Small Block - Act Three

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.New episodes drop Tuesdays. Subscribe now.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 TisoWritten by Ashley Lauren Produced by Jack Levy, Mark Knell, and Shaan Sharma for TABLE READ / Manifest MediaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.