HOYT
|
50s.
Tall. Deliberate. Tired.
|
DREW
|
19.
Small in build. Clean-cut, well-
scrubbed. Innocent, sincere.
Gives the impression of being
almost fragile.
|
Winner - Tennessee Williams Literary Festival One-Act Play Competition
Winner - First Place - Stage Play Script - 75th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition
Winner - Robert R. Lehan Playwriting Award
Finalist - Kernodle New Play Competition
Finalist - Drury University One-Act Playwriting Competition
Finalist - Arts and Letters Prize in Drama
Two monologues from Small Things have been published in Best Monologues from Best
American Short Plays, Volume Two (Applause Theatrebooks).
Available online at Infinity Stage.
Published in Best American Short Plays 2005-2006
Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, New York, NY
Published in Regional Best 2011, Level 4 Press, Jamul CA
Published in Bayou Magazine, University of New Orleans, LA
Published in Persona, Westfield State College, Westfield, MA
HOYT, a man in his 50s, has reached the end of his rope. With no money, no job, no prospects of a job,
and no hope that things will get better, he’s decided to simply end things and is calmly sitting in his apartment
with a loaded pistol, getting ready to pull the trigger.
That’s when the doorbell rings and standing there is DREW (19), who’s going door-to-door proselytizing for
the Assembly of Hubristic Evangelicals. Hoyt invites him in.
Which in itself is a miracle, because in the entire year Drew has been doing this, no one has ever let him through the door.
As the two talk, a lot comes out: The Assembly of Hubristic Evangelicals is the One True Faith that has the One True Answer as revealed in the One True Book (“We combined the old and new testaments, and took out the parts that are wrong.”)
Nevertheless, Drew is quitting.
In fact, today’s his last day. He committed to one year of missionary work and Hoyt’s is his last doorbell.
Why is he quitting? Because he’s gay, which, to the Assembly, is an abomination.
Talk about a crisis of faith...
Then Hoyt reveals the pistol he stuffed under the couch cushion when Drew rang the bell.
And now Drew’s real missionary work begins, as he tries to talk Hoyt out of killing himself.
and no hope that things will get better, he’s decided to simply end things and is calmly sitting in his apartment
with a loaded pistol, getting ready to pull the trigger.
That’s when the doorbell rings and standing there is DREW (19), who’s going door-to-door proselytizing for
the Assembly of Hubristic Evangelicals. Hoyt invites him in.
Which in itself is a miracle, because in the entire year Drew has been doing this, no one has ever let him through the door.
As the two talk, a lot comes out: The Assembly of Hubristic Evangelicals is the One True Faith that has the One True Answer as revealed in the One True Book (“We combined the old and new testaments, and took out the parts that are wrong.”)
Nevertheless, Drew is quitting.
In fact, today’s his last day. He committed to one year of missionary work and Hoyt’s is his last doorbell.
Why is he quitting? Because he’s gay, which, to the Assembly, is an abomination.
Talk about a crisis of faith...
Then Hoyt reveals the pistol he stuffed under the couch cushion when Drew rang the bell.
And now Drew’s real missionary work begins, as he tries to talk Hoyt out of killing himself.
“...the very model of what a one-act play can be.”
“ The tense, darkly funny repartee is smart and suspenseful.”
- David Cuthbert, New Orleans Times-Picayune
“Our audiences have really been moved and entertained by Small Things,
as they were by House of the Holy Moment.
So many said that they loved how the humor and the profound seriousness
work so well together in this very human story.
And they felt real connection to your characters and their situations.
“...it is a joy to bring life and voice to your characters. There is richness, simplicity,
playfulness, and great humanity in your language and your stories.”
- Jeff Gill, The Theater at Hollywood and Vine - Plymouth, MA
“ The tense, darkly funny repartee is smart and suspenseful.”
- David Cuthbert, New Orleans Times-Picayune
“Our audiences have really been moved and entertained by Small Things,
as they were by House of the Holy Moment.
So many said that they loved how the humor and the profound seriousness
work so well together in this very human story.
And they felt real connection to your characters and their situations.
“...it is a joy to bring life and voice to your characters. There is richness, simplicity,
playfulness, and great humanity in your language and your stories.”
- Jeff Gill, The Theater at Hollywood and Vine - Plymouth, MA
