The October People’s Choice Award goes to…
The people have spoken… The 2025 October People’s Choice Award goes to Ash for their play Happy Birthday, Beatrice, presented as a staged reading at The Producers Club and via livestream on October 27th. Congratulations, Ash!
Courtesy of Ash, we’re pleased to share the first few pages from the award-winning script. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday, Beatrice
Written by
Ash
CHARACTER
BEATRICE – she’s beauty and she’s grace… she’ll light explosives in your face she/her, trans woman, any ethnicity, late 20s to mid 30s
PLACE & TIME
Inside Beatrice’s living room. The not-too-distant future…
BEATRICE
Happy birthday, Beatrice.
Her mood is not improved. Slowly, she surveys the desolate room. She makes a decision. Quickly, she dumps the flowers onto the floor, sets her phone up against the vase, and pulls up a chair, facing the audience. She begins to record.
BEATRICE (CON’T)
Hey, world. It’s ya girl, Beatrice, going Live for the first time in 2029, and it’s been… a month since I last posted. It’s been a really hard month… And I regret to inform you that this will be my final stream. Ever. I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but I’m going to try.
I started this channel three years ago – on my birthday – and it’s been a helluva few years. Y’all have been great to me – the ones seeing this at least – I’ve blocked all the assholes or anyone who looked like they might possibly become an asshole… And these days, it feels like – well, you get it. That’s why I’m doing this Live right now. You deserve to know the truth.
Beatrice adjusts in her chair. She’s not nervous. She wants to be heard.
BEATRICE (CON’T)
Today is my “birthday”: the three year anniversary of my becoming, my being… The three year anniversary of the day I allegedly “killed” Daniel… And I’d like to clear my name before the feds arrive. I need to clear my name… My name…
They’ve labeled me a criminal according to their “laws”, but I did not commit the crime they are accusing me of. My crime is not that I murdered Daniel. My crime is that I have been silent, and I will no longer be silent. I did not “murder” Daniel. Can you really call it a murder when there’s no body to bury?
Daniel and I were born the same day, to the same mother, in the same backseat of her car. We grew up together in the same house on Thurman Street. On our best days, we were best friends. On our worst days, we couldn’t stand the sight of each other. We would find all the right words to make each other feel as wrong as possible. We were very good at that. But there was love in there too. We did love each other, as impossible as that sometimes felt. I loved Daniel’s strength and instincts and charm. Daniel loved my determination, my capacity for humor, and how I never gave up without a fight.
I still never give up without a fight.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Join us for our Monday Night PlayGround-NY: Musical Parody on December 8th, live at The Producers Club and simulcast! For more info, click here!