The Will
Thriller, who is not surprised
- Thriller
- Scene for 4
- 5 min
- Female role
- Adult
- Advanced
Casting
8 lines- LE NOTAIRE Male role, Senior
- CLARA Female role, Adult your role
- HUGO Male role, Adult
- RÉGINE Female role, Senior
Full text
(A notary’s office. The notary opens a sealed envelope. Three heirs wait.)
LE NOTAIRE
Before the will, your father left a letter. He asked that it be read first. I quote.
“If you are gathered to hear me, then I am dead. And if I died before winter, then it was not my heart.”
CLARA
…What?
LE NOTAIRE
“One of you already knows. I am changing my will this Monday. Only that one had a reason to stop me.”
HUGO
This is morbid. He was raving, at the end.
RÉGINE
Papa never raved a day in his life. And today is Monday.
(A silence. Each one calculates, not daring to look at the others.)
LE NOTAIRE
The letter ends thus: “Note who, in the room, is not surprised.”
(Three faces turn, very slowly, towards the only one staring at the floor.)
CLARA
…Hugo. Why won’t you look up?
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.
The same text, elsewhere
Close to this one
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One Question Too Many
You haven’t asked why you’re here. In twenty years, everyone asks. Except the ones who know. You haven’t opened your file. People usually do. Except when it’s empty.
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The Hideout
The bag was full at two o’clock. There are three of us. Nobody left. Then it’s still here. Banknotes don’t evaporate.
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The Manuscript
It’s your best book. Precise, chilling. The murder in chapter nine, above all. You believe it a hundred per cent. Thank you. I researched heavily.