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The Bottom of the Lake by Steven Stack play script cover

The Bottom of the Lake

by Steven Stack

Summer camp. The memories. The s’mores. The campfire. The ghost stories.

Dani’s out in the middle of the woods at night, alone, without a flashlight. She meets three girls from another camp, and the new friends tell ghost stories to pass the time.

After each of their stories comes to life onstage, only one story remains to be told – a story none of them saw coming.

An awesome combination of ghost stories, urban legends, teen issues, romance, absurd comedy, and film noir, all in a single play!

Average Producer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 70 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
16 Characters
2 M 12 F 2 Any Gender
Productions
Produced by 220+ schools
Licensed by schools and youth theatres around the world
Set
Multiple Locations
Length
39 pages
Free Excerpt

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Performance Royalty Fees

Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.

Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.

16 Characters

  • 2 Males
  • 12 Females
  • 2 Any Gender

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.

  • DANI Female 59 lines
    A lonely girl
  • VANESSA Female 51 lines
    Friend of Lindsey and Claire; the undeclared leader of the group
  • LINDSEY Female 55 lines
    Overly sarcastic friend of Vanessa and Claire
  • CLAIRE Female 47 lines
    Friend of Lindsey and Vanessa, the “not quick” one
  • HAYLEY Female 3 lines
    Carefree friend of Alexis and Molly
  • ALEXIS Female 41 lines
    Friend of Hayley and Molly who doesn’t believe in ghosts
  • MOLLY Female 20 lines
    Overly worried friend of Hayley and Alexis
  • LADY IN WHITE Female 23 lines
    A murderous ghost
  • SULLEN SUMMERS Male 68 lines
    Ace private eye
  • TORCHY BLAZE Female 26 lines
    Singer, girlfriend of Sullen
  • CARISSA CRANBERRY Female 24 lines
    Sullen’s secretary and ex
  • SIMON SILVERSHOES Male 22 lines
    Bookie with a heart of gold
  • SAL Any gender 27 lines
    Scared of the forest and squirrels
  • JAMIE Female 28 lines
    Sal’s coworker
  • BLOODY MARY Female 15 lines
    Bloody Mary
  • HOOK HAND Any gender 7 lines
    Tends to lose his hook

Praise for The Bottom of the Lake

4 out of 5 stars
Jane Thorpe
Bermuda High School
Great! Students enjoyed it and gave lots of opportunities for technical side too.
5 out of 5 stars
Bill Sykes
Greystone Centennial Middle School
We had an amazing time with this play! We competed in a One Act festival against 8 other middle schools. This play stood out from the rest because of the mixture of creepiness, comedy and drama. It pulls on so many emotions that the audience can't help but get invested. Our cast and crew were sad to have our performances come to an end!!
5 out of 5 stars
Jami Weckstein
Interact Performance Academy
The kids loved it, and the parents did too! It had just the right mix of 'scary' and funny for all ages.

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