Virgil, Dick, and Bert have gotten together under the guise of "poker night" to discuss what to do about their new neighbor, a man who trashes out his yard, drives down the wrong side of the street, and becomes belligerent when confronted. After much arguing, re-living the past, and grappling with the future, a plan is presented: they will go to Duncan's house at midnight and threaten to burn it down if he doesn't conform. The plan, however, doesn't go as expected. Duncan uses the confrontation as a forum to taunt and ridicule them. One of them, after the aborted confrontation, returns to shoot Duncan in his yard. Before the murder is solved, all of their lives are changed by the revelations. Vigilance deals with what people do in the face of society's quiet decay. Structurally, the first half of the play is a train wreck in slow motion. Violence is the inevitable outcome. The second half is a psychological "who dunnit", exploring the question of not just who killed Duncan, but from why. Vigilance is the winner of the 2000 John Golden Prize, conducted by Theatrefest in New Jersey. Five males (age 32-40) and two women (age 32-36); single set. Performance History: [Mar, 2000] The Actors' Collective (CA) World Premiere [Nov, 2000] Montclair State University (NJ) John Golden Prize [Feb, 2012] Second Wind Productions (CA) Format: A full length play in two acts (one intermission); total playing time 110 minutes Read: sample pages. Performance rights and royalties: Rights and Contact Playwright's Notes: ~