In the Tank

What's it like to be peered at by hungry humans?

Studied like a microbe under a glass?

Or worst of all, chosen to be someone's dinner entree?

Such is the predicament of Harry and Stu, two lobsters who find themselves in the tank of a seafood restaurant

Harry is a crustacean who's been around the tank a few times

He's cleverly devised a "dead" act - frozen in position, starey-eyed, claws rigidly akimbo, the "dead" pose is meant to ward off hungry diners and send them scurrying off to order the stuffed flounder or the filet of sole

Enter Stu, a lobster of a more philosophical bent

When Harry explains the rationale behind his "act," Stu observes, "If you spend all your time acting like you're dead, what's the point of being alive?"

Harry's not exactly a deep thinker, but he knows that if he doesn't try to fool the humans on the other side of the glass, he'll end up in the stewpot or the broiler

Then Stu reveals a little-known theory - humans are in a tank, too, and they face their own risks

They won't end up impaled on little forks, but they sometimes do stupid things that bring about their own destruction

Unlike animals empowered by instinct, humans must choose. For some, Stu says, it's a recipe for disaster

Why? Because they're afraid

The lobsters consider the idea that humans are really afraid of them - maybe that's why people keep them bound up in rubber bands

So what's going to happen to the two priciest items on the menu?

Cast: 4 actors either gender - bare stage - runs about 25 minutes

For companion piece Cosmic Fruit Bowl, click here
I90