Mystery Play (Van Itallie)
Sheet Music

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SKU: HU.9780822208044

Play, Plays. Softcover Book. Hal Leonard Australia #9780822208044. Published by Hal Leonard Australia (HU.9780822208044).

ISBN D0822208040. 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.1 inches.

THE STORY: The action is set in the chic living room of a U.S. Senator, during a cocktail party. Present are the Senator, his wife, his schizophrenic bisexual son (played by two actors), a beautiful young woman who may be the son's fiancee, a rather pompous Harvard professor, a quietly efficient butler and a lady mystery writer from next door. It is the mystery writer who holds the key to the bizarre events that follow, as she explains to the actors and the audience what will happen next and what part each character will play in the action about to follow. At the snap of her fingers each sequence begins, as this one is stabbed, that one drinks poisoned coffee, another is blown up - until only the mystery writer and the true culprit remain. But, as the "corpses" keep popping up to add to the conversation, the plot continues to thicken - providing both a delightful metaphysical spoof and a scathing assessment of the social and political hypocrisy of our disjointed times.

An eloquent, witty and bitingly satirical play by one of our theatre's most challenging and imaginative writers. Produced successfully at Off-Broadway's famed Cherry Lane Theatre. "A continuously amusing and provoking evening's entertainment." - Village Voice. "He is a writer of polish and modernness, the rarest and most desirable of combinations." - Women's Wear Daily. "A witty, highly civilized comedy" - Bergen Record (NJ).