ACT ONE
(The stage is barely lit, the curtain down. White noise crackles through the speakers, getting steadily louder. The familiar ding of the fasten seatbelt sign turning on/off echoes once or twice. The noise grows louder and louder until finally …)
ELIAS: Is there a doctor on board? (Curtain up. JACOB lies in the aisle, front and center, with multiple passengers and flight attendants hovering over him. Frantic shouts echo the call for a doctor.)
RAFAEL: (Enters stage right) I’m a doctor, please, let me through. (Reaches the unconscious man.) What’s going on?
ELIAS: I don’t know, I think he’s having a seizure or something.
RAFAEL: Is anyone traveling with him?
ELIAS: Does anyone know this man? His name is (pulls open the man’s wallet and reads) Jacob Young. (Passengers respond with blank stares, shaking heads. A baby cries.)
SASHA: I’ll make an announcement on the intercom. (Exits stage left)
RAFAEL: I need to lay him on his side, clear the aisle please. (People hesitate, barely moving)
ELIAS: (loudly) All right, everyone out of the way, let the doctor help. (Everyone shuffles out of the way, whispering frantically. RAFAEL turns JACOB on his side so he’s facing upstage.)
SASHA (offstage, over intercom): Hello everyone, take note that the fasten seatbelt sign is on. Please remain in your seats while we handle a medical emergency. (Everyone on stage slowly returns to their seats, all except RAFAEL and ELIAS. Everyone cranes their necks and stands up every once and while to get a better look.) If anyone on board is traveling with Jacob Young, please report to row 26, thank you.
RAFAEL: Someone give me a jacket, pillow, blanket, anything soft that I can put under his head.
ISABELLA: (quickly rummages through her things and hands RAFAEL a small neck pillow) Will this work?
RAFAEL: It’ll have to. (Offstage, CARRIE shouts frantically, getting louder as she draws nearer and finally enters stage right.)
CARRIE: … that’s my husband, please (she sees JACOB on the ground) … Oh my god! What’s wrong with him, what’s happening to my husband?
RAFAEL: Ma’am, please calm down, now tell us, does your husband have epilepsy or some kind of medical condition that might have caused this?
CARRIE: No, no, Jacob’s perfectly healthy, he runs marathons, he coaches our son’s basketball team … Oh my god, what the hell is the matter with him?
RAFAEL: (Stares intently down at JACOB, visibly puzzled) He’s foaming at the mouth … Ma’am, what’s your name?
CARRIE: I- I- it’s C-Carrie, Carrie Young.
RAFAEL: All right, Carrie, I’m Rafael, I’m a doctor. Now, has Jacob consumed any alcohol or drugs on this trip?
CARRIE: What? What does that have to do—look, no, we just came to Arizona to visit his mom, but we’re with our kids.
ELIAS: Well, you two were sitting separately, is it possible he consumed any when you weren’t around?
CARRIE: I mean … I guess it’s possible, but we only split up because for some reason the kids and I got a free upgrade to first class, otherwise we’ve been together the whole trip. (JACOB stops seizing. CARRIE breathes a sigh of relief.) Is it over, is he okay? (RAFAEL places two fingers on JACOB’s neck.)
RAFAEL: I’m not feeling a pulse. Elias, bring me the defibrillation kit! Starting chest compressions. (RAFAEL turns JACOB onto his back. ELIAS exits stage left.)
CARRIE: What do you mean there’s no pulse? (She collapses and holds JACOB’s head as RAFAEL starts CPR.) Jacob, Jake, please, you have to be okay, you have to come back home with us.
ELIAS: (Frantically rushes back onstage with SASHA) It’s not there, the defibrillation kit is gone!
RAFAEL: What? What do you mean it’s gone? (RAFAEL begins to lose his cool, though he continues CPR throughout.)
ELIAS: I-I don’t know, somebody removed it from the wall, it’s not there.
RAFAEL: Well, get the backup kit!
SASHA: (Beat.) There is no backup kit.
CARRIE: Somebody do something, please, my husband is dying!
RAFAEL: Fuck! (Beat. Then, he tries to regain his composure.) Okay, we need to land this plane.
ELIAS: I’ve notified the pilot that we have a Code Red, she’s attempting an emergency landing at the nearest airfield.
RAFAEL: Good, make sure they have EMS on the ground ready for us to arrive. (Turns to the rest of the passengers) Does anyone else here know CPR? (Beat.)
ISABELLA: Um, I-I was a lifeguard in high school.
RAFAEL: Okay, good, anyone else? (CARRIE sobs noisily, still clutching tight to JACOB.) Fine, okay, lifeguard, come over here please. (ISABELLA moves past the other passengers and makes her way to JACOB’s feet.) What’s your name?
ISABELLA: Isabella.
RAFAEL: It’s nice to meet you, Isabella, I’m Rafael. Okay, I’m gonna need you to take over for me in a second here so I can talk to (quickly looks up at ELIAS to read his nametag) Elias. Can you do that for me?
ISABELLA: I-I think so.
CARRIE: You think so?
ISABELLA: (To CARRIE) No, I can do it, (To RAFAEL) I can do it, I swear. (RAFAEL switches places with ISABELLA and she begins chest compressions. RAFAEL rises and pulls ELIAS downstage, out of earshot of the rest of the passengers.)
RAFAEL: Elias, I am about to tell you something, and I need you not to react in any way. (They both glance over at the gaggle of passengers.)
ELIAS: Okay …
RAFAEL: The foaming mouth, the seizing, the heart stopping … these things don’t add up to a normal medical diagnosis or condition. But they do indicate something else.
ELIAS: (Trying to keep a straight face) What exactly do they indicate?
RAFAEL: Poison.
(Thunder echoes across stage. The video projection transforms to show dark, tumultuous clouds. The lights flicker on and off and all the passengers begin to shake. The plane is going through some serious turbulence. Chaos ensues, people begin to shout. The baby starts crying again.)
ISABELLA: Rafael, I need help!
CARRIE: Please come stop this girl from killing my husband!
ELIAS: Everyone, please remain calm and in your seats.
(RAFAEL and ELIAS rush back to JACOB. Shouting and screaming ensues, the white noise from the beginning of the show returns, everything continues to build in volume and intensity until suddenly … it all stops. Everyone is frozen on stage in their various positions except for SASHA. She holds a burner cellphone up to her ear on far stage left. She has a sinister smile on her face that makes the audience realize in an instant that she’s the bad guy here.)
SASHA: (In a non-English accent, preferably Russian) It is finished. (Beat.) No, of course not. You know I’m the best at what I do. Even better than … what did he call himself this time? Ah, yes … even better than Jacob Young.
END OF PLAY