Home  >  Plays  >  Short Plays  > Magnetism

Magnetism

A Short Play
By Jim Dalglish

Midnight.  Two people strolling hand-in-hand down the street.  Two people on a first date.  Two people who are the opposite in almost every way.  Yet somehow the evening has been almost perfect... 

And then the streetlight goes out. 

“For the first time in my life I can fee that magnetic charge -- that wild electric current -- just by holding your hand. It’s like we’re opposites, that somehow attract.” - Actor / Actress #2

Characters

• Actor #1 - Male or Female. Any age. Attractive. Very confident.

• Actor #2 - Male or Female. Any Age. Off-beat looking. Rather awkward.

Setting

Any place you would find a street lamp.  

Time

Tonight.  Midnight. 

Play Concept

One way to perform this play is to cast two different actors - male and one female - for each role.  This would give you four actors who would perform every other time the play is produced. In this way, the play could be performed on four consecutive nights in the following way:

Male (#1) and Female (#2) - straight, awkward female.
Male (#1) and Male (#2) - gay men.
Female (#1) and Male (#2) - straight, awkward male.
Female (#1) and Female (#2) - lesbians. 

Length

10 mins.

Type

Romantic, contemporary play

Themes

Meeting someone for the first time; emotional intimacy; the differences (similarities) between the sexes; the differences (similarities) between sexual orientations. 

Acting Class Scenes

Entire play: can be played by two men; two women; or by a man and a woman.  (See Play Concept)

Script Completed

Spring 2004

Production History

Provincetown Theatre Company, Opening of The Provincetown Theater; 6/28/2004 - 7/10/2004 (Full Production)

Download the Play

Complete the information below and click SUBMIT. The link to the PDF file will display and you will be able to download the play.