“Get Out of My American Way”

Brennan, Patrick M. (American playwright, software author, 1963-____), “Get Out of My American Way,”

a 10-minute comedy in English, set in an office at Veracitone Systems, 2001,

1m1f

; • © 2001 by Patrick M. Brennan; • in Patrick M. Brennan's Get Out Of My American Way (Maynard, Massachusetts, U.S.A.: The Author, 2001); • script/rights available from Patrick M. Brennan. • Cited by Patrick M. Brennan, via ftp March 4, 2002; Brennan says,

§ Dramatis Personae Jim (m), 37, a programmer; Helen (f), 33, _____.

§ Synopsis “ Jim has been summoned to Helen's office to receive word that he is being laid off. He does not take this well, and proceeds to rant about his position in the company. He is a programmer, and the company is stupid to lay him off like this. Helen does her best to calm him down, but this only provokes him to further outbursts. Jim abuses Helen by noting that she is a thirty-year-old single mother with no skills, useless, only capable of working in Human Resources; whereas, he is a valuable and skilled programmer who can find work anywhere. His ranting reaches its peak when he threatens to go on a rampage at the office in return for being laid off. When Jim and Helen discover that he is not, in fact, the intended victim of the layoff, that he is mixed up in a case of mistaken identity, Jim is relieved and wants to go back to work, but Helen won’t let it go so easily after standing his abuse.

§ Comment “There is an uproarious turnabout and climax. One scene, no changes, some complex language. • This play won second place in the best show poll (as voted by the participating playwrights) at the 2001 Playwrights Platform Summer Festival in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.”

§ Themes class and gender politics, dot-com, layoffs.

See also Patrick M. Brennan’s:

• "The Millennium Arrives in Suburbia," a 15-minute comedy in English, set in a parking lot, somewhere in Suburbia, U.S.A., on a warm winter night, December 31, 1999, 2m1f
• "dog_eat_dog.com," a 15-minute comedy in English, set in Tripp's office, late 1990s, 3m

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Page mounted March 4, 2002, and updated January 15, February 11, 26, March 10, April 30, 2004, February 24, 2006, by the site Webmaster.