The January People’s Choice Award goes to…

The people have spoken… The January People’s Choice Award goes to Daniel Martinez, Jr. for his play Changing Inward, presented as a staged reading at Monday Night PlayGround on January 16th live at the Freight & Salvage 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!

Changing Inward
by Daniel Martinez

SETTING: A gym/workout studio. Present day.

CHARACTERS:

CARLOS, 30s, he/him. He is very passionate and very naive. He has trouble discerning
niceness from flirting, so he has lots of experiences where he’s disappointed by men who never
showed interest in the first place. He’s a graphic designer and is the kindest person. Wants to
lose weight to impress a man who isn’t interested.

JULIA, 30s, she/her. Chef who put her aspirations on hold to keep her family together. Her
husband is unfaithful and she’s in the gym to try and get her revenge body so he’ll stay with
her. She’s extremely kind and a big cheerleader for other people, rarely to herself.

CHAD, 30s, he/him. Objectively hot. Annoyingly hot. That fitness instructor that everyone is in
love with and complains about how he had one French fry the night before, but his six pack
abs are still all over his social media.

Lights up on CARLOS and JULIA timidly doing some aggressive
looking stretches. Both clearly out of practice with being in a gym.

JULIA: This your first time taking this class?

CARLOS: Yeah. You?

JULIA: Yeah. I’m nervous as fuck. I heard the instructor is pretty popular.

CARLOS: Yeah, me too.

In struts CHAD, the instructor. Objectively hot and fit in tight fitting
workout clothes.

CHAD: Alright, class. Welcome welcome in! My name is Chad. Now, I’m here to help usher in a new
era. A new era…of you. It’s 2023 now, and this is the year we give ourselves permission to say
“I”, and put ourselves first with a good workout. Keep those stretches up and we’ll get started
here shortly.

Chad struts off, knowing that everyone is watching him walk off.

CARLOS: Damn he’s hotter in person.

JULIA: Right?!

CARLOS: I’m Carlos.

JULIA: Julia.

CARLOS: So what do you do?

JULIA: I’m a chef.

CARLOS: Oh, shit! Where at?

JULIA: A boutique Italian mom and pop restaurant, you probably never heard of it.

CARLOS: Oh, fancy! I love Italian restaurants.

JULIA: Yeah. What do you do?

CARLOS: I’m a graphic designer.

JULIA: Oh! I had a MySpace one time.

CARLOS: Nice. It’s a little different, but sure. Close enough to that world.

JULIA: I imagine you do a lot of sitting. That why you’re startin’ the year off in the gym?

CARLOS: Kinda, yeah. Lots of sitting. I have a wedding coming up and I tried on my suit from last year
and it was aggressively tight, so. Here I am.

JULIA: No kidding. Even though I’m up on my feet all day, I’m around food all the goddamn time. And
Italian food is carb-city. I mean, you know.

CARLOS: Yeah.

JULIA: AND my husband and I are taking a vacation for our 5 year wedding anniversary. Tahiti.

CARLOS: Ahhhh, so you wanna—

JULIA: Get my bikini bod back!

CARLOS: Well you look great right now, honestly.

JULIA: Aw, thanks hun.

Chad saunters back in.

CHAD: Welcome everyone who is just joining us. We’re gonna get started here shortly. My name is
Chad and I don’t teach fitness. I share fitness. I have the privilege of sharing with you for the
next hour. Keep those stretches up- if you need help setting up equipment let me know and I’ll
come around and help.

Chad notices Carlos and Julia stretching. He readjusts Carlos.

Join us for the next Monday Night PlayGround on February 20! For more info, click here!