"The Beach Club"

Bollow, Ludmilla (American playwright, writer, actress, 19__-____), “The Beach Club,”

a 30-minute comedy-drama in English, set on a beach, during the first snow of the season, the present, 2m2f (+ optional walk-on); • © 1972 by Ludmilla Bollow; • in Ludmilla Bollow’s The Beach Club (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.: The Author, 1972); • script/rights available from Ludmilla Bollow, 314 West Sugar Lane, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53217, U.S.A., e-mail“bollow@earthlink.net, telephone (home) 414-352-8370, http://home.earthlink.net/~bollow/. • Cited by Ludmilla Bollow, via ftp October 11, 1999; Bollow says, § “Dramatis Personae Jake (m), late 60's, ‘The King of the Beach,’ slightly obese, rambling and overbearing; Allegra (f), late teens, fragile and poetic; Sigmund (m), 75, trim body; Grace (f), 45, worker at the cleaning plant, at the beach to recover from fumes.

§ Synopsis “An eclectic group of lonely people meets daily on the beach, but they never really touch. Jake rules them from his canvas beach chair from the first day of spring till the first snow of winter. Grace visits daily to escape cleaning plant fumes, and Sigmund jogs through, dispensing philosophy. Today, Allegra, a sensitive young girl after a period of absence returns without her young boy. Bursts of her unbearable pain become poetic escapes from reality. As the first snow falls, Jake, having refused to help in a life-and-death situation, is left ailing and alone on the beach, his kingdom collapsed.

§ Comment “The bare stage represents the beach. • This is a simple show for touring. Several monologues are good audition pieces. • This play first appeared in the Literary Half-Yearly of India (University of Mysore, India), ISSN 0024-4554, edited by Anniah Gowda. It has been rewritten into a full-length play, The King of the Beach. The one-act version has gained numerous productions and awards. Produced at National Chengchi U in Taipei Taiwan in 2000. A portrayer of Jake won a ‘Best Actor’ award. Wharf Rat Theatre in September, 1999, produced Jake’s monologue scenes. Two scenes from the play appear in The Best Men’s Stage Monologues 1998 (Lyme, New Hampshire, U.S.A.: Smith & Kraus, 1999), ISBN 157525185X, and The Best Women’s Stage Monologues 1998 (Lyme, New Hampshire, U.S.A.: Smith & Kraus, 2000), ISBN 1575251841, both edited by Jocelyn Beard.”

§ Themes beach, dominance, escape, isolation, jogging, life-and-death situation, loneliness, mother-son relationship, pain, philosophy, poetry, pollution, reality, refusal, snow, solitude, spring, visit, winter.



See also Ludmilla Bollow’s

• "Allegra at the Beach," a 4-minute dramatic monolog in English, set on a beach, the present, 1f
• "Battle Hymn," a 10-minute drama in English, set in a park area outside a small midwest town, U.S.A., evening, 1998, 1m2f
• "Belle of the Bijou," a 45-minute drama in English, set in the ticket taker booth, Bijou theatre, night, the present, 1f
• "Bitsy and Her Friends," a 30-minute sparkling comedy in English, set in the garden of the Wyndham Estate, which has fallen into disrepair, on a summer afternoon, today, 6f, available elsewhere
• "Bunnies in a Bomb Shelter," a 10-minute comedy in English, set a simple home and bomb shelter, evening, a few years back, 2m2f (+ dramatic voice over)
• "By the Sea, by the Sea," a 20-minute comedy in English, set in a pool area in posh hotel, Texas, U.S.A., early morning, today, 2m1f (+ voice)
• "Carryon," a 10-minute play in English, set on a bare stage, no specific time, 1f (+ m or f voice)
• "Children of Sin," a 10-minute bare-stage dramatic monolog in English, set at a carnival, the present, 1f
• "City Sidewalks," a 15-minute drama in English, set on a city street, U.S.A., Christmas Eve, the present, 1f
• "Dateless in Wisconsin," a 10-minute comedy in English, set in a bar and kitchen, U.S.A., the present, 1m3f
• "Dental Mania," a 30-minute comedy in English, set in a decrepit dental office, three working days in January, the present, 1m2f
• "Dental Mania, Day One," a 10-minute comedy in English, set in a decrepit dental office, U.S.A., the present, 1m2f
• "Dental Mania, Day Three," a 10-minute comedy in English, set in a decrepit dental office, U.S.A., the present, 1m2f
• "Dental Mania, Day Two," a 10-minute comedy in English, set in a decrepit dental office, U.S.A., the present, 1m2f
• "Edwina at the Sanitarium," a 7-minute dramatic monolog in English, set in a sanitarium, U.S.A., 1880s, 1f
• "Fatless Future," a5- minute comedy in English, set in a living room, 2050, 1m1f
• "First Time," a 5-minute dramatic monolog in English, set in a beauty salon, the present, 1f
• "Flickering Fireflies," a 10-minute bare-stage comedy in English, set in _____, 2050, 2m2f
• "Four Widows from Wal-Mart," a 30-minute comedy in English, set on a bare stage with four chairs to indicate various locations, summer, the present, 4f (+ 1 male voice)
• "The Girl with Three Arms," a 25-minute dramatic monolog in English, set as an interview, winter, the present, 1f
• "A Gypsy's Tale," a 10-minute bare stage drama in English, set _____, Christmas, the present, 1f
• "Late/Late . . . Computer Date!," a 40-minute sentimental comedy in English, set in the sitting room of the Paisley sisters, evening of Veronica's first date, the present, 2f (+ possible bird extra)
• "Martha's Boy," a __-minute drama in English, set in a kitchen, the present, 2m1f
• "Moussaka Meeting," a 10-minute fantasy drama in English, set in a Greek restaurant, U.S.A., on a maternal birthday, March 23, the present, 1m2f
• "Nun Scene," a 10-minute bare-stage drama in English, set in a nunnery, U.S.A., the present, 2f
• "Ozmania," a 10-minute children's theatre fantasy comedy in English, set in Ozmania, in any time, 2m2f
• "Ring Around Rosie," a 29-minute drama in English, set on a stage with a small table, chair, and folding screen, the present, 1f
• "St. Cecelia," a 35-minute drama in English, set in the baths in the home of a patrician Roman family, middle of the third century, A.D., 1m3f
• "Shelter Skelter," a 10-minute meaningful comedy in English, set in an animal shelter, the present, 1m2f
• "Stanley and Stella," a 10-minute comedy in English, set in a living room and a restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A., on Stanley and Stella's 25th anniversary, the present, 2m1f
• "Sunset Zoo," a 10-minute comedy with pathos in English, set in the day room of an old-age home, night, the present, 3m1f
• "TV Brides," a 45-minute drama in English, set on a bare stage, unfolding circling time, 1f
• "The Woman with 27 Children," a 45-minute drama in English, set on a bare stage, unfolding circling time, 1f

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Page mounted November 24, 1999, and updated November 26, 1999, February 9, 2001, May 18, 2002, May 29, June 8, 2004, by the site Webmaster.

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