The Coming Out Of Gertrude Stein

Synopsis:

MAX, a debt-collector (though he refers to himself as a ‘transactional facilitator’) consults FRANCINE, a therapist, because his late mother divided her estate equally between him and his brother, even though MAX was the one who cared for her for the last 10 years of his life, even though he hated her.  He finds this situation ‘unfair’, and can’t get past it.

He sees all of life as a series of transactions, and is so insistent in this view that in the end, FRANCINE allows him to collect a debt from GERTRUDE, a former patient, who still owes her $10,000.

It turns out that GERTRUDE consulted FRANCINE because, throughout her whole life, she’d never been able to give.  Despite weekly consultations for two years, she made no progress, and terminated her therapy, refusing to pay FRANCINE’S bill as proof of concept.

At first, MAX threatens to kill her, but so resistant is she to the idea of giving that she prefers death.  Which is when he discovers her weakness, and the story takes a whole other turn.

A very black comedy about fairness, justice, trust, life and death.

Production History:  Not yet produced.

Running-time: 120 minutes.

Only available in hard copy, which can be obtained through the author.