Oak Forest 3rd-5th
The Case of the Missing Robotic Ballarina Dress
By: Danica Horton
Cast
Corinna – A ballerina
Triplets
Alexis- Corinna’s friend
Roxanne- a witch and mischievous girl. Side kick of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth- a witch and mischievous girl. Side kick of Roxanne.
Detectives
Timmy
Bobby
Roger
John Tesla- the inventor
Scene 1
CORINNA: Alexis, Elizabeth, Roxanne- I’m so glad you all came to support me in my first major performance as a ballerina with the National Ballet! It means so much that my oldest friends are by my side tonight.
ALEXIS: Oh, Corinna, we wouldn’t miss it for the world!
ROXANNE: (To ELIZABETH) Yeah, how could we pass up this opportunity to see her humiliated in front of the whole world!
ELIZABETH: (To ROXANNE) Once she discovers her precious robotic dress is gone, she won’t be able to perform!
ALEXIS: Hey, what are you two talking about?
ROXANNE & ELIZABETH: (Sing-songy) Nothing, sister…
CORINNA: Well, I have to go get into costume for my performance! See you after the show, triplets!
ELIZABETH, ALEXIS, ROXANNE: Bye, Corinna!
(ELIZABETH AND ROXANNE start laughing)
ALEXIS: What’s so funny, you two?
ROXANNE & ELZABETH: (Sing-songy) You’ll see…
(We hear CORINNA scream from backstage)
(CORINNA comes running back out on stage)
CORINNA: It’s gone! OH NO! What will I do?!
ALEXIS: What’s gone, Corinna?
ROXANNE: (faking concern) Yeah, what’s wrong, Corinna?
ELIZABETH: Something missing? (They start laughing again)
CORINNA: My dress! The dress I’m supposed to wear for the show! It was made especially for me, and it’s full of robotic stuff to make the dance look even better!
ALEXIS: Don’t worry, Corinna, I’ll go down to the police station! Though I have a pretty good idea who is responsible...
ROXANNE: We’ll stay here--
ELIZABETH: Yeah, just in case the thief shows up, we’ll be here to catch them! (They laugh quietly again)
(ALEXIS and CORINNA exchange a look)
CORINNA: Okay, I have to go warm up! Thank you, everyone!
Scene 2
(Scene change- we are now inside the Detectives’ Office)
(BOBBY, TIMMY & ROGER sit at their desks, flying paper airplanes back and forth at each other)
TIMMY: Does anybody want to order lunch?
BOBBY: Timmy, we just had breakfast!
ROGER: Well, sure, but I mean we could just plan ahead…
TIMMY: Good thinking, Scrumptious.
ROGER: Thank you.
(ALEXIS comes into the office)
ALEXIS: Detectives! I need your help!
TIMMY: This better not be another cat in a tree.
BOBBY: Did we ever find that one cat? You know, that one guy...with that one cat?
ROGER: Can you be any more specific?
ALEXIS: No, detectives! Please listen! My friend Corinna is set to go on as the newest ballerina for the National Ballet tonight, but her robotic dress was stolen!
ROGER: Well if robotics and technology are concerned, we had better call in the reinforcements.
BOBBY: What do you mean?
TIMMY: We have to call Tesla.
ALEXIS: You guys know Nikola Tesla? I thought he died a long time ago!
ROGER: He did. This is his grandson, John Tesla.
(BOBBY picks up the phone)
BOBBY: John? This is Detective Bobby. We need your help again.
(Parker emerges from backstage, on the phone)
TESLA: Bobby, I’m already here.
BOBBY: Wow! Magic!
TESLA: No, you asked me to come take a look at your printer. I already fixed it so I’ve been eating your doughnuts.
BOBBY: Ohh, yeah.
ROGER: Wait, there are doughnuts?
TIMMY: (hanging up the phone) No time for that, Scrumptious. John, we need your help with something else.
ALEXIS: Mr. Tesla, my friend’s robotic dress went missing, and she needs it to go on for the National Ball-
TESLA: (cutting her off) Yeah, I heard. So, fellas, let’s get down to the ballet and check this out.
ALEXIS: Wait! I think I know who did it!
BOBBY: Who?!
ALEXIS: My evil sisters. We’re triplets. They’ve always been jealous of Corinna and have been bullying us and trying to find ways to ruin her since we were little.
BOBBY: You sound pretty confident.
Parker: Tell me more about this robotic dress.
TIMMY: There’s plenty of time for that, later! You can inspect it when you find it!
BOBBY: Alright, gang, let’s head out.
(Scene change back to the Ballet)
Scene 3
(Back at the Ballet, ELIZABETH & ROXANNE are standing guard in front of something that is covered by a blanket)
CORINNA: Roxanne! Elizabeth! I’ve been looking all over for you! Is Alexis back yet?
ELIZABETH & ROXANNE: Don’t know, don’t care.
CORINNA: I need to find that dress! (She storms off)
(BOBBY, TIMMYROGER, TESLA & ALEXIS enter)
ALEXIS: Roxanne! Elizabeth! Where’s Corinna?
ELIZABETH & ROXANNE: Don’t know, don’t care.
(We hear robotic sounds coming from behind them)
TESLA: Wait!! I know that sound! That’s an Arduino microcontroller processor!
BOBBY: In English, please, Tesla?
TESLA: It’s the sound of robotics!!
(CORINNA reenters)
CORINNA: What’s going on back here? Alexis, who are all these people?
ALEXIS: Corinna, these are the detectives I got to work on your case!
TESLA: And I’m John Tesla.
CORINNA: Nikola Tesla??!!
ALL except CORINNA: JOHN!
CORINNA: Well, ex-CUSE me!
ALEXIS: Detectives, these are my triplet sisters, Roxanne and Elizabeth.
BOBBY: Hmm, I see…
ROGER: Timmy! Bobby! Grab that blanket!
(TIMMY & BOBBY pull the blanket off to reveal the robotic dress, all except ELIZABETH & ROXANNE gasp)
CORINNA: My dress!!
ALEXIS: I KNEW it was you two!
TIMMY: All right, detectives, let’s get these two out of here.
BOBBY: Wait, which two?
ROGER: The two evil triplets who stole the dress!
BOBBY: Oh, right, right.
ROGER: Let’s go, you two. You’re under arrest for possession of stolen property!
ELIZABETH: It’s not our fault! We were just...watching it for someone else!
ROXANNE: Yeah, we’re innocent!
CORINNA: You’ve bullied me for the last time.
ALEXIS: You’re getting what you deserve!
TESLA: Fellas, before you lock that thing up in evidence, do you mind…??--
TIMMY: Sure, sure, John, you can take a look at it.
TESLA: Hooray!
CORINNA: But you need to get it back here before the curtain at 8pm!
TESLA: Can do!
(Scene change to jail)
Scene 4
(ELIZABETH & ROXANNE are in jail. TESLA is examining the robotic dress outside their cell.)
TELSA: Wow, this is extremely well-crafted! So glad I was able to learn more about this thing!
ROXANNE: (To ELIZABETH) We have to find a way out of here!
ELIZABETH: I have an idea… (Whispers in her ear)
(They laugh)
ELIZABETH: Hey! You!
TESLA: What, me?
ROXANNE: Yeah! Come over here! We want to tell you something else about that robotic dress!
TESLA: Ooh! Well, anything to do with technology, count me in!
(He goes over to them)
(ELIZABETH & ROXANNE do some magic spell on him and he immediately goes limp standing up. After a second, he comes back to full consciousness and looks around, lost)
TESLA: Where….am I? Who are you?
(ELIZABETH & ROXANNE share a quiet laugh)
ROXANNE: Oh, mister! Please, help us! We’ve been locked up in here by our evil sister!
ELIZABETH: Yes! She planted evidence on us that made us look guilty and tried to sabotage our friend the ballerina!
TESLA: Hmm… well that sounds vaguely familiar...I do remember something about a ballerina… and a stolen… DRESS! (Looks at the robotic dress again) Yes! A robotic dress! Oh, I can’t wait to find out more about this thing! Uh oh, but I’m supposed to have it back by… 8pm? What time is it now?
ROXANNE: It’s 7:45! Please! Help us! Say, aren’t you John Tesla, grandson of Nikola Tesla? You must be able to craft something robotic that can save us! Then you can get the dress back to the ballet!
TESLA: (Very flattered by the fact that they know who he is) Well, I’m sure you two are innocent, so here- let me try this! (He takes an item from the dress and uses it to mechanically open the jail door)
ELIZABETH: Oh, thank you, Mr. Tesla!
ROXANNE: You’re so kind!
TESLA: Please, call me John.
ELIZABETH: Now to get back to the ballet and stop-- I mean… go see how great our friend Corinna is!
ROXANNE: Yes...we don’t want to miss her big debut! (She and Tinsley laugh)
(Scene change back to Ballet)
Scene 5
CORINNA: Where is he? I have to go on any second!
ALEXIS: I’m sure he’ll be here, don’t worry!
(TESLA enters with the dress, followed closely by ELIZABETH & ROXANNE)
TESLA: Here you are, Ballerina Lady!
CORINNA: My name is Corinna THE BALLERINA! And you’re late!
TESLA: I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t help taking one last look at this incredible dress. Plus I had to help these two nice ladies.
(CORINNA and ALEXIS gasp)
ALEXIS: Elizabeth! Roxanne! How did you get out of jail?!
ELIZABETH: Well John here knows we’re innocent so he used his amazing knowledge of technology to get us out.
TESLA: Yep, I helped!
CORINNA: Mr. Tesla! These are the two evil triplets who are responsible for stealing the dress in the first place! Don’t you remember? You were here when we found out!
ALEXIS: Oh no, they must have wiped his memory and created false ones to trick him into letting them out!
TESLA: Wiped my memory?! I hate when that happens! Have to reboot the whole system!
ELIZABETH: That’s right, Corinna, and now we’ll put our worst spell on you to make SURE you can’t dance tonight!
CORINNA: Quick, Mr. Tesla, call the detectives! Alexis, use your good magic and stop them!
(TESLA picks up his phone. ALEXIS holds up her hands as ELIZABETH & ROXANNE hold up theirs and they struggle back and forth with invisible magic)
TESLA: Bobby? It’s me, John. I...think I made a mistake. Can you come back to the Ballet?
(TIMMY, BOBBY & ROGER enter)
TIMMY: We were still here!
ROGER: We were in the audience waiting for the show to start! What’s going on?!
BOBBY: Wait, how are those two get back here?!
(TIMMY & BOBBY put a hand on ELIZABETH & ROXANNES shoulders, and their magic stops)
ALEXIS: Detectives, my two evil triplet sisters are not just evil. They are witches. The evil kind.
CORINNA: They cast a spell on Mr. Tesla and wiped his memory so they could convince him they were innocent so he would help them escape!
ALEXIS: And they were just about to use more evil spells to stop Corinna from dancing.
TESLA: I’m afraid it’s true. It’s all coming back to me now. I am so embarrassed.
TIMMY: Well, let’s take them away again (glaring at Parker), and this time no interaction with other people!
ROGER: Alright, Bobby, let’s get them out of here.
BOBBY: Aw, but we’re gunna miss the show!
(ROGER & BOBBY lead ELIZABETH & ROXANNE offstage again, followed by TESLA & TIMMY)
CORINNA: (Calling after them) Thank you for saving the show again!
ALEXIS: Wow, that was close. But thankfully my evil sisters will finally pay for their evilness.
CORINNA: Thank you most of all, Alexis, for always having my back. Speaking of back, my dress is back, so I can perform my debut!
ALEXIS: Quick, let’s get you into costume!
CORINNA: On with the show!
(ALL lean out on stage)
ALL (except ELIZABETH & ROXANNE): And they lived happily ever after!
ELIZABETH & ROXANNE: Except for us because we are naughty witches.
ALL: The End!
This play may not be copied, reproduced, modified, republished, transmitted or reproduced, or performed without the express permission of the author. Permission may be sought by contacting both Theater Lab 1.5! and Danica Horton; theaterlab1.5@gmail.com & Danica.Horton@gmail.com Royalties may apply.