The countdown to eleven builds like a pressure valve. Dizzy waits in the driveway holding on to hope. Kev hides nerves behind jokes. P keeps tugging at a shirt that has never felt right on his body. Everyone is pretending this morning will fix something they are too scared to name.
A car turns the corner and it is the wrong one. Dizzy breaks. Kev fires the blame at P. The friendship between them starts to shake. P disappears inside and comes back with a Sprite because it is the only comfort he knows how to offer at fourteen.
Then the sound hits. Guitar blasting out of an engine that should not exist in a town this small. The DeLorean pulls in for real. Dizzy lifts his head. Kev goes silent. P feels the world shift. Miss World steps out with a sunflower in her hair and for a moment everything feels possible.
She takes them on the ride they have been imagining all week. Kev laughs in the back. Dizzy shouts for more speed. P sits in the front seat trying to hold himself together. Miss World asks what they want from the future. Dizzy talks about cars. Kev talks about family. P cannot answer. Miss World waits. P finally admits he is afraid to look ahead. Kev jokes that P might not make it to adulthood. Miss World hears something deeper than the joke. She sees him.
When they return, nothing is magically fixed. But something inside P cracks open. He cannot keep disappearing into other people’s expectations. Not after being seen this clearly, even for a moment. Act Three is the ride, the break, and the first honest step toward who P is becoming.
SMALL BLOCK is a feature screenplay by Ashley Lauren, performed live and mixed like a feature film for your ears. From the award-winning team at TABLE READ / Manifest Media Productions.
Content Advisory: This episode contains suicidal ideation, transphobic and homophobic language, and minor fatphobic language, used intentionally to serve the story and its period portrayal.
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Cast (Full Feature):
P – Levi Dafferner
Kev – Kosi Eguchi
Bex – Piper Kingston
Dizzy – Deryck Hak
Miss World – Lydia Tinsley
Dad – Adam Pilver
Mrs. D – Gemma Kyle
Mom – Leah Zhang
Britt – Eric Miller
Tiff / Martha – Avery Norris
Mr. Welch / Kev’s Dad – Eddie Aguirre
Dan / Zach – Aidan Dick
Jack – Kellen Rose
James – Michael Amir Nash
Rob – Jack Murphy
Janet / Video Store Clerk – Sabrina Ariss
Narrator – Paula Tiso
Written by Ashley Lauren
Produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Shaan Sharma for TABLE READ / Manifest Media
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