This Is Water

“..There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

–David Foster Wallace 

 

A mother chaperoning her daughter’s class trip freaks out at the invisible patriarchy and is tone-policed by her daughter and her teacher into submission.

running time 20 minutes 

Setting: Today. Scott Polar Museum, Cambridge, England. 

Characters:

MARY. Any race. Fish out of water.

ESTHER. A teacher in Cambridge.

VIOLET. Mary’s daughter. Embarrassed.

Production History

2015, WriteOn, Scott Polar Museum (Darren Bender, Dir.)