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MISS BETSY GOES to WASHINGTON a Written Creative MISS BETSY GOES TO WASHINGTON A Written Creative Work submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Fine Arts In Creative Writing: Playwriting by Nicole Elizabeth Jost San Francisco, California May 2018 Copyright by Nicole Elizabeth Jost 2018 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read Miss Betsy Goes to Washington by Nicole Elizabeth Jost, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a Written Creative Work submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing: Playwriting at San Francisco State University. 7 Michelle Carter, M.A. Professor of Creative Writing Andrew~ Assistant Professor of Creative Writing MISS BETSY GOES TO WASHINGTON Nicole Elizabeth Jost San Francisco, California 2018 A new full length play. Synopsis: Before she became Secretary DeVos, she was Miss Betsy. A modem political history spectacle like nothing you've seen before! See Miss Betsy tango with Bernie Sanders, sing along with Orrin Hatch, and juggle with Elizabeth Warren! See her groom a young Black girl for school choice greatness! MISS BETSY GOES TO WASHINGTON draws on the real transcripts of Betsy DeVos' s Senate confirmation hearing and imagined interactions between Miss Betsy the mentor and her Grand Rapids students. A vaudeville with national questions. I certify that the Annotation is a correct representation of the content of this written creative work. S-2.-18 /Chair, Thesis Committee Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To Larry and Michelle: for your guidance and your early support of this play. To Brenna: for your insight. To Lily: for everything. v CHARACTERS (4F, 2M, 2M/F) MISS BETSY, Betsy DeVos. A white woman in her late 50s. President-elect Trump' s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education. "Miss Betsy" is how she is known to her public school mentees in Michigan. PUPPET ALEXANDER, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee). Chairman of the U. S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Represented by a puppet. PUPPET MURRAY, Senator Patty Murray CD- Washington). Ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Represented by a puppet. (Ideally, one puppeteer can puppet both ALEXANDER and MURRAY, reducing the cast size to seven.) TIARA, a third grader attending a public school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Later, a fourth grader, a seventh grader, an eighth grader, a college senior, and a young adult. She is Afro-Latina. Her name is pronounced tee-AHR-uh, but MISS BETSY mispronounces it as tee-AIR-uh. An ensemble offour SENATORS, at least two women and up to two men. The SENATORS also play PHOTOGRAPHERS, WEDDING GUESTS, STUDENTS, JOURNALISTS, and other minor roles (see following page). SENATOR #1 (R) plays: • Senator Mike ENZI (R-Wyoming) • Senator Orrin HATCH (R-Utah) • Senator Bill CASSIDY (R-Louisiana) • Senator Pat ROBERTS (R-Kansas) 2 SENATOR #2 (R), a Black woman, plays: • Senator Johnny ISAKSON (R-Georgia) • Senator Rand PAUL (R-Kentucky) • Senator Susan COLLINS (R-Maine) SENATOR #3, a Latina, (D) plays: • Senator Bernie SANDERS (!-Vermont) • Senator Elizabeth WARREN (D-Massachusetts) • Senator Maggie HASSAN (D-New Hampshire) SENATOR #4 (D) plays: • Senator Al FRANKEN (D-Minnesota) • Senator Chris MURPHY (D-Connecticut) OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED BY THE ENSEMBLE MS. JONES, a 3rd grade public school Math teacher in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Played by the actor who plays SENATOR #2. MCCONNELL, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). Played by the actor who plays SENATOR # 1. NYDIA, Nydia Salazar. An 18-year-old college freshman. Peruvian. Played by the actor who plays SENATOR #3. Her name is pronounced NIH-dee-uh, though it is mispronounced by Senator PAUL in the play. DENISHA, Denisha Merriweather. A 26-year-old college graduate. Black. Played by the actor who plays SENATOR #2. Her name is pronounced duh-NEE-shuh, though it is mispronounced by Senator PAUL in the play. 3 PHYSICAL PERFORMER(S), a person or pair/group of people with physical disabilities who are also dancers/yogis/contortionists/weight lifters or skilled in some type of movement-based performance. There are two ways to cast this: one way is to cast an actor with a physical disability and a movement-based performance skill as a member of the ensemble of SENATORS. The other way is to bring in guest artist( s) for Scene 19 specifically. In that case there might be different guest artist(s) each night, or the same throughout the run. PENCE, Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Played by a house manager or other theater staffer instead of an actor. PENCE need not have any costuming. LESLEY STAHL, journalist and longtime correspondent for 60 Minutes. Played by the actor who plays SENATOR #3. STONEMAN DOUGLAS STUDENT, Alanna. She tweets as @_Archaide_. Played by the actor who plays SENATOR #2. PLACE U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC and Grand Rapids, Michigan 4 TIME January 17, 2017. 5pm. NOTES 1. "Miss Betsy" is a typical nickname given to an adult who works with students but is not a regular teacher. (Most students are so accustomed to calling their teachers "Mister/Miss [Last Name]" that when an adult gives them permission to use their first name instead, they default to "Mister/Miss [First Name].") Calling DeVos "Miss Betsy" is tongue in cheek. But the name itself is not a stand-in for disrespect, and it is not disrespectful when used by the TIARA character. 2. At the time of this writing, all members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions are white except for Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), who is not featured in this play. However, the SENATORS should be cast as a racially diverse ensemble that can transform into the familiar figures. 3. Scene titles should be displayed either as projections or on vaudeville style placards. 4. Near the end of the play, ushers will collect votes from members of the audience. If possible, the votes should be counted and the results should be reported to the audience after the play. 5. The use of I indicates overlapping speech. 5 SCENE 1: Michigan, a Prologue A flashback. A daydream. MISS BETSY stands alone against the backdrop (projection) of the interior of an older public school building in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her expensive clothes and jewelry contrast sharply against the shabbiness of the school hallways. Loud noise ofchildren laughing and running. VOICE OF ADULT TIARA (From off) Miss Betsy? MISS BETSY, startled, turns. A school bell rings. Blackout. 6 SCENE 2: The Opening Act Projection: "January 17, 2017. 5pm." Music. Lights up on the vaudeville set. No one is there. Beat. The music, expectant, plays again. Beat. A tiny stage emerges, echoing the vaudeville set, but miniaturized. PUPPET ALEXANDER emerges from the tiny set. PUPPET ALEXANDER January 17th, 2017. It is 5 PM. The hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will come to order! Projection: "Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee). U.S Senator since 2003. Chairman ofthe U.S Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. " PUPPET ALEXANDER I am Chairman Lamar Alexander, and this is the hearing to consider the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be the U.S. Secretary of Education. PUPPET MURRAY emerges, in close proximity to PUPPET ALEXANDER. 7 PUPPET MURRAY Mr. Chairman! Projection: "Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington). U.S. Senator since 1993. Ranking member ofthe U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. " PUPPET MURRAY I am Ranking Member Patty Murray, and I am extremely disappointed that we are moving forward with this hearing before receiving the proper paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics! PUPPET ALEXANDER Will the Ranking Member please shush? PUPPET MURRAY When President Obama entered the White House, Republicans insisted on having an Ethics letter before moving to a hearing! PUPPET ALEXANDER May I remind you of the golden rule: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 8 PUPPET MURRAY What are you talking about? PUPPET ALEXANDER Matthew 7:12. PUPPET MURRAY What does that have to do with anything??? PUPPET ALEXANDER Informally: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." PUPPET MURRAY I'm talking about the Ethics letter! PUPPET ALEXANDER Golden rule! PUPPET MURRAY Ethics letter! PUPPET ALEXANDER Golden rule! 9 PUPPET ALEXANDER and PUPPET MURRAY box like Punch and Judy. Winded, they resume their duties. PUPPET ALEXANDER More than 25 years ago, Mrs. DeVos, I was sitting where you are sitting as the nominee for Secretary of Education. PUPPET MURRAY (To the audience) Whatta showoff. .. PUPPET ALEXANDER Following Mrs. DeVos's comments, we will have a five-minute round of questions. PUPPET MURRAY and SENATORS FROM OFF Five minutes?!?!? PUPPET ALEXANDER One five-minute round of questions as was the case for both of President Obama' s Education nominees. That was the case for me too, in 1991. The golden rule! 10 PUPPET MURRAY and the SENATORS (from off) protest. PUPPET ALEXANDER raises a hand to silence them. PUPPET MURRAY Mr. Chairman, I' m going to continue pushing for robust scrutiny of every one of President-elect Trump' s nominees. I am extremely disappointed that we are moving forward with this hearing before receiving the proper paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics! PUPPET ALEXANDER You said that already. PUPPET MURRAY I can only hope that cutting corners and rushing nominees through will not be the new norm. PUPPET ALEXANDER Mrs. DeVos has already met with each of us in our offices.
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