Lenny is a scene taken from the one-act serio-comedy eplay Lenny, wherein a man is trying to come to terms with his identity and happiness.

LENNY: After all, I’ve made the commitment to myself, I’m in this for life, Mrs. Larner. When you ask me if I should give up, you know, it doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s not something I can imagine doing.

MRS. LARNER: Even if it means your life?

LENNY: Yeh, well…even if it means my life.

MRS. LARNER: Have you, Lenny, have you thought of what kind of pain you’re willing to endure?

LENNY: Sure I have.

MRS. LARNER: But there’s no alternative for you?

LENNY: That’s right.

MRS. LARNER: It seems like you’ve made up your mind.

LENNY: That’s right.

MRS. LARNER: Well, what do you expect me…I mean I, I can’t help you much more, Lenny. I can’t really do–

LENNY: That’s alright…

MRS. LARNER: I’m–

LENNY: –If you don’t see anything good coming out of this, that’s okay. If all you ever were was someone that could hear me, if all you ever were was…was an ear. That’s alright, I’ll take it, better than most could do… (gets up to leave)

You were better than most Mrs. Larner, I wouldn’t of had anyone else.

MRS. LARNER: What more advice can you expect me to give?

LENNY: None. I don’t expect a word, you’re so hung up on trying to say the right thing, so you say nothing at all. If there’s any truth to it, I can understand that. Perhaps live with it, even. Remember we had that conversation? You helped me then, that day, when you said that I shouldn’t expect a damn thing, I made that a ‘life’ thing, I said I’ll never expect a thing from any goddamn person ever again. I made that clear to myself. And if that’s the only thing I can be proud of, then so be it!

MRS. LARNER: Suit yourself.

LENNY: Suits me fine.

MRS. LARNER: Leave the check on the table.

LENNY: Oh I will. Don’t you worry about that, Mrs. Larner. And I’ll leave here, as quiet as a mouse, because what else can I expect from you?

LENNY turns to audience.

I left it there that night, on the side table of her office. Like I’d done every Thursday for the past eight weeks. She wasn’t as useless as I made her feel but she was damn right cold for making me leave that way.

• To read the full one-act ePlay, find purchase link below:

In the one act eplay Lenny, a man searches for his identity and place in the world, with the help of his therapist Mrs. Larner.  1 Woman, 1 Man. Drama/Serio-comedy.

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