Publishing Rock Bottom was our immediate choice for two reasons: Our customers loved Down in the Dumps by the same author, Dan Roberts, and it enlarged our choices appealing to the very young, limited only by the size of the stage. In fact, we offer it in two separate scripts, a musical and a non-musical.

"Rock" is thrown from a volcano in the beginning of time, and he spends the next few million years determined to prove that he is more than he appears. He is visited periodically by the Sand Pebbles, the Gold Nuggets, and the Gem Stones—all of whom are living exciting lives of travel and adventure—while the farthest he has ever traveled is a few yards down the beach between the toes of a brontosaurus.

"I may be a rock, but that's not who I am," is his mantra, but his confidence begins to seriously waver as time passes with no changes in his dreary existence. That is, until—by being in the right place at the right time—he becomes one of the most famous landmarks in America, Plymouth Rock.

This is a meaningful and humorous play, suitable for actors or audiences of any age. It even introduces bits of geology, geography, anthropology, and American history. Most of all, it shows no matter how humble our origins, we all have the chance to do something important with our lives.

Follow-up discussion for young audiences:
1) Have you ever felt the way Rock did? That people sometimes don't understand who you are inside?
2) Have you ever wished that you could look different? Can you name some of those things? (Possible answers: the color of our skin, the shape of our eyes, how big we are, or how many freckles we have.)
Who we are is so much more important than what we are, because who we are is a big part of us that we can do something about.

In the play, Rock knows he won't ever help to build pyramids, or be as valuable as gold, or be as beautiful as a gem. He never forgets, however, that he's much more than just a "conglomeration" of minerals, fossils, dead plants, and bones. As he says, "there's a heart in this little body," and it's that spirit that sees him through the tough times.

One act; Set, rocky beach at the beginning of time; Costumes, may be as simple as shorts with t-shirts of appropriate colors. Add-ons for specific characters could include a large floppy hat for Dusty, a robe and turban for the king, flowing skirts and scarves for the dancing girls, and jewelry for the Gem Chorus.

See also: Plays for Very, Very Young Actors