Lucas Hnath
Drama
From A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney
WALT.
cut to,
Walt says to Roy
time to work
ROY.
... okay
WALT.
’cuz now I’m going to make a city,
an actual, a city
ROY.
okay
WALT.
because I’ve made a theme park, and that’s like a city
ROY.
not really
WALT.
thinking about how it’s kind of perfect
thinking about how well it works
ROY.
you
WALT.
solved the problem of problems
ROY.
it’s a
WALT.
perfect
ROY.
nice enough place
WALT.
You agree.
ROY.
I suppose
WALT.
what
ROY.
one feels safe when one is there.
WALT.
no accidents, no deaths.
ROY.
well
WALT.
no
ROY.
well
WALT.
no
ROY.
they happen
WALT.
death happens, but not
ROY.
happens off site, far away, miles away, people are removed if
WALT.
Yes
ROY.
if they’re sick, if they’re
WALT.
say it like it’s cheating.
ROY.
not a place where problems don’t exist.
The problems there are there, they’re just dealt with
behind the scenes, back rooms, underground, far away
WALT.
there’s no need to bother everyone, there’s no need to make a big
deal out of it, show it, see it,
because dealing with problems in a way that makes a big deal, isn’t
really helping anyone.
People panic.
People get scared.
People think problems are problems because they see problems as
problems, but if you don’t see the problems to see the problems as
problems, there aren’t problems.
Close on Roy.
Close on Walt.
Close on Roy and Closer on Roy and Closer and
ROY.
Okay.
WALT.
It works.
Lucas Hnath’s The Christians was produced at the Actors Theatre of Louisville for the 2014 Humana Festival. It will premiere in New York at Playwrights Horizons in 2015. A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney was produced by Soho Rep in 2013. Other plays include: Red Speedo (Studio Theatre, DC, 2013); nightnight (Humana Festival, 2013); Isaac’s Eye (Ensemble Studio Theatre, 2013); Death Tax (Humana Festival 2012; Royal Court Theatre, 2013). His work is published by Dramatists Play Service. Hnath has been a resident playwright at New Dramatists since 2011, and is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre. He is the recipient of a Whitfield Cook Award and a Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citation. In 2016 his play, Hillary and Clinton, will premiere in Chicago. He lives in New York and holds a BFA and MFA from New York University’s Department of Dramatic Writing.