The Soundtrack Series

9-Minute, One act play

Midnight Rendezvous

Premise: Dougie just signed a contract with a pop band. Zooey just learned she may be moving back to America. Can they express how these changes are making them feel…before it’s too late?

Warning: MA-14 (recommended)

Note from the Author: I wrote this as a Freshman at Keene State College. It began as a short story, but when I received an assignment to write a 9-minute, 1 Act Play, I reworked the story into a script.

This was Phase 1 to our final exam. Out of 20+ plays, he was going to only select a handful to be perform. If our play was chosen then we were done for the rest of the semester. If our play wasn’t selected, then we needed to partake in Phase 2 – which was him selecting who would direct one of the plays. Phase 3 was to audition/act for one of the selections as our final exam.

On the day the professor’s announcement of selected plays, he walked up to me (as I sat in the far, back corner of the room), and grimly stated, “We need to talk.”

I think I gripped the arm of my chair so tightly, I had white knuckles. My breath caught in my throat. I hate (honestly, more than anything) when people say those four words…exclusively in that order!

I couldn’t even respond. My mind was running wild, trying to figure out what I’d done wrong. Was I in trouble? Did it seem like I plagiarized part of my story (because I didn’t, to my knowledge)? What did I do?

The professor then said, “You didn’t tell me you could write.”

Me: *melts into a huge puddle of relief*

He explained to me that he nearly didn’t read my play, as it was the last in the pile of 20+ he had to read the night before, he was exhausted, and a lot of them were horrible – his words! But he did, and he even shared it with his wife (an English teacher at the local high school), and she (according to him) really enjoyed it, too!

Now I’m here, sharing it with all of you. I hope you enjoy it!