The March People’s Choice Award goes to…

The people have spoken… The March People’s Choice Award goes to Daniel Martinez, Jr. for his play, Not that Kind of Monster, presented as a staged reading at Monday Night PlayGround on March  2, 2026 live at Potrero Stage and simulcast via Vimeo Livestream. Congratulations, Daniel!

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

Not That Kind of Monster
Written By Daniel Martinez Jr

SETTING
Present Day. Child’s bedroom at bedtime.

CHARACTERS
FATHER – (30s/40s), Any ethnicity. Parent figure who is just there. Nothing significant. Loves their kid, but is one of those parents that doesn’t really SEE.

CHILD (20s), Any ethnicity. Male. Older playing younger. Actor may be in their 20s, but character is definitely like…9 or 10. Child is honest, sincere, and kind. Very intelligent and wise beyond his years. Has a lot of compassion. Child is holding in a secret that is scarier than any monster under his bed.

MONSTER, (30s and up), any ethnicity, any gender. The “monster under the bed.” Terrifying in theory, deeply exhausted in practice. Speaks with the confidence of a millennial; someone who was promised the world would be one way but it’s not what they expected at all. Capable of big physical comedy and quiet sincerity. Despite the claws and fangs, there is nothing inherently frightening about them— only misunderstood.

Lights up.
We’re dropped right in the middle of a bedtime story.
A CHILD listens intently as their FATHER moves around acting out the story.

FATHER
“Remember to go straight to bed otherwise the monster that lives under your bed will get you!” The mother warned. “There’s no monster!” The kid replied. “Oh, no?” The mother replied. “Then stay up. See what happens.” She said as she stepped out and closed the door behind her. The kid sat there for a second.

CHILD
But the kid didn’t go to sleep!

FATHER
Of course not! The kid hid under the covers and began listening to music on their iPad. So the kid put their headphones on and began listening to that new Chappell Roan song or whatever kids listen to nowadays. When all of a sudden, there’s a creak in the floorboards. At first, it goes unnoticed by the kid. But the creak happens again. And then again. This time, because kids are terrified of the dark and scared of monsters under the bed, the kid hears it. The creaking stops. The kid listens, scared, waiting. Waiting. Then, all of a sudden, the scariest, most deranged, evil looking, blood hungry monster pops out from under the bed and scares the kid!

We hear a CREAK from under the bed. The Child pauses, nervously.

CHILD
I thought you said it was just a story!

FATHER

It is! That was just…pipes.

They wait patiently. No more creaks.

FATHER
Anyway. The point is— the kid got scared and never disobeyed their parents again.

CHILD
Wait, that’s it? The kid suddenly followed all the rules because if they didn’t, then a big, ugly, mean, evil looking blood hungry monster is gonna attack ‘em?

Another creak.

FATHER
Yeah. What’s scarier than a big ugly blood hungry monster that lives under your bed? Anyway. Time for bed. You need as much sleep as possible for that math test tomorrow.

CHILD
Yeah.

FATHER
Goodnight, my love.

The Father kisses their Child goodnight and tucks them in. Then, they exit. The Child lays in bed, still awake. Another creak. The Child’s eyes go wide. The Child tries hard to close their eyes and go to sleep. Another creak. They frantically readjust in bed trying to get to sleep. Suddenly, The MONSTER jumps out from under the bed. The Monster wears some kind of terrifying head/body piece.

CHILD
Ahhh! It’s the big ugly blood hungry monster!!!

MONSTER
RAAAWWWWWWWWW— you know what, I’m over it.

The Monster drops the scary act.

CHILD
Huh?

MONSTER
“Huh”? What, you didn’t hear me? Just like you didn’t hear those insults you hurled towards me?

CHILD
Insults?

MONSTER
“Big”, “Ugly”, “Blood Hungry”, and “Monster”. Your weaponized incompetence is
crazy. I can’t.

(to be continued…)

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