Play 365: Interview V (a.k.a., Holy Shit It’s Done!)
CHARACTERS
BEN, 17
MAN, middle-aged
(They sit on chairs facing each other on an otherwise empty stage, a small round table resting between them with two cups on it.)
MAN
The night has finally come.
BEN
Yup.
MAN
It’s finally over.
BEN
It is.
MAN
How do you feel?
BEN
Pretty mixed, but overall good.
MAN
How so?
BEN
Well, I’ll miss it. As much as it’s been a pain at times, and has been another thing I need to do, I have enjoyed doing it a lot. And I think it’s helped me grow as a writer too.
MAN
Are you happy to be done though?
BEN
Yeah, very. It’ll be nice to not have to do it every night anymore, gives me more time to do stuff. Maybe I’ll finally get some of that sleep I kept talking about not getting in my scenes.
MAN
Sounds like a good idea.
BEN
Definitely.
(Beat.)
MAN
Do you feel a sense of accomplishment on having finished?
BEN
Definitely. When I started I don’t think I really expected that I’d actually keep up with it for a whole year.
MAN
Did you indeed write a scene every day, or did you backlog or cheat on it ever?
BEN
I wrote a couple scenes a bit after midnight, and a couple times I had so much going on that I forgot, and wrote one on waking up the next morning. But close enough I figure.
MAN
Of course.
(Beat.)
And now the obvious question. How do you feel about your play-a-day project now that it’s complete. Do you consider it a success?
BEN
Yeah, I do. I may have a written a lot of scenes that are cop-outs or that aren’t particularly good, or in some cases are just flat out terrible, but that doesn’t bother me. I wrote some that I really like, and tried out a lot of new techniques, topics, and stuff like that. I got a lot better with playwriting, and learned a lot about writing in general, and I think myself too to some degree, as tacky as that sounds. I may not be happy with many of the scenes, but that’s not important, and is just how it goes writing something every day. I’m just glad that I kept it up and got it done.
MAN
That makes a lot of sense.
BEN
I like to think so.
(Beat.)
MAN
How hard did you find the project to be?
BEN
Not as bad as you might think. Thinking of ideas was always hard, as I’ve said before, but the actual writing of the scenes wasn’t bad. And it took some time, but I have time to kill, so it wasn’t too big a deal.
MAN
So it never did get easier to think of ideas?
BEN
Not even close.
(Beat.)
MAN
What do you think you’ll do with yourself now?
BEN
I’m not sure really. I’m going to keep writing, but not another daily thing. I’m not that ambitious, and I don’t have the energy right now sadly.
MAN
What do you think you will do then?
BEN
I want to get back to prose more. I’ve been writing some recently, but I’d like to focus more attention on it. It’s what I’ve done the most, and I enjoy reading it the most, so I’m looking forward to getting back to it again.
MAN
Do you think you’ll continue with playwriting?
BEN
Yeah, in some form at least. I bet I might take a break for a bit, but I really have come to enjoy it a lot. It’s an interesting medium, very different from any other forms of writing. I definitely plan to continue playing around with it.
(Beat.)
MAN
Do you think your scenes say much about you, or your general mental state and feelings throughout this year?
BEN
Yeah, definitely. I mean, some things about the scenes obviously don’t have anything to do with me, especially the comedic ones. But I think there’s a lot of truth buried down in there as well. Sometimes I’ll look back on a scene, or even just the title, and be able to remember the night I wrote it. On reading them I can often remember the mood I was in, and I think many of them are clearly products of how I was feeling. The whole project has been an interesting chronicle of this year, I think a lot of aspects of it mirror how I’ve been feeling and different thoughts that have been going through my head. Guess it preserves a bit of this last year permanently.
(Beat.)
MAN
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
BEN
Nothing much. Just, it’s been a really interesting, frustrating, and amazing project overall. I’ve hated it at times, loved it at others, and been somewhere in between the majority of the times. All I can say is, I’m glad I did it. Very glad.
(Beat.)
MAN
Anything else?
BEN
Just, thanks to everyone who’s read my scenes, given me feedback on them, good or bad, talked with me late at night online and put up with my whining repeatedly about how I couldn’t think of anything to write.
(Beat.)
And just everyone who’s been a friend to me over this past year. I know it sounds cheesy, but all of you have meant a lot to me. I don’t know how I would’ve made it through this year without you. Thank you so much.
MAN
Well said.
BEN
Thanks.
(Pause.)
MAN
Well, that’s all the questions I can think of.
BEN
Okay.
MAN
It was great talking to you again, and I wish you success in your further endeavors now that your play-a-day project has ended.
BEN
Thanks.
MAN
And just one more thing.
(Beat.)
BEN
Yeah?
MAN
I think you already know what I’m going to say.
(Pause.)
(They whip out toothbrushes with sharpened ends.)
(Beat.)
(They lie them down on the table, and reach over the table to embrace each other.)
(Blackout.)
posted by Ben Rosbrow @ 9:59 PM
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