SFSD-X Smackdown Challenge ✔️

3.1 The Sequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream - Act I

Act I - Scene 1

Narrator enters

Narrator: And on the day of their wedding, when the fairies emerge to bless the sleeping couples with protective charms, the royal couple of the fairies, Oberon and Titania, also bestow on the lovers Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena eternal life since they have proven that true love will prevail in the end.

It is now the year 2035 and Lysander and Hermia are living in Brooklyn, New York. Lysander is a construction worker while Hermia works at the cash register of a local supermarket. Money is tight and - and as so many time over the past centuries, their love is put to a test.

Narrator exists - stage falls dark

Act I - Scene 2

Stage lights up, Hermia is sitting in her kitchen at the table with a smoking cigarette in her hand, a bottle of scotch next to her.

Lysander enters.

Hermia: How was your day, hun?

Lysander: What do you think? Demetrius is working us to the bone while enjoying the view from his penthouse on Fifth Avenue, probably laughing his ass off. Boy, I really hate him.

Hermia: You shouldn't always criticize him. It wasn't his fault that you lost all your money during the stock market crash of 1929.

Lysander: Well, isn't that great that you still throw this in my face after all these years. From the beginning, you knew what you were getting into when you married me. I was just a peasant and not educated like the wonderful Demetrius Giannopoulos. Even the last name he chose to assume over the centuries is fricking pompous.

Hermia: All you ever do is complain and blame others for your misery. If you hate your job so much, quit.

Lysander: Yeah! Maybe I should quit this marriage too. All you ever do is nag and compare me to Demetrius. I know deep down, you wish I drowned when the Titanic sank.

Hermia: Not that again. It was not my fault they didn't allow you in the lifeboats, plus it wasn't that you were ever in any danger of dying anyhow. Last time I checked, you were immortal. So what if you drifted around in the Atlantic for a week.

Lysander: The water was freezing and I was starving. You could have come back for me like Helena did for Demetrius. She has proven her love to him over and over again.

Hermia: Helena got lucky when she got into the same boat as Molly Brown. It wasn't her who wanted to return, it was Molly. That's in every history book.

Lysander: Yeah, just throw my lack of reading in my face now, too. I'll never be good enough for you.

Hermia: Where are you going?

Lysander: The pub.

Hermia: You drink too much.

Lysander: Yeah, and you nag too much. That makes us even.

Lysander exits, Hermia at the kitchen table, crying. Stage falls dark

Act I - Scene 3

Stage lights up, Hermia in bed with Demetrius

Demetrius: You should tell Lysander the truth about us and leave him. It's ridiculous how he treats you and all you two ever do is argue.

Hermia: I know. I just can't believe how he changed over this last millennium. It's like I don't even know him.

Demetrius: It's not your fault. He is the one who has turned into a jerk.

Hermia: In his defense, he never believed in eternal love. From the beginning, he always knew that lovers face millions of obstacles.

Demetrius: You will always be my first love, Hermia. I should have never agreed to him marrying you. We were meant to be.

Hermia: How about Helena?

Demetrius: I never loved her. It was just a trick the fairies played on us with that love potion. I guessed it rubbed off over the centuries. Helena just makes me sick now.

Hermia: I love you, too, Demetrius.

Lysander enters

Lysander: Ha, I knew it. Michelle told me you two are shagging. How long has this been going on?

Hermia: I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to find out this way. I can't believe Michelle told you. She is my best friend!

Demetrius: Oh my god, does Helena know?

Lysander: Obviously, you moron. Michelle is like the 411 information hotline for gossip. Everyone knows about your indiscretions. Your lies and dirty little secrets are all out in the open.

Demetrius: Truthfully, I'm glad that I don't have to pretend any longer. I love Hermia and want to marry her.

Hermia: This is all too much to handle. I'm so sorry, my love, for disappointing you. Now I've lost everything.

Lysander runs to the edge of the stage.

Hermia: Where are you going?

Lysander: Back to Athens to the forest. I will ask the fairies to break the eternal life spell so I can live out my last few years in peace.

Lysander exists. Stage falls dark.