Swamped

There's a simple backdrop of the inside of a house, with several pieces of furniture.

"Darling, please," the woman sighs. "You must leave that horrid man, for both our sakes. He has money, but nothing else."

"Lot of good the money is doing me," the man agrees. "He won't even spend it on fixing the roof! But I can't. I was a fool when I signed our wedding agreement, but he was as ruthless as ever. If I leave, I'll be penniless."

"I can find you a new job! It can't be worse than living with him."

"It's not as bad as you'd think. He's hardly ever around. Only gets bad when he won't pay for repairs to the damn house."

"Arthur!" the miser suddenly calls out from offstage. "I'm home. Couldn't find anyone to fix the damn roof."

The pair look at each other and gasp.

"You'd best hide," Arthur says. "I'll keep his attention."

"How? With a penny?"

They both chuckle, and the woman hides behind a chair as Mackenzie walks in.

"Laborers in this town are so unreasonable," Mackenzie grumbles, sitting down in that very chair. "First they demand you cover all the parts they use, but on top of that, they demand a fee for their labor! Imagine! Should I pay them a fee for breathing, as well? Perhaps for eating? I certainly won't be paying them anything for talking back."

"We can afford it, though," Arthur says.

"Oh, it may seem we can afford it today. But suppose we give in to these demands. Then how much will it cost next time, hmm? The time after that? No, you have to be firm or they'll walk away with everything you've got." He suddenly gets up. "Which reminds me. Didn't I ask you to sell this chair? We've already got two."

He moves the chair away, only for Arthur to quickly move to the spot where it was. Just as fast, the woman slips behind another chair.

"I thought you liked that one best."

"I said it was the most comfortable. That means it should fetch the best price."

They definitely seem most at home with the maneuvering. The conversation continues, with a few more sudden shifts. Unfortunately, the banter never gets all that witty.

You have to admit, though, you laugh when the woman finally runs towards the side of the stage, only to suddenly run back as someone else walks on. And you can't immediately tell what this new person's role is.

Though it becomes clear soon enough.