Act I scene I
ACT I – SCENE 1
LOCATION: The Courtyard of Bramblewood High
(Lights up. A cracked concrete courtyard. Students cluster in miserable little cliques. A banner reads: “BRAMBLEWOOD HIGH — AVERAGE IS ACHIEVABLE!”)
(Rusty bell rings like a dying robot.)
MARA (V.O.)
Another school morning. Another existential crisis disguised as morning announcements. Another day of pretending everything’s fine when it’s absolutely, aggressively not.
(Mara Quinn steps forward. Hoodie. Backpack with pins. Eyes tired but sharp.)
🎵 SONG #1 — “ANOTHER PERFECT CRISIS”
(Full ensemble number)
MARA (singing)
Every day I wake up in a small-town scream,
Where the lockers slam shut on every half-dead dream.
Teachers smile like they’re paid to lie,
And nobody asks why we wanna die—
ENSEMBLE
It’s another!
Another perfect crisis!
Another day the universe politely smites us!
(Students move chaotically—arguing food fights making out.)
JACE (entering)
They say teen years are supposed to shine
Well mine’s a dumpster fire dressed up like a sign
That reads “You must be this broken to attend.”
Guess I’m overqualified, my friend.
BRYNN (pushing Jace)
Move it! The wolves are loose again—
And by wolves I mean freshmen.
ENSEMBLE:
It’s another!
Another perfect crisis!
Homework, heartbreak, cafeteria lysis!
It’s another!
Another perfect crisis!
But don’t complain, just smile—
(beat)
You know how adults despise us.
(Faculty enter: Principal Dresden, Ms. Hale.)
PRINCIPAL DRESDEN (singing awkwardly)
Good morning, students, please don’t riot,
Try mindfulness, and please stay quiet.
ELI (to audience, singing)
Quiet? In this place? I think not.
Silence is suspicious. Something’s always off.
(Eli notices tree line far beyond fence. Something moves.)
ELI (softly)
Did anyone else… see that?
TESSA (singing)
See what? Eli, stop. You’re freaking me out again—
You always do that when you’re bored or when—
ELI
No. Something’s in the woods.
(Music pauses. A soft hum is heard—eerie, distant, almost like a harmonic chant.)
MARA
…What was that?
(Humming stops.)
ENSEMBLE (singing, building)
It’s another!
Another perfect crisis!
Something creepy lurking, yeah the vibe is priceless.
It’s another!
Another perfect crisis!
Welcome to Bramblewood—
Where normal never likes us!
(Blackout. End of Scene 1.)
