October 20, 2026 · daily scene
The Group Project
Given circumstances
- Character
- Student
- Setting
- Library study room, one hour before the presentation, your laptop open, slides half-finished.
- The moment before
- You've been here since six a.m. finishing the work they promised to do. They just walked in and saw the screen.
- Scene partner
- Your project partner, standing in the doorway with their backpack still on
Direction
You're past anger. You're in the cold, efficient mode of someone calculating exactly how much to say. Stay there.
Script
PARTNERHey. Sorry I'm late. Traffic was insane.
You were supposed to send me your section Thursday. It's Sunday.
I've been here for five hours finishing slides you told the professor you'd already done.
PARTNEROkay, I know. I'll explain it to the professor after. I'll take the hit.
You can't take the hit. It's a group grade. Your hit is my hit.
So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to present the entire thing. You're going to stand there and nod. And after this, you're going to tell the professor exactly what you didn't do.
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