History Theatre / AbandonAllHope

* ArmoredClosetGay: [[spoiler:Sean]].

->'''TERESA:''' ...if I stepped one toe out of line, I’d take a two-scream fall. You don’t know what a two-screamer is? When you’re falling, screaming long enough that you have to take a breath and start a new scream? A two-screamer!

->'''EVAN:''' I wouldn't say that I'm a religious person, but I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
->'''MELISSA:''' Soooo......... super religious.

->'''EVAN:''' Whoa. That's embarrassing... I should've known Romans One.
->'''TERESA:''' Is that really what you should take away from... any of that?

->'''MELISSA:''' How could you live with that?
->'''SEAN:''' Technically, we’re all dead-

->'''SEAN:''' [My photo is] my headshot.
->'''EVAN:''' You were arrested??
->'''SEAN:''' ''(laughs)'' No, headshot. Like, actors.

* TheFundamentalist: Evan Daigle.
->'''EVAN:''' God said it — I believe it — that settles it!

->'''MELISSA:''' There's a key difference between ''my'' worst picture and ''the'' worst picture.

->'''MELISSA:''' [[spoiler:I could name twenty reasons Sean belongs in Hell and not a single one has a thing to do with [Sean being gay]--might I add... I don’t think your Gospel saved you. So maybe step all the way back? He cares about you. Y-you’re already in Hell with him. Why would you push anyone away? He cares about you.]]

-> '''TERESA:''' The good news is I lied about something else. [[spoiler:This isn’t Hell.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Some readers perceive Sean to be on the autism spectrum.

->''”Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”
->It’s a little bit on the nose, wouldn’t you say? When they hang this big old sign above the entrance to Hell, the land of eternal damnation, telling you, “Give up, it doesn’t get better”? I’d imagine a human soul with an eternity of torture in front of them every moment of every day for the remainder of their existence would see this sign and think — yeah. No shit, Sherlock.''
->—Teresa, Chapter One: Red Wine

* WorthyOpponent: Teresa grows to see Melissa as one, especially once [[spoiler:Melissa genuinely surprises her by destroying the talisman]].

When three college freshmen (a scrappy feminist, a naïve evangelical, and a cocky logistician) meet in Hell—which appears as a dorm room—they are forced to play a game with eternal stakes, which draws out each one's fatal flaws in their interactions with each other and a fun-loving demon. The winner will go to Heaven at the cost of the other two’s eternal torture. The free public reading with Bravemaker Media in July 2020 featured Krystina Jackson as Teresa, Natalia Dominguez as Melissa Jones, Geoffrey Ko as Sean Liu-Ogden, and playwright Peter Fenton as Evan Daigle.

[[https://youtu.be/pRQWKZgs42Y Watch the July 2020 Reading]]

[[https://www.abandonallhopemovie.com Feature Film Website]]

* AuthorAvatar: A variant. Each of the characters (Melissa, Evan, Sean) represent a side of author Peter Fenton.

->'''TERESA:''' ...if I stepped one toe out of line, I’d take a two-scream fall. You don’t know what a two-screamer is? When you’re falling, screaming long enough that you have to take a breath and start a new scream? You don’t get to see them all the time, but that’s how Melissa’s about to die.

* ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou: In each character's {{flashback}}s to their death day, the other actors in the play portray characters corresponding to how that character is viewed by the one having the {{flashback}} – most notably casting Melissa as Evan's love interest, Rachel, Sean as Melissa's love interest, Andrew, and Evan as Sean's love interest, Adam.

* ChekhovsGag: Melissa repeatedly thinks she’s seen Sean before - it’s initially PlayedforLaughs, implying she only thinks this because Sean is Asian. Turns out she’s right, [[spoiler:Sean has a famous mother]].

->'''EVAN:''' Whoa. My last words were “Jesus Christ”. That’s pretty amazing!

* ConspicuousConsumption: Both Melissa and Teresa comment on Sean's underwear being Armani.

* DebutQueue: The main cast is introduced one-by-one-by-one over the first two chapters. First, Teresa, then she wakes Melissa, Sean, and Evan in order.

* FairWeatherFriend: Melissa likes to think she’s a friend to all living creatures, but the moment she has a chance to prove herself, she bails. This quality directly leads to her death.
* FemmeFatale: Melissa is described in the stage directions as a "scrappy femme fatale type".

* ImagineSpot: Some read [[spoiler:the final chapter]] as one for Teresa.

* KnightTemplar: Evan is a downplayed example of one in his life, overly committed to righting what he interprets as wrong in the name of Evangelical Christianity. This is essentially the reason he is in Hell, which he realizes in his brief {{Main/My God What Have I Done}} monologue in Chapter Six.
* LemonyNarrator: Teresa is a variant, given she only narrates the opening and closing. In the online reading, however, Producer Tony Gapastione hams it up reading the stage directions aloud. Jim Fenton delivers an equally hammy performance in reading the stage directions in the audiobook.

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:When Sean returns to earth in the moment of his would-be death, he and Adam’s future is left ambiguous.]]. Additionally, [[spoiler:Melissa and Andrew’s future is left ambiguous given the ending]].

* NoAntagonist: Being a character-driven piece, there is no BigBad in this story, but Sean, Melissa, and Evan respectively serve as each other’s antagonists.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Freedom University and its president Jeremy Fallow are pretty obvious stand-ins for Liberty University and Jerry Falwell, Junior. Averted when Evan mentions the 45th president of the United States.

* SpicyLatina: Present, but downplayed with Natalia Dominguez’s portrayal of Melissa in the original reading and audiobook.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Melissa lays one hard into Evan after [[spoiler:Sean is outed]].
->'''MELISSA:''' [[spoiler:Yeah, well your precious Gospel didn’t save you. So maybe step all the way back? Literally five minutes ago, he was your best friend and you were ready to give up your spot in Heaven for him and now — have you considered that it wasn’t a mistake that you’re in Hell? Maybe that’s why you’re here? ... Being so sure that you’re right about what God thinks about everything -- what’s the point of pushing a gay person away if you’re already in Hell with him? Obviously, you were wrong about something!]]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Discussed by Melissa when she all but speculates out loud to Teresa that Evan will masturbate to her photo on the wall. Teresa just laughs.

Abandon All Hope is a dark existential comedy play by {{Creator/Peter Fenton}}, which made its debut as a live reading with Bravemaker Media in July 2020. Judgment Day has arrived. Hellfire’s a-comin’.

Three college freshmen (a scrappy feminist, a naive evangelical, a cocky logistician) arrive in Hell (appearing as an infernal dorm room), posed with a diabolical game by a fun-loving demon: the winner goes to Heaven at the cost of torturing the others. Throughout the game, the guardian shows the competitors what their last day on earth was like — and why they may have ended up in Hell. A dark comedy for mature audiences inspired by Jean-Paul Sartre’s ''{{Theatre/No Exit}}'', ''Abandon All Hope'' explores themes of evangelical Christianity, performative activism, and rigid objectivity. The free public reading with Bravemaker starred Krystina Jackson as Teresa, Natalia Dominguez as Melissa Jones, Geoffrey Ko as Sean Liu-Ogden, and playwright Peter Fenton as Evan Daigle.

Paperback and eBook copies of Abandon All Hope were released on March 30, 2021. Dominguez, Fenton, and Ko reprised their roles from the Bravemaker reading for the audiobook, joined by Jim Fenton (father of Peter) as narrator and Avery Kellington as Teresa. A feature film adaptation entered development in 2022 with Fenton adapting his own script for the big screen. Peter Fenton is joined by co-producer Avery Kellington, who will reprise her role from the audiobook as Teresa.

* MeaningfulName: The principal character names reflect each of their principal struggles. ‘Evan’ is the first four letters of the word Evangelical. ‘Me’ is the first two letters of Melissa. The name ‘Sean’ resembles the word ‘seen’. See {{Main/Names The Same}} below.

Paperback and eBook copies of Abandon All Hope were released on March 30, 2021. Dominguez, Fenton, and Ko reprised their roles from the Bravemaker reading for the audiobook, joined by Jim Fenton as narrator and Avery Kellington as Teresa. A feature film adaptation entered development in 2022 with Fenton adapting his own script for the big screen. Peter Fenton is joined by co-producer Avery Kellington, who will reprise her role from the audiobook as Teresa.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Evan shouting his homophobia at Rachel is heartbreaking — but then out of nowhere, he’s struck and killed by a bus.

* DescendedCreator: Author Peter Fenton originated the role of Evan Daigle.

* NamesTheSame: Teresa is named for [[spoiler:Mother Teresa, as she really is putting the humans through the torture chamber as a chance to improve their lives]]. See {{Main/Meaningful Name}} above.

* ActingForTwo: Enforced. Explicitly written in the stage directions is the breakdown for casting. Each actor is to play at least three different roles, as each of the {{flashback}}s represent a different picture of the group dynamic in Brimstone Hall Room 664.

* RealLifeRelative: The audiobook has father Jim Fenton as the Narrator and son Peter Fenton as Evan Daigle.

* ActingForTwo: Enforced. Explicitly written in the stage directions is the breakdown for casting. Each actor is to play at least three different roles, as each of the flashbacks represent a different picture of the group dynamic in Brimstone Hall Room 664.

* ABirthdayNotABreak: Melissa's death flashback takes place at her 20th birthday party.

* ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou: In each character's flashbacks to their death day, the other actors in the play portray characters corresponding to how that character is viewed by the one having the flashback – most notably casting Melissa as Evan's love interest, Rachel, Sean as Melissa's love interest, Andrew, and Evan as Sean's love interest, Adam.

* GoodCounterpart: In Melissa’s flashback, Krista seems to believe in everything Melissa does but she follows through on caring about other people.

* HeelRealization: Melissa gets one when she quietly realizes she’s extremely selfish in her conversation with Teresa surrounding her death flashback. She becomes {{Main/The Atoner}} in Act Two.

* OnceMoreWithClarity: We hear scattered lines out of context from each of Sean, Evan, and Melissa's death sequences before we get to see each flashback sequence in-context.

Paperback, eBook, and audiobook copies of Abandon All Hope were released on March 30, 2021. Dominguez, Fenton, and Ko reprised their roles from the Bravemaker reading for the audiobook, joined by Jim Fenton as narrator and Avery Kellington as Teresa.

[[https://www.byPeterFenton.com Official Website]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Teresa, Melissa, and Sean each call Evan out on his homophobia.

* NotSoDifferent: Sean demonstrates right off the bat that Melissa and Evan really aren't that different from each other as he tears both of their patterns of logic apart.