© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg.

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 IMPORTANT NOTICE-Copyright 2020
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© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 2
About the Author…
Terence Patrick Hughes writes plays for all ages. His children’s plays
include adaptations for middle and high school of Shakespeare’s A
Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest, and a comic spin on
Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’. His shorter plays for grades K-4
offer a variety of adaptations from world history and mythology. His
grown-up plays include LINES, Fake Plastic Love, A Harmony of Both, and
Recess at Our Lady of the Bleeding Heart, Mind, and Spirit – Once
Reformed. Other plays include Tea & Misery, Benched, Finding the
Rooster, and Farewell Evenbrook. The New York Times noted that his work
“…explores heavy subject matter with humorous dialogue and strong
characters”. His plays have been developed and produced with the Lark,
Horse Trade, Seven Collective, 13th St. Rep, Eden Prairie, Ovenbird,
Playwrights Roundtable, and Boomerang theatres. He loves his wife,
Danielle, and two kids, Harrison & Bb.

Performance Rules…
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1. Credit and Drama Notebook and Terence Patrick Hughes in your program and
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Contact Terence at: terryh@divinemanagement.com

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About the play…

Fred and Dolly want to win a ribbon at the middle school science
fair, so they built a time machine. When the students take a trip
with their teacher into the future, they find humanity in danger and
must now figure out how to save the world and make it home in
time for dinner. A comical sci-fi adventure that reminds us of the
peril that we risk by relying too much on technology instead of good
old-fashioned human conversation. Look out for the zombies!

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 3
 A Middle School Science Project Time Machine
A short play by Terence Patrick Hughes

CHARACTERS:

FRED
DOLLY
PROFESSOR
ZOMBIE
SCIENTIST
ZOMBIE HUNTER
PRESIDENT ZOMBIE
AURORA
TANADO
HOPE
STUDENT

A school classroom, present day. A small machine sits at center stage. FRED, DOLLY,
and PROFESSOR enter and move to the machine.

FRED
Professor, you won’t believe your eyes.

DOLLY
It’s the greatest discovery since sliced bread.

PROFESSOR
It had better be. This is my lunch hour.

FRED
Ta-da!

DOLLY
What do you think?

PROFESSOR
I think I skipped my turkey sandwich to look at a pile of junk.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 4
 FRED
It’s a time machine!

DOLLY
We’ll show you. Turn it on!

FRED presses a button on the machine, they all stare offstage.

PROFESSOR
What is that?

FRED
The machine is projecting a portal Professor. Wow, try to say that five times fast.

DOLLY
We set it for 500 years into the future.

PROFESSOR
You were supposed to create a simple science project. Who knows what’s out there 500 years
in the future? Although I would like to see how well my stock portfolio held up.

FRED
There’s only one way to find out.

DOLLY
Come on, Professor We made this thing out of iPhone parts, Legos, and tin foil. There’s no
telling how long it will last.

PROFESSOR
All…right. For the good of humanity…let’s go.

FRED, DOLLY, and PROFESSOR join hands and rush offstage. Optional sound effects can
be made by actors offstage until FRED, DOLLY, and PROFESSOR leap back on stage.

FRED
Wow. We’re in the future.

DOLLY
I don’t feel any older.

PROFESSOR
Look. Someone’s coming.

ZOMBIE enters

ZOMBIE
Arrrrghh!

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 5
 FRED
Yikes! It’s a zombie!

DOLLY
We didn’t come to the future to be somebody’s snack.

PROFESSOR
Right now I’m kind of wishing I went with the turkey sandwich.

SCIENTIST enters

SCIENTIST
Stay away from them zombie! Here!

SCIENTIST hands the ZOMBIE a cell phone, ZOMBIE moves to a corner of the stage.

ZOMBIE
Ahhhhhhhhhh!

SCIENTIST
He won’t bother you as long as he has the phone to stare at.

FRED
This may sound crazy, but we’ve traveled here from 500 years ago.

DOLLY
We didn’t know the future would be a zombie apocalypse.

PROFESSOR
I suppose cable TV should’ve been red flag.

SCIENTIST
Welcome! I’ve traveled time myself but usually backwards to get ice cream. It’s been tough
since they moved all the cows to Mars. I’m a scientist trying to cure the zombies of their
technology addiction

ZOMBIE HUNTER enters

HUNTER
There you are! Get over here you undead phone addicted zombie!

SCIENTIST
Stop! That zombie is my test subject.

HUNTER
Them creatures can’t past tests. They’re brain dead. My boss and me catch them and use them
for votes. Hey, Mr. President, I’ve got a voter over here!

PRESIDENT enters, he is also a zombie and stares at his phone.

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 6
 PRESIDENT
Grrrrrrr-arggggh!

PROFESSOR
The president is a zombie?

SCIENTIST
Oh, yes. Ages ago the zombies took over the presidency, Congress, and the airlines. If you
thought it was bad flying before, forget about it now.

PRESIDENT approaches FRED and DOLLY and holds out his phone.

PRESIDENT
Rggggh! Arrrgh!

HUNTER
Look out! He’s trying to make you watch empty and meaningless content on his phone. That’s
how they get you!

PROFESSOR
Let’s get out of here!

HUNTER
There’s a human settlement over that ridge! I’ll hold the zombies off by texting them!

HUNTER takes out a phone and texts as he and the zombies exit in one direction and
SCIENTIST, FRED, DOLLY, and PROFESSOR exit in the opposite direction. AURORA and
TANADO enter and settle in their home. A knock on the door.

AURORA
Come in.

SCIENTIST, FRED, DOLLY, and PROFESSOR enter.

SCIENTIST
Hi. We’re hiding from zombies. Can you do us a favor and turn off your Wifi? They hate that.

TANADO
There’s no Wifi here. Our settlement has banned that kind of technology.

AURORA
We used to have computers, and TV’s, and laptops but we felt like we were losing Hope. You
should meet her. Hope!

HOPE enters.

HOPE
Hi, there. Anyone want to read a book with me?

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 7
 FRED
Sure!

DOLLY
That’s our favorite thing to do.

HOPE, FRED, and DOLLY sit and look at a book.

TANADO
It wasn’t long ago that our daughter Hope was a zombie. We thought we had lost her.

AURORA
Then we got rid of online technology. Then Hope screamed for seven days straight. But then
we started talking a lot more.

PROFESSOR
You cured her with talk?

TANADO
It was really hard at first. Teen-age zombies hardly ever come out of their rooms.

AURORA
We started talking at the dinner table instead of watching television and reading and discussing
books instead of online posts.

SCIENTIST
That’s it! Instead of running away from the zombies, we need to talk to them! For all the
advancement that we’ve made with technology, the one thing that will save humanity is simple
human conversation.

ZOMBIE and PRESIDENT ZOMBIE enter

ZOMBIE & PRESIDENT

Arrghh! Urrrghh!

SCIENTIST
Wait, listen! Do you two want to go get a cup of coffee and chat?

ZOMBIE and PRESIDENT ZOMBIE look at each other.

ZOMBIE & PRESIDENT

Uh-huh.

SCIENTIST
Then follow me! Because we all know what our President desperately needs.

PRESIDENT
Brains!

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 8
 SCIENTIST
I was going to say ‘communication’…but OK. Come on!

SCIENTIST, ZOMBIE, and ZOMBIE PRESIDENT exit.

FRED
Professor, I think we’d better get back to where we came from.

DOLLY
Yes, I’m supposed to be home at five for dinner and I’m like 500 years late.

PROFESSOR
Thanks for letting us visit with you.

AURORA
Come back any time. We love to party!

TANADO
Friday nights we play Bingo. It’s a hoot!

HOPE
Thanks for dropping by and letting my parents embarrass me.

FRED and DOLLY and PROFESSOR

Goodbye! Farewell! Bye!

FRED, DOLLY, and PROFESSOR exit and the family exits in another direction. FRED and
DOLLY enter and lay down with the machine. PROFESSOR enters.

PROFESSOR
Hey, you two, wake up.

FRED and DOLLY stand.

FRED
What happened?

DOLLY
Are we back in our own time?

PROFESSOR
You told me to skip my lunch break to see the machine that you built for the science fair. Now,
I find you both sleeping next to this heap of tin foil and Legos. You two had better get to work
before it’s too late!

PROFESSOR exits.

FRED
That whole time the trip wasn’t real?

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 9
 DOLLY
I guess not.

FRED
I feel like we need to change our science project into something that helps people to
communicate.

DOLLY
And not by text or phone call. If we are going to stay human, we need to talk to each other.

FRED
Wait a minute. If we were sleeping, how did we both dream the same thing?

DOLLY
I guess the really big dreams are meant to be shared.

FRED
It’s time to share ours with our friends…in person.

FRED and DOLLY exit. STUDENT enter and moves to the machine.

STUDENT
Will you look at this crazy contraption? I wonder what it does.

STUDENT presses the button on the machine. ZOMBIE and ZOMBIE PRESIDENT enter,
chasing after STUDENT.

ZOMBIES
Arggggggh!

STUDENT
I wish the other students would stop building time machines!

STUDENT exits with ZOMBIEs in pursuit.

Curtain

© Drama Notebook www.dramanotebook.com A Middle School Science Project Time Machine pg. 10
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