About This Play

My first play, written when I was sixteen, this really belongs in the Juvenilia section. I was terribly fond of it at the time, but it seems a little embarrassing now.

Writing this play gave me an outlet for a bunch of very old ideas that I'd been carrying around in my head for a few years. I invented most of the central murder-mystery ideas in 1983, during a period of reading nothing but Hercule Poirot novels.

The play was written in the Spring of 1987 for a Junior English class thesis project. One year later, in March 1988, it was performed by the KHS Drama Club for a receptive audience, who were kind enough to chuckle all the way through it.¹ The epilogue was added during rehearsals for the performance, when I decided that the ending needed a few more twists. (Note the rather practical stage direction: "[The setting] is the lobby, or the room that isn't the lobby or the dining room if we don't want to move all the furniture back in." )

• Scene One
• Scene Two
• Scene Three
• Scene Four
• Scene Five
• Scene Six
• Epilogue

 

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¹ There are many stories to tell about the student stage production of Mrs. Rugrat's Been Murdered, one of the best times of my life. Before I can tell them, I have to write them down, and I have not yet done so. Gentle reminders to do this are always welcomed.