Presidential Timber
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER Act 1, Scene 1, Page 1
ACT I
SCENE 1
JOSIE's TV news desk.
(JOSIE, SPENDALL, SEYMORE, STUDENT)
At rise, JOSIE is at the news desk.
AUDIO: NEWSCAST signature sound.
JOSIE
In local news, unrest continues to mount at Pemberton State
University. A recent audit revealed the financially troubled
institution is over a million dollars in debt, and Senator Jethrow
Pennywise has introduced a bill to abolish Pemberton State and
turn the campus into a minimum security prison. This is the
third time Senator Pennywise has introduced this bill. The
Senator says his bill enhances the state's ability to achieve its
racial integration goals and provide needed space for a rapidly
expanding prison population. He also claims that two state
universities such a short distance apart is a waste of money.
Both universities are located in Senator Willington Spendall's
district, and he strongly disagrees with Senator Pennywise.
LIGHTS UP on SPENDALL and SEYMORE.
SPENDALL
Senator Pennywise introduces the same bogus bill every year,
stirring up racial discord so the voters in his district don't
notice what a sorry job he's doing. Even my pet duck Seymore
can see what he's up to, can't you Seymore?
SEYMORE
Quack! Quack! Quack!
SPENDALL
Pemberton State University has a proud tradition of educating
the African American citizens of this state, the nation, and the
world. Even Seymore knows that, don't you Seymore?
SEYMORE
Quack! Quack! Quack!
PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER Act 1, Scene 1, Page 2
LIGHTS FADE on SPENDALL and SEYMORE.
JOSIE
The financially troubled institution faces another challenge as a
large group of students demonstrate outside the President's
office. The demonstrators have made several demands, but the
number one issue seems to be the cafeteria food.
IMAGE of STUDENT.
STUDENT
(If she is seen or only heard depends upon casting.)
The food was always bad. But after Dickman took over, it got
worse. HE claims the food is healthier, but we pay too much
money to get this [BEEP]. Dickman is a [BEEP] idiot!
JOSIE
A spokesman for the University says complaining about food
is a springtime ritual on campuses all across America, and a
prominent Board member responded to questions about the
deficit by saying faculty positions must be cut. While some of
the signs complain about the food, many say "No faculty
layoffs." The students say faculty layoffs mean some students
cannot get the courses they need to graduate. One Student put
it this way:
STUDENT
My family sacrifices every day so I can stay in school. I need
to graduate on time so I can get a job and help my family.
What can I do if they cancel a course I need to graduate?
FADE IMAGE of STUDENT.
JOSIE
President Dickman says he has no plans to cut faculty
positions, but some recall a previous president making a
similar statement in October, and seventeen faculty members
got termination notices just before Christmas. Some people
who appear to be faculty members are carrying signs that read
"FACULTY VOTES NO CONFIDENCE," and "FACULTY
SAYS DICKMAN MUST GO."
CROSSFADE to...
PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER Act 1, Scene 2, Page 3
SCENE 2
BUCK's Office.
(BUCK, SHORT, DAVIS)
Same time frame. BUCK, DAVIS, and SHORT view the demonstration outside.
AUDIO: Noise of "unrest" outside-- loud shouts, chants (Dickman must go!) etc.
BUCK
Goddam tee-vee people. Do they show up when something
good is happening on campus? They do not! But soon as they
smell trouble-- up in our business like flies on shit.
SHORT
Josie Jenkins. The only Black person with a little media
influence and she has more bad things to say about...
DAVIS
Some of those signs are professionally made. I don't think our students are the ones...
SHORT
They look way too shabby to be our students.
DAVIS
The signs?
SHORT
Naw, the clothes. If our students know they're going to be on
tee-vee, they are gonna be dressed UP.
BUCK
That sign? What the hell does that mean?
SHORT
Quite a few signs, Mister President.
BUCK
The one that says "DICKMAN SUCKS!" Are they talking
about oral sex?
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Television journalist Josie Jenkins chronicles campus unrest at the historically black Pemberton State University. Although the school’s difficulties have accumulated over decades, the recently appointed president, Dr. B. W. “Buck” Dickman, seems destined to absorb the blame. Faculty and student factions demand Dickman’s removal as miscellaneous others threaten calamity, foment distractions, and advance self-serving agendas. Dickman appears on Josie’s newscast to unveil a transparently inadequate plan to defuse campus unrest, obliterate financial woes, and eradicate disfavor in the halls of state government. As Josie’s romantic relationship with Pemberton’s academic vice president blossoms, Pemberton’s survival is further threatened when Dickman’s secret indulgences seem destined to become public. Running time is about one hundred minutes without intermission.
About the Author
Barbara and Carlton Molette, Dramatists Guild members since 1971, began playwrighting collaborations with ROSALEE PRITCHETT, premiered in 1970 by Atlanta's Morehouse-Spelman Players and produced in New York by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1971 and in 2017 for their 50th anniversary season and also produced by the Free Southern Theatre, several university theatres and published by Dramatists Play Service and in the anthology Black Writers of America. They received the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism's Playwright's Award for PRUDENCE in 2005, the Black Theatre Network's Lifetime Membership Award in 2012, the National Black Theatre Festival's Living Legend Award and the Ethel Woolson Award for LEGACY in 2013 and the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival's Legend Award in 2016. They co-authored two non-fiction books, Afrocentric Theatre and Black Theatre: Premise and Presentation. They have also authored numerous articles individually and collaboratively.
B. S. BLACK, a musical in collaboration with Charles Mann was produced in 1976 by Theatre of the Stars and Just Us Theatre at Atlanta's Peachtree Playhouse with Samuel L. Jackson in the title role with additional productions in Washington, D. C., Houston, and Memphis. Atlanta's Morehouse-Spelman Players premiered NOAH'S ARK (published in the anthology Center Stage) and BOOJI. New York's Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop premiered FORTUNES OF THE MOOR with additional productions by Ghana's National Theatre Company, Chicago's ETA Creative Arts, and Brown, Ohio State, Western Michigan, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut universities. Miami's M Ensemble premiered OUR SHORT STAY. The Connecticut Repertory Theatre premiered PRUDENCE. PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER premiered at Houston's De Luxe Theater after readings at the National Black Theatre Festival, New York's New Federal Theatre, Bowie State University at the Kennedy Center and New Life Productions in Columbia, SC. Atlanta's New African Grove Theatre premiered LEGACY.
Premieres of their ten minute plays include OUT OF TIME at New York's Turtle Productions, MOVE THE CAR at North Carolina's Warehouse Performing Arts Center, TEE SHIRT HISTORY at Atlanta's Essential Theatre, A FOND FAREWELL at West Virginia's Greenbrier Valley Theatre, LAST SUPPER and KIN SHIP at Houston's Fade to Black Festival.
Barbara J. Molette (B.A., Florida A. & M. U.; M.F.A., Florida State U.; Ph.D., U. of Missouri), Professor Emerita and former English Department Chair, Eastern Connecticut State U.; Director of Arts-in-Education Programs, City of Baltimore; Administrative Fellow, Mid-Missouri Associated Colleges and Universities and faculty at Spelman College, Texas Southern U. and Baltimore City Community College where she was also Director of Writing Across the Curriculum.
Carlton W. Molette (B.A., Morehouse College; M.A., U. of Iowa; Ph.D., Florida State U.) Professor Emeritus of Dramatic Arts and Africana Studies, U. of Connecticut; faculty at Spelman College, Florida A.&M., Howard, Atlanta and Texas Southern Universities; Division of Fine Arts Chair, Spelman; School of Communications Dean, Texas Southern; Dean of Arts and Sciences, Lincoln (MO) and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Coppin State.