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Three Knocks

A chamber piece for two voices, in three acts

  • Chamber piece
  • Thriller
  • 2-character play
  • 1 man, 1 either
  • 50 min
  • Advanced
  • Ages 14+
PDF Word Free, no sign-up

Synopsis

On the last night before a high mountain hut closes for the winter, the storm cuts off the radio and someone knocks at the door. The keeper takes a long time to open it. The story told by the person who comes in has gaps, and the old man has his reasons for wanting no one there that night. Until morning, both of them will wonder which side of the door the danger is on.

The Pierre Blanche hut, 2,700 meters up in the Alps, on the night of October 14, the present day.

Casting

475 lines
  • JOSEPH Male role, Senior 66, keeper of the hut for thirty-one seasons; tomorrow, a helicopter is due to take him down for good.
  • ALEX No gender marker, Adult 32, knocks at the hut door on a stormy night, carrying a pack that is too light.

Contents

  1. Act One : The Door
    • Scene 1
    • Scene 2
    • Scene 3
  2. Act Two : The Logbook
    • Scene 1
    • Scene 2
  3. Act Three : One Knock, It’s the Wind
    • Scene 1
    • Scene 2
    • Scene 3

Excerpt

Act One : The Door

Scene 1

(The common room of a mountain hut. A long table, benches, a stove. A radio on a shelf, next to a row of old logbooks. In the window, small and barred with iron, a lamp is lit. Outside, the wind.)

(Joseph, at the radio handset.)

JOSEPH

Pierre Blanche to Les Granges. Pierre Blanche to Les Granges, do you read me?

(Static.)

JOSEPH

Yes, Hervé. It’s blowing, yes. Eighty, maybe more up on the ridge. No, the roof’s holding. It’s held for thirty-one winters, it’ll hold one more night.

(Static.)

JOSEPH

No. Nobody. The last ones went down on Sunday. I’m alone. Everything’s cleared out, the blankets are folded, the gas is off. There’s nothing left but me and the stove.

(Static.)

JOSEPH

Nine o’clock, if he can make it. No need to hurry. If the wind doesn’t drop, don’t send Bruno up for nothing. I’m not going anywhere.

(Static, longer.)

JOSEPH

Yes. I know what day it is. Good night, Hervé.

470 more lines, 11 scenes

The rest is waiting in the file.

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