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SCHOLASnC SCOPE •NOVEMBER 12, Readers Theater Play

AS YOU READ, Why did so many Americans THINK ABOUT: root for ?

SCENE 1 Saratoga, New York, August 1936 Nl: Racehorse owner Charles Howard and his trainer Tom Smith are looking at a horse named Seabiscuit. CHARLES: He's got wobbly knees, and his ribs are sticking out of his skin. TOM:Yup. CHARLES: I hear he sleeps all the time. TOM:Yup. CHARLES: He's lost almost every race this year. TOM:Yup. CHARLES: And you want me to buy this horse? ' TOM:Yup. N2: Charles stares hard at the horse. CHARLES: I see something special in his eyes. TOM: Buy that horse, Mr. Howard. He has real stuff in him.

SCENE 2 , Michigan, two weeks later N3: Two jockeys sit outside the gates of a racetrack. RED: Man, I'm hungry. GEORGE: Me too, but even if I had food, I couldn't eat it. RED: I know; the smaller the jockey, the faster the horse. Could be worse, though. I'm five foot seven. Too Circle the character you will play. tall to be a jockey, everyone says. «NARRATORS 1, 2, 3 (Nl, N2, N3) GEORGE: Still no job? CHARLES HOWARD, a racehorse owner RED: No. TOM SMITH, a horse trainer GEORGE: When was the last time you won a race? *RED POLLARD, a jockey RED: Years. , a jockey and Red's friend GEORGE: Smells like it's been years since you've had a STABLEHAND, Charles's employee shower too. *PA OREN, Frankie's father RED: Take it easy! I've got nowhere to live. I've got 27 «ANNOUNCER 1 AND 2 (Al, A2) cents to my name. I'm at the end of my rope, George. CLARENCE, Pa's friend GEORGE (pointingat the track): Look, new horses are *FRANKIE OREN, a 13-year-old boy arriving. They're going to need jockeys. *DOT OREN, Frankie's 9-year-old sister RED: This is my last chance. * Starred characters are major roles. Nl: Red visits dozens of stables.

WWW.SCH0LASTIC.COM/SC0PE • NOVEMBER 12, 2012 11 N2: Every trainer turns him down. Al: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Santa Anita N3: At the last stable. Red watches Tom Smith wrangle Handicap, where the top horse gets a hundred grand. a rowdy horse. CLARENCE: $100,000! RED: You need a jockey for that tempestuous fella? A2: We've got a new contender this year by the name TOM: Sure do, but no one can stay on him. of Seabiscuit. RED: What's he called? Al: He's a scrawny fellow. Doesn't look like much of TOM: Seabiscuit. Better watch out, though. He Families with a horse. took a bite out of the last jockey who came nowhere to go A2: His jockey. Red Pollard, is nothing to brag built homes about either. Showed up at the stables fiat broke near him. out of boxes STABLEHAND: Mr. Howard wasted his money on and boards. By with a losing streak as long as my arm. 1933, a million that cranky little horse. people were PA: Sounds like one of us. TOM: This here horse may be small and he may living in these Al: The horses are at the gates, aaaaaand "shantytowns." be ornery, but we aim to make him a champion. they're off! STABLEHAND: BCind of hard when no one can ride him. DOT: Go, Seabiscuit! Nl: Red holds out a sugar cube to Seabiscuit. A2: It's Seabiscuit out front, looking good. Rosemont is RED: Hello, 'Biscuit. Folks call me Red on account of my creeping up on the outside. red hair. Nl: The sound of hooves pounding the dirt thunders N2: Seabiscuit takes the sugar cube and gently nuzzles over the radio. Red's shoulder. Al: Rosemont comes up on the right. Seabiscuit and TOM {impressed)'. Red, you're hired. Rosemont are neck and neck! A2: They cross the wire together! SCENE 3 FRANKIErWhowon?! A migrant worker camp in Weedpatch, California, Al: Ladies and gentlemen, it's a photo finish—thejudge s have February 1937 ' Go to Scope determined that the winner is... Online to see our N3: A crowd of families huddles around a rusted old video about life Rosemont. Rosemont by a nose during the Great truck. Pa hooks a radio up to the truck battery. The Depression. radio crackles to life. for a hundred grand! PA: Quiet down, folks! It's time. N2: The roar of the crowd drowns

12 SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • NOVEMBER 12, 2012 out the announcer. DOT: I'll sew 'em, Pa. Light a candle. DOT: Aw, I wanted Seabiscuit to win. N3: Dot expertly threads a needle and starts stitching. FRANKIE: Me too ... Can you imagine being at one of FRANKIE: Seabiscuit is racing today. We'll listen while those races? you're out in the fields and tell you everything. PA: We could never afford it. PA: That homely horse sure has turned into a celebrity. FRANKIE: Yeah, but imagine. FRANKIE: I hear there are more newspaper articles PA: It doesn't do no good to dream. about Seabiscuit these days than about President Roosevelt. SCENE 4 Nl: Dot holds up the pants, satisfied. Santa Anita Racetrack, later that day DOT: Nobody can beat the 'Biscuit. CHARLES: What happened out there? FRANKIE: Yeah, not even War Admiral, the horse RED: We got beat. everyone said was unbeatable. TOM: You knew Rosemont was right next to you. Why CLARENCE (walking in)'. Hey, the truck's leaving. Those didn't you push harder? potatoes won't pick themselves. RED: I tried! Although being N2: Pa sighs heavily. TOM: I know Seabiscuit has what it takes to be a a jockey is PA [aside]'. Clarence, it's not that I mind working much safer champion. Do you? today, it Is stiil hard, but breaking my back 16 hours a day for N3: Tom sighs. He and Charles walk away. dangerous. hardly any pay was not the life I was planning on. There are RED [to himself): If anyone finds out my secret, 2,500 injuries CLARENCE: You had a plan? they would never let me race again. a year. PA: We came here after my wife died. California Nl: George walks up. was supposed to be the land of plenty. RED: George, how do you do it? How do you keep your CLARENCE: Yeah. Plenty of people with no homes, no cool when the pressure is on? food, and no money. GEORGE: When I'm out there, it's just me and the horse, PA: I wanted better for my kids. in our rhythm, together. CLARENCE: Frankie is 13 now. Everything else fades away. He could come with us, work RED: I'm one loss shy of the fields— being homeless again. PA [firmly)'. No. Those kids GEORGE: You've got to have been through enough. believe anything is possible. Red. Someone's got to SCENE 6 win, so why not you? Later that day N3: Frankie, Dot, and a SCENE 5 crowd of others hover Another migrant around the radio. worker camp, Al: It's a beautiful day at the two years later races. More crowded than N2: Pa is getting usual 'cause Seabiscuit, the dressed before wonder horse, is sunrise. here. PA [irritated)'. My A2: But no Red only pair of pants and Pollard. there's another rip. Poor guy

WWW.SCH0LASTIC.COM/SC0PE • NOVEMBER 12, 2012 13 was riding another horse and got thrown off. His leg FRANKIE: I won't let anything happen to you, Dot. was crushed. Doctors say he'll never ride again. Al: I'm sure Red's listening from his hospital bed. Our SCENE 7 prayers are with you. Red. The Howard Ranch, A2: Today, his old pal George Woolf is on 'Biscuit. Willits, California, 1939 DOT: But Seabiscuit can't race without Red! Nl: Red hobbles out to the stable to sit with Seabiscuit. Al: What an explosion out ofthe gates! RED: Well, how do you like retirement? A2: They're coming around the bend and—whoa, N2: Seabiscuit whinnies and stomps. Seabiscuit stumbles! RED: Yeah, me neither. Come on, let's see if we can get Al: It doesn't look good, folks. Seabiscuit is limping. to that tree and back. A2:1 hope it's not a torn ligament. There's no N3: Red gingerly climbs on Seabiscuit, wincing in pain. recovering from an injury like that. RED: 'Biscuit, it's time you knew my secret. I'm blind in Nl: Dot bursts into tears. my right eye. That's why Rosemont beat us at Santa N2: Just then, Clarence and Pa arrive. Pa's hand is Anita. I didn't see him coming. wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. Nl: Red pats Seabiscuit's neck. FRANKIE: What happened? RED: But you don't mind that I'm a bit broken, do you? CLARENCE: He was loading boxes onto the conveyer N2: Seabiscuit whinnies again. belt. His hand got caught. Sliced off three fingers. RED: Just don't tell. They'd never let me ride. DOT: Oh, Pa! N3: Red and Seabiscuit saunter into a field. CLARENCE: We bandaged him up best we could. RED: They say we're all washed up, you and I, that N3: They watch Pa shuffle inside the shack. we're done with racing. Let's prove them wrong. DOT: Will he be OK? Nl: Every day, Red rides Seabiscuit. They get stronger CLARENCE: I think so. and stronger. DOT: But how will he work? What will happen to us? SCENE 8 The migrant worker camp, 1940 N2: Pa sits on a grungy mat in his shack, staring at the ground. Frankie walks in, covered in dirt and sweat. FRANKIE: Here's 25 cents. Pa. I made it in the fields today. N3: Pa doesn't look up. FRANKIE: How are you doing? Nl: Pa doesn't say anything. N2: Frankie walks out and finds Clarence. FRANKIE: It's like Pa has given up or something. CLARENCE: He's lost a lot, your pa. You all have. N3: Dot runs up waving a newspaper. DOT: Seabiscuit is back! FRANKIE: What?

14 SCHOLASnC SCOPE • NOVEMBER 12, 2012 DOT: It says here he's and hollering. racing in the Santa Anita CHARLES: That horse has Handicap one last time! some spirit! FRANKIE: For real? TOM: So does his rider. DOT: And there's more. Al: Coming down the Red Pollard is riding him! stretch it's Whichee in CLARENCE: Frankie, I front, with Specify and think I know how we can Seabiscuit behind. help your Pa. FRANKIE, DOT: Go, 'Biscuit, go! Go! Go! SCENE 9 A2: Going into the turn, The migrant worker it's Whichee by a length. camp, the next night Al: They're turning for Nl: Looking excited, home now. Frankie, Dot, and A2: Wedding Call is on the Clarence sit with Pa. Mari