The Ransom
Thriller, what child?
- Thriller
- Two-hander
- 3 min
- Male role
- Adult
- Advanced
Casting
8 lines- LE NÉGOCIATEUR Male role, Adult your role
- LA VOIX No gender marker, Adult
Full text
(A crisis room. A man, a headset. A distorted voice in the earpiece.)
LE NÉGOCIATEUR
I’m listening. We can find a solution. No one has done anything irreparable yet.
LA VOIX
Two million. Unmarked. You have until midnight.
LE NÉGOCIATEUR
That’s a lot, in little time. Let me speak to the child. Proof of life, and I’ll release everything.
LA VOIX
What child?
LE NÉGOCIATEUR
…I’m sorry?
LA VOIX
I don’t have a child. I called you. Look at the photo that’s just been slipped under your door.
(He turns. An envelope, on the floor. He opens it.)
(His voice changes.)
LE NÉGOCIATEUR
That’s… that’s my daughter. Outside her school.
LA VOIX
Now we negotiate for real. And this time, it’s you who’s out of practice.
What you can do with it
Original text written for Acto. Read it, print it, work on it in class, perform it at an audition or on a self-tape: that is what it is for, and you need no permission. For a public performance or any commercial use, write to us at contact@acto.re.
In these selections
The same text, elsewhere
Close to this one
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The Hands
You’ve washed your hands three times. They’re not dirty. It’s worse. They’re clean, and I can still feel it.
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The Lift
Don’t worry. It happens, in these old buildings. They’ll get us out. You’re calm.
-
The Meeting
Nice envelope. Thick. You’ve been sensible. It’s the last one. Do you hear me? The last.