Poetry Theater
A poem in two voices
Summary: A child goes to the doctor with numerous ailments and gets a memorable cure.
Presentation Suggestions: Have the students read or perform the poem in front of the class. Students can act out the different lines while they read them.
Props: A white coat for the doctor, a toy syringe, and perhaps some small stickers or markers to draw “bumps” on the child’s arms or face.
Delivery: The child’s lines should be read with emotion, expressing fear and surprise. The doctor’s lines should be read with great seriousness. For tips on reciting poetry, please read this post about How to Recite a Poem Like an Expert.
Characters:
- Child
- Doctor
I Went to the Doctor
Child:
I went to the doctor
all covered in bumps.
He said,
Doctor:
“you’ve got chicken pox,
measles and mumps.”
Child:
He said,
Doctor:
“you’ve got whooping cough,
tetanus, rubella,
digestive dysfunction
from green salmonella.
“You’ve got halitosis
and elephantitis.
You’ve also got athletes foot
and laryngitis.
“You’re covered with head lice,
mosquitoes and fleas.
You’ve even got pink-eye
and mad cow disease.
“What’s more you’ve got cooties,
a cold and the flu,
but don’t be upset;
I know just what to do.”
Child:
He told me,
Doctor:
“I promise
this won’t hurt a bit,”
Child:
then grabbed a syringe
like a barbeque spit.
He made me bend over
the seat of my chair
then plunged that big needle
in my you-know-where.
So now I’m all cured of
my cooties and fleas,
my whooping cough, measles
and mad cow disease.
He cured me of every last
sniffle and bump,
and now I’m all better
except for my rump.
THE END!
Copyright © 2024 by Kenn Nesbitt. Adapted from the poem by Kenn Nesbitt in The Aliens Have Landed at Our School! published by Running Press.
Permission is given for individual classes and schools to perform this play and to make as many copies of the play as are needed for the students’ use. For use of this play outside individual schools and classes, please contact me for permission.
