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The Bottom of the Lake
by Steven Stack
Summer camp. The memories. The s’mores. The campfire. The ghost stories.
Dani’s out in the middle of the woods at night, alone, without a flashlight. She meets three girls from another camp, and the new friends tell ghost stories to pass the time.
After each of their stories comes to life onstage, only one story remains to be told – a story none of them saw coming.
An awesome combination of ghost stories, urban legends, teen issues, romance, absurd comedy, and film noir, all in a single play!
Average Producer Rating:
Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools
Running Time
About 70 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
16 Characters
2 M12 F2 Any Gender
Set
Multiple Locations
Length
39 pages
Production Tips
Free Excerpt
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Performance Royalty Fees
Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.
Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.
16 Characters
2 M, 12 F, 2 Any Gender
2 M, 12 F, 2 Any Gender
Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.
DANI
[F]
59 lines
A lonely girl
VANESSA
[F]
51 lines
Friend of Lindsey and Claire; the undeclared leader of the group
LINDSEY
[F]
55 lines
Overly sarcastic friend of Vanessa and Claire
CLAIRE
[F]
47 lines
Friend of Lindsey and Vanessa, the “not quick” one
HAYLEY
[F]
3 lines
Carefree friend of Alexis and Molly
ALEXIS
[F]
41 lines
Friend of Hayley and Molly who doesn’t believe in ghosts
MOLLY
[F]
20 lines
Overly worried friend of Hayley and Alexis
LADY IN WHITE
[F]
23 lines
A murderous ghost
SULLEN SUMMERS
[M]
68 lines
Ace private eye
TORCHY BLAZE
[F]
26 lines
Singer, girlfriend of Sullen
CARISSA CRANBERRY
[F]
24 lines
Sullen’s secretary and ex
SIMON SILVERSHOES
[M]
22 lines
Bookie with a heart of gold
SAL
[A]
27 lines
Scared of the forest and squirrels
JAMIE
[F]
28 lines
Sal’s coworker
BLOODY MARY
[F]
15 lines
Bloody Mary
HOOK HAND
[A]
7 lines
Tends to lose his hook
Praise for The Bottom of the Lake
Jane Thorpe
Bermuda High School
Great! Students enjoyed it and gave lots of opportunities for technical side too.
Bill Sykes
Greystone Centennial Middle School
We had an amazing time with this play! We competed in a One Act festival against 8 other middle schools. This play stood out from the rest because of the mixture of creepiness, comedy and drama. It pulls on so many emotions that the audience can't help but get invested. Our cast and crew were sad to have our performances come to an end!!
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The Bottom of the Lake
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