TONGUES OF FIRE
short script for 3 actors
by D. M. Larson
by D. M. Larson
(Two business women are sitting outside eating lunch together.
A homeless looking man is wandering around behind them.
He stops when he hears them speaking and slowly approaches them)
A homeless looking man is wandering around behind them.
He stops when he hears them speaking and slowly approaches them)
ROSE: Can you believe what Joe did today?
WINNY: What a loser.
ROSE: I’ve never seen anything so stupid in my life.
WINNY: Well I have. You know Sandy? In accounting?
ROSE: Yeah…
(JAMES jumps up between them and startles them)
JAMES: The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity…
it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature;
and it is set on fire of hell.
it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature;
and it is set on fire of hell.
ROSE: Okay…
WINNY: Bye bye now, weird little person
ROSE: Go on… there you go.
(JAMES wanders away mad. He pauses upstage and listens to them again)
WINNY: Anyway….
ROSE: What about Sandy.
WINNY: She has a secret.
ROSE: Really?
WINNY: And I know what it is.
ROSE: Tell me…
WINNY: No…
ROSE: Please…
WINNY: Okay….
(JAMES comes around from the side and startles them again)
JAMES: No man tame the tongue; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
WINNY: Excuse me, but this is a private conversation.
ROSE: You want a hot dog or something?
I’ll buy you a hot dog if you go away.
I’m not giving you money though.
You’ll just use it to get drugs or drunk or something.
I’ll buy you a hot dog if you go away.
I’m not giving you money though.
You’ll just use it to get drugs or drunk or something.
WINNY: I think he’s already drunk.
ROSE: Hot dog? No?
(JAMES goes away, but eventually makes his way back again to the other side of them)
WINNY: Maybe he’s vegan.
ROSE: He looks vegan.
WINNY: What does that mean?
ROSE: Are you vegan?
WINNY: No, but it’s supposed to be good for you.
ROSE: Have you ever had vegan food?
WINNY: No.
ROSE: Well, it’s not good.
WINNY: I hear Sandy likes vegan food.
ROSE: Stop teasing me! Tell me what Sandy did.
WINNY: You’ll never believe it.
ROSE: Try me.
WINNY: Well, let’s just say she is the reason Joe had that fit.
ROSE: That’s who Joe was screaming about?
WINNY: She is the one who shot him with stapler.
ROSE: What did he do to her?
WINNY: Well I heard…
(JAMES speaks more softly and kindly)
JAMES: Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
ROSE: Aren’t there some words of wisdom about minding your own business?
WINNY: Don’t try to reason with him.
ROSE: Maybe we should go.
WINNY: But then I’ll never know about Sandy… and Joe.
JAMES: Perhaps you can help them.
ROSE: Help them?
JAMES: Sandy and Joe need your help.
WINNY: They would make a cute couple.
ROSE: Maybe it was just a misunderstanding…
maybe Sandy is a victim of fake news.
Maybe Joe didn’t really do what people said he did.
maybe Sandy is a victim of fake news.
Maybe Joe didn’t really do what people said he did.
WINNY: What did he do?
JAMES: Fake news! Gossip! The serpent strikes and poisons their minds. Heal what is broken.
ROSE: Maybe I could help.
WINNY: Helping get people together is fun.
ROSE: Supposedly they were already together.
WINNY: Really?
ROSE: It was a secret love.
WINNY: I love secret loves.
ROSE: And we have to help them.
WINNY: Okay.
ROSE: I have a plan.
(WINNY and ROSE exit excitedly and one of them forgets their lunch.
JAMES sits and eats it and smiles)
JAMES sits and eats it and smiles)
JAMES: Blessed are the peacemakers.
