Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back playwright John P. Bray, born in New Jersey, now teaching at the University of Georgia, with a scintillating comic play, “A Johnnie Walker Blue Christmas,” the runner-up in our “Belonging” short play contest. Just as Randy gets an unexpected gift from his boss at the liquor store, a bottle of the much coveted Johnnie Walker Blue, he’s reacquainted with his high school nemesis, Stoge, who appeals to his better nature to share the wealth. Randy hasn’t forgotten, but he’s about to make the discovery that a great scotch is better shared.
“RANDY: You put a fetal pig heart in my locker. Tenth grade, just before holiday break. You got the combo from Nancy, telling her you had a gift for me, and there it was. Eye level when I opened the door.
STOGE: That was you?
RANDY: That was me.”
John’s sense of humor is winning, and the timing of Randy and Stoge’s natural banter is hilarious. There is even a Christmas saxophonist, who has been saving up to buy the bottle of scotch, to provide some realness and extra chuckles. “A Johnnie Walker Blue Christmas” is the last piece in the issue, and it leaves us with a warm feeling that our petty human failures can be forgiven.
Read “A Johnnie Walker Blue Christmas” in Synkroniciti’s “Belonging” issue, available for pre-order here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
John P. Bray is a playwright, independent screenwriter, scholar, and teacher. John has been a Semifinalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Semifinalist for the Princess Grace Foundation Playwrights Award, Finalist for the Kernodle Playwriting Award, and Winner of the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. His plays are frequently produced, and have been published with Next Stage Press, Original Works Publishing, and in anthologies and journals. Last year, his short play “Buckle” was published by Synkroniciti, having won the “Curiosity” Short Play Contest. John has an MFA in Playwriting from The Actors Studio Drama School at The New School, and a PhD in Theatre Studies from LSU. John teaches at the University of Georgia.