ACT 1 SCENE 1: The setting is a doctor's waiting room. Children are playing, a filter in an aquarium tank is humming, and several adults are reading magazines. The people are all waiting and have been waiting for an hour. ADULT 1 is very impatient and fidgety. He keeps looking at his watch and sighing repeatedly. One of the children begins to cough.
ADULT 1:Sammy, come over here! If I have to tell you one more time! (Adult 1 looks at his watch again.)
SAMMY walks back to his father.
ADULT 2:(whispering to ADULT 3)
I wonder what why they're here.
ADULT 3:(whispering back to ADULT 2)
I don't know, but he looks pretty sick.
ADULT 2:(whispering to ADULT 3)
Well, whatever it is he's got, I don't want my kid to get it.
Suddenly, the door to the office opens, and a nurse calls out who the doctor will see next.
NURSE:Fargis, the doctor will see you now.
ADULT 3:That's me, nurse, but this gentleman (points to ADULT 1) should go ahead of me. His boy needs the doctor more.
ADULT 1 looks over to ADULT 3 and nods. ADULT 3 smiles back. The nurse calls for ADULT 1 and SAMMY. ADULT 1 and SAMMY walk to the back. The nurse begins to talk to them.
NURSE:So what seems to be troubling your son?
ADULT 1:Him? Nothing. I just came to see the doctor for a check up. But that was a really long wait.
adapted from "Duped at the Doctor's Office" by c. safos

Incident at an Intersection
by c. safos

ACT 1 SCENE 1: The setting is a street corner. A man and an older woman both stand waiting for the light to change. The man is talking on his phone and looks busy. He has a newspaper and an umbrella. When he hangs up the phone, he fidgets in his pockets and drops his wallet. When he picks it up, he moves his keys, phone, and wallet in his pockets and changes where they are placed. The old woman clutches her purse. She stands quietly next to him as cars speed past them. Even though the light hasn't changed, the old woman inches forward. The man grabs her and pulls her back to the curb just as a truck speeds past the area where she was stepping.

OLD WOMAN:Oh my!
The OLD WOMAN grabs the man by the hip to balance herself.
MAN:Are you okay?
OLD WOMAN:Help! Help! Someone! Police! I'm being robbed!
MAN:Excuse me?
OLD WOMAN:Help me! This man is trying to rob me! (She clutches her purse.)
MAN:Madame, I'm not trying to rob you! Please! I was trying to keep you from being run down!
OLD WOMAN:Help! Help! Help!
Just then, a police car drives by and parks to investigate the ruckus.
POLICEMAN:What's going on here?
OLD WOMAN:This man is trying to rob me.
MAN:Officer, there was a truck approaching. I tried to pull this woman back to the curb. . .
Suddenly, the light changes, and the OLD WOMAN crosses the street and enters a shop.
POLICEMAN:Alright sir, you'll have to answer a few questions. Do you have any ID?
The MAN reaches into his front pocket. He then reaches into his back pocket, then his front pocket.
MAN:I just had my wallet. (He remembers the OLD WOMAN grabbing his hip.) Officer, that old woman has robbed me!

How are the themes in these two dramas different?
A.
In "Incident at an Intersection," the reader feels badly about who gets fooled; in "Duped at the Doctor's Office," the reader does not feel badly about who is fooled.
B.
In "Incident at an Intersection," the old woman appears innocent; in "Duped at the Doctor's Office," the nurse does not appear innocent.
C.
In "Incident at an Intersection," the old woman accidentally fools the man; in "Duped at the Doctor's Office," the adult intentionally fools the others.
D.
In "Incident at an Intersection," the reader feels the policeman and the old woman are working together; in "Duped at the Doctor's Office," the reader feels that the adult is working alone.