Walmartopia

Walmartopia Synopsis IT'S MORNiNG AT WAL-MART. Workers scurry around preparing for the morning meeting and cheer [A New Age Has Begun]. We meet Vicki Latrell, a hardworking single mom who hopes to rise up the company ranks and make a better life for her daughter, Maia. Maia also works at Wal-Mart after school and weekends, but she's involved in a union organizing effort with janitor Miguel Hernandez. Maia and Miguel are convinced that working at Wal-Mart is a dead end and argue that it's time to unite and demand better treatment [American Dream]. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart executives are gathering for the morning meeting at headquarters [March of the Executives]. CEO Scott Scooter Smiley is reeling from the bad press Wal-Mart is getting concerning the environment, workers' rights, and the world's largest sex-discrimination lawsuit. He launches a new public relations campaign to demonstrate that the company values women. At the motel where Vicki lives with Maia, Vicki reassures Maia that Wal-Mart will promote her and that their life will get better [Baby Girl]. Smiley and Dr. Normal, Wal-Mart's research director, meet to discuss a top-secret invention, a time portal, which they believe will give Wal-Mart the edge they need to dominate the world [The Future is Ours]. At a meeting at Hooters with her manager, Tim Pearson, Vicki finds out that she has been passed over again in favor of an inexperienced male colleague. Disillusioned and angry, Vicki storms back to work. Pearson has asked her and Maia to sing at a corporate shareholders' meeting as part of Smiley's new campaign [A Woman's Place]. Vicki decides to go to Bentonville to sing in hopes that she can tell her story to the board of directors. At corporate headquarters, Dr. Normal, director of research, reveals his invention. He has used the portal to transport the living head of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, into the present. Walton exhorts the board of directors to loosen up [Flash Them Bootstraps]. Vicki and Maia are ushered in to meet the board for a photo op, and they anger Walton by complaining about working conditions. Vicki and Maia have now seen too much. Dr. Normal suggests throwing them through the portal into the future - the perfect solution [Heave-Ho]. End Act i. AS ACT II STARTS, Vicki and Maia find themselves 30 years in the future. Bentonville, Arkansas has become the capital of the world, which is dominated by Wal-Mart [Walmartopia]. Vicki and Maia are seized and thrown into a holding cell. There they meet Zeb, an actor who is in trouble for criticizing Wal-Mart-controlled art. They are both granted a reprieve when Counselor James comes looking to replace performers in Wal-Arts. Vicki and Maia undergo a conversion [One-Stop Salvation]. Smiley, who has aged 30 years, still rules the Wal-Mart empire. He requests a meeting with Lawrence, the director of Wal- Mart. Smiley wants a worldwide telecast that will convince the public that it's acceptable to invade Vermont, the only part of the world that has remained Wal-Mart free. Vicki, Maia and Zeb are cast in the broadcast as terrorists from Vermont [Socialist Paradise]. A patriotic anthem sung by Wal-Mart soldiers reduces the terrorists to jelly [These Bullets are Freedom]. Vicki and Maia confront the director about the jingoism of the show, and he locks up Maia and threatens to send her to the front if anything goes awry. Vicki and Zeb witness a public readjustment led by Sam Walton, where a Vermonter is injected with desire for Wal-Mart products [Consume]. During Walton's speech it becomes clear that Vermont, Zeb's home, will be destroyed in Wal-Mart's march to control the world. Zeb asks Vicki to help him subvert the performance. Vicki wrestles between her desire to speak out and her desire to keep Maia safe [What kind of Mother?]. During the performance, the terrorists enter and begin the show as planned. Then Zeb and Maia drop their weapons. The rest of the cast is confused but tries to carry on. Maia reveals her secret weapon: She has captured Sam Walton's head and deman