Door, The
A Drama
by Tony Earnshaw
published October 2009
Suitable for Adult Groups
Price: £3.75
A one act play, running time 50 minutes, featuring two male actors.
Winner of the Sir Michael Caine Award for Best New Writing, Leatherhead Drama Festival 2009.
Boyd and Ryan are discovered seated, apparently waiting for something. Boyd is reading a tabloid, dressed in jeans and bomber jacket. Ryan is in chinos and blazer, reading a novel. They ignore each other until the banging of a door (off) provides a trigger for conversation. Over the course of the next 50 minutes they squabble about who should shut the door, argue about politics, religion, and lifestyles and gradually reveal their shared history. Ryan was the officer in charge of an army unit in Iraq, Boyd served in the unit. Ryan had a crisis of conscience, Boyd blames him for the impact on morale. They are waiting to explain themselves to a board of enquiry. Ryan is nervous about being underprepared and Boyd takes on the role of prosecuting officer to help him. In a final twist, the roles are reversed and it is Boyd who ends up giving himself up to the military police. Throughout the play the banging of the door acts as punctuation, heightens the tension and provokes changes in the direction of the conversation
Players: 2 male
Cast: Boyd, Ryan
Sets: An institutional waiting room
Period: Present
Running Time: 50 minutes
Download Sample Script: Door, The
ISBN: 978-0-9560209-06-5