Confliction: Making Acting Choices Under Emotional Pressure
In the play Confliction, acting choices emerge under pressure — when memory, guilt, and fear collide within the world of this play.
Although we will gain insight into the character Chester, our main objective is to provide additional analysis from the point of view of Sheila.
Confliction Play Overview
At the start of the play, Chester is by himself in his house, having a drink, and sitting by the fireplace. There is a heavy rainstorm heard coming from outside.
There is an abrupt knock on Chester’s front door. When he opens it, Sheila is standing there, drenched.
Chester immediately ushers her into his home, grabbing a towel in the next room so Sheila can dry herself.
What comes off as a friendly, although awkward, encounter quickly intensifies into a life-threatening situation for Chester.
What makes the first movement of the play awkward?
Chester and Sheila have not seen one another for several years. The last time they saw one another was at a home gathering, where they went off together for a walk in a garden and were intimate.
They have not spoken to one another since.
Not to mention that Sheila arrives during a terrible storm late at night, making her visit all the more troubling.
Backstory
To put the play into context, we must examine the event that took place between Sheila and Chester.
Sheila and Chester were friends, but only through association. Meaning, they would run into one another on occasion through other events or work-related parties.
They mixed and mingled within the same social circles.
Sheila and Chester had known one another for years leading up to a private event held at her home with her husband, John.
During this time, Sheila was not in a happy marriage, and Chester was undergoing a divorce.
The Conflict
The conflict pushing the narrative forward is each character’s opposing recollection of the intimacy that transpired between them.
Sheila became pregnant, never telling her husband John that Chester was the biological father.
What has compelled Sheila to arrive at Chester’s doorstep is that their son has died.
Sheila’s Monologue
When working on Sheila’s monologue, we will go over some things that you may want to consider while piecing together your performance.
If there is no backstory as it relates to your script, it is essential that you supply one for yourself.
Not all the answers will be in your script, so you must supply what’s missing with your imagination in order to realize the material truthfully.
Now that we understand more of the root cause of Sheila’s visit to Chester’s home, and the emotional pain she is undergoing, we can better understand the monologue.
By the time Sheila delivers her monologue, she has already shot her gun at Chester. Chester is stunned by a flesh wound to his arm.
Sheila’s indifference toward what she has done reveals the emotional and mental state she already exists in.
The monologue shifts to her talking about her marriage to her husband, John.
She speaks of “change,” which is significant and runs deep for her based on the philosophy she has developed about what change actually means for her personally.
Sheila talks about the illusion of hope.
Summary
Confliction is a short, intense play, with characters who have an unresolved and deeply troubled past.
- To read the full one-act ePlay, find purchase link below:
In the one-act eplay, “Confliction,” Sheila shows up at Chester’s apartment. Seven years have gone by since they last saw one another at an event. What transpired between them seven years prior is what plays out in this intense play. 1 Woman, 1 Man. Drama.
