September 29, 2026 · daily scene
The Voicemail You Saved
Given circumstances
- Character
- Friend
- Setting
- Your car, engine off, parked outside their place, phone in your hand.
- The moment before
- You were about to drive away when they knocked on the glass. You unlocked the door and they leaned in.
- Scene partner
- The person you've been in love with for two years, leaning in through the passenger window
Direction
You've practiced saying no. That's not the problem. The problem is they're this close and you're exhausted.
Script
THEMYou left your jacket inside.
Keep it. I have others.
THEMI don't want to keep it. I want you to come back inside.
I can't do this anymore. The calls at midnight, the showing up when you're lonely, the disappearing when you're not.
THEMI didn't realize—
Yes, you did.
I still have your voicemail saved. The one from last June. You said you needed space and I gave it to you and you called me three days later like nothing happened.
I'm not asking for space this time. I'm asking you to mean it or let me go.
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.
Perform it in Act It Up Or perform it in your browser