Synopsis
The night-guard of a 16-story office building in Grand Rapids, Michigan discovers a man in his 40’s with Middle-Eastern features standing on the roof of his building. It is late Christmas Eve, but this night-guard is not in the holiday spirit. In fact, in the first few minutes, he all but encourages the man to “push off.” The tension rises as the guard banters, jokes, cajoles, needles and challenges–all to a man who does not say a word. As the night unfolds, our talker–a paramedic for twenty years in Chicago–shares the tragedies of his life. Sooner than imagined, both men reach their cross-roads. Will “Mohammad” jump? Or the guard? Neither? Or both? Two characters. M 50 and 45. Single set. Minimal staging. One scene. 70 minutes.
Excerpt
Santa’s Helper – 5-Page Dialogue Sample [PDF]
Monologue
Origin
I thought it would exciting to twist a common trope 180 degrees and see what happens, so I put a character on the edge of an office building, ready to jump, when just then the night guard arrives, assesses the situation and encourages him to do it. During the course of the play the “jumper” never says a word. That silence opened me up in unexpected and mysterious ways. What was he thinking? I began to inhabit both men. It was very strange.
