INTRODUCTION TO ACT I
Today on TUNING IN THE U.S.A., we are with Susan and her friend Harry Bennett in Chinatown, a special neighborhood of New York City. They have a list of fresh foods they need to buy for a dinner party that night. But Chinatown has many food markets. And the streets are very busy. And so, shopping for food in Chinatown becomes an adventure for Susan and Harry.
Act I
Susan: Look, Harry! These vegetables are so much fresher and nicer than the ones I usually find at the grocery store.
Harry: They’re so much more unusual than the ones you usually find at the grocery store. Susan, What’s that? Is that an eggplant?
Su: Yup, It’s a Chinese eggplant. Check the list, Harry, and see if we need to buy that.
Harry: [he reads aloud.] “bean sprouts, sea bass, shrimp, eggplant!”
Su: Ah, success! We found our first ingredient. Oh, and there are the mushrooms.
Harry: I know hardly anything about Chinese cooking.
Su: That’s the reason tonight will be so much fun. You’ll get to meet my friend Lily. And you’ll meet her friend Ed. He’s an actor. And you’ll get to eat a terrific home-cooked Chinese dinner.
Harry: Sounds like fun.
Su: Right! But only if we finish our part of the deal. We shop. They cook.
Ha: And everyone cats. [Harry and Susan laugh.]
Ha: Okay, next item on the list… bean sprouts.
Su: Bean sprouts, bean sprouts. Ah! Look down.
Harry: Oh, I see. In the bucket. Those white things must be bean sprouts. I’ll just grab a handful!
Susan: Here’s a plastic bag to put them in. Oh, Harry! Look! There goes a fish seller pushing a cart.
Harry: he must have fifteen kinds of fish in that cart.
Susan: C’mon, Harry. Let’s buy the shrimp and the sea bass from him.
Ha: Okay. You follow him. I’ll get the bean sprouts and pay for the vegetables. Then I’ll catch up to you.
Su: All right. [She walks away.]
Ha: Susan! ...Susan! Excuse me, office. Have you seen a woman…about this tall… with blond hair and…?
Policeman: Sorry, Mister. A hundred people pass this street corner every few minutes. Maybe I saw her. But I can’t really say for sure.
Harry: I understand, officer. Thanks, anyway.
Policeman: Good luck!
Susan: [She is excited.] Harry! Oh, there you are!
Harry: Susan! Am I happy to see you! I thought I lost you.
Su: And I thought I lost you. I went down the wrong street.
Ha: Well. We found each other.
Su: And it’s a good thing, too. We have to finish our shopping.
Ha: Did the man with the cart have the shrimp and the sea bass?
Su: Yes. Look in the bag. They’re beautiful. And just wait till you taste Lily’s cooking!
Harry: Susan, if eating Lily’s dinner is just half as interesting as buying the ingredients for it, well…I’m sure it will be great!
INTRODUCTION TO ACT II
This time on TUNING IN THE U.S.A., we are at Susan’s apartment in New York City. There’s a dinner party going on. Susan and friends Harry bought the ingredients for the meal. Lily, a Chinese-American friend of Susan’s, is cooking dinner. Ed, an actor, helps chop the vegetables. As they discuss the American diet, everyone agrees that it’s changing for the better.
Act II
Lily: Okay, Ed. I’m ready to add in the eggplant.
Ed: Where is the eggplant?
Lily: Susan? Did you and Harry forget the eggplant?
Susan: Of course not, Lily. I know it’s in one of these bags.
Ed: [he looks in a bag.] Here we are! The eggplant!
Li: Okay. I need to start cooking it now. Ed, how quickly can you chop all of the eggplant into thin strips about two inches long?
Ed: I’ll do best I can. [He chops the eggplant.]
Su: Ed, let me and Harry help you. Here are two more knives. We’ll all chop. [Susan, Harry, and Ed chop the eggplant.]
Harry: Ed, you handle that knife like a professional cook.
Ed: I’m a professional actor.
Ha: I thought someone said you worked in a restaurant.
Ed: I do. In between acting jobs, I’m a waiter.
Su: A lot of actors do that kind of work, don’t they-waiting on tables?
Ed: Yup. It seems like half the waiters at our restaurant are actors or singers.
Lily: Oh, Ed and I went out to eat the other day. And at the restaurant all the waiters and waitresses sang and danced in between serving dinners. It was wild.
Ha: I guess they’d have to be actors to get a waiting job at that restaurant!
Ed: That’s right. And I’ll bet all of them are hoping to be out of that job and in a great new play or a film.
Lily: That’s the actor’s life! Always changing.
Ed: True. But there’s change in every job. I mean, look at the food and restaurant businesses. Talk about change! The American diet is much different than it was ten years ago.
Su: I guess people are eating more healthy foods.
Ed: Much healthier. Here’s the eggplant, Lily-all chopped. Just think about it. Are any of you eating the same way you ate ten years ago?
Ha: I know I’m not. I was just starting my own business then. I didn’t have much money. Once, when I was working late, I ate a whole box of chocolate donuts.
Ed: Chocolate donuts!
Su: [she laughs.]
Lily: Oh no! That sounds terrible!
Ha: The next day, I promised myself never to do that again.
[The tea kettle starts to whistle.]
Lily: The tea kettle! Oh, Ed, we forgot to set out the tea cups. Would you do that, please?
Ed: Sure thing. [He sets out the cups.] A cup for Susan. A cup for Lily. Two cups for Harry.
Harry: Two cups for Harry?
Ed: Green tea is like medicine. The Chinese believe it makes you healthy.
Ha: So? What does that have to do with me?
Ed: Aren’t you the guy who ate a whole box of donuts?
[They all laugh.] |