A Quiet Minute — English 7: Reading, Evidence & Expression

SCENE ONE. A workshop room before visitors arrive. A large cardboard sign leans against a table. A chair blocks the cupboard. LEILA adjusts the sign; NOAH checks a lamp; ARI carries brushes. LEILA: Can you put those away? I need the floor clear. ARI: Which cupboard? LEILA: The one behind you. [ARI looks behind him. He cannot see a cupboard.] NOAH: The lamp works if you hold the switch here. LEILA: We cannot ask every visitor to hold it. ARI: Can we move the chair? LEILA: Of course. ARI: I didn’t know that. [LEILA lifts the chair. For the first time the cupboard is visible.] LEILA: I thought the arrow would be enough. NOAH: There isn’t an arrow yet. [LEILA examines the blank card in her hand.] LEILA: I knew where it was supposed to go. That isn’t the same thing.

SCENE TWO. Later. The doorway is clear. A VISITOR reads the sign, then looks toward the tools. VISITOR: Is there somewhere quiet to draw? NOAH: We can call this the quiet room. [A hammer sounds from the long table.] VISITOR: Will it stay quiet? [NOAH looks at the hammer, then at LEILA.] ARI: This end is farther from the tools. We could tell people what to expect. LEILA: A quieter corner, not a silent room. VISITOR: That helps. Could I look before deciding? LEILA: Please do. [The VISITOR walks toward the window. LEILA writes a new card. NOAH moves the lamp so that its light falls on the card.] NOAH: It makes the sign less simple. LEILA: It makes the promise clearer. [ARI places a pencil beside a tray. All three return to their work.]