Jessica Cooperstock

Jennifer Barclay
Playwriting I
9/21/2015
Exercise 7
1. 5 ways The Legend of Jack McCarthy could start:
a. Sirens. Lights up on a crowd of people gathered in a semi-circle on a busy
city street. There is a gunshot; one of the three people in the middle of the
circle falls. Someone screams. Dramatic light shift; everything pauses.
Everything, that is, except for the young man lying on the ground.
b. Jack wakes up with a start. Looking around, he finds himself in a pool of
light at the base of a set of stairs that seem to extend up and up and up.
Finding himself with little else to do, he rises to his feet and begins to
climb.
c. The stage is pitch black and empty. Lights never come up, until the very
end of the play. From the darkness, a voice calls out: Hello? Is anyone out
there?
d. A man sits in a silent apartment. He gets up, paces. Sits down again. Up,
pacing. Down. Finally, with an air of finality, he rises to his feet and exits.
The door slams shut behind him.
e. Jack wakes up with a start. Looking around, he finds himself in a theatre
with full house lights up, being stared at by innumerable eyes.
2. 5 ways The Legend of Jack McCarthy could end:
a. A crowd of people in a hard freeze. The lights shift; movement resumes. In
the confusion, a man lying on the ground in their midst rises to his feet
and, limping slightly, melts away into the crowd.
b. At last, Jack has reached the end of his climb. He finds himself in front of a
huge white door. As he reaches out a hand to touch it, the stage fades to
black.
c. Lights up on a pitch black stage, silhouetting a man. He immediately
shields his eyes, then begins to walk resolutely forward into the light.
Lights.
d. Movement. Sound. An EMT: Hes coming around. Hold him. Fade to
black.
e. Jack: Thanks for listening to me talk, I guess. Ill justleave now. He
walks out the theatre doors.