DAY by Day
Audio Drama Series Outline
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ANDRE FUAD DEGAS Playwright / Producer
Broke, ashamed and at the end of his rope, Cody, a struggling artist with a serious opioid habit, fails to kill himself. He is mandated by a judge to a therapeutic community, aptly named The House of Charity. He reluctantly joins five recovering addicts under the guidance of Gabrielle, a strict and controlling female counselor who he clashes with constantly. During the day the men work in the program’s soup kitchen feeding the homeless. Cody’s recovery revolves around finding true friendship and love with the other men. His drawings and sketches of the men become his path to self-fulfillment..
The pilot for this six part series is one hour in length, and subsequent episodes are 30 minutes. Each episode focuses on a different character.
Vaughn is a forty-year-old alcoholic physician from Louisiana who has been in conflict with his mother since childhood. His epiphany comes when he recognizes the bitter truth about his resentment and learns to forgive himself and his mother. Vaughn pours his love toward his son who is graduating from High school and needs his support. This becomes a living amends for his former life, which was riddled with degradation.
Charming and wise, Ricky, is a pretty HIV-positive male who has survived on the streets of the Midwest as a male hustler. He is coping with early life trauma of being sexually abused by his father. Can he be honest about these secrets that keep him locked into a cycle of drug abuse? During his time at the House of Charity his self-esteem and compliance improve. He rejects a scheme devised by one of the Counselors to work on a sex line.
Art, a country western meth-addicted truck driver, works as a food runner in the kitchen. Art learns that his resentment against his ex-wife is destroying his life. He breaks his denial momentarily when he admits that he blamed his wife and children for his troubles and exploited them emotionally, yet ultimately Art talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk of recovery. He leaves the program to go ‘fix’ his wife and ends up relapsing with her. The group learns that he was found dead in an SRO hotel, possibly a suicide.
Felipe, a newly-sober salsa musician and heroin addict, wants his musical career back. He has burnt bridges and alienated his own family, especially his brother. Felipe does everything in his power to anger others and is perpetually receiving negative attention. Ricky befriends him, and Felipe admits that he never learned to read or write properly. Felipe returns to school to get his GED. His episode ends when he plays his piano for the group on a Christmas Night.
In the final episode the counselor, Gabrielle, is put to the test. She must relinquish some of her control over the men in order to find her own peace. Throughout the first five episodes she expresses her frustration in punishing and sometimes humiliating ways. We learn that she had a brother who was an addict, and she had failed to help him. Gabrielle maintains her distance and never socializes with the men. On her birthday the men cook and bake a cake from donated food. To save face she reluctantly sits down with them as they sing happy birthday.
ANDRE FUAD DEGAS Playwright / Producer
Broke, ashamed and at the end of his rope, Cody, a struggling artist with a serious opioid habit, fails to kill himself. He is mandated by a judge to a therapeutic community, aptly named The House of Charity. He reluctantly joins five recovering addicts under the guidance of Gabrielle, a strict and controlling female counselor who he clashes with constantly. During the day the men work in the program’s soup kitchen feeding the homeless. Cody’s recovery revolves around finding true friendship and love with the other men. His drawings and sketches of the men become his path to self-fulfillment..
The pilot for this six part series is one hour in length, and subsequent episodes are 30 minutes. Each episode focuses on a different character.
Vaughn is a forty-year-old alcoholic physician from Louisiana who has been in conflict with his mother since childhood. His epiphany comes when he recognizes the bitter truth about his resentment and learns to forgive himself and his mother. Vaughn pours his love toward his son who is graduating from High school and needs his support. This becomes a living amends for his former life, which was riddled with degradation.
Charming and wise, Ricky, is a pretty HIV-positive male who has survived on the streets of the Midwest as a male hustler. He is coping with early life trauma of being sexually abused by his father. Can he be honest about these secrets that keep him locked into a cycle of drug abuse? During his time at the House of Charity his self-esteem and compliance improve. He rejects a scheme devised by one of the Counselors to work on a sex line.
Art, a country western meth-addicted truck driver, works as a food runner in the kitchen. Art learns that his resentment against his ex-wife is destroying his life. He breaks his denial momentarily when he admits that he blamed his wife and children for his troubles and exploited them emotionally, yet ultimately Art talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk of recovery. He leaves the program to go ‘fix’ his wife and ends up relapsing with her. The group learns that he was found dead in an SRO hotel, possibly a suicide.
Felipe, a newly-sober salsa musician and heroin addict, wants his musical career back. He has burnt bridges and alienated his own family, especially his brother. Felipe does everything in his power to anger others and is perpetually receiving negative attention. Ricky befriends him, and Felipe admits that he never learned to read or write properly. Felipe returns to school to get his GED. His episode ends when he plays his piano for the group on a Christmas Night.
In the final episode the counselor, Gabrielle, is put to the test. She must relinquish some of her control over the men in order to find her own peace. Throughout the first five episodes she expresses her frustration in punishing and sometimes humiliating ways. We learn that she had a brother who was an addict, and she had failed to help him. Gabrielle maintains her distance and never socializes with the men. On her birthday the men cook and bake a cake from donated food. To save face she reluctantly sits down with them as they sing happy birthday.