The February People’s Choice goes to…….

The people have spoken (well sung)… The February People’s Choice Award goes to Kate Keleher for her short play, SAME AS IT EVER WAS, presented as a staged reading at Monday Night PlayGround on February 18th 2018, at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Congratulations, Kate!

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

Same as it Ever Was
__________________________
By Kate Keleher

Cast in Order of Appearance

SALLY: 30, white, Sarah Lawrence grad, self-assured, extremely pregnant, a little disheveled, wearing a fifties dress

BILL: 34, white, Sally’s husband, Madison Ave ad agency copywriter, excellent dancer,WWII veteran, wearing silk pajamas

OSCAR 32, white, Biltmore Hotel concierge, WWII veteran (same platoon as Bill), quiet and dignified bird lover, descended from generations of New England fisherman, wearing a suit

SETTING: Darien, Connecticut, an affluent suburb of New York City, 1958

Features “Once In A Lifetime” by the Talking Heads, from 2:16-3:08

In the second floor study on a Tuesday night, Bill sits at his desk, chewing a pen and trying to come up with a tagline for Scrubby Soap. A large mirror hangs over the desk. A pile of crumpled paper grows at his feet. Sally putters around the study, dismantling it for the baby’s room.

BILL

People are dirty. Soap is clean. Scrub yourself until you’re… green…
[trying on a jazzy voice] Soap! Just add water.
Water water everywhere, and lots and lots of soap.

Bill crumples up his paper and tosses it.

SALLY

Why do you need two closets for your shoes?

BILL

Shoes are the first thing a client notices. That, and the fingernails.

SALLY

The only one looking at your shoes is you. You’d do well to look up from time to time.

Sally’s hands are full with things she’s packing up from Bill’s study. She balances some things on her belly. Bill doesn’t look up.

BILL

Just leave the closet alone, would you?

SALLY

What about the baby’s things?

BILL

How much space does a baby need? He seems perfectly happy in there.

He gestures to Sally’s belly.

SALLY

If it was up to you, the baby would sleep in a drawer.

BILL

Scrubby Soap. Rope. Grope. Elope. Cantaloupe… Nope.

Sally sits on Bill’s lap and puts on his glasses.

SALLY

Too heavy?

BILL

[slightly suffocating] You’re fine.

She writes down a tagline in his notebook.

SALLY

Don’t be dirty like a dope.
Wash it off with Scrubby Soap.

BILL

Hey, that’s pretty good.

SALLY

[flirtatious] Iambic pentameter.

________________

Join us for the Next  Monday Night PlayGround of the season on Monday, April 1, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre  and choose your own favorite. Click here for more info.