Karl Gajdusek

Drama

3m, 2f

Mary and David, camped out amidst the boxes her abused mother left behind, are unpacking a small San Francisco apartment. Outside, people self-actualize like crazy, riding the bubble. When Mary herself is the victim of an unprovoked act of violence, it leads the pair down different paths of addiction and realization: one to the violence itself, one to the abuse of cat tranquilizers.

“A writer for Showtime’s “Dead Like Me,” Gajdusek has a TV scripter’s flair for snappy dialogue, but he also has a much rarer talent for deep characterization and empathy, even when dealing with his most contemptible characters.” — Variety

“The dot-com bubble — well, its splintered psyches — are the subject of the feverish FUBAR, an engrossing evocation of a time (the turn of the millennium) and a place (San Francisco, awash in Web money, pharmaceutical acronyms and online sexual encounters)....the play rings true in feeling if not in plausibility...Mr. Gajdusek has a gift for the humorous moment...the production pulses like an all-night Ecstasy-fueled rave...FUBAR, leaves you with a decent buzz.” — The New York Times

Character Descriptions:
MARY - Mid-thirties. Doctor. Carries the silence of someone who grew up in another’s shadow. Her mother recently took her own life, so the shadow’s gone. But Mary is still quiet.
DAVID - Early thirties. Mary’s husband. Exec at a nameless internet firm. Had a big exciting kick-ass plan about how this was all supposed to work. This plan should be starting any day now.
RICHARD - Mid-thirties. Charismatic, intelligent, drug-dealer. David’s old friend.
SYLVIA - Late twenties. Beautiful San Francisco denizen. Outgoing and adventurous. Trying to have the biggest life possible.
D.C. - Late thirties. Boxer, retired. Old school. Lives in a different San Francisco from the others.