Resistance

an excerpt from a drama by Taylor Sklenar

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There’s still time to see Resistance, this powerful drama, with upcoming shows in Grinnell and Ames. Read an excerpt of the play below.

RESISTANCE

Excerpt from Scene 1.

[This excerpt takes place at a Halloween party in the basement of the church / de facto rec center of this small town. SYD, 30s, wears a hippy costume, while FRANK, 60s, wears no costume at all. Other party-goers listen in.]

FRANK

Yeah? And what’s going on out on your little plot there? Some sort of a garden?

SYD

Har har. Course, I wouldn’t expect you to recognize a vegetable, even with a whole farm next door.

FRANK
What’ve you got, two acres? That don’t count as a farm.

SYD

You know it’s ten. But we’ve only planted a couple this year, since some is in permaculture. You all packed it in, but our kale is still producing.

FRANK

That what you’re doing up on that east strip by my place?

SYD

No, you’re thinking of our asparagus thicket along the fence. Over by the orchard. You know, we’ve got another crop of radishes and carrots coming in before winter. Still turning revenue.

FINN
Nice!

HANNAH
That’s pretty neat.

ROD

That’s a little different.

FRANK

I just wonder what the Andersons would think of what you’re doing on their land.

SYD

It’s my land, Frank. Has been for several years.

FINN

Oh Mrs. Anderson! How’s she doing since Jim passed?

JANET

She’s alright. Giving the assisted living people shit but she loves it there.

FRANK

It’ll always be the Anderson Plot.

SYD
Unless they had sold to you? Then it would be yours?

FRANK

It’d still be the Anderson Plot. It’d just be mine. Better to have neighbors take it over than one of them investment firms from New York that never seen the land.

SYD

I agree with you there.

FRANK

Always thought I’d complete the block, you know? But they really wanted to sell to you, huh.

SYD

The Andersons are family friends from way back. I grew up with their granddaughter. No point in being sore about it.

FRANK
Yeah, yeah, I know.

SYD

And they knew what I was doing.

FRANK

Just hope it’s worth it. All that work and your whole field looks all…

(FRANK gestures a tangled mess with his hand. There is some scattered chuckling at this.)

SYD

That’s the nature of horticulture. Yours on the other hand…

FRANK

What’s that? Something you want to say?

SYD
I was just surprised to see the state your field was in this year.

FRANK

I keep my rows straight.

SYD

Just seems like you had your own weed problems this year.

(A beat. All the air is sucked out of the room as FRANK stands for the first time. This is not a joke to him.)

FRANK

You wanna say that again?

SYD

You had weeds, Frank. A mess of them. And you sprayed a lot.

(FRANK does not break eye contact with SYD. His massive form is tight as a clenched fist. SYD tries to enlist help from ROD and JANET.)

SYD

I mean, you guys saw him out there.

(ROD comes to FRANK’s defense, diffusing the situation.)

ROD
We were all fighting weeds. It was a bad year for them. Waterhemp like crazy then lambsquarter and velvetleaf -- and we were alternating Extrazine and Round Up and 2,4-D. Nothing works like it used to.

FINN
That’s true. That’s true. Real bad.

FRANK

If I got weeds, it’s probably from your little experiments.

SYD
I weed mechanically, so they’re definitely not getting resistance from my plot. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to admit that all that spraying is not doing you a lot of good.

FRANK
You seen my east forty? Clean as a whistle. I’m trying out something new.

SYD
New?

FINN
I thought there weren’t new chemicals. Since like the Cold War?

SYD

Unless—

FRANK

That’s right. There’s a new herbicide they’re putting out. Thunder Flex. Tried it on those east forty, and it’s like nothin.

SYD

Thunder Flex? You’re not!

FINN

What’s this?

ROD
I read about this. It uses a whole new chemical pathway for killing weeds.

SYD
Yeah, and it’s also under review by the EPA. They’re talking about banning it.

FRANK

Banning it? It’s the best herbicide that’s come around for years. The Big One. One spray, those acres were clean. I’m planting out in all Thunder Flex tolerant corn next year.

FINN

Woah!

ROD

That good? It seems like a big leap.

FRANK

Let’s compare fields next year and see then.

Taylor Sklenar Bio:

Taylor Sklenar is a Lecturer at Iowa State University, playwright, and producer for The EcoTheatre Lab. He grew up in Treynor, a small farming community in southwest Iowa, before moving to Ames. His writing explores the intersection of science, sustainability, and rural life and informs his narrative-based approach to teaching science communication and public engagement.

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