Moth Night: A Play About Words from Myths

Moth Night

1(A backyard on a warm summer night, at the edge of a meadow. A white sheet hangs between two trees, and a bright lamp shines on it. Crickets chirp.)

2JUN: (carrying a big box of jars and books) Aunt Rosa, this box weighs a ton. I feel like Atlas, the giant in the old Greek stories who had to hold up the whole sky on his shoulders.

3AUNT ROSA: (laughing) Then set the sky down by the steps, Atlas. Your shoulders can rest now.

4PRIYA: (slapping her arm) Another mosquito! These bugs are my nemesis. Every summer they find me, and every summer they win.

5AUNT ROSA: Here, put on this long-sleeved shirt. And look! Our first guest is here.

6(A small brown moth lands on the sheet. Two more flutter in from the dark.)

7PRIYA: It's so plain. I thought moths would be more exciting.

8AUNT ROSA: Look closer. See its feathery antennae? Many moths use antennae like those to smell. Be patient. The best moths often come later.

9(Time passes. The sheet slowly fills with striped moths, fuzzy moths, and one moth with round spots like eyes on its wings.)

10JUN: Aunt Rosa, how do you do it? Every time you hang up a sheet, something amazing shows up. You have the Midas touch!

11AUNT ROSA: King Midas turned everything he touched into gold, and that did not end well for him. My secret is simpler. When I was your age, Mr. Hale ran our nature club. He was my mentor. He taught me to wait, to watch, and to write everything down.

12PRIYA: (gasping and pointing) Look! At the top of the sheet!

13(A large, pale green moth with long, curving tails on its wings settles on the sheet. Everyone freezes.)

14AUNT ROSA: (whispering) A luna moth. In all my summers, I have only seen a few.

15PRIYA: (forgetting all about the mosquitoes) It looks like it's made of moonlight. Jun, write this down! Aunt Rosa, can I learn from you the way you learned from Mr. Hale?

16AUNT ROSA: (smiling) Only if you bring your own notebook and your own long sleeves.