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Twenty Thousand Euros

A satirical comedy in three sessions

  • Youth theatre
  • Satire
  • 14-character play
  • 6 women, 4 men, 4 either
  • 45 min
  • Intermediate
  • Ages 11+
PDF Word Free, no sign-up

Synopsis

For the first time ever, the Youth Town Council of Vernay-sur-Lise has a real budget: twenty thousand euros, to be voted on over three sessions. In the school playground, the campaigns begin, polls are bought with sweets, and an older brother from the high school sets himself up as an adviser behind the scenes. Then somebody finally reads the document nobody reads, and the gift stops looking like a gift.

The council chamber of Vernay-sur-Lise town hall, lent to the young councillors three Saturdays in a row, and the school playground between sessions, in France, today.

Casting

531 lines
  • CLARA Female role, Teen 14, president of the Youth Town Council, elected for a second year.
  • AMIRA Female role, Teen 15, council member, leading the campaign for the “Grand Festival”.
  • NORA Female role, Teen 14, council member, runs Amira’s campaign.
  • IRIS Female role, Teen 12, council member, has done the maths on trees and compost bins.
  • LINA Female role, Teen 11, in Year 7, the youngest on the council, lives in the hamlet of Les Granges.
  • PAULA Female role, Teen 13, writes the school paper single-handed.
  • HUGO Male role, Teen 14, council member, has wanted a skatepark since primary school.
  • FÉLIX Male role, Teen 13, council member, has backed Hugo from day one.
  • MATEO Male role, Teen 12, council member, watches debates from the French Parliament online.
  • OSCAR Male role, Teen 17, at the high school, Hugo’s older brother, too old for the council.
  • ROBIN No gender marker, Teen 13, council member, has abstained on every vote since September.
  • EDEN No gender marker, Teen 12, council member, takes the minutes of every session.
  • KIM No gender marker, Teen 14, council member, keeps the accounts and reads every document.
  • SASHA No gender marker, Teen 13, in Year 9, runs the Sasha Institute, a polling company in a shoebox.

Contents

  1. Act One: First Session
    • Scene 1
    • Scene 2
    • Scene 3
    • Scene 4
  2. Act Two: Second Session
    • Scene 1
    • Scene 2
    • Scene 3
  3. Act Three: Third Session
    • Scene 1
    • Scene 2

Excerpt

Act One: First Session

Scene 1

(The council chamber at the town hall. A big horseshoe-shaped table, microphones, a flag. On an easel, a giant cardboard cheque: “Twenty thousand euros”. The council members are taking their seats. Paula sits at the back, a notebook on her knees.)

CLARA

Good morning, everyone. It’s ten o’clock. I declare open the first budget session of the Youth Town Council of Vernay-sur-Lise.

(Nobody moves. Clara knocks three times on the table with her pen.)

CLARA

Open.

MATEO

Point of order.

CLARA

Mateo, we haven’t even started.

MATEO

Exactly. Article four: “Council members shall remain seated.” Hugo is sitting on the back of his chair.

526 more lines, 12 scenes

The rest is waiting in the file.

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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.

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