About the Play:

Out of Gas on Lovers Leap has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues and Female/Male Scenes.

Out of Gas on Lovers Leap is a full-length drama by Mark St. Germain. This story of love, through the eyes of the unloved, follows the troubles of two 17-year-old outcasts, Myst and Grouper, on the night of their graduation. Out of Gas on Lovers Leap is a provocative and theatrically exciting examination of the prospects facing today's youth, in a world where traditional values have declined and humanity seems bent on self-destruction.

Out of Gas on Lovers Leap is about two well-to-do rebels contemplating life's decisions and what the future will bring them. It's graduation night for teens Myst and Grouper, two bright, well-to-do misfits celebrating their newfound freedom from White Oaks Academy, an exclusive boarding school for students with behavioural issues. They have driven to the local lovers leap for a private celebration. These are spoiled rich kids, given everything money can buy, while their souls wither for lack of love and human affection. Myst is seventeen, and the neglected daughter of her over-the-hill rock singer mother of dubious morals; Grouper is also seventeen, and the alienated son of an ambitious, self-important U.S. Senator. The commitment-phobe Myst is determined to deprive Grouper of his virginity, but he wants to wait until they are married and settled into domesticity. As they drink beer, smoke pot and engage in sharply amusing, yet disheartening, interplay, it becomes increasingly evident that they are very lost young souls whose ideals have been sadly eroded by the shoddy, self-centred example of their elders. In the end they do make love, but it proves to be only a brief respite before their pasts encroach on the present and, inevitably, overwhelm it with terrible and heartrending results. Out of Gas on Lovers Leap has long been a favourite of acting teachers for it's 'two-hander' structure and its brisk dialogue written for young adults.

Out of Gas on Lovers Leap premiered in 1985 Off Broadway at the WPA Theatre in New York City, and launched the career of two-time Oscar nominee and supporting actress winner Melissa Leo. This beloved two-hand character piece was revived at the famous El Centro Theatre in Hollywood in 2012, and has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops.

Cast: 1 female, 1 male

What people say:

"Out of Gas on Lovers Leap is a perceptive, well-written work." — BackStage

"…creates a tender bond between its wealthy misfits and the audience." — New York Times

"…theatrical imagination and flights of humor…." — The New Yorker

"…presents a compelling argument that today's times are forcing today's kids to put new twists in the old rituals." — New York Post

"…the theme of lost teenagers remains timeless.... It works as a period piece, giving us a look into the children of the materialistic 80s, who are loaded with money but short on guidance and love." — Arts Hub (Australia)

About the Playwright:

Mark St. Germain is an award-winning American playwright, author, film and television writer. As a dramatist, he shows a strong preference for historical fiction, and has turned to such real-life figures as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Sigmund Freud, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and Ernest Hemingway to populate his fact-inspired plays, bringing to life historical events and personalities with vivid, imagined dialogue.