AT LAST

Five Stories in One Act - Thirty Minutes

At Last is a script, written for a school competition called the Tournament of Plays. The script is designed to be flexible, with a lot of space left for the director to make decisions. It is also designed to run without interruption, with only one curtain closing and no blackouts throughout the course of the entire show.

This script is not a final draft, as changes are going to be made up until showtime on May 6th. However, this version has undergone significant editing, and I'd like to thank everyone who helped me put it together.

A quick note on the staging before I finish this brief author's note:

The play is designed for a proscenium stage, with two platforms about a quarter of the width of the stage (and about two thirds as tall) put directly on either end in front of the stage, in the area which would be used as a pit for musicians. The one of these which is to the left of the stage (from the audience's perspective) is set with the Old Man's Park and the one to the right has the Bar, as noted in the script. Actors on these platforms are pantomiming as if their scenes were continuing when the light is off of them, and become the focal point of the show when fully lit. Every other set takes place on the main stage, with the action on the platforms covering for scene changes.

Cast of Characters:

ROSE: A non-innocent version of the ingenue. A pure person who doesn’t exactly have to learn how to be mean when she breaks down. Female.
GEORGE: A bumbling nice guy. Somewhat forgetful, but not a bad person. Male.
BRENDA: Rose’s not-very-nice best friend. Something of a gremlin. Female.
DAKOTA: Jessie’s friend. He’s a good stabilizer. Preferably male.
JESSIE: A stage-frightened performer. She has a tendency to exaggerate, but has a good amount of talent. Female.
ALEX: An old friend of Parker, who had minimal success in their life. 76 years old. Sounds like a recovering alcoholic.
PARKER: A 75 year old philosopher-type. Thinks everything they say is deep, but knows how to make a joke. Sounds a lot like Kurt Vonnegut.
BARISTA: A beleaguered coffee-shop worker. Your stereotypical hipster, theater major barista. Snarky. Must give good death glares.
SAWYER: 20-something. Sawyer tells stupid jokes.
TAYLOR: An intelligent person who doesn’t like the Barista much. Doesn’t start trouble much, but is very happy to continue it.
JORDAN: A caffeine junkie hungry for their next fix. The most physical role.
PAT: Jessie’s manager. Means well, and understand Jessie.
RILEY: Riley is a semi-abusive, domineering steamroller-type personality. They’re probably the closest anyone gets to being a villain in this play.
CHARLIE: Something of the leader of the group of friends working on the movie with Riley. A strange mix of self-obsessed and good person.
CASEY: Casey is a person-oriented introvert, which makes them awkward and an easy target for Riley.
CAMERON: Cameron is an idea guy, and a wanna-be comedian.