A husband and wife sit down for a nice picnic, but slowly, she starts to realize that all is not as it seems, and she might not be able to leave.
A mysterious drama with sci-fi undertones, POCKET UNIVERSE is a searing, two-person play from writer Thomas Brandon that explores the nature of love, grief, and the unstoppable momentum of the past.
Having previewed as a one-act in last year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival, the play has been expanded to a full-length version that would be an ideal fit for a company looking to develop a world premiere.
For performance rights and inquiries, contact Jonathan Mills at:
Paradigm Agency
Theatre Literary
360 Park Avenue South, 16th flr
New York, NY 10010
(212) 897-6400
Review Quotes
RECOMMENDED! “Playwright Thomas Brandon’s engrossing little drama unfolds as an increasingly terrifying puzzle . . . the way the play’s context veers from reality to some kind of skewed, oddball universe is quite masterful.”
– Paul Birchall, StageRaw.com
“One of those little gems that comes out of nowhere, and lands like a delayed reaction bomb.”
– David C. Nichols, LA Times critic
“A haunting hybrid of Rabbit Hole and The Twilight Zone. The audience around me wept and gasped through the chilling twists.”
– Xaque Gruber, Huffington Post
Show Information
DESCRIPTION
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Drama
Length: 90 minutes
Time Period: Contemporary
Cast Size: 2 (1 man, 1 woman)
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Thomas Brandon has written and directed several award-winning short films, including a made-for-cable movie produced by Peter Engel (Saved by the Bell, Last Comic Standing). He lives in the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Burbank, California, where he works as a writer and director for film and theatre.
Recently, Thomas was a finalist for the NBC “Writers on the Verge” program, and a semi-finalist for the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship. He is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency and Lee Stobby Entertainment.
Artist’s Statement
“Falling in love arrives with an unspoken, silent fear: loss. Falling in love means one day facing loss. Getting married makes that fear more intimidating. Having children makes that fear seem insurmountable. POCKET UNIVERSE is not only about those fears, but also the conviction that, in the right situation, there is nothing any of us would not do to avoid losing someone we love, even if we become someone they might not recognize anymore.
One of the things I love most about sci-fi is that it gives us the opportunity to ask big questions in a ‘non-threatening’ way for audiences. The dark mirror intersection of technology and our imagination allows us to glimpse reflections of deep truth in a way that zooms past our defenses and disarms us, exposing us to uncomfortable (sometimes cleansing) emotional experiences.
I wrote POCKET UNIVERSE to put a narrative face to fears I didn’t have a name for. During the process, I discovered a black hole that was bigger than any one couple’s grief. It was, if I may say so, a grief that belonged to all of us. And a promise to go through it together.”
– Thomas Brandon
Production History
Graphic by Matthew Gilmore
Mariner Pictures previewed a one-act version of the play at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2015, directed by Rhonda Kohl with the following cast:
Roan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rick Marcus
Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nan McNamara