Fever Dream

by Daniel Prillaman

QUARANTINE CINEMA PLAGUE HORROR
FULL-LENGTH [Open to Development]: After the sudden death of her roommate to a mysterious virus, an English Major finds herself in quarantine, which slowly takes a disturbing, increasingly surreal toll on her mental health. Or perhaps she’s just dealing with grief in a completely normal way.

Content Warning: Sexual content, violence.

PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE:
The draft of this play...

QUARANTINE CINEMA PLAGUE HORROR
FULL-LENGTH [Open to Development]: After the sudden death of her roommate to a mysterious virus, an English Major finds herself in quarantine, which slowly takes a disturbing, increasingly surreal toll on her mental health. Or perhaps she’s just dealing with grief in a completely normal way.

Content Warning: Sexual content, violence.

PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE:
The draft of this play was written in 2016, about four years before the Coronavirus pandemic reached the US. Quite literally, it has become a pre-Quarantine quarantine play. It has become a piece of a different time, when I was a different playwright and different person.

I’ve thought often about this script over the past years, and must honestly say I don’t exactly know what this play is anymore, or where its existence stands in a world forever altered by COVID. I offer it here to share with any who may be interested in checking it out, in its current form or whatever it may become. If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear them.

Please enjoy.

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Fever Dream

Recommended by

  • Samantha Marchant: Fever Dream

    I'm always impressed with a Prillaman script, but I'm blown away by how he so deftly captured a moment before it even happened... yet this is so much more than that... It's so many things. The silence once Ericka reenters the apartment after the first hospital scene... and then all the places it goes from there, while staying in one place (for the most part)... well done! Is there life after? I think so.

    I'm always impressed with a Prillaman script, but I'm blown away by how he so deftly captured a moment before it even happened... yet this is so much more than that... It's so many things. The silence once Ericka reenters the apartment after the first hospital scene... and then all the places it goes from there, while staying in one place (for the most part)... well done! Is there life after? I think so.

  • Ross Tedford Kendall: Fever Dream

    One often wonders how their mind will be affected if they're placed in a stressful, unfamiliar situation. With this play, we no longer have to wonder. Erika, forced into quarantine, questions what is real and what isn't. And we're placed right in there with her. This mind-bending play reminds me of Jennifer Haley's work, and many other pieces that have you thinking about what is real and what isn't, and how that line is often razor thin or even obliterated.

    One often wonders how their mind will be affected if they're placed in a stressful, unfamiliar situation. With this play, we no longer have to wonder. Erika, forced into quarantine, questions what is real and what isn't. And we're placed right in there with her. This mind-bending play reminds me of Jennifer Haley's work, and many other pieces that have you thinking about what is real and what isn't, and how that line is often razor thin or even obliterated.

  • Rachel Feeny-Williams: Fever Dream

    The way this play is set up is incredibly well done. I was smiling away thinking about all the times I've struggled to find something entertaining to watch and then WHAM! From that point onwards you're help captivated by the tragic and terrifying circumstances Erika finds herself in. The writer provides a un-nerving but very realistic about how our minds can be affected in the darkest and most difficult of circumstances. The style of the piece draws you in in a similar way to reality TV, desperate to know what happens next! You'll feel and be fascinated!

    The way this play is set up is incredibly well done. I was smiling away thinking about all the times I've struggled to find something entertaining to watch and then WHAM! From that point onwards you're help captivated by the tragic and terrifying circumstances Erika finds herself in. The writer provides a un-nerving but very realistic about how our minds can be affected in the darkest and most difficult of circumstances. The style of the piece draws you in in a similar way to reality TV, desperate to know what happens next! You'll feel and be fascinated!

View all 6 recommendations

Character Information

Dr. Williams, The Man in Black, and Ronald Frumpkin are all played by the same actor.
  • Man 1
    A V/O character from the film, "The Lake of Sinners."
  • Man 2
    A V/O character from the film, "The Lake of Sinners."
  • Bethany
    College age, not an English Major.
  • Erika
    College age, an English Major.
  • Toba
    A younger man of Nigerian descent.
  • Dr. Williams
    A doctor with a debatably poor bedside manner.
  • Newscaster
    A V/O reporter on the news, later an interviewer.
  • The Man in Black
    He doesn't have a sense of humor.
  • Ronald Frumpkin
    A strange man.
  • Holly
    College age, a nursing student.