Photo by Mikael Aldo

DANIEL

A Play in two acts by Barry Smoot

Currently Unavailable for Licensing

“As a child we know nothing about jealousy. We have no desire for competition or need for violence. Where do these destructive thoughts come from? Adult's hearts. Adult's fears. The transformation is made daily. We cut with our example. We kill with our lack of affirmation. Nobody ever said life is easy. Don't make it harder by opening kid's eyes to those dark things we know we should shield them from. No matter what the cost.”
—Anna, Act 2

THE PLOT

Daniel is a kid accused of a school shooting. His interactions with a therapist before his trial explore the journey he made from beloved to child to a murderer capable hideous acts of violence.

Through the exploration of the police, his parents, his friends and his relationships, light is shed on this tragically lost person, and the weight they all bear in his downfall.

THE CHARACTERS

DANIEL—(16) An only child. Smart, resilient, but completely withdrawn emotionally.

JOHN MASON—DANIEL’S father. Conservative and tough, but strangely compassionate.

MAGGIE MASON—DANIEL’S mother. A fighter. Emotionally centered on her child. She will not sacrifice her beliefs for anything or anyone.

ANNA (Ms. Lewis)—The court appointed therapist to assigned to evaluate DANIEL’S competence for trail.
VOICE 1—Various characters, including a principal, a coach and a policeman

VOICE 2—Various characters including a teacher, a neighbor and DANIEL’s grandmother

VOICE 3—Various characters including clerk, a janitor, a policeman, and a drug dealer

VOICE 4—Various characters including a schoolmate, a troubled teen and a victim

VOICE 5—Various characters including an out-of control schoolmate, a neighbor and victim

VOICE 6—Various characters including a girl DANIEL is interested in, a neighborhood child, and victim #1.

THE SETTING

The play takes place in various locations including DANIEL’S home, an school classroom, a school hallway, the neighborhood, a store, and the living room of an abandoned house. It is a unit set, abstract in its presentation and fluid in its representation of place. DANIEL should be staged a simply as possible.

WRITER’S STATEMENT

DANIEL explores the idea of generational violence, and how such extreme reactions are the product of our environment and can be handed down in the smallest of interactions.

It also takes an unflinching look at the current generation’s Cult of Vanity. It has become so easy to lash out and to pass judgement in a world where technology has made us anonymous. We have no understanding of the impact of our words because they are so easily transmitted and more often than not, blind to the consequences.

Who Daniel is can’t be separated from those around him.

(Warning: mature language and subject matter).


DANIEL is currently being revised.