The Clubhouse-Play Script

The Clubhouse is a scene about two boys and the promise they made to a friend. It’s summer and Joey and Eric are struggling with the decision to enter their shared clubhouse. They made a promise to their friend Tommy not to go inside without him but he’s gone and there is fun to be had. Do they start their summer vacation with a broken promise? An amusing scene that boys will love performing!

David-Matthew Barnes is a best-selling author, playwright, poet, and screenwriter. Two of his young adult novels have been recognized by the American Library Association for inclusivity in young adult literature. To date, he has written over fifty stage plays that have been performed in three languages in ten countries. His literary work has appeared in over one hundred publications, including The Best Stage Scenes, The Best Women’s Stage Monologues, The Best Men’s Stage Monologues, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Best Advice I Ever Heard, and 105 Five-Minute Plays for Study and Performance. He has also served as the guest editor of dramatic literature for The Louisville Review and as a judge for the Oregon Literary Fellowships in the category of Young Readers. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina. He has been an arts educator for over a decade. Having lived around the world, he calls Chicago his hometown.

Excerpt from the play:

CAST OF CHARACTERS

JOEY – 10, a fifth-grader
ERIC – 10, a fifth-grader

TIME: A Wednesday afternoon. Present year.

SETTING: A backyard. A blank stage.

JOEY:
Don’t be chicken.  Go in.

ERIC: 
No, I don’t want to.  That would be weird ‘cause…

JOEY:
…cause you’re chicken.

(JOEY imitates a chicken.)

ERIC:
I’m not chicken.  It’s just that Tommy is our best friend and we promised…

JOEY: 
It doesn’t matter.  He’s not here.  Remember?

ERIC:
Yeah, its’ been over a month since…

JOEY:
Eric, he would have wanted us to have fun.  He would have wanted us to play in the creek, climb trees and throw water balloons at the girls like we always have.

ERIC:
I know.  But look at the clubhouse.  We all built it together.

JOEY: 
Remember when we didn’t have a roof.  Tommy’s mom was so mad when he took the sheets from his house.

ERIC: 
He was grounded for like two days, I think.

JOEY:
Even when he was grounded, he wanted us to keep building.  So, you should go in.

ERIC: 
No way.  Why don’t you go in then?