November People’s Choice Award

Posted by on November 30, 2017

The people have spoken… The November People’s Choice Award goes to Lauren Gorski for her short play, Living Conditions, presented as a staged reading at Monday Night PlayGround on November 20 at Berkeley Rep. Congratulations, Lauren!

Courtesy of Ms. Gorski, we’re pleased to share the first two pages from the award-winning script. Enjoy!

LIVING CONDITIONS
by
Lauren Gorski

Character Breakdown
CLAIRE – Definitely Not Crazy – Female – 20s – 30s – Any Race
MIKE – Psychic – Male – Any Age – Any Race
BRUCE – Ghost – Male – 20s – 30s – Any Race

A living room.
Claire enters with Mike the Psychic.

CLAIRE

Thanks again for coming. I’m glad you could stop by on short notice.

MIKE

After Halloween the work slows down. People tend to focus more on turkey than on poltergeists.

CLAIRE

I hope you don’t think I’m crazy. I mean, ghosts. Crazy, right? But I’m not–crazy exactly. I’m just curious. Like, is there a ghost, is there not a ghost? I don’t know, you know? So I called.

MIKE

Lucky for you, I’m a professional at a reasonable rate. Now, Miss Hatfield–

CLAIRE

Claire.

MIKE

Claire. You said this room had the most activity.

CLAIRE

Yes. Flickering lights. My Hulu account suggesting NBC shows. And this chair, it moves. Just a few inches, so the back is flush with the carpet.

MIKE

Does that mean anything to you?

CLAIRE

We don’t agree on decorating.

MIKE

We need to open up the channel for communication. If there is a spirit, this will help me know more.

CLAIRE

Here, I’ve got some sage, garlic, a ouija board, epsom salts, a crucifix, some pages from the Torah, because I didn’t want to assume what you would need.

MIKE

All I need is a candle.

CLAIRE

Candle. Easy. I’ve got a candle. One second.

Claire leaves. Michael surveys the room. A GHOST enters. This is BRUCE. Mike looks towards Bruce, but can’t quite see him. Bruce puts a finger to his lips. Claire enters, with a lit candle in a muffin.

CLAIRE

Would this work? All I had were birthday candles.

MIKE

That’s fine. Hurry. Bring it here.

CLAIRE

Do you feel something?

Mike gets closer to Bruce, the ghost. Claire gets closer to Mike.

MIKE

Do you mind?

CLAIRE

Sorry.

Claire steps back, excited. Bruce moves around the room, trying to avoid Claire and Mike. When the game of Marco Polo becomes unbearable, the ghost blows out the candle.

CLAIRE

Oops, I’ve got that.

Claire exits. Bruce gets closer to Mike, almost in his face.

BRUCE

Dude. You’ve got to get out of here–

——-

Join us for the next Monday Night PlayGround on Monday, December 18, at Berkeley Rep and choose your own favorite. Click here for more info.