Doug Haverty

It was a seemingly ordinary day at Crocker Bank in the Pantages Theatre building on the corner of Hollywood and Argyle in Hollywood.  Lobby traffic was moderate and I was helping a boisterous film actress figure out why her checks had bounced. She said in her most theatrically trained and booming voice, “I cannot possibly be overdrawn, I still have checks left!”

I noticed the line for tellers was stalled, excused myself and went and opened a teller window. I was the “merchant” teller and this was standard practice. The man who was standing at the front of the line approached my window with a bag from the Gap and a note. This was fairly common, as businesses would write down how many 20s, 50s, singles and coins they wanted. I read his note. It said, “This is a hold up. Do not sound the alarm. Do not yell for help. Please put all the money in the bag.”

This man had been waiting in line for almost five minutes. I couldn’t believe the note or him. For a second I thought it was a joke. Then, I looked up at his face. He was wearing sunglasses, and I didn’t recognize him. I could see the barrel of the gun protruding through his windbreaker. His hand (and the gun) trembled.

Unobtrusively, with complete calm and subtle speed, I emptied my drawer of the cash and placed the bundles on the counter. My bandit politely stashed the cash in his bag and strolled out of the bank. I turned to my branch manager who had been looking something up behind me during the robbery and told him I’d just “been hit.”

My bandit, car-challenged fool that he was, tried to get away on a bus. The police caught him. I had given him my “bait” money and the amount he had in his Gap bag exactly matched what I was missing from my drawer. I had done everything by the books. The branch manager even took me for a drink afterwards at the Frolic Room.

I decided that day that I needed to write about my experiences at the bank, not just the day-to-day financial capers, but also the people who staff the bank, the characters whom I spent more waking hours with than my family. Many playwrights choose to write about family, and I have done so throughout my career, focusing on families-by-choice. This would fall into that category.

Stephanie Colet, Trisha Hershberger, Shelby Kocee, Gina Yates and Bianca Gisselle.

I wrote the play, we had readings of it, and people seemed to genuinely like the unusual world and, mostly, the characters. I have tried to paint portraits of some of the more colorful co-workers with whom I have labored.

Some of the people whom I found to be “high maintenance” or annoying at work turned out to be the most appealing, theatrically. Growing up in a family of all boys, I’ve always enjoyed studying women and how they operate. I listen and observe and “store” behavior, speech patterns, and the unpredictability of people. Having now captured these women in dramatic form, I am once again captivated by them. Of course, now that they are inhabited by the lovely, skilled actresses at Group Rep, I could also be loving how the actresses are all vesting their roles.

Next Window, Please also deals with the current economic crisis we’re all trying to get through. I have friends, family, neighbors who have all been victims of merger madness. In my brief career in finance, I worked for two different banks, which have each had three names. Banking (as well as many other industries) is constantly evolving. And, as with most service industries, the jobs must follow the waves of development. My play starts on the day the official news breaks about a merger. Although this particular event didn’t occur with these specific characters, I have imagined how they would handle it and the creative, selfless solution at which they arrive.

So, while the play does take place at a bank, behind protective plexiglass, it’s a glimpse of a world most people don’t consider. The workers there are just like us — people with dreams, romantic challenges, financial hardships and tons and tons of cash they can run their fingers through, but can’t keep.

Another event that happens in the play is the short-term placement of a young (handsome) male executive trainee, stationed at this branch as part of his indoctrination into the operations of the bank. Many of the female employees are single. This infiltration ruffles feathers and romantic sparks fly.

Gina Yates, Stephanie Colet, Trisha Hershberger, and Shelby Kocee.

I hope that when people experience Next Window, Please, they identify with the characters and the sense of family that comes from working together. “What would I do in this kind of situation?” is a question I’d ideally like people to ask themselves. And it would be great if audiences came away from this play with a new respect for those who dare to man (or woman) the teller line. And, since so many couples meet at work, this play might encourage the hopeless romantic in all of us.

In retrospect, I guess I was lucky that my robbery went down as easily as pie. In training sessions at the bank, we were warned that bank robbers are very nervous and the slightest thing can set them off. So the objective is to make the robbery go as smoothly as possible. But I was also lucky because my bandit triggered memories and inspired me to paint these dramatic portraits of brave, real, funny, beautiful yet flawed, exquisite examples of humanity.

** Production photos by Sherry Netherland.

Next Window, Please, a premiere produced by Fran Freedman for the Group Rep at Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd. , North Hollywood. Directed by Richard Alan Woody. Opens August 13. Select Thursdays at 8 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm; Sun 2 pm; select Sundays at 7 pm. Through September 17. Tickets: $15 – $22. Thursdays:  Pay What You Can. Fridays: Ladies Night — ½ price. 818-700-4878. www.thegrouprep.com .

Doug Haverty’s award-winning plays and musicals have been produced around the world. His play Could I Have This Dance? was voted Best New Play of the year by the American Theatre Critics Association. Dance as well as In My Mind’s Eye and Inside Out (A musical co-written with Adryan Russ) are all published by Samuel French. Haverty co-moderates the writers workshop at Theatre West and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and ALAP.