Characters:

Mya, 20’s
Dana, 50’s – 60’s
Jay, 50’s – 60’s

Setting: Dana and Jay’s House, Dinnertime

 

“Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them;
rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.”
~ Oscar Wilde

 

 

(MYA is having dinner with her parents DANA and JAY at their home. They’re halfway through the evening and everyone is in good spirits.)

DANA
And you’re sure you won’t be home for Thanksgiving?

MYA
No, I’ll have to be in Lugavaria then. That’s when they think the coup is going to happen.

JAY
I don’t like you going into all these warzones, Mya.

DANA
Jay, we talked about this.

MYA
It’s my job, Dad.

JAY
Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

MYA
I’ll have my crew with me. We get pulled out if anything gets too hot. Plus, it’s not a warzone yet. They’re just thinking it might turn into one if the election doesn’t go the way the autocrat wants it to.

DANA
Which autocrat is this again?

MYA
Shuva Perdaval.

(A beat. DANA and JAY share a look.)

What?

DANA
Um. I’ve never seen this Shuva–

(JAY clears his throat.)

JAY
Sorry, uh, would anyone like dessert? I made a torte.

DANA
Do you have a photo of him, Mya?

JAY
Dana.

MYA
Uh. I don’t, but he’s–I mean, you can Google him, I’m sure.

(DANA already has her phone out. She finds a photo.)

JAY
Dana, I don’t think we need to–

 

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