CUBICLES: A Play in 3 Acts
CAST OF CHARACTERS
- JUNE, a young woman, Production Specialist at Nowak Fabrics
- DANIEL, a middle-aged man, Senior Creative Specialist at Nowak Fabrics
- JACOB, a young man, Creative Specialist at Nowak Fabrics
ACT I: JUNE MORNING
JUNE
I need coffee. Swivels and gets up from her mesh chair and exits her cubicle. Meanders her way over to the coffee machine in the floor kitchen. The pot is empty, so June presses the “begin brewing” button.
JUNE
This better work.
Daniel walks up behind her, startling her with a greeting.
DANIEL
Good morning, June!
JUNE
Oh, god. You scared me. Good morning.
DANIEL
Holds out a hand. Did I? I’m sorry. Making coffee?
JUNE
Yes.
DANIEL
I’ll join you.
June then turns her attention back to her cup, which is under the spigot of the coffee machine. She waits for it to begin pouring. Nothing happens.
DANIEL
Did you press the button?
JUNE
Of course.
DANIEL
Did you press it hard enough? Maybe it didn’t register.
JUNE
Unsure. I thought I did. Presses the button again.
DANIEL
Looks good. I’ll be right back, gonna check my email. Might have a message.
Daniel walks off, leaving June alone. She makes a little sigh and watches her cup fill with coffee.
JACOB
It’s going to overflow.
June turns quickly.
JUNE
What do you mean?
JACOB
It’s going to overflow! Points to the cup.
JUNE
What? Turns to look. An expression of horror slaps her face when she sees the coffee level creep dangerously close to the top of the cup. She frantically searches around for something to catch the liquid.
JACOB
Accusingly. You pressed the button two times, didn’t you?
JUNE
Flustered and still searching. Maybe! Maybe! Napkins! Towel? Paper towel? Ah! Finds a napkin with the local bakery’s icon printed on it. That’s not going to help.
They both watch as the cup inexorably overflows and begins dripping all over the receptacle, counter, and finally, the floor.
DANIEL
What happened?
JUNE AND JACOB
It overflowed.
DANIEL
How?
JACOB
She must have pressed the button twice.
JUNE
I did not! Carefully. Maybe. I’ll put in a ticket for custodial service to clean up. We don’t have anything to clean this up with.
DANIEL
But what about my coffee?
June leaves and returns to her cubicle.
END OF ACT I
yes.
I agree. But you have to get to the humping sooner. Rule #1 of office porn: sex begins by the second character’s third line.
Unless you were doing something avant garde… kinda teasing us with that “Daniel walks up behind her, startling her” line but then not delivering quite yet. Yeah… you actually could be on to something there!