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Scripts Aloud brings drama right into your ears. By using text-to-speech software, theater scripts go from the page into drama, every week. Typically 10-minute scripts are presented in each episode. It's like having a Theater Festival - right on your phone!
Scripts Aloud,
RASTA WILLIE, SEARCHING FOR ZION
Written by Rick Regan
October 23, 2025
1,
EXT. HARBOR DOCK, KINGSTON, JAMAICA - DAY
An attractive Jamaican woman, MINNIE, walks down the edge of
the water in the Kingston, Port of Jamaica, terminal. There
are rusty cargo haulers, one gleaming cruise ship, a car
ferry that is pulling away and smaller tugs and transport
boats. She scans the horizon but only sees the usual shipping
traffic. The airport is visible from here, but there are no
planes coming in either. Dejected, she walks back towards the
main town. A tall Jamaican man, GOOFY, recognizes her and
waves. He crosses the road to chat with Minnie.
GOOFY
I and I, lovely to see you, Minnie.
MINNIE
Oh, Goofy, I don’t know what to do.
GOOFY
Why, miss? What is it, bothers you?
MINNIE
You know that Willie is supposed to
come home today. But I see no boat,
I see no plane. Maybe he stays in
Zion.
GOOFY
Rasta Willie must come back, miss.
Rasta Willie will come back for
you.
MINNIE
I don’t see him.
GOOFY
I and I, Rasta Willie will come
back to you, ya. Then maybe both of
you go to the Motherland, ya.
MINNIE
I see no boat, Goofy. I see no
plane, ya. Maybe he stays in Zion.
GOOFY
Rasta Willy must come back, miss.
Dockman Donnie, he paid the ticket.
He wants Rasta-man back. When you
see him, ya, tell Rasta Willie, he
must work tomorrow. Dockman Donnie
has much work for Willy.
MINNIE
I will go to see my sister. Maybe
Willie is going to call me, ya.
GOOFY
Oh now, I and I, Mabelle, your
sister. She is a fine looking lady.
You tell her, ya, Goofy has never
married. And I keep myself clean.
Goofy only takes from the land and
the sea, natural-like, ya. I and I.
MINNIE
Oh now, you have sharp eyes for
Maybelle, my sister? I tell you, I
and I, she has a tongue like the
devil and a temper like a volcano.
GOOFY
A volcano?
MINNIE
When she is angry, ya, she rains
fire down from the sky. Maybe, like
the green mountains, she is best to
be admired, from away, ya.
GOOFY
Hey now, I and I, Goofy does not
fear. Rasta Willy and Goofy,
together, many storms, much
lightning have we weathered. I not
afraid, ya.
MINNIE
(laughs)
Hey now, Mister Goofy, I will tell
my sister, the Devil, that Goofy is
a brave man, clean and he works
hard, ya. Tomorrow you knock on her
door, ya, and, I and I, she will
open the door for you. I will tell
her.
GOOFY
Maybelle looks very good to me, ya!
MINNIE
Ha! I am going now. I will wait for
Rasta Willie.
GOOFY
I and I, peace be on you, miss.
Minnie gives a nod and a wave, then crosses the street to
head up into the neighborhood.
2,
EXT. MAYBELLE’S FRONT PORCH - LATER
Minnie and MAYBELLE are sitting on the comfortable front
porch of Maybelle’s house. The house is a typical one-level
island bungalow, in the Jamaican Georgian style, with a wide
covered porch, elevated floor and large windows for
ventilation. Like all of the houses in the dense
neighborhood, it is painted concrete, with bright colors.
The sisters have a tea tray with cups and a pot. They sip tea
and watch the bay.
MAYBELLE
You not have work today, Minnie?
MINNIE
I told them I could not today.
Willie is coming back and I want to
be here when he arrives.
MAYBELLE
Somebody can cover for you in the
kitchen, at the hotel? Don’t they
have a new ship coming in? Those
folks will be hungry.
MINNIE
They will be hungry for one day,
but I want to see Willie.
MAYBELLE
You didn’t say, did he call, from
Zion?
MINNIE
He did not call. I and I, he was
busy with the mangos and bananas, I
think.
MAYBELLE
And that old Scrooge McDuck, his
boss, ya’. He did not give Willie a
nickel for the phone, to tell him
about the mangos and bananas?
MINNIE
I don’t know, ya. Maybe he is
waiting to tell the boss-man
himself. In person, ya.
MAYBELLE
Oh now, maybe in Ethiopia the
phones are tapped, ya? Maybe
everybody is listening, ya. They
are greedy for the news, of the
mangos, ya, and the bananas. I am
sure Willy keeps the low-pro-file.
MINNIE
The low-profile? Have you seen?
Him, with the dreadlocks. Him, with
the Rasta-hat, and the Rasta-style.
No way for the Rasta Willy to go
incognito.
MAYBELLE
Maybe he move like the spy, like
the James Bond. Double-O-seven! He
takes it shaken, not stirred, ya!
MINNIE
I and I, Rasta Willy is no spy. And
boss-man wants him back on the dock
tomorrow. Goofy says there is much
work for him and Willy.
MAYBELLE
Hey now, that Goofy. He is a tall
and lean, Jamaican man. You think
he dances? Maybe I will see him at
dancehall.
MINNIE
Maybe you see him, ya, but I told
him the truth of you.
MAYBELLE
What did you tell him?
MINNIE
I and I, you have the tongue of the
Devil, and the temper of the
volcano, ya. Always erupting,
throwing fire, everywhere.
MAYBELLE
Why do you say these things of
Maybelle? You know I have never
married. You know Richard left my
heart, a long time ago, ya. And now
you poison the water with Goofy? I
and I, you are the wicked sister.
The bad one, ya.
MINNIE
(chuckles)
Maybelle, that Goofy is a good man,
ya. When he knocks upon your door,
open your heart. You can be the
woman he wants you to be, ya.
MAYBELLE
I and I, you already have your
Rasta man. I am still waiting, ya.
So patient, am I.
MINNIE
All I say to you, is open your
heart, ya. But now I don’t know
what to do. Maybe I will go home.
Maybe Willy is waiting for me.
MAYBELLE
You go now, ya. Willy will come
back for you.
Minnie kisses Maybelle on the cheek, hugs her and walks down
the street towards her own house.
3,
INT. MINNIE’S LIVING ROOM - EVENING
Minnie is lying on the wicker sofa, with colorful island
print cushions. Her eyes are closed and she is humming to
herself. She dozes off.
Quietly, the door opens and Rasta Willy pokes his head in. He
sees Minnie sleeping so he doesn’t want to wake her. He
creeps in, with suitcase in tow. He sits on one of the wicker
chairs and is soon asleep.
Slowly, Minnie wakes up and sees Willy, asleep in the chair.
She gets up and goes to Willy. She stands behind him and puts
her hand on his face.
MINNIE
(softly)
You have come home, Willy.
WILLY
(groggy)
Yes, miss.
MINNIE
Come to bed, ya.
WILLY
I and I, Minnie, I have trod the
path, ya, but now have to do the
Reasoning.
MINNIE
Come to bed, man. We reason in the
sunshine, tomorrow, ya.
WILLY
Sit with me, miss. I rest my weary
bones, but my mind, my heart, ya,
are storm-tossed.
Minnie goes back to the sofa, sitting.
MINNIE
Tell me your mind, travelling-man.
WILLY
The boss-man send me to the holy
land, to follow the mangos, the
bananas. But when I reached
Ethiopia, the sacred home, I see a
Rasta-man. He says to me, I and I,
the place is no Zion.
MINNIE
Tell me, Willy. You found a man of
livity, in Ethiopia? What did he
say?
WILLY
He took me to their mansion, ya.
Four families, with children. We
share a meal, (v)ital supper. But
he asks me about our home. About
Jamaica. He wanted me to bring him
back with me.
MINNIE
Oh now, and him in paradise of
Zion, ya? Why would he want to come
to our island?
WILLY
Minnie, he asks me, is there war in
Jamaica. I say, ya, no, no war. We
live in peace.
MINNIE
I and I, praise Jah. No war.
WILLY
He tells me, the homeland always
has fighting. No peace, ya. He asks
me if Jamaica is a beautiful place.
I say, I and I, the island is very
beautiful, but it is not Zion. A
beautiful Babylon. Ya, he says he
would like to go to such a place.
MINNIE
This is a Rasta-man? His family, do
they live the pure path?
WILLY
Oh now, the Rasta-man, he asks, how
often is there famine and
starvation, ya, in Jamaica. I say,
people do not starve, Rasta or not
Rasta. We do not have famine.
MINNIE
I and I, praise Jah. No starvation.
It is hard but no famine.
WILLY
Oh now, ya, this is what I say.
Life in the Babylon is difficult,
but no, we do not starve. And he
says, life is difficult everywhere,
and they have famine and starvation
whenever the last war ends and the
next one begins, ya.
MINNIE
My heart breaks with your telling
of this. Brothers and sisters,
Rasta in Africa, starving in wars.
The suffering.
WILLY
He tells me that the starvation is
caused by the government itself, to
weaken the opposition, the other
tribes, ya. Everywhere I went, the
people look at me and ask, what is
your tribe, man?
MINNIE
What is your answer?
WILLY
I say that I am Rastafari, from
Jamaica, ya. But they want to know
if I am Oromo or Amhara.
MINNIE
Who is this, ya?
WILLY
The people fighting. They want to
know if I am Bantu or Yoruba, ya. I
say, I and I, we are all brothers
of Africa. But they laugh, ya, and
shake their bald heads.
MINNIE
Why did they laugh?
WILLY
They tell me then that we are all
fighting brothers. And all around
me, Black men, ya, Beautiful Black
women, ya, the precious Black
children. And they all divide up
and fight each other.
MINNIE
I am glad you are home, man.
WILLY
The Rasta man, he took me to a
market, a slave market in the
street, with the women tied like
ponies, corralled, waiting, ya.
Sometimes a man would come by and
look at them, and the seller would
agree to a deal. I watched a woman,
ya, sold and then tied to the man’s
mule. He rode above and she trailed
behind, on a rope. How can this be
Zion?
MINNIE
Willie, listen to me. You trod the
path. You live the pure life. You
keep a pure body and a pure heart,
ya. Now you are home. Now you stay
with me. I will heal your
suffering. Now come lay down with
me. We will see the morning
together.
WILLY
Ya, miss.
Willy goes to the bedroom with Minnie.
4,
EXT. CARGO DOCK AT THE HARBOR - NEXT MORNING
Goofy and Willy are standing in the shade, next to their
steamboat. They haul fruit, from remote docks upriver, where
farmers load their bananas, mangos and other produce.
GOOFY
I and I, glad you are back. But I
am surprised, ya, that you
returned. Why come back from Zion?
WILLY
Boss-man buy the ticket.
GOOFY
Oh now, Willy, all the time you are
talking, dreaming, scheming, to get
to Zion. To leave this Babylon, ya.
So you go, but you come back? Tell
me, Willy.
WILLY
I say this to you, Goofy, that the
land was beautiful. The water, the
trees and the sky, ya, were like
heaven itself. But the people, they
turned my heart, ya, inside out.
GOOFY
The people? Ya, are they not Rastas
in the holy land?
WILLY
I and I, there was no livity. Ya,
the men sell the women like slaves.
The king, ya, he starves the
people.
GOOFY
Which people?
WILLY
Whoever the king wants to starve.
They make war, fighting over land
and religion. Each, struggling to
get to the top of the hill, ya.
Each, fighting to be the master of
the others. Not all-one, ya.
GOOFY
Hey now, I shake my head at this,
ya. Babylon finds you, even on the
sacred ground.
WILLY
I tell you, I come home and I
think, ya, we should not go there.
We should not strive and work, just
to go someplace else. I tell you, I
have seen a place filled to the
brim with Black men and beautiful
Black women, but they are people
too, ya.
GOOFY
All the fears and worries, ya?
WILLY
My heart was glad to be back on the
island. Maybe we make this land
pure, ya. Maybe we grow our people,
ya, to be pure, to be one, to be
love.
GOOFY
Hey now, that is the Lion of Zion
that I know!
WILLY
Ya, man.
GOOFY
Here comes the boss-man.
WILLY
I have to give my report on the
mangos, the bananas.
GOOFY
Then it is back to work, Willy!
WILLY
Much work, ya!
THE END.