ESAI'S TABLE (excerpt) by Nathan Yungerberg

ESAI'S TABLE An Afro-Surrealist Fantasy

By Nathan Yungerberg

Contact: Nathan Yungerberg 212-281-8290 Nathan@nathanyungerberg.com Š 2020 Nathan Yungerberg

CHARACTERS

4 M EN* ESAI WALLACE, grown black man, tormented, jokester, tricker, lost soul.

ADAM IVERSON, black, age 15, cute, wide-eyed, present, from Oakland.

DAVID TYLER JONES, black, age 18, confident, stylish, handsome, from Harlem.

M ICHAEL FERGUSON, black, age 19, closed off, creative, bully, from M iami. *All roles are to be played by actors of color.

SETTING An ominous basement.

The final pre-show song is: "The Dreamer" by Jose James. Song fades, and the eerie painful sound of a coyote crying and howling fills the entire theater.

Lights up on an ominous basement. Light falls on the floor downstage in the shape of several tiny windows on the fourth wall that is too high to reach.

There is a large, durable, oversized wooden table. The wood looks centuries-old and appears to possess the wisdom and power of a well-aged seer. The legs are thick and sturdy, and look as if they could hold a horse. It is clear that the table was handcrafted with love, and its presence is both ominous and beautiful.

The table is filled with all sorts of delicacies, a Big M ac without pickles, chicken nuggets, Fritos, Fortune Cookies, a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chunky M onkey, Fried tofu steaks, kale salad, couscous, hummus and olives, Kalamata olives imported from Greece, New York strip, garlic mashed potatoes, M ac and cheese, pepperoni pizza, Fettuccine with pesto, burritos with sour cream, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, sweet and sour pork, Cool Ranch Doritos, Peas and rice, fresh mangoes, bread pudding, rum cake, guava duff, conch fritters, fish chowder, johnnycake, and red velvet cupcakes!

ESAI WALLACE, grown black man, tormented, jokester, tricker, lost soul, is sitting at the head of the table. He has an unsettling air about him like a person who has been sequestered in a strange secret space for far too long.

Four young men are sitting at the table as well.

ADAM IVERSON, age 15, cute, wide-eyed, and present, from Oakland.

DAVID TYLER JONES, 18, confident and classically handsome, from Harlem,

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

2.

M ICHAEL FERGUSON, 19, closed off, creative, bully, from M iami.

ADAM reaches for a raised dessert platter, filled with the cupcakes when M ICHAEL grabs his wrist.

M ICHAEL The red velvet cupcakes are mine!

ADAM I was gonna take one for my sister.

ESAI There's plenty to go around.

M ICHAEL Like I said, the red velvet cupcakes are mine!

DAVID And like he said, there are plenty to go around!

M ICHAEL smashes the cupcakes with his fist.

DAVID What the fuck, man?!

M ICHAEL You're next!

ESAI I gotta switch the size of Tennessee sittin' right out back!

Something drips onto M ICHAEL'S face from above, and he wipes it away, this happ ens several times.

M ICHAEL Yo, what the fuck?!

ESAI What's the matter?

M ICHAEL Something dripped on my head. You got a bucket or somethin’?

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

3.

ESAI Pots over there. Fetch one yourself.

M ICHAEL gets up, grabs a pot, and places the pot on the ground. Water drops sporadically into the pot. Drip drop. Drip drop. Drip drip drop.

ADAM cracks open one of his fortune cookies, which holds a blank fortune. He then opens another, and another, and they are all the same.

ADAM Excuse me.

ESAI Yes? ADAM I had a couple questions.

ESAI Hit me!

ADAM Why are all the fortunes in my cookies blank?

M ICHAEL (With a full mouth) That's bad fuckin' luck!

DAVID Say's who?

M ICHAEL Yo, nigga if you don'tESAI lunges at M ICHAEL ESAI If I hear you use that word one more time, as God is my witness, I'm gonna cut off ya tongue with a razor blade, and I'm gonna stuff it down ya throat!

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

4.

(PAUSE) ESAI And there is nothin bad luck about those fortunes, Adam.

ESAI throws the fortune cookies back in their container.

ESAI I seem to recall reading something about a manufacturer recall.

DAVID On fortune cookies?

ESAI On fortune cookies! Now what's your other question, Adam?

(BEAT) ADAM When....When will you let us go home?

The light shifts.

ESAI is clearing the food.

The boys are sleeping on the floor.

ESAI Time to clear the table........Come on now. Let's all pitch in andM ICHAEL Come on, man, can't you see I'm tryin' to catch some-(Zzzzzz's) ADAM and DAVID start helping.

ESAI Like I told you before, my name ain't man, it's sir. And you ain't tired, you're just disoriented. Now get up and pitch in!

M ICHAEL You ain't my father!

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

5.

ESAI makes an eerie guttural growl like a coyote.

M ICHAEL jumps up and starts helping.

DAVID Excuse me, M r. Wallace?

ESAI Finally, a young man with some manners!

DAVID M r. Wallace, you um...you seem like a reasonable man.

ESAI As opposed to?

DAVID Well, I mean...if you were unreasonable you...you would ah...you'd be feeding us bread and water instead of all our favorite foods!

ESAI I think the word you may be looking for is generous, and yes, I consider myself to be an extremely generous man.

DAVID (quietly) Ok...well um...my father...my father is um, Reginald Alvin Jones of the Harlem Joneses, 145th and ConventESAI Oh my god! You! You are one of the distinguished Harlem Joneses?

DAVID Oh you've heard of us.

(BEAT) ESAI No.

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

6.

DAVID Well um...my Father is very generous as well, and I am sure he would be willing to make a very substantial donation, unmarked bills of course, in return for my immediateESAI laughs loudly rubbing his palms together as if they were slick with something.

ESAI You hear that, boys? M r. David Tyler Jones of the Harlem Joneses just tried to grease my palms in exchange for his immediate release!

ESAI walks to DAVID and wipes his right palm on his shirt.

ESAI I'm sorry, son but we have very important work to accomplish here so no can do! No Sir Ree Bob! Ain't gonna happen!

DAVID But I...I have to go and see my mother!

ESAI You're gonna be fine...trust me. You're gonna be fine. Now get back to work!

DAVID joins the other boys clearing the table.

M ICHAEL (In a mocking baby voice to David) I have go and see my mommy!

DAVID steps towards M ICHAEL. M ICHAEL You gotta problem?

M ICHAEL pulls on DAVID'S tie.

DAVID Don't touch the tie, man! I'll dead ass-

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

7.

ADAM runs in between the two and puts his arms around them.

ADAM Peace, brothers, peace!

M ICHAEL tries to break away, but ADAM passes him a note.

ADAM (mouthing) Read it and then pass it to David.

M ICHAEL (whispering) What are you fuckin stoopid, kid? You tryin' to git usESAI Ain't nobody here is stupid!

M ICHAEL shoves the note in his p ocket.

ESAI And shame on you! Pickin' on the weak and helplessADAM Hey, I'm notESAI Pickin' on the weak and helpless is such an assholeish maneuver!

(BEAT) ESAI Any of you ever heard the tale about the Coyote and the talkin' p lant?

DAVID No.

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

8.

ESAI Well, once upon a time, Coyote was on a leisurely afternoon jaunt when a tiny little plant called out, "He who eats me, he will defecate; he who eats me, he will defecate!"

DAVID Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!

ESAI But, Coyote, bein' the stubborn asshole he was, said, "How dare you tell me when I will defecate! If I eat you, I shall defecate when I choose to defecate and not one moment sooner!" So, Coyote gobbled up the plant, and instead of defecating, he broke wind louder and louder and louder until he was propelled high up into a tree when he broke wind sooooooooo loud that he ripped the tree up by its roots and they both topp led to the ground in a giant heap! Coyote burst into uncontrollable laughter because although he was breaking wind with the force of a jet engine, the plant's cautioning had still not come to pass!

(BEAT) ESAI But Coyote's laughter soon came to a screeching halt when his stomach started bubblin', and before he knew it, he began to defecate in such an abundance that he became covered in so much defecation that he couldn't even see!

M ICHAEL Nasty!

ESAI But just then, a nearby tree, advised him of the location of a nearby river so he could wash himself clean. The end!

ADAM Um...wha'ts that supposed to mean?

DAVID Yeah, what's the moral?

ESAI (laughing) What's the moral? It's quite obvious isn't it?

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

9.

ADAM Um...no.

ESAI ap proaches M ICHAEL. ESAI The moral of the story is, don't be an asshole, or you'll end up covered in shit!

M ICHAEL That don't evenESAI walks up to M ICHAEL and reaches in his pocket.

M ICHAEL Git ya hands outa my pants, man!

ESAI backs M ICHAEL into the wall. ESAI unfolds the note and reads it laughing and then hands it to ADAM .

ESAI Read it please.

ADAM I um...

ESAI Read it!

ADAM (Reading the note) I think there might be a way we can......turn the table on its side, you guys can hold it, I can climb up it and.........and break one of the windows. I am pretty sure I can squeeze through, and I can.....run for help. I'm a fast runner! Tonight? While he's asleep?

ESAI takes the note back.

ESAI What an excellent idea. The best idea! You came up with this all on your own, Adam?

ADAM looks down at the ground.

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg

10.

ESAI Don't be ashamed, son. It really is a good idea. You have a brilliant mind! The engineering is genius.

ESAI rips up the note.

ESAI But it ain't gonna work!

ESAI walks over to ADAM , and DAVID moves in to protect him.

ESAI It's fine. I'm not gonna hurt him. I promise.

DAVID stands in front of ADAM .

ESAI Cross my heart, hope to die...

ESAI turns to M ICHAEL ESAI Stick a needle in my...

DAVID backs off.

ESAI Adam, Adam, Adam. I expected so much more from you! You're the sweet one! The kid who never got detention, right?

ESAI lifts his chin up.

ESAI Aren't you?

ADAM Yessir.

ESAI What's the urgency? Why do you want to leave so badly?

ESAI'S TABLE by Nathan Yungerberg