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Conrad A. Panganiban

playwright | conradap@gmail.com

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river's message play image

River’s Message

Posted on 06/29/201901/29/2023 by Conrad

Download the script (PDF)

River’s Message
by
Conrad A. Panganiban

CAST OF CHARACTERS
RIVER: Female. Late teens – Early twenties. College student. River is a happy-go-lucky type of person despite working through the pain of losing a parent.
KENNEDY: Female. Late teens – Early twenties. River’s best friend, genius, and a Computer Science Major and would do, and does, the impossible for River.

SETTING
Ouside a University Dorm Building.

TIME
The Present during the tail-end of a University’s Final Examinations’ Week.

PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTES
The “/” near the end of a line of dialogue suggests an overlap with the next lines being read.

Lights up on a bench with RIVER sitting on it.

She’s wearing a top bearing her University’s name and holding up her laptop yelling…

RIVER
YOU STUPID LAPTOP! GIVE ME BACK MY TERM PAPER!

RIVER starts shaking it.

Enter KENNEDY wearing a backpack slung over one shoulder.

KENNEDY
Woah. Woah. Whoa! River, what are you doing?

(KENNEDY puts down the backpack and takes the laptop out of River’s hands.)

Give me that!

RIVER
Stupid computer ate my Final and I was trying to make it throw up!

KENNEDY
I got it! Jeez, there are other ways to make it puke.

KENNEDY starts to hack away at it.

RIVER
Then can you induce the vomiting a little faster? I only have 10 minutes left to turn it in!

KENNEDY
How many times have I told you to back up your files?

RIVER
I know I know… I was running out of time and–

KENNEDY
Hmmm…

RIVER
Was that a good hmmm? Or a bad hmmm?

KENNEDY
It’s just a… Hmph.

RIVER
That was definitely a bad hmmm.

KENNEDY
No. No… it’s just that… hmmm…

RIVER
I swear if you hmmm one more time, I’m gonna–

KENNEDY
Found it!

RIVER
What?!

KENNEDY
Hold on… Option-Click… Save as… dot t.x.t… Word… Open… “…when a human body dies, a soul leaves that body and returns to its original form.”

RIVER
THAT’S IT!!!

(RIVER gives Kennedy a huge hug!)

Thank you thank you thank you!!! You are a genius!

RIVER takes the laptop, puts it on her lap and looks at the screen.

KENNEDY
All the text is there, but you’ll need to reformat–

RIVER
I don’t care. As long as I don’t have to re-type everything I already forgot. I knew that your Computer Science Major Thingy would come in handy one day!

RIVER begins to reformat the paper.

KENNEDY
Sounds like a pretty heavy subject, “when a human body dies…”

RIVER
It’s for Psych 151.

KENNEDY
Ah, the Death and Dying class. Did it help?

RIVER
No time for talking. Time for reformatting.

KENNEDY
Right. Format away.

Pause.

While RIVER works…

KENNEDY (CONT’D)
Why’s everybody out here?

RIVER
The Wi-Fi started acting really weird inside the dorms.

KENNEDY
It did?

RIVER
Yeah. So we have to connect out here.
They finally kick out of the computer lab?

KENNEDY
Actually, I left so that you could help me test my Final Project?

RIVER
Due tomorrow, right?

KENNEDY
Web Dev 261: Social Media Application Development.

RIVER
Not sure how much help I’ll be. I’m kinda in the middle of a “love-hate-it’s complicated” relationship with these stupid computer things right now.

KENNEDY
I promise, it’ll only take a minute. I just need you to log into your / Facebook–

RIVER
Hold.. that… thought…. aaaand SUBMIT! Booyah!! Last Final of the Semester: DONE!

RIVER gets up to do a ridiculous dance.

RIVER (CONT’D)
Come on, Kennedy! Show me your happy dance!

KENNEDY reluctantly gets up and does a little jig.

RIVER (CONT’D)
Go Kennedy! Go Kennedy! It’s your birthday! It’s your birthday! OH EM GEE!! This feels AMAZING!!

KENNEDY
Glad to see you happy.

RIVER
Duh! The hardest semester, shoot, year of my life and it’s now done Done DONE!!! Oooo! We have to go out and celebrate! My treat!

KENNEDY
You’re broke.

RIVER
Right. Your treat!

KENNEDY
Fine. But when we get back, you have to promise me that you’ ll test out my project. There’s still a couple of tweaks I need to–

RIVER
Tweaks my ass! Finals are done-zoh!

KENNEDY
For you.

RIVER
Ooo.. what am I gonna wear?

KENNEDY
This project is different, River. The implementation of this App can go far beyond Final Examinations.

RIVER
What can possibly go beyond Finals? Isn’t there a College Rule that says after you finish a Final, you never need to use that information EVER AGAIN!

KENNEDY
What about for doctors?

RIVER
That’s what WebMD is for.

KENNEDY
River, this project will change life as we know it. It can even change death.

RIVER
Dude. Total Buzzkill.

KENNEDY
Right. Sorry. I was… you’re absolutely… this is supposed to be your celebration. And after the year you’ve had… I can’t think of another person who deserves to get more inebriated than you.

RIVER
I’ll drink to that!

KENNEDY
But I really really need you to test my project. You’re the only one who could help me and after I totally saved your life by recovering your Final Term Paper, I just thought that… right. Never mind me. It’s not like we’ve been friends since I taught you how to play hopscotch in the Third Grade. So… you go have your fun… while I flunk out… and disowned by my family.. and become destitute…

KENNEDY begins to exit.

RIVER
Wait.

KENNEDY
What?

RIVER gives Kennedy a hug.

RIVER
Thank you. You don’t have to become a prostitute.

KENNEDY
Destitute. I said destitute.

RIVER
I’m kidding. I know what you said, you dork! Kennedy, you are a true life saver. Jeez, I thought the only person who can give me a worse guilt trip was my mom.

KENNEDY
Did it work?

RIVER
What is it you wanted me to test?

KENNEDY
I can come back when you’re sober.

RIVER
This may be the last time you’ll ever see me sober.

KENNEDY
Only if you’re sure–

RIVER
KENNEDY!

KENNEDY
Okay. Okay.
(KENNEDY takes out a laptop from the backpack.)
Tell me if this gets boring and I’ll stop.

RIVER
Just shut up and show me what I need to do.

KENNEDY
You see that?

RIVER
Yeah. It’s Facebook. But Kennedy, honey, sorry to break it to you, but someone’s already made Facebook.

KENNEDY
Duh. I know that. I’m talking about that icon up there.

RIVER
That blue thing?

KENNEDY
That’s the one.

RIVER
Okay, I see it. What’s it supposed to do? Block ads or something?

KENNEDY
A little more than that.

RIVER
I would hope so, because again, you do know that someone’s / already made–

KENNEDY
It’s used to communicate with the dead.

RIVER
Say what?

KENNEDY
I created a Facebook App that hooks into the laptop’s Wi-Fi processor which makes it possible to tune in to a frequency to contact a person on the other side.

RIVER
The other side of what?

KENNEDY
Life.

RIVER
You did what?

KENNEDY
I created a Facebook App that / hooks–

RIVER
I know what you said, but I don’t… I can’t…

KENNEDY
Remember when you lost your mom, you told me that you had so much left to tell her…

RIVER
And I wrote what I wanted to tell her in a message on her Facebook account.

KENNEDY
Like how I left a letter for my dad in his casket when he died.

RIVER
I can’t help it if my mom was way more hip than your dad.

KENNEDY
So, I wondered if there was a way to tap into another dimension… another plane of existence if you will… by using a Wi-Fi connection.

RIVER
Do you hear the words that are coming out of your mouth? Because my ears heard, “Crazy!”

KENNEDY
I know how it sounds, but think about it: we can communicate with people all over the world through Google Hangouts or with Skype, right? So, why couldn’t we do that with our loved ones living in a place where only a Wireless Fidelity ITriple-E Eight-oh-two-dot-eleven-XB Channel on a Twelve Gigahertz Band can reach them?

RIVER
You could have just said, Wi-Fi.

KENNEDY
Well, technically a Super Wi-Fi running on a Facebook platform. It’s the only direct connection to them.

RIVER
Only? What about psychics or mediums?

KENNEDY
And you think I’m crazy? How would you know if they’re scamming you? You can’t. But with this App, with that blue icon up there, you are now able to message a person on the other side directly.

Did you know that 30 million users passed away in the first 8 years of Facebook’s existence? And when you break that down, that’s 312,500 users every month; which is 10,273 people every day… which leads to 428 Facebook Profile Owners that die every hour.

RIVER
Serious, Kennedy.

KENNEDY
But even though they’re gone, their lives still live on on their Facebook Pages.

RIVER
Yeah, but they’re still gone.

KENNEDY
Not with what I coded.

RIVER
You can’t change death!

KENNEDY
I’m not trying to change anything because, in theory, they’re not really dead. They’re just… their souls… their their spirits are just tuned into another frequency that we haven’t been able to tap into yet. Until now.

RIVER
Kennedy, you can’t bring back the dead.

KENNEDY
Then prove me wrong. Log into your account and find out. Don’ t you want to know if your mom read your message? You know you can do that with Facebook Messenger.

RIVER
Don’t do this to me.

KENNEDY
She could have written you back.

RIVER
Kennedy.

KENNEDY
River. The only thing I care more about in this world than computers… is you. And when I saw you hurting and I couldn’t do anything about it… I knew that I had to do something.

And this was it.

RIVER
Why me? Why my mom? You don’t know how long it took me to get over losing her.

KENNEDY
Are you?

RIVER
No. But that’s not your / decision–

KENNEDY
Do you want to be? I mean not be over losing her, but don’t you want know if she’s okay? If she’s at peace? Don’t you want to tell her how much you miss her? How much you still need her?

RIVER
Of course I do! But that’s not for us to decide! This is life. And a part of life is death. And so is letting go.

KENNEDY
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not anymore. Because you still have her… and you can always have her because she’s right here…
(KENNEDY turns the laptop to face River.)
… waiting for you.

KENNEDY makes a motion for River to log into her Facebook Account.

RIVER reluctantly does so and stares at the screen for a long beat…

Lights begin to fade when we see River’s reaction to her message being read… and to the reply that River ’s mom left her.

BLACK OUT.

END OF PLAY.

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Headshot of Conrad A. Panganiban

Conrad A. Panganiban (he/him/his) is an award-winning Filipino American playwright representing the San Francisco Bay Area. His plays include Daryo’s All-American Diner, Welga, and River’s Message. Conrad’s work has been produced by Bindlestiff Studio, The Chikahan Company, CIRCA Pintig (IL), the MaArte Theatre Collective, and CATS (Contemporary Asian Theatre Scene) . Awards include: Best Play of 2023, Daryo’s All-American Diner (BroadwayWorldAwards Chicago), Best New Play, Daryo’s All-American Diner (Chicago Reader, Best of 2023), Susan Fairbrook Playwright Fund Awardee (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley), 2023 New Voices in Comedy Writing Fellowship (Killing My Lobster), James Milton Highsmith Award Winner (SFSU), National Ten-Minute Play Festival Finalist (Actors Theatre of Louisville), and Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist (Playwrights Foundation). Resident Artist: Bindlestiff Studio. Member: Dramatist Guild of America, and Theatre Bay Area. MFA, San Francisco State University. @consplayspace

Copyright Notice

Scripts on this website are copyright protected and may not be reproduced, distributed, disseminated, altered or performed without the author’s prior written permission. conradap@gmail.com

Creative Commons License
The work on conradpanganiban.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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