17/18
by Joe Calarco

Highlights

Female

Male

One Act 60 mins Present Day Multicultural Casting Role(s) for Non-Binary Actor(s) Interior Set Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Synopsis

There are two sides to every story.

In 17, Robbie asks his friends to meet up and talk before they go to his longtime girlfriend’s surprise birthday party.

As the conversation progresses, the four friends reveal things that forever change the way they see each other.

In 18, Sloane’s friends are setting up for her birthday.

When they find out she and Robbie broke up the night before, they realize everything is changing as they get older.

17/18 explores how one breakup makes two friend groups contend with anxieties about growing up, their identities, and the future.

The plays are separate one-acts but they are companion pieces to each other and can be performed in the same evening.

If done in one evening there is a coda that brings the characters from both plays together at the end.

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
FISH (he/him) – 18. A senior. A star athlete (quarterback of the football team, pitcher for the baseball team) and a scholar (top of his class and will easily get into his dream school). Knows who he is even when who he is is ever evolving. Has recently come out to himself as pansexual but has not told his friends.	male	—	(he/him) – 18. A senior. A star athlete (quarterback of the football team, pitcher for the baseball team) and a scholar (top of his class and will easily get into his dream school). Knows who he is even when who he is is ever evolving. Has recently come out to himself as pansexual but has not told his friends.
DONK (he/him) – 17. A senior. Scruffy. Patchouli. Hipster from the neck up, Granola from the neck down. Smart. Actively engages with the wider world around him and is delaying going to college in order to join the Peace Corps. Most people assume he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. They’re wrong.	male	—	(he/him) – 17. A senior. Scruffy. Patchouli. Hipster from the neck up, Granola from the neck down. Smart. Actively engages with the wider world around him and is delaying going to college in order to join the Peace Corps. Most people assume he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. They’re wrong.
SCRUM (he/him) – 17. A senior. A jock: a lacrosse midfielder. People either love the kind of energy he brings into a room or... they don’t. He’s one of those people who hasn’t changed much since middle school and he’s starting to realize it.	male	—	(he/him) – 17. A senior. A jock: a lacrosse midfielder. People either love the kind of energy he brings into a room or... they don’t. He’s one of those people who hasn’t changed much since middle school and he’s starting to realize it.
ROBBIE (he/him) – 17. A senior. Works hard in school and at a couple of jobs to save up for college next year. A good guy. Not always the best at revealing what’s going on inside of himself. Has had the same girlfriend since they were sophomores.	female	—	(he/him) – 17. A senior. Works hard in school and at a couple of jobs to save up for college next year. A good guy. Not always the best at revealing what’s going on inside of himself. Has had the same girlfriend since they were sophomores.
LEXI (she/her) – 18. A senior. The one who never forgets birthdays, who makes sure regular get-togethers happen, who friends call when they need the comfort of someone who will just listen, and who takes great comfort in her faith.	female	—	(she/her) – 18. A senior. The one who never forgets birthdays, who makes sure regular get-togethers happen, who friends call when they need the comfort of someone who will just listen, and who takes great comfort in her faith.
DEVIN (he/they, she/they, they/them) – 18. A senior. Sharply funny. Can be armored; when things get serious, they would rather “not go there.” Thinks and feels deeply but isn’t always successful expressing those thoughts and feelings when they most matter.	—	—	(he/they, she/they, they/them) – 18. A senior. Sharply funny. Can be armored; when things get serious, they would rather “not go there.” Thinks and feels deeply but isn’t always successful expressing those thoughts and feelings when they most matter.
CAREN (she/her) – 18. A senior. Queer. A bright light. She loves her friends, loves her girlfriend, loves to sing, loves high school and is also deeply engaged with social justice issues.	female	—	(she/her) – 18. A senior. Queer. A bright light. She loves her friends, loves her girlfriend, loves to sing, loves high school and is also deeply engaged with social justice issues.
TANA (she/her) – 18. A senior. Has always been a little bit ahead of the crowd in terms of maturity. Prides herself on being anindividualist and a social justice warrior. Pronounced like Anna.	—	—	(she/her) – 18. A senior. Has always been a little bit ahead of the crowd in terms of maturity. Prides herself on being anindividualist and a social justice warrior. Pronounced like Anna.
GIA (she/her) – 18. A senior. Always a steadying force in the group. Very well-liked in general. High school has been good to her. Very close to her family. Currently maneuvering some difficult waters.	female	—	(she/her) – 18. A senior. Always a steadying force in the group. Very well-liked in general. High school has been good to her. Very close to her family. Currently maneuvering some difficult waters.
SLOANE (she/her) – 18. (Today is her birthday.) A senior. Has always been top of her class. Sees no horizon she cannot reach. While still very close with the group, her focus on grades and her future and her boyfriend have taken her away from spending as much time with her friends as she used to.	female	—	(she/her) – 18. (Today is her birthday.) A senior. Has always been top of her class. Sees no horizon she cannot reach. While still very close with the group, her focus on grades and her future and her boyfriend have taken her away from spending as much time with her friends as she used to.