Chase and goes to call her boyfriend. TANESHA (calling on her cell phone) Hello Dan the Man! You called? Pause in dialogue as Tanesha listens to her boyfriend tell her that he is not the one who called. She is surprised that he indeed didn’t call her. TANESHA ...Oh? O.k., Dan. Well anyway... I’ll see you later in biology lab 4th period. I have one little brother to deal with right now. Do you know of any good medieval tortures for my new chamber over here? She clicks off her phone and starts yelling at Chase. TANESHA OK you rug rat! Dan never called me this morning and his mom was yelling at me from the background for phoning too early, right before school. You’re gonna get it! CHASE No, you’re gonna get it Tanesha! When Mom and Dad come home tonight I’m going to tell them that you used up the entire family’s supply of potable water taking a twenty-five minute shower! We’ve been rationed thirty minutes for the four of us and you left none for me. We have a severe drought these days. This isn’t the rain forest zone, or don’t you remember? Tanesha is combing out her hair in front of the mirror. She turns around and corrects Chase. TANESHA You mean non-potable water. Potable is when you can drink the water. Non-potable is what you use for showers, plants, dishes and laundry. Chase has gotten Tanesha’s attention now. They try to have a civil conversation but start fighting instead. CHASE Well, either way, I still can’t take my shower because it’s now ten of eight and we have to catch the bus! I’m telling grandma and grandpa. Tanesha gets angry. TANESHA Oh no you’re not! I’ll get grounded!

CHASE Oh yes I will! You shouldn’t be such a water hog...we haven’t had rain of any significance in months and you act like the Queen of the Nile taking a 25 minute shower without a care for anyone else or for the environment! Tanesha is grabbing her backpack and jacket and pulling a yogurt out of the refrigerator. She heads out the front door to catch the bus. TANESHA Bye bye, baby bro. It’s going to be the rack for you! Chase is not only not ready for school but he is going to miss the bus. He picks up the phone to call his grandparents when all of a sudden he sees a little chipmunk outside from the window of the living room. Chase, still in his pajamas, goes outside to see the chipmunk. Uche the chipmunk is a magical chipmunk who is a pal to kids needing peace, justice, and a new perspective on things. He is especially good at changing attitudes in kids who are stubborn or who need to learn through “teachable moments.” CHASE You again! I thought you’d never be back after the tomato scare last week. We really had you running ragged with all of that gardening! UCHE Don’t worry. I never tire. I love to help kids learn things that they need to learn protecting the environment. (pause) I can...ugh...see that you’re in a bit of a jam right now? CHASE I’m late for school because my sister took a twenty-five minute shower and I couldn’t get mine in time. She not only used up all the hot water in the tank but she doesn’t have a clue about the drought restrictions to save water. My coaches in my baseball club tell me about it all the time but my sister is just thick or something. ...Uche thinks for a moment and tells Chase that they need to contact the Playscapers. UCHE It’s time to ccntact the playsccapers! We need to learn how to take a “navy shower”...among other things....Here, here’s the sunscreen! CHASE A navy shower? What’s a navy shower? UCHE A navy shower is when you turn off the faucet in between your sudsing up. It is what many people had to do on ships at sea especially sailors in the Navy when there wasn’t always fresh water to bath in. A twenty-five minute shower can turn into five minute shower, without all the wasted water. You can even cut it down to a 2-minute shower. Chase is taking this all in. CHASE

...Hmmm...The playscapers...right! I remember from last week. We’ve got to call Grace, LeMarke, and Serina and meet at the playground. Well, at this point, I’ll do anything to avoid Tanesha’s medieval torture chamber. Let’s go!....Wait...I’ve got to get out of my pajamas. Chase starts to run upstairs. Uche stops him. UCHE No worries. We can change your pajamas on the road... Oh, I forgot, you’re still learning how to be a playscaper. You’ve forgotten that we transform into our cartoon selves...first we need the sunscreen... Chase and Uche put on sunscreen.

CHASE Uche, are there going to be other things we can do to help kids like Tanesha not be so selfish? Uche and Chase are now finishing up applying the sunscreen. UCHE Just leave it to me Chase. It’s not so much about being selfish as much as it is about a lack of knowledge. Tanesha doesn’t know any better and I’m sure she was just in her own world and had trouble changing her routine from what she’d always done before the drought. Don’t worry, before I get done with you today, you’ll learn lots of tips on how to conserve water ...you’ll see. We’re going to change the world by starting with simple stuff we can do ourselves. If each person approaches things in this way, then everyone around the planet will eventually. Now, are you ready? CHASE Wait a second...like what are these other things we’re going to learn today? UCHE I’m going to show how getting a rain barrel for watering your garden can help collect water and store it for when you need it. Like learning how to flush toilets more efficiently; like how to recycle laundry water; using hand sanitizer instead of running water and soap to clean hands; and fixing drips and drops from leaky faucets. That kind of stuff... CHASE Ok Uche, now I’m ready...you’re a real pal. I forgot the magic chant though. UCHE No worries. It’s.... Uche recites chant...Chase soon repeats it after him.

UCHE

“I a chipmunk, you a chipmunk, we are chipmunks all...and when we get together, we give the chipmunk call... Play scapers! Play scapers! Five, fabulous protectors of the environment... Play scapers! Play scapers--saving the planet one problem at at time!” Chase is excited to go on a new adventure after the chant. He is now ready to take the plunge from his real character self to his cartoon character self. He flies into position into his animated self and is heading with Uche to the magical animated playground. Chase and Uche call the three other by text message, cell phone, and twitter. CALIFORNIA: SERINA IS SHOWN GETTING A TEXT FROM CHASE AND UCHE. SERINA O-M-G! I’M getting a text from Chase to meet at the playground! I wonder what’s up? It’s time for another fun adventure with the play scapers again! Oops, can’t forget my sunscreen! ST. LOUIS: LEMARKE IS SEEN IN HIS APT. GETTING A CALL ON HIS CELL PHONE FROM CHASE. LEMARKE WOW! It looks like I’m needed to help deal with the severe drought that’s hit the southeastern United States. Time to hit the playground! BOSTON: GRACE GETS A TWITTER ON HER LAPTOP. GRACE (reading her twitter) What am I doing this second?...I’m needed as a play scaper immediately to learn how to take a “navy shower?” What’s that?...Well, whatever a navy shower is, when Uche calls, I’m THERE! All play scapers apply the sunscreen, say the chant and position themselves to head to the magical playground.

REAL CHARACTERS TRANSFORM INTO CARTOON SELVES. SCENE II: AT THE PLAY SCAPER’S MAGICAL PLAYGROUND (ANIMATED VERSION OF SCRIPT) In this scene, the play scapers are now on the magical playground. Here, they address the problems of drought. Some of the lessons to be learned include learning how to take a “navy shower,” learning how to install a rain barrel in a backyard, learning how fix leaky faucets and drips; learning how to use hand sanitizer instead of running water to wash hands; learning how turn off the spigot when brushing teeth, and doing dishes; and learning how to recycle laundry water for watering the garden. UCHE Hey guys! Who wants to take a navy shower? The playscapers all look at each other somewhat puzzled. SERINA What’s a navy shower? UCHE A navy shower is what people do to save water. You learn how to suds up without all this waster water going down the drain in the process. As long as it takes you to sing the alphabet from A to Z, you can get wet, suds up, rinse off. While you’re sudsing, you turn off the faucet. LEMARKE Sounds easy. GRACE Sounds fun. Chase is doubtful. He is thinking of his sister Tanesha’s twenty-five minute showers. CHASE I don’t know. It takes my sister that long just to get in the shower! She’d never do it. UCHE Well, during water restrictions, people like your sister are going to have to learn new things and ways of doing things, especially during drought. Did you know that for every one minute your sister is in the shower, she is using five gallons of water per minute? CHASE Man, i knew it was long, but I didn’t realize how much water that was! UCHE Do the math playscapers. For Chase’s sister’s 25 minute shower this morning, a total of 125 gallons of water was used up alone! LEMARKE And probably most of it went down the drain that she didn’t really need! SERINA This sounds serious. But why is it called a navy shower? UCHE Sailors in the Navy have only a limited amount of shower water when they are out at sea. Their water is limited and they must make it last. That is why it’s called a “navy shower.” GRACE I’m going to get a stop watch and time myself when I take a shower from now on. UCHE You don’t need to. All you need to do is say the alphabet and get used to turning the faucett on and off in between sudsing up. Now, who wants to go first? THE PLAYSCAPERS ARE ALL SHOWN TAKING A NAVY SHOWER. THIS IS DEPICTED AS A FUN SEQUENCE. SERINA IS SHOWN PUTTING ON HER CONDITIONER WITH THE FAUCETT TURNED OFF. GRACE IS SHOWN SINGING THE ALPHABET IN AN ANIMATED HANNAH MONTANA WAY. CHASE PRETENDS HE’S IN THE NAVY ON A SUBMARINE AND THE ENMY IS NEARING ATTACK ON A NUCLEAR MARINE SUB AND HE HAS TO SHOWER EXTRA FAST. LEMARKE IS DOING A RAP TO THE RHYTHM OF THE FAUCETT GOING ON AND OFF. UCHE Now playscapers, how was that? SERINA I can do the same job in half the time and save water in the meantime! GRACE I can practice my auditions while singing in my shower! CHASE I can play while am doing something right! LEMARKE I can invent new raps! UCHE Just think...if other kids see how fun it can be to save water, then we’ll be able to use less of the water that we have on the planet. Water restrictions won’t be so hard and we’ll be protecting our natural resources by doing something as easy and fun as a Navy shower at home! The kids are all excited and say they want to take this back to their homes. CHASE I think this is fun but how can I get Tanesha to do it? All the playscapers look to Uche for help. UCHE To help train yourself and others about saving water when you wash, bath, or brush your teeth, it may be best to start out at the sink. CHASE How? UCHE The same idea as with the Navy shower but this time you turn the faucett on and off at the sink. In between sudsing or brushing, you turn the faucett off. LEMARKE I can do my rap at the sink even better. SERINA How much water do we save that way Uche? UCHE Well, when you are brushing your teeth, you use up 1.5 Gallons of water per minute. FOr chipmunks with big teeth, it’s even more! I’ve had to learn that lesson myself! Uche is seen in an animated bubble brushing his big chipmunk teeth. The others are watching him do it and laugh, as his tail wags while brushing and turning the faucett on and off. He finishes with a big grin. UCHE You can save 10-20 gallons of water a day brushing you r teeth that way. Now...who’d ready to learn about rain barrels? END OF NAVY SHOWER SEQUENCE

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