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The Lake: a play in one act
Paperback
Mystery & ThrillerLiterary Fiction
Publisher: Kelsey Jayne Marshall
Published: Mar 11 2026
Pages: 44
Weight: 0.12
Height: 0.09 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
What starts as a profile assignment becomes something neither of them can walk away from cleanly.
Jude is a journalist. August is a movie star trying to rehabilitate his image. The plan is simple: she drives to his remote lake house, asks the right questions, writes a flattering piece, and leaves. But August didn't invite her here for a puff piece - and Jude didn't say yes to one, either.
Over the course of one charged, sun-drenched weekend, the two circle each other with equal parts wit and wariness. They share cigarettes, joints, ice cream, and confessions neither intended to make. Then something happens on the lake - something Jude can't ignore and August refuses to act on - and the careful distance between interviewer and subject collapses entirely.
Sharp, spare, and achingly intimate, The Lake - which premiered at New York Summerfest in 2018 - is a masterclass in subtext. Marshall writes dialogue that crackles with everything left unsaid, and a two-character dynamic that feels at once deeply specific and urgently universal.
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