Recovery Mode

By Matt Burlingame

In Recovery Mode, Matt, an upwardly mobile, out gay man leads zany therapist Susan through his continuous breakups and makeups with his deeply closeted blue-collar, bisexual boyfriend Tom. The two have nothing in common except each other... and sometimes not even that. Filling out the production is Matt's college BFF Marc; a one-night stand named Sean, who made him believe in love again; and country bumpkin Adam, whose talent is best left to the imagination. What should have been a 45-minute hookup from a dating app became a tumultuous four-year relationship, a one-man show by Matthew Chrehan Higgins, and now a full-length stage production by Matt Burlingame. Based on true-life experiences, Recovery Mode is a comedy about getting over Mr. Wrong.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matt Burlingame
• Release date: May 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463173695

Matt Burlingame

Matt Burlingame is an award-winning journalist and playwright, living in Northern California. After 20 years of working for various LGBT newspapers, websites, and even co-hosting a late-night radio show, he has retired from his aspirations of being the gay Murphy Brown to pursue his love of fiction writing. He has written and co-written over ten critically acclaimed plays, including Recovery Mode, Poughkeepsie Porn Co., Countess Dracula, and the controversial Paperclip Messiah. His plays have been produced nationally, most notably in New York and St. Louis. He has been a well-known LGBT podcaster for over ten years and produced and co-hosted shows focused on writing, comedy, theater, gay sex education and positive body image. With the support and encouragement of his gay cat, and lifelong friend Nephi, he has now immersed himself into the wonderful world of M/M romance.

Book preview

Recovery Mode

The Play

SMASHWORDS EDITION

By Matt Burlingame

Based on the true love/hate story of

Matthew Crehan Higgins

Performance Inquiries Contact:

[e-mail]

Copyright © 2010, 2019 Matthew Couk

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9780463173695

Cover photo © Can Stock Photo/lightwavemedia

While the story told in Recovery Mode is based on real events, liberties have been taken with the characters, timeline, locations, and certain story elements and should therefore be considered a work of fiction.

Character List

Matt

Gay male, early 30s, thin, professional type

Susan

Therapist, female, 35+

Tom

Bisexual, early 30s, attractive, rough around the edges, blue collar

Marc

Matt’s best friend, gay male, early 30s, professional type

Sean

Matt’s one night stand, late 20s to 30s.

Adam

Matt’s summer fling, gay, early 20s to 30s

Role Doubling Options:

The roles of SEAN and ADAM can be double cast.

Setting

Place: A psychologist’s office in Buffalo, New York, circa 2010.

Original Production:

Recovery Mode first appeared as a largely improvised spoken word event by Matthew Crehan Higgins on March 26, 2010, at Gallery 464 in Buffalo, New York. A recording of that event was broadcast on the podcast Cocktails and Cream Puffs that June. In December of that year, Matt Burlingame, resident playwright and director for Lambda Players Theater (Sacramento, California) was forced to cancel the troupe’s next production. Scrambling to find an alternative, he remembered Crehan Higgins’ piece and adapted it into a full-length play in just under four weeks. The script was still being written as the cast began rehearsals. The first production of Recovery Mode opened January 6, 2011.

Cast:

MATT: Michael Hedges

SUSAN: Bethany Hidden-Cauley

TOM: Steve Thompson

MARC: Steve Lozano

SEAN: Chad Jayson Smith

ADAM: Eric Cadwell

DIRECTOR: Matt Burlingame

A second production opened on June 25, 2011 at Buffalo United Artists Theater featuring Matthew Crehan Higgins and Marc Sacco as the characters based on themselves, under the direction of Joey Bucheker with the following cast:

MATT: Matthew Crehan Higgins

SUSAN: Victoria Perez

TOM: Gary Andrews

MARC: Marc Sacco

JOHN*/ADAM: Sean Murphy

*For this production, the character SEAN was called JOHN to avoid confusion as to whether the actor was also playing a version of himself.

ACT ONE

SUSAN: Entering on cell phone. Well, Mr. Ferguson, what did you think would happen? Dogs aren’t known for having the best ideas. Pause. I know, but if your dog starts telling you what to do again, just ignore him and we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Pause. Well… threaten to get him fixed. I promise, he won’t talk to you for weeks. Pause. Okay. See you tomorrow at 2:00. And don’t forget your insurance card. Hangs up, crosses to waiting room door. [ALTERNATIVE OPENING: SUSAN: Pressing intercom. Ms. Ferguson, please send Mr. Higgins in.] MATT enters. Mr. Higgins?

MATT: Entering, slightly nervous. Crehan Higgins, actually. Or just Matt is fine. Extends hand.

SUSAN: Taking hand. Susan.

MATT: Nice to meet you. You come highly recommended.

SUSAN: Oh, that’s always nice to hear. Is this your first time seeing a therapist?

MATT: Oh, God, no! I mean, not that—I didn’t mean it like: GOD, NO! I’m a nut job, just… Clearing throat nervously. No, it’s not my first time.

SUSAN: Mmhmm.

MATT: I brought cash. I hope that’s okay. I didn’t know if you took credit cards.

SUSAN: No.

MATT: Good, so I did the right thing. Excellent!

SUSAN: Yes. Motioning to couch near her chair. They both sit. So what are you hoping to gain from therapy?

MATT: Life-long mental stability.

SUSAN: Oh, well, Nobel Prize, here I come. So what’s going on, Matt?

MATT: Well, I haven’t been myself for a while and my friends, frankly, are sick of me. My friend Marc told me I’ve been down for so long now, he wonders if I’m enjoying it.

SUSAN: Are you? MATT gives a Really? expression. It’s a legitimate question.

MATT: No. I’m not enjoying it. I suppose the attention from my friends has been nice—ya know, always taking me places and paying for everything because they’re trying to get me out of the house. But even that’s slowing down. I think I’m just accustomed to it at this point.

SUSAN: Making a note. That’s understandable. So when was your last time in counseling?

MATT: Six years ago.

SUSAN: And that was for?

MATT: There was this relationship that I just couldn’t get over and it was really holding me back and I really needed to talk to someone.

SUSAN: And this time?

MATT: There’s this relationship that I just can’t get over and it’s really holding me back and I really need to talk to someone.

SUSAN: Smiling and a making note. So a repetition of bad patterns?

MATT: Yeah, I s’pose. Although the relationships were completely different. And so were the guys. The first one I had trouble getting over because it was so good, and this one was…

SUSAN: After several beats. Bad?

MATT: No… Yes. Both… and neither.

SUSAN: Ah, one of those.

MATT: Yeah.

SUSAN: So, where would you like to start today?

MATT: Um, well, let’s start at the very beginning.

SUSAN: Singing the line from The Sound of Music: A very good place to start. MATT brightens, chuckling. So how long have you been apart?

MATT: This last time… fifteen months, two weeks, three days. SUSAN writes note. Gosh… saying it out loud—it seems like such a long time.

SUSAN: And how long were you together?

MATT: That’s a bit more complicated. We met almost four years ago, were together a while, then apart, then together, then apart, then togeth—well, you get