These Are Days

Summary: Wealthy Brett has flown his closest friends from college out to his lakehouse for a get-together; all were theater majors together back in the early 90s. Scott is the first to arrive; he finds champagne and a note from Brett saying he’ll be back shortly. Scott is less than pleased to see Janey enter next; she asks him if they’re still not talking after over 20 years. The tension between the two melts away as they bond over still being perpetually single and their horror at the present state of affairs. Jim is next to arrive - solo, as his husband Tim apparently refuses to set foot in a “red state.” Scott is surprised to hear that Janey and Jim saw each other recently, and when Jim tells him it’s “been too long,” points out that they’ve lived in the same city for years and Jim never returns his messages. Jim brushes this off as being “busy” as married couple Mike and Cheryl arrive. While Cheryl is thrilled to see everyone, a sullen Mike insists on leaving to get beer as he hates champagne. Janey and Scott are concerned about this change in Mike, while Jim irks Scott when he cracks that at least Scott’s no longer the most depressing person in the group. Jim is furious when hardcore Republican Beth enters, and they are immediately at each other’s throats. Jim storms off and Beth puts an uncomfortable Scott on the spot when she demands to know if he also feels she “shit all over his rights.” She and Janey are in the middle of a screaming match over an apparently ill-fated trip they once took to La Jolla when everyone is stunned by the entrance of Madeline, since, as Beth bluntly points out, the last time they saw her was when she was carted off to a mental institution in 1994. Madeline claims to be better now, but Scott explodes at her for using him, lying to all of them and badly hurting their good friend. As he storms out for some air, he runs into a returning Cheryl and Mike, who feels too overwhelmed to go back inside. After a pep talk from Scott, he agrees just as Brett finally arrives. Everyone is blown away when Brett reveals the reason he gathered them all together: he’s dying.

Photos

Photos by Scott Golden