Adaptation of Theres a Boy in the Girls Bathroom 1

From Theres a Boy in the Girls Bathroom

By: Louis Sachar

Adapted for Readers Theater by Erica Garl, Merissa Leonard, and

Samantha Fate

Characters: Narrator
Bradley Chalkers
Carla Davis

Narrator: Our presentation today is from Theres a Boy in the

Girls Bathroom by Louis Sachar. The characters are
Carla Davis, the counselor who is new to the school,
played by Samantha Fate, and Bradley Chalkers, a
fifth grade student who is known for never being on
his best behavior or for having the best attitude,
played by Erica Garl.
The scene begins when Bradley is called down to the
counselors office for the first time. Bradley is
walking down the hallway to her office to find the
door wide open, so he walks right in.

Bradley: Im here, whadda ya want?

Carla: Hello, Bradley, Im Carla Davis. Its a pleasure to see

you today. (Offers hand shake) Ive been looking
forward to meeting you.

Narrator: Bradley was amazed by how young and pretty she

was. He had been expecting an ugly old lady.

Carla: Arent you going to shake my hand?

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Bradley: No, youre too ugly.

Narrator: Bradley walked past her and sat down at the table
across from her.

Carla: I appreciate your coming to see me.

Bradley: I had to come. Mrs. Ebbel made me.

Carla: For whatever reason, Im glad you came.

Bradley: I meant to go to the library. I came here by accident.

Carla: Oh, I dont believe accidents

Bradley: You dont believe in accidents?

(Carla shakes her head)

Narrator: Bradley thought that idea was crazy.

Bradley: What about when you spill your milk?

Carla: Do you like milk?

Bradley: No, I hate it!

Carla: So maybe you spill the milk on purpose, you just

think its an accident.

Narrator: Bradley stared down at the table angrily. He felt like

he had been tricked.

Bradley: I dont drink milk, I drink coffee.

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Narrator: Bradley began to glance around the room. It was full

of all kinds of interesting-looking objects.

Bradley: This place is a mess.

Carla: I know, I like messy rooms. Clean rooms are boring

and depressing. They remind me of hospitals.

Bradley: Dont you get in trouble?

Carla: Why should I?

Narrator: Bradley didnt know how to answer that. But he

knew that if it were his room and it was that messy,
he would get in trouble.

Bradley: I didnt do anything wrong!

Carla: Nobody said that you did.

Bradley: Well, then how come I have to be here?

Carla: I was hoping youd like it here. I was hoping we

could be friends. Do you think we can?

Bradley: No.

Carla: Why not?

Bradley: Because I dont like you.

Carla: I like you, I can like you, cant I? You dont have to
like me.
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Narrator: Bradley began to squirm in his seat.

Carla: I was also hoping youd be able to teach me things.

Bradley: Youre the teacher, not me.

Carla: So? That doesnt matter. A teacher can often learn a

lot more from a student than a student can learn
from a teacher.

Bradley: Ive taught Mrs. Ebbel a lot. Today I taught her

geography.

Carla: What do you want to teach me?

Bradley: What do you want to know?

Carla: You tell me. Whats the most important thing you
can teach me?

Bradley: The elephants the biggest animal in the world, but

its afraid of mice.

Carla: I wonder why that is?

Bradley: Because, if a mouse ran up an elephants trunk, it

would get stuck and then the elephant wouldnt be
able to breathe and so it would die. Thats how most
elephants die.

Carla: I see. Thank you for sharing that with me. Youre a
very good teacher.
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Narrator: Bradley suddenly felt like hed been tricked again.

He didnt want to share anything with her. He hated
her.

Carla: What else do you want to teach me?

Bradley: Nothing, youre not supposed to talk in school.

Carla: Why not?

Bradley: Its a rule. Like no sticking gum in the water

fountains.

Carla: Well, in this room there are no rules. In here,

everyone thinks for himself. No one tells you what to
do.

Bradley: You mean I can stick gum in the water fountain?

Carla: You could, except I dont have a water fountain.

Bradley: Can I break something?

Carla: Certainly.

Narrator: He looked around for something to break, then

caught himself in time. It was another trick. Hed
break something and then get in trouble, and
nobody would believe him when he said that she
had said there were no rules.

Bradley: Im not in the mood.

 Adaptation of Theres a Boy in the Girls Bathroom 6

Carla: All right, but if you are ever in the mood, there are a
lot of things you can break things I like very much
and things that other children use.

Bradley: I will! (Pause) I know karate. (Raise hand sideways

over table) I can break this table in half with my bare
hand.

Carla: Id hate to see you hurt your hand.

Bradley: Nothing ever hurts me. Ive broken every table in my

house. The chairs too. Call my mother if you dont
believe me.

Carla: I believe you. Why shouldnt I?

Bradley: You should.

Narrator: And for the rest of the meeting, anything that

Bradley said, Carla believed. Then he told her that
his parents only fed him dog food.

Carla: How did it taste?

Bradley: Delicious! Meaty and sweet.

Carla: Ive always wanted to try it.

Narrator: Bradley then told her that the President had called
him on the phone last night,

Carla: What did you guys talk about?

Bradley: Hats.
 Adaptation of Theres a Boy in the Girls Bathroom 7

Carla: Hats? What did you say about hats?

Bradley: I asked him why he didnt wear a hat like Abraham

Lincoln.

Carla: And what did he say?

Bradley: (Pause) I cant tell you. Its a secret.

Narrator: Near the end of the session, Carla gave him a piece of
construction paper and asked him if he wanted to
draw a picture. He chose a black crayon from the big
box of crayons and stayed with it the whole time. He
scribbled wildly all over the paper.

Carla: Thats very nice.

Bradley: Its a picture of nighttime.

Carla: Oh. I thought it was a picture of the floor of a

barbershop, after someone with black curly hair got
his hair cut.

Bradley: Thats what it is! Thats what I meant!

Carla: Its very good. May I have it?

Bradley: What for?

Carla: Id like to hang it up on my wall.

Bradley: You mean here?

 Adaptation of Theres a Boy in the Girls Bathroom 8

Carla: Yes.

Bradley: No, its mine.

Carla: I was hoping youd share it with me.

Bradley: It costs a dollar.

Carla: Its worth it, but I only want it if youre willing to

share it.

Bradley: No.

Carla: Okay, but if you ever change your mind, Ill still want
it.

Bradley: You can make me give it to you.

Carla: No I cant.

Bradley: Sure you can. Teachers make kids do things all the
time.

(Carla shakes her head)

Narrator: It was time for Bradley to return to class

Carla: Ive enjoyed your visit very much, thank you for
sharing so much with me.

(Carla extends her hand)

 Adaptation of Theres a Boy in the Girls Bathroom 9

Narrator: Bradley backed away from her hand as if it were

some kind of poisonous snake. He then turns and
hurried out into the hall and back to class.

To see who is forced to leave the school because of

the troubled childs relationship with the
unexpected role model, grab a copy of the book
today.
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References

Sachar, L. (2004). There's a boy in the girls' bathroom. New York: Yearling.