A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Winning Number

Short Play, Comedy  /  2w, 1any gender (adult)

Words and music to the songs "Flyin' Away" and "Bingo Prayer" are by Sarah Brown

Dottie has humiliated her younger sister Jeanie by swiping cards from others at the bingo table, stealing, and bringing home scores of bingo cards from various parlors, having them blackballed from games all over town. But she keeps praying - and stealing - and knows that her prayers will be answered. Winner of the 16th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival

The Winning Number

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 1any gender (adult)
  • Duration
    Duration
    30 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Not Applicable
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene work
    • Competition or audition material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences, Adult, Senior, Teen (Age 14 - 18)
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival

Details

Summary

Dottie has humiliated her younger sister Jeanie by swiping cards from others at the bingo table, stealing, and bringing home scores of bingo cards from various parlors, having them blackballed from games all over town. But she keeps praying - and stealing - and knows that her prayers will be answered. 

Published in Off Off Broadway Festival Plays, 16th Series.

History
The Winning Number was originally co-produced by Pat and Gerald Brown and The Pulse Ensemble Theatre Company. It was directed by Pat Brown.
DOTTIE - Anywhere between forty-five and sixty-five years old. The years have made her distrustful, paranoid, and even curel at times. She walks slowly and carefully as if suspicious of, or angry at, everything she sees. The wild, painful energies that one senses from her have been religiously focused on the game of Bingo.
JEANIE - Close in age to her sister, but the years have been far more gracious to her than to Dottie. Her manner is both in the way she talks and walks is far more pleasant and calm. Bingo is important to her but her obsession with the game is not so great as her sister's. Her pleasant, sweet, peace-making manner is at its peak when things are at their worst. But, alas, Jeanie dos have her breaking point and Dottie has become an expert at bringing this about.
CHORUS - A country guitarist
CHORUS - A female country vocalist
  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Setting A small frame house in Tampa, Texas, where Dottie and Jeanie have lived most of their adult lives.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No intermission, Play w/ Music
  • Duration 30 minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Licensing & Materials

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Authors

Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown, an M.F.A. graduate of Yale School of Drama, is an actor, director, published playwright, published songwriter, solo performer, Fulbright Scholar and professor of performance at the University of Memphis. Sarah has acted in film and television as well as regional ...
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