1 SPIFFY A short play for puppets SETTING: A young boys bedroom, painted on a drop upstage: airplane, ship and

dinosaur models, books, the detritus of multiple and varied craft/science projects, etc. SPIFFY, about eight years old, enters, carrying a stuffed animal; yells back offstage as he slams the door.

AT RISE:

SPIFFY I bet Archimedes mom didnt send him to bed at 7:30. Do you really think Nikola Tesla needed ten hours of sleep every night? How is anyone supposed to get anything done? (Sighing, he checks the progress of a strange green goo in a glass jar; while his back is turned, a blur vaguely resembling a tiger rushes across stage, leaving behind a largish cardboard box; SPIFFY doesnt notice a thing until he turns and sees the box.) Holy moley, Stripy! Where did that come from?

(He examines it excitedly.) I bet it fell through a rift in the nineteenth dimension of the space-time continuum! Wow. I wonder what it does. There must be a button on here someplace; a button synced to my personal Delta wave signature. (He has flipped the box over so the open side faces downstage; crawls inside.) This looks like it must do something. (Touches the side of the box: instantly he becomes a ROCK STAR on TV in the middle of a performance; the drop changes to a music video background with flashing lights; other band members and dancers appear on either side of him; the v.1 -- Aug 2013

2 number is headed into its big finish, and SPIFFY slams his air guitar with a series of windmill chops; as the final chord holds, one of the sexy DANCER GIRLS comes over; kisses him.) ACK! ACK! GIRL COOTIES! (The scene immediately changes back to the bedroom, with no trace of what just happened; SPIFFY sits in the box.) That was close, Stripy. Remind me to erase that program before irreparable damage is done to the oscillasphere. (He flips the box upside down; crawls underneath.) Lets try a fresh perspective and see if that makes any difference. Look: heres another button. (Instantly the box becomes an ANKYLOSAURUS and the drop becomes a vivid rendition of the late Cretaceous Period; the shrieks and bellows of many dinosaurs can be heard, as well as a great thumping of feet; suddenly, TYRANNOSAURUS REX bursts on chasing a small REPENOMAMUS; ANKYLOSAURUS steps between, and engages the T. REX in a fearsome battle; ANKY wins, but when T. REX falls, it tears down the backdrop and smashes ANKY, so we are returned to SPIFFY in his bedroom as before; he is pleased with himself.) And thus was the Terror of the Cretaceous held back yet another day. (Notices the box is open side up.) Ah-ha! A new configuration. awaits the grabbing. Obviously a new adventure

(Climbs inside: instantly the box becomes a spaceship in the far reaches of outer space; a huge battle for galactic control rages; v.1 -- Aug 2013

3 SPIFFY zaps flying saucers, insectoid aliens, and deep space dreadnoughts; it is a riot of color, explosions, raygun blasts, and burning enemy spacecraft; finally, the fighting ends, SPIFFY victorious; after a beat, he reflects on the conflict.) The Universe will breath a little easier tonight, thanks to my unerring eye and trigger fingers of steel. (He yawns, which returns him to his bedroom; as he talks, he hugs his toy and falls asleep in the box.) A truly magnificent find, Stripy. Remind me tomorrow -after I resolve the cold fusion dilemma -- to take this baby apart and... see what... makes... her... ti.... (He sleeps; quietly, the tiger-like creature reappears, wearing a space helmet, a rock stars fringed vest, and with a dinosaur tail; he covers SPIFFY with a blanket and shushes the audience; begins to tiptoe off.) THE END

v.1 -- Aug 2013