Butch Maxwell Playwright

Exit
Interview

A One-Act Psychological Drama

Every answer is
technically correct.
Until it isn’t.

EI–01

The Story

What begins as a routine exit interview becomes a precise conversation about truth, accountability, and the stories we’re allowed to tell about ourselves.

In the sterile calm of a corporate interview room, an employee and the HR representative assigned to close out their employment navigate questions that seem procedural—until they aren’t.

As the exchange deepens, each answer reveals less about policy and more about the human cost of systems that measure everything except the reasons people leave.

Why I Wrote It

Exit Interview began with a question that seemed simple: what happens when an institution genuinely wants to be fair but has forgotten how to recognize a human being?

The play isn’t interested in villains. It’s interested in systems that become so fluent in procedure that they mistake consistency for compassion.

Recovered During the Exit Interview

A worn manila personnel file with colored tabs
Personnel FileA life translated into categories.
A visitor badge attached to a black lanyard
Visitor BadgeAccess can be granted.
Acceptance can’t.
An empty institutional chair facing a closed door
Empty ChairIt still faces the door.
A used paper coffee cup with a black sipping lid and a coffee ring nearby
Coffee CupThe only item in the room
nobody intended to file.
“Every answer is technically correct. Until it isn’t.”