Solo Club

A drama in two acts

Sample of Dialogue (PDF) | Cast of Characters | Set Requirements

Synopsis:

Every failed attempt at escaping loneliness increases the pain of its grip. My play, Solo Club, is a drama about a lonely, gay, teenage, boy trying to find a place where he can belong.

Veiled in bravado, sixteen year old Chase arrives in the alley behind the Solo Club bar. He has escaped the psychiatric ward with hope of finding his sister, Haley, who once worked at the bar. At the club, we meet the bartender, Curt. At age 45, Curt is a somber man burdened by a personal tragedy. Next, we meet Randi the bar owner. A woman in her late thirties, Randi fights loneliness with false haughtiness and one-night stands. Characters outside the bar include Picasso, a homeless man who lives in the alley, and Gale, Chase’s father. A failed artist, thirty six year old Picasso has grown bitterly comfortable in his misery and defeat. Forty five year old Gale is a man of guile and abuse who is seeking out Chase for personal gain.

The play begins with the police telling Curt and Randi that a suicidal teenager is on the run in the neighborhood. Not long after that, we find Chase sharing the alley with Picasso, and rescuing Curt from a robbery attempt. As Curt, Chase, and Picasso gather in the bar to tend to Curt’s injuries, Chase learns that his sister left the bar a year earlier. We also discover that Chase’s father abandoned him, and the one person who loved him, his grandmother, died two days earlier.

The next day Gale arrives at the bar. Feigning the concerned father, he asks Randi to call him if she sees Chase. After Gale leaves, Chase enters to ask Randi if she could help him find Haley, but she comes onto him. Uncomfortable with Randi’s advances, Chase escapes, leaving behind a picture of Haley. The scene ends with Randi burning Haley’s picture and calling Gale, as Chase retreats to the alley and cuts himself.

Curt later finds Chase in the alley, bleeding. As Curt bandages Chase, we learn Curt had a son, and Chase’s father threw him out when he discovered Chase was gay. Then Gale shows up. Frightened by Gale and believing Curt has betrayed him, Chase runs away. Curt enters the bar and finds Randi is drunk. They fight, and it’s revealed that Haley ran off with Randi’s boyfriend. We also learn that Curt killed his son in a drunken driving accident. The scene ends when Randi gives Curt Haley’s phone number.

That night, Chase returns to the alley badly beaten and in need of medical care. Randi is guilt ridden when she realizes she played a part in his beating. Two days later, Chase, with his head bandaged, returns to the alley and comes across Curt. When Curt tells Chase that Haley won’t help him, and when Chase rejects Curt’s offer of help, Curt finally realizes he has failed Chase and he returns to the bar. Inside the bar Randi and Curt fight, and Randi breaks down, exposing her hatred for herself and the father that sexually abused her. In the alley, as Chase and Picasso prepare to go their separate ways, Gale shows up. It turns out that Chase is a signatory on his grandmother’s checking account, and Gale wants the money. After a physical confrontation with Chase and Picasso, Gale leaves with a check in hand. The play ends when Chase picks up a knife and must choose between cutting himself or leaving the knife behind, and moving on.

Set Requirements:

Split set: a small bar and the alley behind it.
Time: Present

Cast of Characters:
Chase:	A sixteen year old boy.
Picasso:	Man in his mid thirties; a homeless artist.
Curt:	A man, early to mid forties; the bartender.
Randi Stall:	A woman, mid to late thirties; the bar owner.
Gale:	A 45 year old man; Chase’s father.
Policeman:	Male, 30 to 40 years old.
Robber:	Male, 20 to 40 years old.