THE LAKE OF ETHOS
“We are two strangers who got married and created a third.”
— Cheryl Simon —
This is Cheryl Simon’s hopeless description of her family. Her 15‒year old son Sebbie has been expelled from his private school and now spends his days locked away in his bedroom playing LAKE OF ETHOS, an online virtual reality game. Her aloof husband, Bruce, an investment banker is staging the biggest deal of his career. When Cheryl decides to leave the family and hole up in her dental office, she creates a vacuum that lures the three of them into the quest to reach ETHOS. What they find there will change their lives forever.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
CHERYL SIMON Mid 50’s. Cheryl is by nature a scientist, who, without the family background, resources or confidence to pursue an academic or research path, became a dentist. She is shy, cerebral and bookish, and spent many years comfortably alone, until she met Bruce, a brash, outgoing investment banker who for some reason takes an interest in her. In their early 40’s, she and Bruce rush into marriage and parenthood, for which she is completely unschooled or prepared. Now, 15 years later, it all seems to be coming apart as her son, Sebbie, retreats from the real world into the imaginary LAKE OF ETHOS.
SEBBIE SIMON Age 15. What could be worse than being a 15‒year old boy, wonders Sebbie. Especially when your “father’s and asshole and your mother’s a tool.” He can’t cut it at school where up until recently he was a straight‒A student with a close circle of friends. He finds refuge in LAKE OF ETHOS, a multi‒player online video game which he plays 24/7. The quest is to make it to ETHOS, a destination most players only dream of and few ever reach. But Sebbie is determined, not for himself, but for his clan member, Q, a terminal cancer patient who plays from his hospital bed.
BRUCE SIMON Mid 50’s. Bruce is fast thinking, fast talking, moving at warp speed through life. A graduate of Adelphi University, he has managed to claw his way into a successful career as an investment banker. Yet, his lack of Ivy league pedigree gnaws at him. Now, after years of competing with Ivy leaguers at his white shoe investment bank he has the chance to earn their respect by managing the biggest merger of his career. When his wife, Cheryl, leaves him alone to care for their son, Sebbie, he finds himself not only woefully unprepared, but also doubting everything he’s been working for.
ALEXIS CHANG Late 20’s. Bruce’s acerbic assistant. Korean‒American, graduate of Wharton School of Business, Alexis not‒so‒quietly resents the menial tasks Bruce puts her in charge of, including answering his wife’s texts. She’s ambitiously seeking a position that utilizes and appreciates her impressive skill set. The opportunity arises when Bruce enlists her to play LAKE OF ETHOS as a member of Sebbie’s clan. Despite her fear of the game, which had previously spiraled her into a breakdown, she sees it as a path to finally getting what she wants.
Q‒BALL Fifties. Sebbie’s clan member, who he, and we, know little about, except that he's a terminal cancer patient who plays LAKE OF ETHOS from his hospital bed. Might he be “the Romanian,” a mythical legend who has made it to Ethos several times, or “the shepherd,” who leads clan members to Ethos by side‒stepping overwhelming obstacles without them even realizing it. It isn’t until Sebbie, Cheryl and Bruce finally come face to face with Q that his role in their destiny is realized.