The Lucky Ones

by Evan Neiden

Blake, a newly up-and-coming musician, spends their days cold-calling strangers to sell "honest placebo" pills for The Esca Healing Company, on the verge of breaking out of a call center stocked with fellow starving artists. When a gunman tears through the office, Blake survives and meets Lena, a seasoned EAP counselor whose toolbox of deep breaths, stuffed animals, and motivational quotes runs headlong into a...

Blake, a newly up-and-coming musician, spends their days cold-calling strangers to sell "honest placebo" pills for The Esca Healing Company, on the verge of breaking out of a call center stocked with fellow starving artists. When a gunman tears through the office, Blake survives and meets Lena, a seasoned EAP counselor whose toolbox of deep breaths, stuffed animals, and motivational quotes runs headlong into a grief that threatens to bury them both. THE LUCKY ONES is a darkly comic psychological thriller that confronts its audience with the fractured anatomy of a mass shooting, the hollow promise of the wellness industry, and the mantle of "lucky" we bestow upon survivors as if it magically makes it possible to carry on.

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The Lucky Ones

Recommended by

  • Bailey Jordan Garcia: The Lucky Ones by Evan Neiden
    “

    A gorgeously harrowing new take on survivor’s guilt – “The Lucky Ones” explores how easily victims’ grief can lead them to becoming perpetrators. Neiden’s a master of lulling the audience into false senses of security through brilliant structure, dark humor, and characters we relate to a bit too deeply for comfort. (Also, the roles of Blake and Lena are absolute dreams for any actor.) An incredible piece that leaves you questioning – under the wrong circumstances, who are we capable of becoming?

    A gorgeously harrowing new take on survivor’s guilt – “The Lucky Ones” explores how easily victims’ grief can lead them to becoming perpetrators. Neiden’s a master of lulling the audience into false senses of security through brilliant structure, dark humor, and characters we relate to a bit too deeply for comfort. (Also, the roles of Blake and Lena are absolute dreams for any actor.) An incredible piece that leaves you questioning – under the wrong circumstances, who are we capable of becoming?

    ”

Character Information

Four performers, minimum. Blake is open to any gender, Lena and Martha are female-presenting, and a single male-presenting actor (or several, budget permitting) carries the Delivery Guy, Cop, and Guy in Hoodie. A recorded voiceover runs throughout.
  • Blake
    An up-and-coming musician working at a call center. Witty, disarming, and full of bravado masking immense pain. Demands range, stamina, and the capacity to induce fear.
    20s-30s
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
  • Lena
    An EAP counselor on her twelfth mass-casualty deployment, armed with breathing exercises, stuffed animals, and motivational quotes. Warm, relentless, and quietly falling apart.
    30s-50s
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s,
      50s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • Martha
    A new hire and unrecognized dancer chasing the same break as everyone else on the floor. Charming, earnest, and determined to be good at a job that doesn't deserve her.
    early 20s
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • Guy
    A study in stillness. The human shape of violence. Demands quiet menace and the capacity to induce fear. To play "Delivery Guy," "Guy in Hoodie," and "Cop."
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man

Development History

  • Reading, Ripley Grier NYC, 2026