Play 29: Wrong Numbers – A misunderstanding leads to changed lives within an office.
Wrong Numbers is another attempt to write a One Minute Play. And I’m not saying this because I’m tired of writing 28 other plays. I really wanted to see how the process is for writing one.
Process:
As usual, I didn’t pre-plan what I was going to write about. But it took a couple of minutes to find a subject. I knew I had already wanted to write a one minute, so I did a little research on how to write one and found one tip in particular about how life is composed of moments and by thinking of that moment’s beginning, middle, and end, you have a play. The hard thing is trying to develop character as this moment is happening. What does she, in this case, want and why? Why’s she being secretive about it? Who else can this information affect? All in a minute?
Premise:
A worker tries to get a printout that’s not coming. She’s stressing over it which spooks a nearby coworker who believes that the Numbers are bad based on the accountant’s nervousness. In the end, there’s nothing for him to worry about since the printout (which she has given up waiting for to try another printer in another department) finally arrives with the info that she’s expecting twins… with her married boss.