Tag Archives: drama one act 1M 1F

First to see the lights go on – drama script about post natal depression

script about post natal depression

FIRST TO SEE THE LIGHTS GO ON – DRAMA SCRIPT ABOUT POST NATAL DEPRESSION

Script about post natal depression: When Frank meets Arlene at a bus stop, they strike up a conversation. Frank is generally an affable guy and to pass the time he chats with the attractive young woman sitting waiting. What starts off as a very pass the time-chatty relationship between strangers evolves as they continue to wait. Frank soon realizes that Arlene’s behavior is erratic and she’s oversensitive, but he tries to win her over, even describing his favorite childhood game – ”First to see the lights go on.” Arlene is entranced and in turn tells him of her favourite childhood memories. As the two then play the game together, they form a connection, which allows her to reveal the truth to him – who she is and what she has done to her family in an effort to return to happiness.

A drama script about post natal depression, and how it can, when left untreated, have devastating consequences for the families of the women suffering from it.


FIRST TO SEE THE LIGHTS GO ON was first presented at
Thresholds Theatre in New York City in January, 1967 with
Bob Mastrant and Lois Yasgur in the cast and directed by
Don Signore. A second production was made by Thresholds
eight months later with Richard Nettum and Mary Lyon.
Other productions followed over the years at The WPA
Theatre, American Theatre of Actors and at many other
venues, off-off Broadway and regionally, including The
Minnesota Ensemble. I am ever grateful to all those
involved for their enthusiasm and good work.

Further Production History

New College, Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK – 2017
New Trier High School, IL, USA – 2018

Author: James Campbell

Genre: Drama about post natal depression

Type: One act play

Length: 35 minutes

Cast: 1M 1F actor

Ages of the actors: Male middle aged to older, female young 20’s.

Suitable for: PG 12 – family issues

Set: A bus stop in a suburb of a large northeastern city. The time is the late fifties or early sixties. It is a summer morning, early. There is a bench, C, for passengers. LEFT, there is an overflowing litter basket.

Level of difficulty: 8/10 – a challenging play that seems initially simple but is complex with many underlying nuances

Read a sample of the Script

Read a Sample of the Screenplay of the same play, called Snow in July

Cost is $9.00 for this previously produced digital play. Simply click Shakespeare to purchase. 

Cost is $30 for the digital screenplay, ”Snow in July” about PND. Just click on Shakespeare to purchase.

Contact Off The Wall Play with any queries about First to see the lights go on

Copyright © March 2016 James Campbell and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this drama? Other dramas about touchy subjects:

Survivors include – drama about teen suicide
The bowl of soup – drama about the end of a marriage
Dislocations – drama about racism in modern day USA

One act play – award winning one act plays

one act drama

ONE ACT PLAY – AWARD WINNING ONE ACT PLAYS

One act play won the Lace Market New Writing Competition in Nottingham UK (2014)

We are greeted by a middle aged couple in bed, roused from their slumber by Dvorak’s New World symphony, synonymously paired with Hovis to us Brits, bedecked in nightcaps that even Mrs Bennet would shy away from. Broad Yorkshire accents start the piece right from the off, each character’s monologues displaying to the audience their ideas of culture. The woman describes Les Miserables and the benefits of beards, the man speaks of the latest production of Two Gentlemen of Verona.

The stereotypical Northernisms continue with talk of whippets, flat caps and pipes, peppered with ‘by gums’ and ‘by ‘ecks’. That is until one of the characters shatters the fourth wall by pointing out the audience sitting in front of them. Thus the play starts to descend into unfamiliar territory. The characters discuss the existence of their creator, i.e the playwright himself. Growing ever more bold in their gestures towards their maker they dare to dream of a world outside the bed they woke up in. Even their dreams are clichés, dropped into their head by the writer, with talk of a house in the mountains by babbling brooks.

The dialogue descends into a sort of stream of consciousness ramble we might find in Joyce, about how they have come to exist and the basic differences between masculinity and femininity. This mirrors one of the woman’s first remarks at the beginning when she says that only a man could have created such a cruel existence. Here is when the play reaches its climax, a cruel twist at the end proves the woman right when they come to escape…

Author: Matt Fox

Genre: One act comedy-drama

Type: Award winning one act plays

Cast: Two: 1M 1F

Ages of the actors: Adult (middle aged)

Length: 30 minutes

Set: A couple in a bed with fake legs (pillows)

Level of difficulty: 8/10 – engaging the audience and keeping their attention in this dialogue driver play

Read a Sample of the Script




Cost is $10 for this award winning one act play

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about One Act Play

Copyright © December 2014 Matt Fox and Off The Wall Play Publishers