Laila Pines For The Wolf
Characters: Wolf / Laila / Grandma / Mother (Grandma and Mother could be played by the same actor if necessary).
Note: In Arabic culture the story of Little Red Riding Hood is known as Laila and the Wolf (Laila wa al theeb).
/ indicates an interruption. Words in brackets are not spoken.
Scene One
Wolf
This is how the story goes..
Mother
Laila, your grandmother isn’t well. I want you to take this cake and bottle of wine to her. Oh and Laila, don’t step off the path. And leave things in the forest as you find them.
Laila
Yes mother. I’ll do everything right, don’t worry.
Wolf
But Laila was a liar. She not only veered off the path, she began to pluck the flowers and plants of the forest as she always does. This is where I enter the story.
(to Laila)
Good morning Little Red Riding Hood.
Laila
Don’t call me that, wolf. I hate it when you call me that. My name is Laila.
Wolf
Good morning Laila. And where are you going so early in the morning?
Laila
To Granny’s house.
Wolf
And what’s in that basket of yours?
Laila drinks from the bottle of wine.
Laila
Granny is ill. My stupid mother thought she could cure her with cake.
Wolf
And what’s in that bottle you’re drinking?
Laila
Pretty awesome Malbec. Wasted on the old hag if you ask me. Want a sip?
Wolf
I wouldn’t mind a drop.
Wolf drinks. He’s thirsty.
Wolf
I live on the island over there. It’s where I was born. I crossed what was left of the frozen water that connects the island to the mainland here. Let me tell you, it’s getting harder and harder to cross because of climate / (change).
Laila
Is this a sob story? Cause I really don’t have time for a sob story.
Wolf
I don’t suppose you could spare some of that cake.
Laila
Not a chance.
Wolf
Are you heading to your grandmother’s house? I could walk with you.
Laila
Not before I pick some more flowers.
Wolf
For your grandma. How thoughtful.
Laila
Hell no, they’re for me.
Wolf
And so I leave Laila as she sets about clearing more of the forest and I go to her grandma’s house. I knock on the door.
Grandma
Who’s there?
Wolf
A weary traveler.
(to the audience)
Grandma opens the door. She’s got a gun!
(to grandma)
I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just wondering if you’ve got any scraps I could eat. It’s getting harder and harder to get here from my island. I’m famished.
Grandma
I got nothing for a scrawny assed wolf. Except this bullet.
Wolf
She fires the gun which is old and rusty. The recoil knocks her off her feet. Her head smashes against the bed frame. She is dead as a doornail. I’m panicking even though I had nothing to do with her death. Any minute Laila will be here. I don’t want her to be traumatised by the sight of her grandma’s cracked head. I try to hide grandma under the bed. She’s too big. In the cupboard, it’s full of clothes and piles and piles and piles of plastic bags. I’ve got to hide her corpse before Laila gets here. What do I do? There’s only one thing for it — and this is where things get a little weird. I eat grandma and put on her clothes.
Laila
Hello Grandma.
Wolf
Hello Laila.
Laila
Why was the door open?
Wolf
It must’ve been the wind.
Laila
Oh Grandma what big ears you’ve got.
Wolf
All the better to hear you with.
Laila
What big eyes you’ve got.
Wolf
All the better to see you with.
Laila
What big hands you’ve got.
Wolf
All the better to hug you with.
Laila
And, oh, Grandma, what a great grim ghastly mouth you’ve got.
Wolf
All the better to kiss you with.
Laila
You’re not my grandma! You’re the big bad wolf!
Wolf
And that’s when she takes out her point 44 Magnum and blows my brains out.
Scene Two
Mother
Laila, your grandmother isn’t well. Take this cake and bottle of wine to her.
Laila
Yes mother.
Wolf
Good morning Laila. And where are you going so early in the morning?
Laila
To Granny’s house.
Wolf
And what’s in that bottle you’re drinking?
Laila
Want a sip?
Wolf
Yes please.
Laila
Forget it.
Wolf
I’m famished. It’s getting hotter every year which means when the water freezes, it forms a much thinner ice sheet than in the past. It makes crossing from the island to the mainland tricky. You have to watch your step. It’s exhaust/(ing).
Laila
Boring! I’m off to pick flowers.
Wolf
You’ve got to stop destroying the forest. That’s what’s causing the ice to melt.
Laila
Let me tell you, I make some serious cha-ching out of these flowers.
Wolf
Then at least give me a piece of the cake. Please!
Laila
Get lost.
Wolf
I go to her grandma’s house.
Grandma
Who’s there?
Wolf
A weary traveler.
(to the audience)
Grandma opens the door. Before she has the chance to point her gun at me, I drop dead from hunger.
Laila
Grandma!
Grandma
Hello darling. Did you bring me cake and wine?
Laila
Did you kill the wolf?!
Grandma
I didn’t touch him, I swear. He just dropped dead.
Laila
What are we going to do now? He’s supposed to eat you and then I kill him and then the cycle starts again.
Grandma
Well he’s dead anyway. Maybe if we wait a little.
Laila
It doesn’t work like that. He has to be alive when I shoot him in the head. Then everything goes back to the start. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!. This means I’m stuck here forever.
Grandma
Shoot me.
Laila
What?
Grandma
Shoot me and free yourself.
Laila
I can’t shoot you. You’re my grandma.
Grandma
You call me ‘old hag’ behind my back. You think I don’t know that.
Laila
I call you that cause I love you, you stupid old thing.
Grandma
Shoot me.
Laila
No.
Grandma
Shoot me.
Laila
No.
Grandma
It’s the only way to save yourself Laila.
Wolf
And that’s when Laila takes out her point 44 Magnum and blows grandma’s brains out.
Scene Three
Mother
Laila, your grandmother isn’t well. You’ve got to go and kill her.
Laila
Yes mother.
Wolf
Laila plucks the flowers as usual. But this time I don’t show up because the water between the island and the mainland never froze. So she stays stuck in the forest which is no longer a forest, just a clearing. She plucks and plucks until there is nothing left.
Laila
The last thing I hear is a cry from the island. It’s the wolf.
THE END.
Commission
Climate Change Theatre Action (CCTA) is a series of worldwide readings and performances of short climate change plays presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations Conference of the Parties — the international meetings that bring together world leaders to discuss strategies to reduce global carbon emissions. Fifty playwrights, hailing from every corner of the world, are commissioned to write a five-minute play about an aspect of climate change based on a prompt. The resulting collection of plays is then available to anyone interested in presenting an event in their community. CCTA 2019 events will take place worldwide September 15 — December 21, 2019. For more info: www.ClimateChangeTheatreAction.com
Inspiration for the play
The main inspiration for the play is an article entitled ‘Climate Change Is Burning a Wolf Pack’s Last Bridge to Survival’ by Taylor Hill (https://bit.ly/2tZSjz6). This year’s CCTA theme of Lighting the Way allowed for the inclusion of animals who could be inspirational in the fight for a sustainable future and so I thought it would be appropriate to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood (or Laila and the Wolf as it is known in the Arab world) from the point of view of the maligned Wolf who is struggling to survive because of climate change.
Biography
Hassan Abdulrazzak is of Iraqi origin, born in Prague and living in London. His plays include Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre, London 2007; BBC Radio 3, 2008; Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney 2009; Akvarious productions, Delhi & Mumbai 2010), The Prophet (Gate theatre, 2012), Love, Bombs and Apples (Arcola Theatre, 2016 and UK tour; Golden Thread, San Francisco, 2018 followed by a second UK tour; Kennedy Centre, Washington DC, 2019) and And Here I Am (Arcola Theatre, 2017 and UK tour; Middle East and Africa tour, 2018). Hassan has received the George Devine, Meyer-Whitworth and Pearson theatre awards as well as the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. Love, Bombs and Apples was the winner of outstanding production at Theatre Bay Area Awards 2018.
