Short Play: The Perils of Isolation - A Theatrical Performance

This assignment presents a short play revolving around Jim Carter, a bookish man stifled by his mundane life. Trapped in a job he dislikes and a marriage lacking shared passions, Jim dreams of escaping into the world of books. A seemingly innocuous wish for solitude takes a dark turn when a mysterious event wipes out everyone around him, leaving him alone with his beloved books. Initially overjoyed, Jim's excitement is cut short by a clumsy accident, highlighting the potential pitfalls of isolation. The play uses a blend of dark humor and irony to explore themes of escapism, the consequences of unchecked desires, and the ambiguous nature of freedom. The included bibliography lists resources related to storytelling, short story writing, and dramatic works.

Running head: SHORT PLAY
Short Play
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SHORT PLAY
Jim Carter, A typical bookish man in his late 50s. Held back by his daily life, an angry
wife who doesn’t share his passion for books, and his 18 years of being employed as a stock
market advisor has had him burning in fumes. But Jim had a feeling that everything is going
to change.
Crowded train to the work
Jim: “ A mysterious Death Of a Business Tycoon” I wish I could read a little more on that
front page story, if only he could turn to page 5.
But the stranger in the train was busy reading today’s weather forecast.
Jim: The first thing I do when I reach office is turn to page 5 of that story, Maybe I can read
about it during my break time.
Later..
Customer: So I purchased the stock on September 14th,
Jim: Yes! Uh-ha, Yes!
Customer: and therefore I can’t ..
Unlike no other day Jim had a really hard time concentrating, his mind kept drifting away
Jim thought that he was getting sick
Jim: Excuse me!
Customer: But, wait..
(Before she could finish)

2SHORT PLAY
Jim: I will be back.
Jim hurried to wash his face, but he didn’t feel better. All he wanted to do is read that
article, or anything at all.. Escaping from reality and his mundane life. Jim hurried downstairs
where the new cafeteria was. He knows that the daily newspaper must be where it usually is.
Jim: Ah! Daily Star Mail!.
He knew that he couldn’t stay there for too long. Jim always wanted to go inside the
new industrial freezer where they keep the dairy products and it seemed like the best place for
him to hide for some time.
Jim: I will deal with Mrs. Kent later, I wish everyone stops to exist. All I care are books, I
wanna read all day everyday.
(he said to himself)
As he made his casual wish the lights went off, everything was dark except a bright
blinking red light under one of the shelves. Jim slowly reached out to it and gets a minor
spark. Petrified, Jim quickly tried to unlock the freezer door to get out, only to realize it was
stuck. With all his power he opened it and saw smoke coming out from outside and the sound
of sirens. Quickly stepping outside the freezer he realized the whole place is completely
destroyed.
Jim: What has happed here? Where is everybody?

3SHORT PLAY
Frantically looking for everyone he quickly realized something strange has happened.
Everyone has died. Was there a bomb? Was it something else? He remembered making a
wish about wanting to be alone.
Jim: I need to check the library upstairs
Jim maneuvered his way upstairs in the library to find out that most of the books have
survived whatever that has happened.
Jim: Everyone gone? Its just me and all these books? No more Mr. Kent, no more Melissa
(his wife), no more anybody?
This filled Jim with tears of extreme joy.
Finally he is alone, His excitement made him jump in joy like a twelve year old boy. Only to
stumble on a chair and falling face first on the floor, his reading glasses smashed against the
concrete floor broke into a million pieces.
Jim, stood there looking down on his reading glass…

4SHORT PLAY
Bibliography:
Campbell, T., & Hlusek, M. (2017). Storytelling and story writing: Using a different kind of
pencil. What works? research into practice (Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat).
Cox, A. (2016). Writing Short Stories: A Routledge Writer's Guide. Routledge.
Hanson, C. (2015). Postscript: British Women’s Short Story Writing. British Women Short
Story Writers: The New Woman to Now.
Kuhn, G. (2016). Exploring French Short Stories: Guy de Maupassant's Writing Style and
Social Justice.
Shaw, S. (2017). The writing mind: A Play. English in Australia, 52(2), 39.