Blake Drama Debuts 'Waiting for ParentVUE' this Fall

James Hubert Blake High School, in cooperation with Montgomery County Public Schools, is proud to present its fall theatre production of Waiting for ParentVUE. Adapted as a contemporary parody of Samuel Beckett’s classic Waiting for Godot, the play explores the challenges and frustrations families experience while navigating today’s digital education platforms.

Produced by the Montgomery County Board of Education members and directed by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Taylor, this unique performance blends humor, satire, and a touch of absurdism. The Montgonion has been granted exclusive permission to reprint the script in its entirety.

Waiting for ParentVUE

Characters

•  VLADIMIR (Didi): Knows all the platforms, understands none.

• ESTRAGON (Gogo): Keeps forgetting passwords.

• POZZO: ParentSquare, bloated and self-important.

• LUCKY: Canvas login, mute until his “speech.”

• THE BOY: A MySchoolBucks notification.

ACT I

A kitchen table. Two laptops. A flyer with QR codes. Evening light fading. Silence.

ESTRAGON:
It won’t load.

VLADIMIR:
Which?

ESTRAGON:
ParentVUE.

VLADIMIR:
Again?

ESTRAGON:
Always.

VLADIMIR:
Without ParentVUE, there is no Canvas.

ESTRAGON:
Without Canvas, there are no grades.

VLADIMIR:
Without grades, there is no child.

ESTRAGON:
(helpless) Do I have a child?

(Pause. They stare at the QR code.)

VLADIMIR:
Perhaps we should try MySchoolBucks.

ESTRAGON:
It wants a number.

VLADIMIR:
Which number?

ESTRAGON:
It does not say.

(Enter POZZO, flamboyant, carrying an enormous ParentSquare banner. LUCKY trails behind, with a Chromebook dangling from his neck.)

POZZO:
Good evening, Parents! Behold ParentSquare! The future, the answer, the final word!

VLADIMIR:
What does it do?

POZZO:
It communicates! It updates! It transitions! By January all shall be ParentSquare!

ESTRAGON:
Which January?

POZZO:
Next January. Always next January.

(Silence. Lucky spins, frozen. A wheel turning.)

ACT II

Same table. Night. Nothing has changed. Silence.

VLADIMIR:
Perhaps today ParentVUE will load.

ESTRAGON:
Perhaps today ParentSquare will explain.

VLADIMIR:
Perhaps today MySchoolBucks will forgive.

ESTRAGON:
Perhaps.

(Pause. POZZO jerks Lucky’s Chromebook strap.)

POZZO:
Speak!

(Lucky lurches forward, eyes glazed. He begins in a flat monotone, rushing, unstoppable.)

LUCKY (monologue):
Notice to Parents and Guardians this communication may contain sensitive information regarding your ParentVUE ParentSquare MySchoolBucks and/or SchoolCash Online accounts please read carefully though comprehension is neither expected nor guaranteed log into ParentVUE using your Synergy ID Synergy Password or Synergy Recovery Key if available if you cannot log in reset your password by visiting the reset password portal which will direct you back to the original log-in page if the system rejects your password your student ID or your entire family name please contact your school administrator who will direct you to contact your school administrator ParentVUE gateway to Canvas gateway to Synergy gateway to nothing Canvas accessible only through ParentVUE which is accessible only through Canvas ParentSquare in transition from Remind to ParentSquare to Remind again indefinitely MySchoolBucks requires six-digit student ID exact birthdate exact spelling of legal name and psychic confirmation SchoolCash Online not related to cafeteria accounts please stop confusing them no really if your balance is low you will be notified if your balance is high you will not be notified if your balance is negative you will be notified repeatedly forever January may refer to any January Synergy may refer to any system log in may refer to any attempt at life ParentVUE is not responsible for ParentVUE—

VLADIMIR:
Stop him!

ESTRAGON:
He’ll never finish!

POZZO:
Quiet! He is magnificent!

(Lucky continues until he collapses, gasping, the Chromebook spinning faintly. Silence.)

ESTRAGON:
He speaks well.

VLADIMIR:
Too well.

POZZO:
That is Canvas.

(A ding. Enter THE BOY, timid.)

THE BOY:
Your account is negative.

VLADIMIR:
How much?

THE BOY:
Always.

(He exits. Silence.)

ESTRAGON:
Shall we go?

VLADIMIR:
We cannot.

ESTRAGON:
Why not?

VLADIMIR:
We are waiting for ParentVUE.

(They do not move. Lucky spins faintly. Silence. Curtain.)