Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner, Arts on the Move. N224b (page I of 4) The Exam ra MA ES224-2 4 This is a specially written duologue and you can create the characters as you wish. They may be ina public space, inside or outside a school, and you may wish to sit on chairs for some of it. The scene is set as two boys exit an exam room. They are carrying school bags of maths equipment. Sam looks stressed and Tom looks relaxed. SAM: I’mso glad that’s over! TOM: Metoo. SAM: I couldn’t sleep last night. TOM: Why? SAM: _ Iwas so worried. Maths is my worst subject. TOM: Youneed to chill. SAM: — Iwas revising until midnight. TOM: — Wow. Idon’t believe in revising the day before an exam. SAM: — Why not? That's crazy! TOM: My dad says if you don’t know it by then, you'll never know it. SAM: like to be prepared. TOM: _ Iwas just watching TV. There was a new comedy series on. It was pretty good. SAM: I couldn’t sleep. ‘TOM: Then Danny and I had a few games on the X-Box.SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: Nn224b (page 2 of 4) Thad nightmares and everything. ‘You never know what the questions are going to be anyway. knew it would be a hard exam. So no point stressing about it. But I didn’t think it would be shat hard. But it was even easier than I thought it would be. (there is a pause where they both realise what has been said) TOM & SAM: (together) What do you mean? SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: ‘You thought it was easy? ‘You thought it was hard? (really worried) Oh no. What have I done wrong? ‘You might not have done anything wrong, Don’t stress. Have I given the wrong answers? I must have answered them all wrong. You said maths was your worst subject. ‘Yeah but I thought I'd revised enough (irying to calm him down) Don’t worry. You might be surprised. It might be okay. I worked so hard. I don’t want to have to re-sit it. Do you think I’ll get moved down asset? No, of course not. I finished early. Did you see me finish early?SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: N224b (page 3 of 4) No. Mr Brownlow stood by my desk for ages. I think he was making sure I kept quiet. I wasn’t looking at you, I was trying to get the answers right, His aftershave smelled horrible. I kept wrinkling up my nose and pretending to feel sick. Iwas trying to answer question six. Danny and I were trying not to laugh. (Speaking to himself) I think I got it right. They'll see all my working out anyway. He finished early too... (he suddenly realises what Tom has said) Question six? ‘What question six? Yeah. You know, at the back. On that last page. (puzzled) 1 don’t... ‘The one with the equations. (hesitantly) Did | answer that one? (surprised) Did you not answer that one? What was it about? Equations. (To himself) Equations... equations... and what page was it on? Back page. You had to turn over after question five. You know, the one about fractions.SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: TOM: SAM: N224b (page 4 of 4) (shocked) Turn over? Yep. Question five — fractions — tum over to question six, then there was seven, eight nine and ten. All on the back page. (horrified) Six, seven, eight, nine and ten? On the back page. Sam... I didn’t turn over. Oh, Tom. ‘What have I done! Why didn’t I pay attention? (he puts his head in his hands). ‘No wonder you finished early. (Sam puts a comforting arm round Tom's shoulders) (They freeze in that pose)