Boxes

A play in two acts.

Act 1.
Before the Pandemic: A termination session in person, in a therapist’s office.

The client (a man) talks to the therapist (a woman) about the excitement he is anticipating on a new life he is embarking on. He is confident. She is cold. He is saying goodbye. She is skeptical that he has faced his demons. She reveals that like him, she is an alcoholic.

Act 2.
12 months into the Pandemic: A teletherapy session.

We see their faces on a screen, but also the places they really live in. He does not use a screensaver and his world is neat and put together. She uses a screen background of her old office, but the real room behind her is a shambles. The vaccines are still not widely distributed, but hope is on the horizon. He is broken, and desperate for connection and met not with the real connection he is hoping for, but “unconditional positive regard.”