WA

About the project and the company

Northshore Theatre Arts will be mounting a production of The Shapes of Leaves in mid 2023, probably June. Send me your email to get a copy of the play. I hope you will see yourself in one of the roles and will contact us further to let us know which role interests you and to send us your resume. If you know of a director or others who would like to be involved please pass word of this opportunity on to them. The production will be in the Northshore / Bothell area.

Send info to leonardgoodisman@gmail.com with your interests, resume, or ideas.

Here’s a start.

THE SHAPES OF LEAVES

A comedy

SYNOPSIS

Butch is a gifted and creative botanist and dendrologist, quite academic, but with a vision for improving the trees we plant and the way we capture carbon dioxide to save the planet from global warming; but he can’t get venture capital funding because he’s African American. His wife Betsy, also African American, gets how special her husband is, how right he is, and how unlikely funding is; while their friend Ben, Caucasian, in his special business group, does get funding, easily, because of who he is, slick, white, and gay. 

Butch sees the clear cuts around him, also the inadequate governmental response, and the failure to really care about or accept his significant ideas about how to respond to or deal with global warming for the next generation. Meanwhile, Ben’s parents want grandchildren, the next generation, and they see Belle, although she seems a little loopy at times, as exactly the right kind of woman; they find her very “bearable”, able to bear the grandchildren they want. 

Butch is fighting for trees, social trees, against global warming and careless clear cuts; Ben’s parents want grandchildren and want Ben, maybe, to be a little different. Belle has a dream. In the end, they get some “adventure” capital, as Ben’s father calls it; they get to plant some tree bundles which Butch designs; Belle is part of the team; and the next generation is on the way. 

CHARACTERS

(All characters are intelligent, caring people, if somewhat different and special.)

BETSY F, 35, African American, bright and sensible

BUTCH M, 35 African American, bright and lost in big ideas

BEN M, 35 Gay, down to earth successful

BEVERLY F, 55 Ben’s Mother, able to get what she wants

BOB M, 55 Ben’s Father, happy to help his wife get what she wants

BELLE F, 20+ Dreamer, hard worker

SETTING

The street in front of a clear cut in a suburban area (Seattle, Washington or anywhere.)

SCENE BREAKDOWN

Two acts, no scene divisions within acts.

ACT I

(Butch is kneeling on stage right, his back to the audience. We see he is sifting through some dirt he picks up from the ground, occasionally inspecting it with a magnifying glass. He makes notes on his laptop. Betsy and Ben enter from stage left and don’t see him at first.)

BETSY

He’s around here somewhere. He forgets that it’s time for lunch. And don’t go strutting around, grinning about your latest success and sending him into anaphylactic shock.

BEN

What’s ana whatever you said shock? 

BETSY

Shock at something you’re allergic to. You come by often enough with that silly grin.

BEN

I can never tell, no matter how long I know you guys, whether you intentionally make up words or you really don’t know what you’re talking about.

BETSY

And that’s a good thing.

BEN

Can a person actually get allergic to a friend, to me, your friend, Butch’s friend?

BETSY 

To Butch’s friend, who’s always succeeding at something Butch is failing at and you’re always strutting around sporting some supercilious smile about your latest triumph.

BEN

Super what? Does all this mean I can or can’t mention my latest triumph.

BETSY

There he is. Butch, Ben’s here, as usual.

BEN

The usual is sometimes a good thing.

BUTCH

On your usual morning walk, looking very pleased about yourself today.

BETSY

Glowing, showing, blowing off.

BEN

Now Betsy. What does someone like me have to show off about?

BETSY

Really? That’s my question. What?

BEN

Is it that obvious, Betsy? Then go for it. Tell me. I love hearing how you think I shine.

BETSY

I don’t know about shining but you’re gloating like a goat.

BUTCH

Too beautiful a morning for the two of you to mess it up with one of your interminable arguments, especially since they’re usually about me.  But they’ve just clear cut this beautiful temperate forest.

BEN

Butch, it’s a vacant lot.

BUTCH

Ben, firs, cedars, big leaf maples filtering light and a million other things in the understory, gone. They left this (points to the clear cut) and some of this. (Holds some dirt.)

BEN

I’m not the expert you are but I don’t see any firs or maples or anything, not a single tree.

BUTCH

Because they’re gone! You’re quick. All they left is this dirt. Do you know what dirt is?

BEN

I think so, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me that I really don’t. It’s dirt!

BUTCH

Wrong. A great deal of it is tiny root hairs that you can barely see with the naked eye, root hairs of giant trees and modest bushes, and fungi, and also creatures that feed on the root hairs and on each other, and  other things. That, believe it or not, is where the action is.

BEN

What action is that if you can’t see it? Root hairs? I guess I’ve heard part of this lecture before.

BUTCH

You have, but not about this clear cut. Every clear cut deserves its own requiem. Root hairs exchange water and nutrients with the soil, and with root hairs of other plants, and there are endless root hairs of mushrooms. You know what? (Ben rolls is eyes.) They put electrodes down in the soil and found electric signals  moving through the mushroom root hairs, with spikes that could be transmitting information.

BEN

Stop! Please! I don’t want to hear that the mushrooms are talking to one another.

BUTCH

They might just be talking to themselves, kind of passing information around.

BEN

That’s where you go really wrong! No venture capitalist wants to hear that the mushrooms are whispering together or that you may be asking them to fund a grade B horror film about talking mushroom. That mushroom might be talking about me. Who knows?

BUTCH

The root hairs are where the soil’s chemicals are filtered in to support life. That’s what enables growth, forests, creatures, eating one another, creating whatever you see in nature. 

BEN

Great. Creatures eating each other; but not eating me, right?.

BUTCH

Lie down and stay still, and they’ll eat you too. Leaves grow from what comes from the dirt. 

BEN

Soil, not dirt, if you grow things. Now I remember. Next you’re going to tell me leaves have ears and can hear.  Maybe they hear the mushrooms talking. 

BUTCH

Actually, plants have…

BEN

Con’t tell me! Please. But leaves do something, right? I think I remember that.

BUTCH

They take in carbon dioxide for growth, especially excess carbon dioxide in the air; too much carbon dioxide in the air is currently this world’s most critical problem.

BEN

But not everyone agrees, right?.

BETSY

Ben, you’re baiting Butch now. Aren’t you?

BEN

How can I resist?

BUTCH

There’s so much more to dirt than you think. (Comically, tries to force Ben to look at it.)

BEN

(Avoiding the dirt.) It’s still dirt, right? It’s dirty, whatever else it is.

BETSY

Come back for lunch, both of you. Forget this argument for now. (Butch shakes his head “No.”) Or bring the argument with you. 

BEN

If he can bring the argument, he will.  But can I tell you about my latest triumph now?

BUTCH

Your success, my failure. 

BEN

My success is not your failure.

BUTCH

But it is, isn’t it? In a zero sum game, if you get the venture capital, then probably I don’t.

BETSY

It’s lunchtime.

BUTCH

You’re going to get my mouth full of food, so I can’t talk, and the two of you can argue about me, the true nature of my failure and Ben’s success?

BEN

Self-indulgent of you to think we argue about you. Besides, we don’t actually argue. We enumerate the points that would align themselves on each side if we were to argue.

BUTCH

About me. That’s quite a mouthful form you.

BEN

I’m good. But you’re so vain. Maybe we argue about you. Actually, about the state of the world. (To Betsy.) Go for it.

BETSY

(Smiles. ) Okay, I’ll play. Butch here, who happens to be my husband,

BUTCH

And a damn good man at that.

BEN

His being your husband is not why your arguments are on his side. There is no prejudice in logical thought. I want to make that clear.

BUTCH

You never make anything clear.

BEN

That’s my best strength whether my arguments are on your side or the other.

BETSY

My arguments are sideless. Butch is an educated, talented, creative botanist, dendrologist…

BUTCH

Amen to that.

BEN

Amen to what?

BETSY

He studies trees, with great ideas on how to improve management of our planet’s plant stock.

BEN

With a plan to plant plant stock. Eloquent. Flowers are plants, attractive around your house.

BETSY

Flowers don’t count. They’re only nominally plants, part of the plant.

BEN

Surely your botanist husband has much to do with the floral cacophony on your porch. 

BETSY

Ca what? Don’t worry. I know the word. But you’re not as stupid as you pretend. My botanist husband couldn’t tell a pansy from a petunia and couldn’t grow either.

BUTCH

Wait a minute. You’re supposed to be on my side.

BEN

No sides here. Besides I’m more likely to support you, not carrying the baggage of marital stress. Although we are all family.

BUTCH

How are we family?

BEN

You’re Butch Stevenson; here’s Betsy Stevenson, I’m Ben Sharp.

BUTCH

You’re a little shorter than I am. (Ben throws out his arms in a question.) Your name is.

BEN

I’m not as good with flowers. That’s why you got the trophy.

BUTCH

I do trees, not so much flowers. What trophy?

BETSY

Plant stock is much more important than flowers. And I am not a trophy.

BEN

You’re at the top of your game today, Betsy. I should have worn better arguing shoes.

BETSY

How do shoes help you argue? (Ben bounces around like a boxer.) I remember coming down the street one day. Butch is on his knees as usual checking out the soil and you’re looking over his shoulder. I thought you were going to attack him and steal his wallet.

BUTCH

I don’t carry a wallet.

BETSY

He wouldn’t know that. I almost clocked you. Then we find out you develop companies, go after venture capital, which is exactly what Butch can’t get,  but you get lots of it.

BEN

Butch specializes in plants with leaves.

BETSY

Butch has great ideas that need venture capital to be developed and implemented for the benefit of everyone, especially people faced with heat and droughts, because if we don’t help them where they are, they’ll be coming over here and we don’t want them here.

BEN

Amen to that.

BETSY

Venture capital would also benefit me, so I can remodel my kitchen.

BEN

Agreed. Your kitchen needs remodeling.

BUTCH

You need to stick to the topic and not go slamming and dumping on my kitchen. I’m sorry I ever showed you my kitchen. A man’s kitchen, after all, is next to…

BEN

Godliness?

BUTCH

No, next to his living-room, and sometimes his bedroom, so he can get a snack at night.

BEN

Not in your case. You’ve shown me your house. I mean you designed your house…

BUTCH

Forget my house and stick to the argument if you’re going to have one. But this hardly seems an argument since you and Betsy haven’t disagreed about anything yet.

BETSY

I was just remembering how Ben here started hanging around gloating all the time.

BEN

I don’t gloat and this is not an argument. Betsy speaks truth. And for science and the world to survive, truth is what’s important.

BETSY

Don’t go flirting about truth. The point is, returning to the discussion at hand, Butch here, no matter how good his ideas, can’t get any venture capital to get started,

BUTCH

Can’t? We can’t be saying ’can’t’, can we? What we can say is that he hasn’t.

BETSY

Because of things with nothing to do with presenting a good venture capital project.

BEN

For example, skin color. Skin color comes to mind. (Betsy gasps.) What? Nothing to be sensitive about. That’s just an ugly fact.

BUTCH

My skin color is not an ugly fact.

BETSY

The ugly fact is that you don’t get venture capital because of your dark skin color.

BEN

Among other reasons. For example, who’d give venture capital to someone named Butch? 

BUTCH

No matter how excellent a venture he presents. For example, he knows leaves which, as you know, come in all shapes and sizes and colors and textures and still, they’re all leaves.

BEN

We’re all leaves. I get it. Is this about leaves or about skin color or about venture capital?

BETSY

The point is after that first brag, you come back again and again to tell us of your other successes. While our dear Butch gets no venture capital at all. Ben is a leaf of another sort.

BEN

I am definitely a leaf of a different sort.

BETSY

The leaf named Ben comes by often to tell us of his venture capital success until he considers himself a friend.

BUTCH

An enemy. He gets my venture capital. 

BEN

A friend! You always have the secret hope I’d get some venture capital to share. 

BUTCH

No such stupid hope.

BEN

And I love hearing about your proposed projects. 

BETSY

Because your projects are dumb and make no difference to anyone. Your silly grin is outshining today’s friendly sun, and probably explains your strutting our way this morning…

BEN

I strut down this street often enough to see my two good friends.

BETSY

With a special kind of obnoxious strutting today which, in the absence of any good sense in the world, indicates that Ben has struck again, and not struck out.

BEN

He has. Definitely! Isn’t it wonderful? Another venture capital infusion.

BUTCH

Infusion? Not wonderful. Struck again? I’m struck dumb. Damn you. How could you?

BETSY

Your last idea was selling tickets for some events in some new way I couldn’t understand.

BEN

You don’t go to events.

BETSY

TV is fine. You don’t need tickets. But you invented a “ticket” business beyond any need; but it seemed a good idea to someone, who probably couldn’t understand it any better than I.

BEN

That’s how to pitch a project, if I may offer some advice. No understanding by those with venture capital should be necessary, requested, or required.

BUTCH

That’s why we hate you.

BEN

You don’t hate me. We’re good friends now, with all the jealousy good friends should have.

BETSY

Yeah. they funded your ticket project. You bought a new car. 

BUTCH

It’s an ugly car by the way. 

BETSY

And the investors lost all their money.

BEN

It’s an awesome car and you wish I’d let you drive it again and the investors made out great. You think it’s important that the project do some good in the world and benefit someone.

BUTCH

Or some part of the planet anyway. Yes.

BEN

The people with money don’t care about that. All we had to do was convince the current ticket sales industries that we were a big threat to them, so they had to buy us out or else. 

BETSY

Or else what?

BEN

Doesn’t matter. They bought us out. We all made money, those with venture capital, and yours truly.

BETSY

Except for the people who lost money.

BEN

They can afford it and I’m out of it, the ticket sales business. That’s cash in the bank. Get it?

BUTCH

No, you got it, the money, as you’re making it abundantly clear.

BEN

The money is abundant but the money’s not the main thing. The main thing is the “exit strategy” as they teach in business schools. It doesn’t matter what you make or do as long as you get out of it quickly and let someone else worry about it.

BETSY

Before they catch you.

BEN

Usually, you sell your company to a large corporation, and they fill up your bank account with large numbers.

BETSY

In the right column, and you don’t actually have to do anything.

BUTCH

My bank account only has numbers in the wrong column.

BEN

Location of Audition

TBD

Other details

Sorry about a bit of vagueness at this point, but dates may depend on the group to some extent. It's early but I'd like to meet you.

Audition requirements

Experience in acting or other skill