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SPANGLISH
Recommended age group: LEVEL 3 (1º/2º ESO)
Characters
Paula: a 13 year old girl. She is energetic and outgoing and she has the need to get the attention of others all the time.
Héctor: He is Paula’s older brother (16 y.o.) and in contrast is much more responsible than his sister. He is tall and good-looking.
Elena: Is Paula’s classmate. She’s also 13 years old. She speaks loudly and laughs continuously. She is worried about her clothes and appearance and dresses sophisticatedly.
Diego: He is a shy boy who doesn’t speak much. He’s 14 years old and it’s his first time alone. As he is an only child and, his parents are rather overprotective. He’s good at languages and speaks quite good English.
Víctor: Victor is the youngest of the group, 12 years old. He’s determined and a bit mischievous and is glad to be away from his mother who always controls him at home. Paula and Héctor’s parents: They are distracted and talk to each other or on the phone while their kids are around. Paula tries to call their attention in every way. They are well dressed as they have business to do every day.
Elena’s father: Tall, elegant middle aged man who looks confident and follows his excited daughter around attending all her requests.
Diego’s parents: A humble couple who walk hand in hand and keep their son always next to them. They speak using sweet voices but they look too worried.
Victor’s mother: Young woman, not very well kept. Her hair is not done, she wears jeans and a plain T-shirt. She looks tired.
Police officer: A serious American young man who speaks low and with a threatening look.
Stewardess: Young woman, tall and well dressed. She also wears too much make up and fakes smiles at passengers quite artificially.
Woman passenger: Middle aged woman who has her seat next to the group in the plane.
Tracey: She is Elena and Diego’s host family “mother”. She is a selfish woman who is only worried about shopping and practising sports. She usually chews gum and makes bubbles when speaking.
Dan: Tracey’s husband. He is a very busy executive glued to his cell-phone. He’s a good cook and also enjoys eating American Burgers.
Becca: She is 35 and works at a shop. She lives in a small house with her daughter Steph and her mother Linda. She is a strict and organized woman.
Linda: Becca’s 70 year-old mom. She is a sweet and loving lady who can scarcely walk due to an illness in her bones.
Steph: Becca’s 6 year-old daughter. She is a frightened child who is usually grounded in her room because of her mom’s strict education.
Synopsis
The play narrates the adventures of a group of teenagers who travel abroad on an English exchange programme. The boys and girls are different and also come from varied backgrounds but the experience that they share abroad will bring them together and also reveal them a lot about themselves and about their limitations and virtues. At the beginning, the group arrives at the airport with their families. The way in which their parents treat them and their relationship tells us a bit of their personality and makes the spectator come up with certain ideas and expectations regarding each of the teens. Soon enough, during their long trip by plane to the USA, the adventure begins. Some of them clearly enjoy getting into trouble while other more responsible ones try to stop them. When the stewardess in charge seriously tells them off, they start understanding that they will have to solve their own problems during the rest of the month. Once at Boston’s airport, they suffer a moment of nervousness when they are interviewed by a police officer who discovers that two of them don’t have filled in the required forms. The group is then separated and the kids are allocated to two host families who are waiting for them. The stay with their host families is full of comic and sad situations, in which the main characters discover a little bit more about themselves, learn to see the world with renovated eyes and value friends more than ever. When they come back home, full of stories to tell, their parents perceive that in some way, their kids have grown up.
Character Objectives
Paula’s main goal is to have fun and enjoy the “holidays”. Héctor is travelling to take care of his sister, as his parents have repeated to him over and over. Elena is dreaming about all the stories that she’s heard about the USA. She wants to buy designer clothes, meet boys and come back home with a full suitcase and good stories for her girlfriends. Diego likes languages and wants to learn more. His goal is to speak and practise and doesn’t really care about making friends there. Víctor just thinks that wherever he goes there would be someone to take care of him and mend what he messes up. He wants to visit cool places like amusement parks, basket stadiums, etc.
Scenes Breakdown
SCENE I The setting is the departures waiting lounge at Barajas airport (Madrid). There are people walking around and waiting. The group of Spanish students meets and say goodbye to their parents. Some of them are classmates and they soon start speaking and introducing each other. As they pass the passport control some of them burst into laughter, excited about the trip.
SCENE II They have already entered the aircraft and joke around nervously while the crew members announce indications that few of them pay attention to or understand. The first differences between the responsible ones and the most mischievous ones arise. They have some problems with a woman sitting next to them and Victor gets locked inside on of the toilets which. Deservedly, the stewardess tells them off and makes them feel scared about the possible consequences of their behaviour.
SCENE III Once at Boston airport they feel more relaxed after all the fuss inside the plane but soon they start feeling nervous again because they need to pass the interview individually with the police officer at customs. All of them, with the usual comprehension problems, pass the test but the two brothers, Paula and Héctor are left behind as they did not fill in the application to enter the USA correctly. The kids are sad to leave without them, especially Elena who doesn’t want to continue without her friend Paula. The host families are waiting for them at the arrivals area, ready to take them “home”.
SCENE IV [Interior of the house and outside] Elena and Diego arrive at the house where they will stay and are disappointed to find out that there aren’t any kids in the family. They soon have to get used to each other as Elena has problems with the language and Diego is the only one who can help her. Besides, Elena’s expectations of going on a shopping spree are postponed and she discovers new things to do instead.
SCENE V [Interior of the house] Víctor arrives at the house with his host mother and sister and starts to feel the need to contact his mother more than ever. He is used to special food that his mother cooks for him, he never helps with house chores, so the discipline of the house stifles him and feels more controlled than ever. In turn, Steph, the little girl, makes him think that perhaps his mom is not that awful after all and he decides to make the days of the little girl a bit more fun. The presence of the granny at home gives them both freedom to explore with an accomplice to their monkey business.
SCENE VI The month comes to an end and we can see the three Spanish students saying goodbye [the stage is divided in two halves and illuminated in turns] to their respective host families. They look much more at ease now than at the beginning and they are excited to come back home. On their way back, they meet Paula and Héctor who are willing to tell them everything. This time the trip by plane is better and when they see their families, they feel somehow changed.
