Play 14: Thanks to Don Delillo For This One

(The stage is set up like an airplane, there are a few dozen people sitting in rows, some are talking to each other, some are reading books, some are listening to music and sitting still, and some are asleep.)

(Everything is silent for a few seconds, save for the few people who are talking.)

(Suddenly there is a very loud crashing noise, and the entire stage shudders. Various colored lights start flashing on and off, and the sound of rushing air and another crash—though not as loud as the first—and shudder occurs every few seconds.)

(There is a large amount of noise now, some people are screaming and almost everyone is franticly looking around and talking to the people around them.)

PILOT
(From over the intercom system—nervously, unlike usual pilot announcements.)
The engines have shut down, and we’re rapidly losing altitude. We’re (beat.) going to have to attempt an emergency landing.

(Everyone starts to panic: many start screaming or crying, some cling on to each other. Others begin yelling at each other. A couple of people stand up and start running down the aisles. More join them, and all over the plane people have left their seats and are running and falling over each other in chaos. The on and off flashing of different colored lights and loud sound of air rushing and the intermittent crashing noises and shudders continue.)

MAN
(Yelling over the background noise from his stance facing the audience in the middle of the aisle)
We’re all going to die!

WOMAN
(She’s crying as she says this, standing facing him next to him in the aisle)
Don’t say that! We’re gonna make it!

(He grabs her by the shoulders.)

MAN
What the fuck are you talking about, we’re heading down and we’re all going to crash and be blown into a thousand pieces!

(The chaos increases—the noises and lights get more frequent and intense, the passengers are more franticly moving around. A few people even begin to brawl, people are tangled up anywhere. By now, no one is left in their seats, they are all in a giant mass in the aisles falling and struggling around each other.)

(Suddenly, the lights go back to normal and the sound ceases in one moment.)

(Everyone is frozen still in their poses—most are lying on the ground in awkward positions, a few are interlocked with each other. A few people throughout the plain that had been clutched to each other crying freeze and look up. In the back, one man is frozen with his hands around another’s neck, several others pause mid fight throughout the plane.)

PILOT
(Over the intercom.)
The, the engines appear to be functioning again.

(Pause.)

We’re going to continue with our scheduled flight to Chicago.

(Everyone remains frozen for a few moments, then begins to move back to their seats. In silence, they all regain their seats, even the people who had been fighting not saying a word to each other as they do so.)

(After a couple dozen seconds, everyone is back in their seats. There is complete silence: no one is talking, no one is listening to music or reading books. They all sit paralyzed, some looking at the ground, some staring straight ahead, some looking at the people next to them as if to ask them what to do.)

(Blackout.)