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Counter Zero

An absurd comedy in six scenes

  • Sketches
  • Absurdist
  • 15-character play
  • 7 women, 6 men, 2 either
  • 30 min
  • Beginner
  • Ages 10+
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Synopsis

In the basement of the town hall, at the end of the corridor, a counter with no number accepts the requests that every other counter turns down: getting back a lost hour, declaring a dream, making a complaint against the Moon, changing your name for just one Thursday. Nina and Bruno have worked there for thirty-two years, without ever being hired. This morning, an inspector comes down the stairs with orders to close it.

The basement of a town hall, at the end of a corridor: a counter under a handwritten sign, some chairs, a ticket machine. The present day, over several days.

Casting

347 lines
  • NINA Female role, Adult forties, has worked at Counter Zero for thirty-two years, keeps the register.
  • BRUNO Male role, Adult forties, has worked at Counter Zero for thirty-two years, writes the forms that don’t exist yet.
  • ALMA Female role, Child nearly twelve, born on 27 March at half past one in the morning.
  • JONAS Male role, Adult fifties, night watchman at a natural history museum.
  • ZOÉ Female role, Teen twelve, had a dream on Sunday night.
  • ARTHUR Male role, Teen twelve, also had a dream on Sunday night.
  • RAFAEL Male role, Teen thirteen, walks home from chess club every evening.
  • NOA No gender marker, Teen fourteen, has had a telescope on the balcony for three years.
  • ELENA Female role, Teen thirteen, sees her grandmother every Thursday.
  • TOM Male role, Teen thirteen, one of the three Toms in his class.
  • INÈS Female role, Teen twelve, said something on Tuesday, at break.
  • SAM No gender marker, Teen twelve, has known Inès since the age of six, heard that sentence.
  • L'INSPECTRICE Female role, Adult forties, city services inspector, has come to close Counter Zero.
  • LÉON Male role, Young adult twenty, the inspector’s intern, carries a tape measure.
  • MILA Female role, Child eleven, has been waiting for her turn since opening time.

Contents

  1. Scene 1: The Lost Hour
  2. Scene 2: The Double Dream
  3. Scene 3: Complaint Against the Moon
  4. Scene 4: A Name for Thursday
  5. Scene 5: Taking Back a Sentence
  6. Scene 6: The Inspection

Excerpt

Scene 1: The Lost Hour

(A counter. Behind it, Nina and Bruno. Above it, a handwritten sign: “Counter Zero”. On the counter: a register, a rubber stamp, a small pair of scales with two pans. Next to the door, a ticket machine. Alma comes in, takes a ticket, looks at it.)

ALMA

Zero.

NINA

That’s you. Come forward.

ALMA

Isn’t there anyone else?

NINA

Here, it’s always zero.

(Bruno looks at the door, then at Alma.)

BRUNO

It’s not her.

342 more lines, 6 scenes

The rest is waiting in the file.

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