Suburban Ikons
Five Linked Plays for Television
By William Bowles & Kethiwe Ngcobo
The Cast
Man
Woman
Flower Seller
Boy
Gardener
Dog
Synopsis
Five short stories, each presenting the same event from five different POVs and locations, events that revolve around an African flower seller, a white couple, a small African boy, an African gardener and a vicious dog.
Setting
The northern suburbs of Johannesburg, summer. Time: late 1990s. Shot on HD, the colour modified to resemble that of a painting with flat, intense and contrasting colours. Shot entirely from interior of an automobile.
The Car Ride
Through the window of the car, we see an intense blue sky. A man is driving and a woman is in the passenger seat. All the windows are closed. Music is playing on the car stereo. She opens her electric window. When she opens the window, the noises from the street overpower the music. She leans out of the window and enjoys the hot breeze. He turns up the music. It's soothing.
CUT
They stop at a robot. Through the windscreen a flower seller is approaching between two lanes of cars. He arrives at the open window and thrusts bright red blooms through. She passes him money and takes the flowers. The man closes the window as they drive off.
CUT
The squeal of brakes is almost masked by the music which fills the car. Through the rear window of the car we see a brief glimpse of a body and red flowers fly up into the air over the roofs of the cars behind.
CUT
The car turns into a side street and passes a young African boy holding a stick who is standing at the intersection looking past the car as it turns, toward the scene of the accident.
CUT
A long, straight avenue lined with tall trees. Almost pastoral with the dappled light and shadow cast by the trees contrasting sharply with the intense light reflected off the high, white walls that line the street, punctuated with gates. Like a Monet painting. There are no other cars on the street or any people.
CUT
Car turns into driveway. Electric gates whir open. A dog is barking. The car is moving down a concrete driveway. At the end of the driveway you see part of a garden with a high, white wall reflecting intense sunlight. Standing at the end of the driveway is an old African man with cropped, snow white hair, a deeply lined face, gold rimmed glasses and a long white apron tied around his waist, that has deep pockets containing garden implements. He wears a red and white bead bracelet. He is looking at the car as it approaches him.
CUT
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Copyright © William Bowles and Kethiwe Ngcobo, All Rights Reserved