Romeo Must Die by Joel Silver

Character:

Trish O'Day

Gender:

Female

Age (range):

21

Style:

Drama

Length:

3 minutes

You know, once Colin and I did something we thought would really be funny. He hid out front, while I ran to tell my mom he'd been hurt, you know, hit by a car or something really bad like that. And when she came running, he was supposed to jump out and surprise her, and we'd all fall out and have this great laugh. Me and my mom always loved a good laugh. I was about 8 or 9. Colin was, like, 11. I don't even remember how we came up with it, but, sure enough ,you know, I start screaming and yelling, and my mom comes running out of the house, and she's like 'Trish, what's wrong?' and when I told her, I mean... the look on her face. I mean, even when Colin popped up to show it was just a joke, she just couldn't stop crying. She just held him close...clutched him, you know. I was just a baby, I didn't get it then, but I get it now. Colin's dead. And no matter how hard I cry, he's not just gonna pop up, and show me it was just a joke.

Unpublished by Athena Giannakakos

Character:

Tina

Gender:

Female

Age (range):

30-35

Style:

Drama

Length:

2 minutes

Background Info: Tina, 30 year old single woman talking to her mother (a widow of 25 years) after her mom has once again gone off about Tina's life what she has to show for it and the fact that she lives thousands of miles away from her. Typical guilt trip. Insight on Tina: Her issues were created through the lack of communication and understanding between her and her mother. Guilt is one of Tina's big issues and she has not yet been able to overcome this. Tina is very smart, has huge comedic traits, expressive face and she's a very warm loving person. But when it comes to her mom she could be quite nasty towards her and resentful.

(Irritating tone in her voice) I've gone over this too many times and I'm tired, tired of making up excuses for my actions and the decisions i make in my life because they don't make sense to you. Well, you know what? They make sense to me. In your eyes everything I do is a mistake, (raises her voice) well sorry mom I don't see it that way (she's getting worked up and stands up abruptly). I have no intentions of moving back home and everytime you ask me too I feel guilty. Starts moving about,pacing) Why should I feel guilty? It's not fair. I love living in New York, it's my home now, why can't you just be happy? (Nasty tone in her voice) You know what? This whole thing is not about me, it's about you. You're asking me to change my life so you could feel better. (She sits back down, feeling defeated and pissed off, warn down. She sighs, pauses.) I'm 32 years old and everytime I come to visit you I feel like I'm 15 again, I can't stand it. We can't sit in the same room for 10 minutes and not verbally attack each other (takes a few seconds and calms down). Listen, I came back this time hoping that we could change things between us and, uh, I can't fight with you anymore, I won't.

 Cold Blooded Murderer by Pen Wilson

Character:

Elizabeth

Gender:

Female

Age (range):

15-17

Style:

Drama

Length:

3 minutes

Background Info:Elizabeth is being interviewed by two police officers. She has just confessed to murdering 6 girls.

You want to know, I suppose, what turns a nice little girl like me into a cold blooded murderer. You want the truth? You want to know why I did it? Why I killed all those girls? It’s because I like it. I don't expect you to understand what it’s like. You have no idea. To hold someone’s life in your hands. To be in control.

There’s always that moment of acknowledgement between a killer and their victim. That instant when she realizes your power, and she looks at you and you look at her, and she pleads with her eyes. She begs for mercy, for her life. And you have a split second to decide: To save her, well that’s great. You could give her her life back, give her back to her family and friends, the people that love her. But to kill her... That’s something different. To remove her from this earth, to take away the thing that most value above all: Her life. Now that’s real power. None of these girls deserved their lives. Look at them! The musician, the actor, the writer, the dancer, the artist, the model. None of them appreciated what they had. They were the best. And that meant nothing to them. I’ve never been the best. Always smart, but never the smartest. Pretty, but never the prettiest. Talented, but never the most talented. But despite all this, I always thought I was special. I thought there was something inside me, lurking within, that would make me great. I’ve never been content with the idea of simply living my life, dieing, and being forgotten. That’s just not me. I want to be remembered for my achievements. And I will be, won't I? sure, you're disgusted by what I’ve done. You're horrified, you think I'm a monster. But I can guarantee that you're not going to go home to your boring lives and just forget me. Oh no. I'm willing to bet I'll be on your mind for quite some time.

I used to think I could find other ways to be recognized. I wanted to be famous for a while. But then I realized how stupid that is. People would want to be me, without really knowing what that means. Then I thought of being a lawyer... Me! I thought, ‘if I save lives, people will worship me.’ But I realized, not long ago now, not long before I killed for the first time, that saving people isn't enough. I could save the lives of one hundred people, and they would be grateful, and so would their families and friends. But what about everyone else? They'd see me on the news and think, ‘Huh. That’s nice.’ Then change the channel to something else. But what if I killed just one person . and not just kill them, brutally murder them. With my bare hands, staring them right in the eye. Not for revenge, not for personal gain, because I like killing. People would pay attention then. The whole world would stop, with me in the center. Everyone looking at me.

And I know what you're all thinking. I can see the looks on your faces. You think I'm just an attention seeking little kid, but I'm not. I just want someone to notice me. All my life I’ve stayed in the background. There’s always been that one student who gets better marks than me, That one teacher who makes me feel stupid, that one friend who always shuts me down, that one parent who’s not interested, that one sibling who overshadows my achievements with theirs. And nobody even cares. I just want you to think. And don't act like this doesn't apply to you, sergeant, cause it does. You're just the sort to do it. You've done it to me... Next time you're going to put someone down, point out their faults, make them feel stupid, be-little them, think about me, then think about them, and what they could do to you. How much would you respect them if they had their hands around your neck, and they had the choice: To release their grip on your throat, or to just keep pressing. Think about it.