A dating app called Ten Minutes On a Bench is the latest match-making craze, placing singles on a park bench to find common ground. The clock is ticking, but there’s no limit to the variety of heartfelt and humane conversations between dozens of characters looking for romance. Fall head over heels in love with a new speed-dating vignette comedy about first impressions, last chances, impulse and caution, conversation and chemistry. Laugh, cheer and cringe witnessing the universal urge to connect. Sometimes, it only takes ten minutes.

(This is a licensable property through the author, who is seeking an Equity world premiere following several ongoing non-Equity and college bookings. No part of the perusal copy can be performed without permission from the author and a signed license agreement.)

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“Ten Minutes On a Bench” is a flexibly-sized “vignette” comedy comprised of a Prologue, 17 unrelated two-hander scenes, and an Epilogue. The play has 35 speaking roles.

The setting is a park bench.

This collection was first envisioned as a two-act play for a protean cast of 8 performers (4W, 4M) who double and triple to create dozens of characters ranging in age from 20s to 70s. (It has also been performed with 6-12 actors.) Its original intent was to be a playful, theatrical showcase for the skills of a versatile, charismatic (small-ish) ensemble. This intimate ensemble idea is the preferred format for professional licensing.

However —

The play can be modified to feature an expanded cast of up to 35 actors performing the original 17 scenes in two acts — or fewer scenes (think 12) without an intermission. The selection and order of scenes is determined by the producer/director but guided by the order suggested by the author in the script below. (Yes, you can pick and choose, but there is some intention to the order.) These allowable modifications are available to professional, amateur, high school and college producers. No content within scenes may be altered. No added material is allowed.

All fully staged presentations must utilize the Prologue and Epilogue, the content of which requires slight adjustment depending on which scenes are used — the Prologue mentions character names in the scenes to come, and the Epilogue reflects back on moments in the play. “Fully staged” is to be interpreted as off-book, designed productions rather than scene study, readers theatre, student/amateur showcase, etc. In those minimally-realized cases, the set up of the world can be conveyed in the playbill or by other means.

Presentation of any material — even if you’re offering only five scenes in a format called, say, “Scenes From 'Ten Minutes On a Bench,'” for example — requires a license fee and signed license agreement.

Perfect fit for a company looking for humane comedies in the tradition of Neil Simon and ”Almost, Maine.”

The tracks of an eight-performer iteration look like this:

ACTOR 1 & ACTRESS 1: Ages 20s-30s
ACTOR 2 & ACTRESS 2: Ages 20s-40s
ACTOR 3 & ACTRESS 3: Ages 40s-50s
ACTOR 4 & ACTRESS 4: Ages 60s-70s

The cast should represent a wide range of ages, body types, abilities, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities and genders.

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There is an epidemic of loneliness in the human race. Nature eventually urges us to find contact, chemistry and companionship with others. In the early 21st century, some people seek it through technology. The dating service called Ten Minutes On a Bench is not a hookup app for sex; its target is relationship-minded people who want a conversation first. Communication, especially when there’s a ticking clock, is rarely straightforward. Even when you think you’re prepared for the briefest chat, there are surprising sharp turns, dead ends, detours and derailments. This play is a pulse-taking of all kinds of people ready (or not) for relationships. At great risk, they put themselves out in the world in an effort to cure our great epidemic. If a lasting connection doesn’t result, maybe the memory of a misfired exchange or an amiable moment — of grace, kindness, hurt, surprise and laughter — will sustain and inspire them to do better next time, keep looking, keep reaching and keep hoping until they’re no longer alone.