Synopsis
A movie-freak father waits for his daughter to come see his favorite film of all time on the night before she is to leave for college—a culmination of a year-long Sunday night bonding ritual he constructed to atone for his earlier lack of interest in her life. While waiting he entertains the audience with famous movie scenes and tales from now-vanished Chicago movie houses. As the night wears on–and it appears she isn’t coming–he hits the bottle, conjuring ghosts of his past: ex-wife, deceased parents, lost friends—and coming face-to-face with his own failures. Eight characters. M 11, 17, 45, 50. F 18, 36, 45, 50. Multiple roles possible. Time 1994 and 2010. Visual possibilities: movie scenes and stills, photos of the old movie houses. 80 minutes
Excerpt
What I Learned at the Movies – 5-Page Dialogue Sample [PDF]
Monologues
Origin
I love the movies. They were a great escape from my family problems. I’d go to The Clark Theater in downtown Chicago whenever I could. They had movies 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with double features changing daily. The soul of that movie house–long ago torn down to make a parking lot–is in this play. As is the soul of my daughter, to whom I introduced those classics in our living room year after year—sometimes with a bit too much verve.
