Take the K Train

by Bill Triplett

10-minute play. As usual, Winston boards his crowded commuter train in broad daylight and shuts his eyes for his brief ride home from work. Twenty minutes later he opens them and finds it's pitch dark out, only two other passengers are aboard, and the train is going recklessly fast. Everything otherwise looks and seems normal -- but it isn't. Especially those two other passengers. Is he suddenly in a nightmare...

10-minute play. As usual, Winston boards his crowded commuter train in broad daylight and shuts his eyes for his brief ride home from work. Twenty minutes later he opens them and finds it's pitch dark out, only two other passengers are aboard, and the train is going recklessly fast. Everything otherwise looks and seems normal -- but it isn't. Especially those two other passengers. Is he suddenly in a nightmare? If so, whose?

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Take the K Train

Recommended by

  • Mark Harvey Levine: Take the K Train by Bill Triplett
    “

    Creepy and chilling. There are references to Kafka sprinkled throughout this play -- some obvious, some so subtle I didn't get them until after the play was over. But all of it added to a nightmare experience for Winston, and a good, but scary, experience for the viewer. I loved all the crossword stuff!

    Creepy and chilling. There are references to Kafka sprinkled throughout this play -- some obvious, some so subtle I didn't get them until after the play was over. But all of it added to a nightmare experience for Winston, and a good, but scary, experience for the viewer. I loved all the crossword stuff!

    ”
  • Debra A. Cole: Take the K Train by Bill Triplett
    “

    TRULY MASTERFUL!

    I was lucky to see this short play by WILLIAM TRIPLETT at the 2023 Midwest Dramatists Conference. Familiar with Franz Kafka or not, audiences will immediately be drawn into this brilliant psychological adventure that will have them wondering what is reality and what is fantasy. Strangers, newspapers, crossword puzzles, and an escalating train will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. BRAVO!

    TRULY MASTERFUL!

    I was lucky to see this short play by WILLIAM TRIPLETT at the 2023 Midwest Dramatists Conference. Familiar with Franz Kafka or not, audiences will immediately be drawn into this brilliant psychological adventure that will have them wondering what is reality and what is fantasy. Strangers, newspapers, crossword puzzles, and an escalating train will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. BRAVO!

    ”
  • Philip Middleton Williams: Take the K Train by Bill Triplett
    “

    It's always easy to spot the influence of other writers in some plays, and sometimes that spoils the fun, as if you know what's coming and you're waiting to see how it gets there. Not so in his inventive and twisted -- in a good way -- tale of the travels of Winston on the subway. If the name of the train is a giveaway, just wait to see where it takes you. Bill Triplett's skill at leading us one way and landing us somewhere else is on full display, and the ride is so very much worth it.

    It's always easy to spot the influence of other writers in some plays, and sometimes that spoils the fun, as if you know what's coming and you're waiting to see how it gets there. Not so in his inventive and twisted -- in a good way -- tale of the travels of Winston on the subway. If the name of the train is a giveaway, just wait to see where it takes you. Bill Triplett's skill at leading us one way and landing us somewhere else is on full display, and the ride is so very much worth it.

    ”
View all 11 recommendations

Development History

  • Reading, Midwest Dramatists Conference, 2023

Production History