September 23, 2026 · daily scene
The Inspection
Given circumstances
- Character
- Line Cook
- Setting
- Restaurant kitchen, mid-dinner service, inspector's clipboard already out.
- The moment before
- The health inspector just walked into the walk-in cooler and you saw the chef's face go completely blank.
- Scene partner
- The head chef, standing at the pass, expediting orders
Direction
You're trying to warn them without saying it directly, because the inspector is ten feet away. Desperation masked as professionalism. The stakes are in what you don't say.
Script
Chef, do you want me to pull the salmon for table six, or should I check the backup cooler first?
CHEFBackup cooler's empty. You know that.
Right. I just thought maybe we moved the—because this morning when I opened, I could've sworn I saw something in there that wasn't supposed to be. On the bottom shelf. Behind the carrots.
CHEFWe don't have time for this.
I know. I'm just saying if someone needed to move something before the inspector finishes her walkthrough, now would be the time. I can cover the pass for ninety seconds.
(the chef looks toward the cooler)
Eighty-five seconds.
Written for Act It Up. Free to rehearse and perform for practice, classes and self-tapes.
Record this scene with a teleprompter and a scene partner who reads the other lines.
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