The actors are teenagers (15 to 21 years old) and children (10 and 12 years old).
Teach the young man of tomorrow never to use violence (physical or otherwise) against his wife, friend, or companion, no longer on his children.
The scene must be divided into two parts, where the first family will play and the second will play. The first family consists of Father Lucas, Mother Cathrina, Boy Noah and Sister Heloise. The second family consists of the brutal father Arthur, the loving mother Madisson, the son Jerome and the daughter Helena
Lucas, the father, is watching TV, the kids are reading, and Cathrina, the mom, is getting ready to iron her husband’s shirt. He gets up, and goes to her… The whole family speaks quietly…
Lucas: Wait, Cathrina, I’ll do it. You got up early in the morning to tidy up the house.
Cathrina: Don’t worry. The years flow like a stream of water. Soon the children will be older and will help us to do the housework.
Noé closed his book, stood up and told his father
Noé: Dad, men don’t do housework.That’s what women do.
Cathrina: What an idea!
Noé: I don’t see myself ironing, sweeping and mopping. It’s ridiculous!
Lucas: You live in this house, don’t you? So, big guy, you have to participate.
Noah makes a gesture of fatigue or fainting and gets back on his stomach while opening his book. In the meantime, Lucas is going to iron, and Cathrina is going to fold the linen (socks, scarves, towels, etc.) The second family enters the scene… The father must scream at each line, and the mother must answer in a frightened and weak tone. Children are scared.
Arthur: And this shirt, why isn’t it ironed yet?
Madisson: be patient, I’ve barely finished tidying up the kitchen…
Arthur: What have you been doing since morning? Huh? Talk!
He throws the shirt at his wife’s foot violently.
Madisson: No, Arthur! I went shopping, swept in front of the house, fed the dogs, vacuumed, dusted, prepared food, and…
He interrupts her
Arthur: You don’t want me to do it for you? Say it? Go ahead, be my guest.
Madisson with a trembling voice
Madisson: I just want you to help me; to take the dog out for example.
Arthur: And what else? Huh? Are you good at wasting time in front of the TV?
Madisson: Slowly Arthur, your children are here!
Arthur: The kids? Given the grades they have, they’re not better than you.
Madisson: But can you at least help them?
Mad with rage, Arthur advances firmly towards his wife and takes her firmly by the arms
Arthur: And what are you good at, if you can’t even take care of your children, talk, talk!
Arthur pretends to shake her and push her. The mother falls to the ground, the children come running, sit down and hide their face in their mother’s arms. Arthur comes out screaming.
Arthur: I’d better go for a drink than stay with you.
The second family enters the scene
Lucas: young people, pack your things. As soon as I finish ironing and doing the dishes, I’ll come with mom to see what you learned today.
Noé: Jerome’s dad doesn’t do anything you do, dad. All he does is yell at the mother and even at his sister Helena, calling them lazy. They call him “Superman”.
Cathrina: «Superman»?! Superman helps people who need him. From what your sister told me, I think he needs help. First of all, to fulfill his duty as a father and companion, and to help his family.
Lucas: it’s true, your mom is right; if this dad was well-behaved, he wouldn’t have done it with his own family. It’s mind blowing!
Cathrina: He is not the poor person and can only express himself with shouts and violence.
Noé: And despite this, he is strong anyway. Everyone at home fears him.
Lucas: No, son, he’s too weak, but he doesn’t know it, and he doesn’t know that everyone knows he’s sick.
Héloïse: Is he sick?!!
Cathrina: When you use aggression, whether it’s verbal or otherwise to express yourself, you’re sick.
Lucas: It’s true! Your mom is right. Violence is a pathology and in this case, you need to get treatment.
Noé: I feel sorry for Jerome and Helena. They are not happy.
Cathrina: The day he realizes that he is destroying the people who love him, the day he wakes up and understands that violence is a weakness, and that any intelligent person will never resort to violence to respond, He’ll go to treatment and change his life.
The mother takes her boy in her arms and puts her hand on the girl’s hair. The father joins them and holds all in their arms.
On the other side, the second family
Mom gets up, holds her kids
Madisson: Don’t worry, it is my duty to protect you and help your daddy.
Jerome: help my dad?! How?!
Madisson: The law protects us. I have to talk about it…
Helena: Will you put our father in jail?
Madisson: He will not go to jail, but only the law will encourage him to get help from a specialist if he wants to continue living with us…
The actors stand up, walk towards the viewers and say all together
All actors: any person who resorts to violence in all its forms towards his companion, children or pets is an abnormal person who is tired and needs help before he/ she is punished by justice.
