-- *Mar*Absolutely — here's an original *short stage drama* set in a near-future family where each member possesses a *Remote* capable of controlling others’ emotions. It’s a dark, emotional, and satirical reflection of what happens when love is replaced by control. ------------------------------ *Title:* *"Push My Button"* *Setting:*
A modern, minimalistic living room. Clean, smart-tech-equipped. Four chairs surround a sleek dining table. On the wall is a large "Emotisphere" — a holographic screen showing family mood stats. Each family member has a *personal Emotional Remote* — sleek, black, the size of a phone. ------------------------------ *Characters:* - *Meera (Mother, late 40s):* A high-functioning executive. Believes emotional stability is the foundation of a successful family. - *Rajan (Father, early 50s):* A former teacher, now unemployed. Feels emasculated and resents being "regulated." - *Tara (Daughter, 17):* A rebel with a sarcastic edge. Her Remote has been jailbroken. - *Arjun (Son, 12):* Curious, emotionally intelligent, and watching everything. ------------------------------ *Act One: “Sunday Dinner”* *Lights up. The family is seated around the dinner table. The Emotisphere reads:* *Mood Sync: 62%* *Tension: Moderate* *Recommendation: Play Gratitude Module.* ------------------------------ *Meera* (calmly): Let’s go around and share one positive feeling from today. I’ll start. Today, I felt gratitude... because the dishwasher didn’t break again. *Rajan* (grumbling): Today, I felt… nothing. Thanks to your button. *Meera* (tapping her Remote): I noticed your irritability was spiking. I applied Tranquilizer Lite. You're welcome. *Rajan* (fuming): I’m not a thermostat, Meera! You don’t get to set my feelings like room temperature. *Tara* (mocking): Actually, Mom, Dad’s emotional climate is still cloudy with a chance of passive aggression. *Meera* (snapping): Tara, I’ll trigger Reflection Protocol if you’re sarcastic again. *Tara* (smirking): Already disabled it. I re-coded my Remote last week. Wanna feel how *you* feel when someone rewrites your joy setting? *Arjun* (quietly): Can we have dinner without hacking each other’s hearts? *Everyone pauses.* *Rajan* (turning to Meera): You’ve turned love into a software patch. When did we stop talking and start programming? ------------------------------ *Act Two: “Trigger Points”* *Lights dim. Rajan sits alone in the living room. He holds his Remote, thumb hovering over a button labeled “Restore Affection.” Meera enters quietly.* *Meera*: You’re up late. *Rajan*: Trying to remember what your real laugh sounded like. Not the one from Joy Boost 5. *Meera* (softens): I only use the Remotes because I care. I want us to function... as a unit. *Rajan* (bitter): A family isn’t a company, Meera. *Meera*: And what are we without regulation? Screaming matches? Depression loops? You wanted to quit therapy — this is better. *Rajan*: Better? You made me *smile at my mother's funeral*. I watched myself laughing while I was dying inside. *Meera* (quietly): I just wanted you not to break. *Rajan* (tears in his voice): Maybe breaking is how we feel real. ------------------------------ *Act Three: “Tara’s Coup”* *Tara hacks the Emotisphere. The room flickers with glitched emotion-ads:* *“Buy 1 Joy, Get 1 Calm Free!”* *“Is your son too anxious? Plug in Peace!”* *“Get Emotion Insurance now — before your family breaks!”* *Tara* (to Arjun): You know why they made these machines? Because people stopped listening. We’re too scared of each other’s pain. *Arjun*: So what now? *Tara*: We crash the system. No more Remotes. Just real people. Ugly feelings and all. *Meera* (entering): You touch that mainframe, young lady, and I’ll switch you to Regret Cycle for a week. *Tara* (defiant): Already running. I regret being born into a family that forgot how to *feel* . ------------------------------ *Act Four: “Power Down”* *The Remotes are on the table. One by one, each family member places theirs down.* *Rajan*: What if we don’t know how to feel without them? *Meera*: Then we learn. Together. *Tara*: Brace yourself. I’m probably going to cry. *Arjun*: That’s okay. I might actually laugh for real. *They sit in silence. No glowing Remotes. No holograms. Just breath, sound, and silence.* ------------------------------ *Final Scene:* *The Emotisphere flickers one last time. It reads:* *Mood Sync: Unknown* *Tension: Human* *Recommendation: Listen.* *Lights fade.* ------------------------------ 🎭 Themes: - The illusion of emotional control - The difference between regulation and repression - Family as an emotional ecosystem, not a machine - Reclaiming the messy beauty of unfiltered feeling ------------------------------ Would you like: - A *full-length version* of this play (with dialogue fleshed out across multiple scenes)? - A *screenplay adaptation* for short film or web episode? - A version set in a *different cultural context* or genre (e.g. sci-fi, magical realism, rural drama)? Let me know your direction, and I’ll build it out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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