SUMMARY:

“Crossing The Limits” explores why we stop ourselves from achieving our dreams. This one act is easily produced, can accommodate any size cast of any age, race, or gender, and is appropriate for all audiences.

CHARACTERS:

KEEPER OF THE LINE: any age, race, gender

CHARACTER B2: any age, race, gender (has multiple lines)

Characters A through F4: Any age, race, gender.

ALL except KEEPER OF THE LINE: The entire cast, but the KEEPER OF THE LINE.

(Author’s note: The Director has the flexibility to assign single lines “CHARACTER lines A – F4” to a single actor, or assign one or many lines to multiple actors, as available. Minimum cast would be “Keeper of the Line”, “Character B2” and at least one other actor. There is no maximum cast number.)

TIME
The present.

PLACE
Somewhere.

SCENE

There’s a red line that divides the stage into two sections, left and right halves. The line should crisscross the stage whether on the floor, back wall, or hung, as appropriate for the theatre configuration. The Characters are on stage right, and the KEEPER OF THE LINE is on stage left. There is one chair on each side of the red line.

CHARACTER A:
Excuse us.

ALL except KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Hello! Excuse us! Hey! Are you listening? What’s your problem?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Yes?

CHARACTER B:
We want to get over there.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
I’m sorry, but I can’t let you.

CHARACTER C:
Why not?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
You tell me.

CHARACTER D:
We don’t know why.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
It’s my job.

CHARACTER E:
We have to go there.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
You’re afraid.

CHARACTER F:
We are not.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
If you weren’t, you would have already crossed the line.

CHARACTER G:
But the line is there for a reason, isn’t it?

CHARACTER H:
It’s just not right to go crossing lines that look like
they’re put there for a reason.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
That’s just an excuse.

CHARACTER I:
Look. We want to go over there and we will.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
I don’t think you will. You haven’t.

CHARACTER J:
Not yet.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Why not?

CHARACTER K:
We –

CHARACTER L:
– don’t –

CHARACTER M:
– know.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
That’s not an answer. You have the answer. You also have the
question.

CHARACTER N:
What does that mean?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
It means you have to have the question to be able to find the answer.

CHARACTER O:
We just want to get over there.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
That’s not a question. And it’s not the answer, either.

CHARACTER P:
How do you know?

CHARACTER Q:
Who are you, anyway?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
I’ve been watching you.

CHARACTER R:
We’ve never met you.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Yes, you have.

CHARACTER S:
When? What were we doing?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
This. Exactly this. I was on this side of the line and you were on that side, wanting to come here.

CHARACTER T:
You’re lying.

CHARACTER U:
Come on. There’s enough of us to just cross over. All of us can’t be stopped.

CHARACTER V:
Yeah, power in numbers! Let’s just cross it. Come on!

(The actors start running to the line.)

CHARACTER W:
No! Wait! We don’t know what will happen.

(The actors stop.)

CHARACTER X:
Everyone, back up. It’s not – not safe.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
You’ve been here many times, but you never learn.

CHARACTER Y:
We’ve been here? What are we supposed to be learning?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Only you can decide that.

CHARACTER Z:
We want to learn how to cross the line.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Maybe you can’t.

CHARACTER A2:
You just said we have to decide what we want to learn. We told you. We want to learn how to cross this line.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
OK. One of you pick up the chair. You (to CHARACTER B2) pick up that chair.

(CHARACTER B2 moves to chair and picks it up.)

CHARACTER B2:
OK. I picked up the chair.

CHARACTER C2:
We already know how to pick up a chair.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
(To CHARACTER B2.) How did you pick it up?

CHARACTER D2:
They just picked it up.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
No learning happening here.

CHARACTER E2:
We don’t know what we’re supposed to be learning.

CHARACTER F2:
Do you want to know what they were thinking when they picked up the chair?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
No. How?

CHARACTER G2:
How do we do anything?

CHARACTER H2:
You told them to pick up the chair and they picked it up.

CHARACTER B2:
(Sits down.) You told me to pick up the chair. OK. I listened to you speak to me and you said words – that I – interpreted.

CHARACTER I2:
They turned to the chair.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Why did they turn to the chair?

CHARACTER J2:
You told them to.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Did I?

CHARACTER K2:
You said to pick up the chair, but they had to turn to it so they could pick it up.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Learning. Good.

CHARACTER L2:
They listened to you – and made a decision.

CHARACTER B2:
Then I followed the decision with – an action and that was to raise the chair off the ground. There.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Why were you willing to pick up a chair just because I told you to?

CHARACTER M2:
You didn’t force them.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Getting smarter.

CHARACTER N2
It’s about making decisions?

CHARACTER O2:
Choices.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
You want to cross the line because –

CHARACTER P2:
Because – because we think our – dreams are over there.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Dreams. Good. Why do you want your them?

CHARACTER Q2:
Because.

CHARACTER R2:
We don’t really know the reason.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
You don’t have to have a reason to dream.\

CHARACTER S2:
We just do.

CHARACTER T2:
I still don’t get why you made them pick up the chair.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Because they didn’t analyze how to pick up the chair – how much does it weigh, where should they put their hands. They just did it. No strategy. No judgement. No, “why not.” No, “I can’t.” They just did it. And, without wondering what the consequences would be.

CHARACTER U2:
Without guessing.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Right. They didn’t create all kinds of scenarios about the chair, like where it was from, or what style it was or whether they could lift it or not. They just lifted it.

CHARACTER V2:
Without wondering or analyzing how.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Like now. You don’t know why you want to cross this line. You have the desire to cross it. And that, my friends, is the definition of a dream.

CHARACTER W2:
It feels like our dreams are over there.

CHARACTER X2:
We have to go. So, why can’t we cross it?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Because – you put it here.

ALL except KEEPER OF THE LINE
We did not! Are you kidding? You’re lying. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

CHARACTER Y2:
We put this line here? Why would we do that?

CHARACTER Z2:
If we put the line there –

CHARACTER A3:
– we should be able to cross it.

CHARACTER B3:
Right.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Listen. You were all born with natural curiosity, like trying to stick your little baby fingers into the electric wall socket. You wanted to touch it because it interested you. But, but what did your parents yell? “No!”

CHARACTER C3:
They were trying to protect us from getting hurt.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
But first you had this innate desire to touch the socket.

CHARACTER D3:
We were idiots.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Never say that! You had a natural desire, but what happened? You were denied. “No.” And that’s when this line began.

CHARACTER E3:
But they said “no” to keep us safe.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
And, the first time you saw the ocean, you had the desire to run into the waves. But again, what did your parents yell?

ALL except KEEPER OF THE LINE
“No!”

CHARACTER F3:
But we didn’t know how to swim.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
And, you didn’t get to run into the ocean. Your natural impulses kept getting countered with a “no, don’t do that.”

CHARACTER G3:
We were just kids.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
What were you learning?

CHARACTER H3:
To be safe?

CHARACTER I3:
Don’t do the things we want to do.

CHARACTER J3:
Don’t dream? No, not just don’t dream. It taught us that our dreams aren’t valid. And that they’re dangerous.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Very astute.

CHARACTER K3:
Our dreams, our desires are judged by outside forces.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Yes. They may go against your family’s culture, or the neighborhoods, or you may face gender bias or peer pressure.

CHARACTER L3:
That’s me.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
The more you were told your dreams aren’t good enough, or that you shouldn’t have “those” dreams, the thicker you made the line.

CHARACTER M3:
This line?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
That line. Every time your dreams are quashed, this line gets thicker and longer.

CHARACTER N3:
Why? To protect ourselves? To feel safe? From what?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
From failing to achieve your dreams.

CHARACTER O3:
From discovering our dreams are false or that they’re impossible. The line is to keep us out?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
To keep you in.

CHARACTER P3:
Safe? But, if our dreams are over there, we have to go there!

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Well, then cross – your – line.

CHARACTER Q3:
What’s wrong with us?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Nothing.

CHARACTER R3:
We’re already failures.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
NO!! You’re human. You’re learning. You’re beginning.

CHARACTER S3:
We’re stuck.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
That’s an illusion. Just like this line.

CHARACTER T3:
What if we fail?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
What if you fail?

CHARACTER U3:
I don’t think we’ll cross this line again, if we go after our dreams and fail.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Well, fail and find out. I dare you.

CHARACTER V3:
I understand. You’re the part of us that’s stopped ourselves
from getting everything we ever wanted.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Maybe you’ll get it all. You won’t know until you try.

CHARACTER W3:
We’ve grown up.

CHARACTER X3:
We don’t need to be protected from ourselves anymore.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
I’ve been waiting for you to find your courage.

CHARACTER Y3:
Now what?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Do it!

CHARACTER Z3:
How will we know it will be worth it?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
You don’t.

CHARACTER A4
But we can’t stay here anymore.

CHARACTER B4:
I don’t want to go. I’m still afraid.

CHARACTER C4:
It’s ok. You’re not alone. We’ll help you.

CHARACTER D4:
We have to help each other.

(The ALL except KEEPER OF THE LINE quickly huddles then unhuddles.)

CHARACTER E4 (Suggest CHARACTER B2 reads this):
We have the question and, we have the answer.

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
What’s the question?

CHARACTER F4 (Suggest CHARACTER B2 reads this):
What are we willing to do to cross over our own fears and go after and achieve our dreams?

KEEPER OF THE LINE:
And the answer?

All except KEEPER OF THE LINE:
Everything!

(ALL except KEEPER OF THE LINE helps each other jump over the line into KEEPER OF THE LINE’s area. They congratulate each other and dance filled with the expectation of absolute freedom.)

(Fade to Black.)

(End of scene.)