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A PLAYSCRIPTS TITLE
Short Play, Comedy / 5w, 3m, 12 any gender (youth)
Ian McWethy
Micah only has twenty minutes to finish her paper. Unfortunately, the internet is a place where boxing cats, Facebook lurkers and pig-throwing games threaten to take over Micah’s schoolwork.
Micah only has twenty minutes to finish her paper on The Great Gatsby. She just needs to check a few facts on the internet first. Unfortunately, the web is a nefariously wacky place where boxing cats, Facebook lurkers and pig-throwing games threaten to take over Micah's schoolwork, or worse. Will she finish her paper and escape with her life before the school bell rings? A high-octane comedy that explores the rabbit hole of distraction we all go down every time we go online.
Also available in a full-length version.
Originally produced in 2015, The Internet is Distract – Oh Look A Kitten! has been performed across the country and is a perennial favourite for high schools.
MICAH – 16, female. Your average teen, but also a hero. She has a good moral center but, like any of us, is prone to distraction. TAYLOR – 16, male. Micah’s best friend. A bit of a goof. MOM – Female. Micah’s mom. Seemingly well-intentioned. Firm. ANNOUNCER – An announcer for touchscreen games and YouTube videos. CAT/CATSBY – The ubiquitous cat for every viral cat video. GOOGLE – Corporate spokesperson. Also a sinister mastermind. WIKIPEDIA – Also a corporate spokesperson, but a little more insecure. WIKIPEDIA CONTRIBUTOR – Unemployed, angry, gross. CLICK AD 1 – An advertisement. CLICK AD 2 – An advertisement. FACEBOOK – A real lecherous creep. JENNY – 16, female. A lonely teenager. MARK – 16, male. A lonely teenager. GRANDMA – Old, female. A character in a touchscreen game. FIONA – 16, female. Obsessed with The Great Gatsby. A vindictively loyal friend. AMAZON – A very insecure salesperson. CLICK BAIT 1 – A link to a worthless article. CLICK BAIT 2 – A link to a worthless article.
The Web.
This is a world in which our main character shouts computer commands as opposed to typing them. Why, you ask? Mainly because it’s a lot more interesting to look at onstage, but I’m also trying to establish a heightened reality where websites are anthropomorphized people. Think of this like Captain Kirk giving commands to his computer. Or Ash throwing a Pokémon.
The pacing in this play should be very brisk, and build as it progresses, giving the audience a sense of being overwhelmed by the Internet. So keep the tempo up. I'm flexible when it comes to changing my scripts for any reason. However, keep this in mind as it might come in handy if, say, your students primarily use Instagram rather than Facebook to socialize and post pictures. Or if in three years Yahoo overtakes Google as the predominant search engine (unlikely but you never know). Any name or line changes you want to make, for any reason, you have my blessing.
Ian McWethy has written over 60 plays that regularly receive over 1,000 productions every year. They’ve been produced in all 50 states and in over 50 countries abroad. He’s also co-written two novels with Carrie McCrossen, Margot Mertz Takes It Down and Margot Mertz For The W ...