The Drowning Man

a very popular play for street theater

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CAST: Man, Wife, Social Worker, Narrator.

(A man is thrashing about on stage as if drowning in the water)

Man: Help! Help! Help! I'm drowning!!! Someone please save me! Help!

Wife: Oh, no! It's Marvin! Someone help him! Please! My husband is drowning!

(Social Worker appears on the scene)

Social Worker: Don't worry, ma'am! I'll save that poor guy! I'm a social worker! Saving people is my business. Look, when people are hungry, they come to me! If they need a shirt on their backs, they come to me! If the sheriff throws them out on the street, they come to me! If they need a...

Wife: Please hurry — or it'll be too late!

(the Social Worker tears off his jacket, takes off his tie, takes off his shoes and "dives" into the imaginary lake. He "swims" over to the drowning man, grabs him and starts pulling him back to the "shore." The victim struggles the Social Worker subdues him with a punch. At this point, the drowning man slips out of his jacket and the Social Worker "swims" back to land with the jacket. Upon reaching the shore the Social Worker yells:)

Social Worker: Everything's okay, ma'am! I told you I'd take care of him! Here he is, ma'am! I told you! I told you I'd save him!

Wife: Marvin? AAAAHHHHHH!!! You fool! You didn't save Marvin! You just saved his coat! (she cries and wails over the empty coat)

Narrator: The moral of this story is that while a social worker can alleviate a person's material problems (or save his coat) he can't begin to help the real person living inside the body (the soul). Only by taking up a spiritual process can we do that. Then we can realize our spiritual nature and see the spiritual nature of others. In this age, the easiest and most recommended process of spiritual realization is to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

The End