We’ve tried everything, haven’t we?
A period drama scene from the one-act eplay A Shade or Two Darker explores family, race and ambition between parents and son.
Featured Scene – A Shade or Two Darker
LYNDON: We’ve tried everything, haven’t we?
GERTRUDE: He should have gone to Cranbury with your parents for the summer. That’s what I wanted him to do.
LYNDON: He can’t run away from his problems.
GERTRUDE: It would have given him time.
LYNDON: Time…there is no time…we have to go on living, until we run out of time. Loathing about is not what I want to see my son doing.
Lights reach full capacity, but the room
remains dimly lit.
GERTRUDE: He’s suffered a great tragedy.
LYNDON: That’s because he goes on with the most unruly boys from the other side of the tracks. What possesses him? What gets into his mind that he wishes to travel across town and mix up with those barbarians?
GERTRUDE: We can’t discount what he witnessed.
LYNDON: If our son learned to mind his own business, he never would have seen the lynching. I warned him!
GERTRUDE: He told me he didn’t want to see it, but that they forced him to see it.
LYNDON: Forced him? Who?
GERTRUDE: He doesn’t know exactly.
LYNDON: Didn’t they know he’s my son?
GERTRUDE: We need to allow him to recover from—
LYNDON: Recover! Had he listened to me, he would have never–
GERTRUDE: Are you that detached?
LYNDON: Detached? (exploding) If I were detached I wouldn’t be so Godforsaken angry!
Pause. 30 seconds.
LYNDON (softly): We provide him with everything he could ever want, right here. What’s wrong with the young gentleman who attend his school? Why can’t he seem to find any activity with them?
GERTRUDE: He calls them dull.
LYNDON: Yes, I suppose he does…
GERTRUDE: Yes.
LYNDON: That’s because he doesn’t see the difference between what is dull and what is intelligent.
GERTRUDE: But, how are we to get him to see otherwise?
- To read the full ePlay A Shade or Two Darker, find purchase button below:
Scene Summary
A Shade or Two Darker is a one-act eplay about a family that confronts their own inner weaknesses with one another in the face of society.
- Genre: Drama / Period Drama
- Length: ~5 minute scene
- Characters: 1 woman, 2 men
- Themes: race, family
- Best For: drama scenes
FAQ
A: Monologue Blogger has a play titled A Shade or Two Darker that explores racism within a small family unit.
A: Monologue Blogger has a scene from a play script called A Shade or Two Darker that contains strong subject matter and minimal cast.
Related Drama Scenes
- Where are you now? – from Cuts 2
- I’m with you soldier. – from Facing The Sun
- I did something that I wish I hadn’t done. – from The Floating Room
- Will you always hold my arm like this when we walk? – from Carried Away
- Aren’t we all running away from something, Mrs, Maureen? – from The Attic
Scene Source: A Shade or Two Darker
A Shade or Two Darker is a drama play script by Joseph Arnone, 2026.
