DUET SCENE – PRETTY GIRL/PLAIN GIRL

Play Ten / Two by Lindsay Price

Stats Comedy, Simple Set, 10 minutes
Casting 2W
Description Plain girl wants to compete in a beauty pageant. Pretty girl would rather help a friend than spend time
with her boyfriend.
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ONE and TWO are teenage girls. ONE is typically TWO: Jan, are you ok? That was too much. I told
plain. TWO is typically pretty. you it -
TWO sits in a chair, filing her nails. ONE enters ONE: (not that fine) No, I’m fine. I’m fine. I just
and walks tentatively up to her. need to sit down.
ONE: Is this the registration desk for the Galaxy She sits down. TWO continues to flutter around
Girl Pageant? her.
TWO: (looking up with scorn) What if it is? TWO: You can’t look crushed like that. A pageant
girl sees that look on your face and she’ll go in
ONE: I’d like to register. for the kill.
TWO: You? You want to be in the pageant? ONE: They’ll really be that mean?
ONE: Yes. TWO: I was just getting started.
TWO laughs. ONE: (slumping her shoulders again) Oh.
TWO: You can’t register. TWO: See, you’re not up for this. Can’t you just
ONE: Why not? go to prom? Get a nice dress; I’ll do your hair.
Isn’t that enough?
TWO: Look at you.
ONE: This is what I want to do.
ONE: (looking down) What?
TWO: But a beauty pageant? They’ll humiliate you!
TWO: Look at the difference between us. I am
clearly a ten. You are clearly a two. (pointing at ONE: I can take it. (stands) Insult me again.
herself ) Ten. (pointing at ONE) Two. Tens enter TWO: (sits) I can’t. I can’t see that look on your face.
beauty pageants. Twos don’t. Now get out.
ONE: Then I’ll practice my walk.
ONE slumps her shoulders and slowly turns away.
TWO immediately changes her demeanour, leaps ONE teeters around unsuccessfully.
up, looks worried and runs to block ONE.
Continued Over…

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TWO: I don’t think you’ll ever be ready for pageant her balance. She knocks TWO away with her
girls. windmilling arms.
ONE: You’re just trying to scare me. Heel, toe. ONE: Double crap!
Heel, toe. You see? I almost have the hang of this.
(she windmills her arms) TWO: Watch out!

TWO: (not convinced) Almost… TWO tries to catch ONE but she’s too late. ONE
crashes to the floor.
ONE: I can do this. (she teeters) Thousands of
girls enter pageants. TWO: Are you all right?

TWO: Yeah and thousands don’t. ONE: I think the heels won.

ONE: Don’t you have a date tonight? TWO: Take those stupid things off.

TWO: Huh? Oh, I cancelled. TWO grabs a foot and ONE cries out.

ONE: Why? TWO: Oh oh.

TWO: Because you asked me to help you. ONE: Oh oh is right. (she touches her ankle, hissing
in pain) I think I did some damage.
ONE: Won’t Dean get mad?
TWO: Do you want to stay on the floor or go to
TWO: He better not. He’s not that special. the chair?
ONE: Don’t you love him? ONE: Chair.
TWO: Oh, sure. Maybe. Maybe not. TWO helps ONE up. They start hobbling to the
chair.
ONE: Tara, you are not normal.
TWO: I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t do what
TWO: Why? Selene tells me.
ONE: You don’t want me to be in a pageant. You ONE: But what if she stops being your friend?
cancelled on your boyfriend. You’re not supposed
to be my friend! TWO: Then she wasn’t worth it to begin with.
TWO: Why? ONE: Don’t you read magazines? You’re not
supposed to think for yourself. (she sighs) You
ONE: Pretty people are friends with pretty people. are totally abnormal.
TWO: That’s ridiculous. TWO gets ONE in the chair.
ONE: Selene doesn’t think so. I heard what she said TWO: So what are you saying? If you were pretty
about me. I’m plain. Boring. Not worth hanging and I was plain, you’d dump me as a friend?
out with. You shouldn’t hang out with me. That’s
what she said. ONE: No. I don’t know.
TWO: She’s wrong. TWO: (studying ONE’s foot) You really did a
number on this.
ONE: You know just as well as I do there’s a gap
bigger than the Grand Canyon between the ONE: How am I going to compete in the pageant?
Selene’s and the me’s of the world. ( ONE teeters
on her heels) Oh crap. TWO: You don’t have to! I don’t care what you look
like. I don’t care what Selene says you look like.
ONE windmills her arms and has trouble with
Continued Next…

© Lindsay Price 2017 2

ONE: (almost crying) I care.
There is a pause as the girls look at each other.
TWO: You’ll wear flats.
ONE: Everyone else will be in heels.
TWO: There are these flats in Stanbrooks. I saw
them last week. Pointy toe, thin, sort of pink, sort
of mauve; very pretty. They’ll look great and you’ll
be able to walk. We can go tomorrow.
ONE: What about Dean?
TWO: They won’t fit, but they’d probably look
pretty on him too.
ONE: Jerk.
TWO: Doofus.
ONE: Ok. Flats it is.

© Lindsay Price 2017 3