The January People’s Choice Award goes to…

The people have spoken… The January People’s Choice Award goes to Stan Stone for his play, Bridges of San Francisco County, presented as a staged reading at Monday Night PlayGround on January 19, 2026 live at the David Brower Center and simulcast via Vimeo Livestream. Congratulations, Stan!

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

Bridges of San Francisco County
by
Stan Stone

Cast

G.G. – aka Golden Gate – Female, middle aged or older. Any race.
B.B. – aka Bay Bridge – Female, middle aged or older. Any race.
KARL – aka The Fog – Male, any age. Any race.

Setting: A swanky party in Mayor Daniel Laurie’s home.

(G.G. enters, bespoke in all orange. She speaks to offstage paparazzi, while striking various poses. Cameras click.)

G.G.
Please, please, no more photos. No, I couldn’t possibly. G.G. is exhausted. Well, okay,
perhaps just one more.

(G.G. strikes more poses)
This is my best side. Who am I kidding, every side is my best side.
Okay, that’s enough. Give a gal a break. You must allow me to enjoy this lovely party.
Mayor Laurie would never forgive me if I turned his home into a photo op. But who
could blame me? After all, I am Thee Golden Gate Bridge.

(G.G. heads to the bar and pours herself a drink, as B.B. enters dressed in drab gray. B.B. speaks to the offstage paparazzi)

B.B.
Hello, boys! Does anyone want to take a selfie with the Bay Bridge? Anyone? Anyone?
Bueller? No? Okay, well, maybe later.

(B.B. spy’s G.G. and they circle each
other while disdainfully checking out
what the other is wearing)

G.G.
Hello, B.B.

B.B.
Hello, G.G.

G.G.
Daniel told me this was going to be a party just for the elites of San Francisco. Are you
someone’s… plus one?

B.B.
No. The Mayor invited me personally. I’m surprised you could tear yourself away from
your adoring crowds, and grace us with your presence. Must have been a slow day on the
Bay. Did the tourists abandon you for a sale on sweatshirts at Pier 39?

(B.B. makes herself a drink)

G.G.
I’m sorry if you don’t know what it’s like to be adored. People come from all over the
world to get a glimpse of my majestic form. To marvel at my graceful beauty. To gaze in
wonder at my grandeur.

B.B.
To walk all over you!

G.G.
You should be so lucky! They walk because they want to be close to me. I inspire them.
Let me tell you a story.

B.B.
Please don’t.

G.G.
One day at work, many years ago, I was watching the throngs of people who came to
visit me. The sky was crystal clear. There were sailboats whizzing through the Bay. A
squadron of pelicans drifted overhead.

Suddenly I spotted a man. He looked…sad. He was gazing out at the Bay, and then he
slowly looked up at me with a winsome smile. He frantically pulled out a little note pad
and began writing furiously. He looked up at me once more before he walked away. And
do you know who that man was?

B.B.
I’m sure you’re going to tell me.

G.G.
That man was none other than Mr. Tony Bennet. And what he wrote in that notepad
became the well known song, I Left My Heart In San Francisco!

B.B.
Is that true?

G.G.
Honey, this is San Francisco! It’s true if you really wish it to be true.

B.B.
Geez, I’m going to need another cocktail. I’m glad I don’t let people walk all over me.
It’s so…pedestrian!

G.G.
People just use you to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible before you fall
apart in some minor earthquake.

B.B.
(Gasps) You swore you’d never bring that up again. You know how painful a day that was
for me. How could you be so cruel?

G.G.
I’m sorry. I guess that was hitting below the span.

(KARL, aka The Fog, wearing all white,
wanders in, settles in around B.B and
G.G. and then wanders off again)

B.B.
That Karl is so creepy!

G.G.
And so wet! Why is he always so wet?

B.B.
Condensation. It’s when warm, moist air cools to its dew point and…

G.G.
I know! I was being redundant.
Anyway, I don’t trust him. Sometimes I think he goes under my span on purpose. Then he
just…lingers there. Ugh!

B.B.
Oh, look! The Towers just came in. HI, COIT! HI, SUTRO! SUTRO, OVER HERE! I
guess they didn’t hear me.

G.G.
Honey, they heard you in Portland. Don’t be so needy. Besides, Sutro can be a little
snooty. You ever notice how he stands on top of that hill, looking down at everyone else.

B.B.
Yeah, with that little smirk on his face, like he’s the be-all, end-all. Coit’s not much better.
It was Coit who started all that innuendo about how he looks just like a…Well, I’m too
much of a lady to say, but now, it’s the first thing people think of when they see him.

Join us for the the final Monday Night PlayGround of Season 32 at Potrero Stage, Monday, March 2 at 7pm PT. For more info, click here!