Beware the Man Eating Chicken

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Request license

Get the Script

Concord Theatricals

Request license

Get the Script

Cast Size

3w, 2m
Duration

90 minutes
Subgenre

Farce
Target Audience

Adult

Details

Summary

Betty, wanting to be a good mother to her son William, devises a plan to Make Him Bigger and Make Him a Winner. She enters William in the "Fattest Man in the Universe" contest, and she is determined to win. Carole, Betty's younger sister, too weak to stand up to Betty's threats and intimidation, is forced to assist in the endless round of cooking the dozens of chickens needed each day for William's inexorable assault on hugeness. When Captain Leonard of the Board of Health comes to check on the "large carnivore" that is devouring twenty chickens a day he is initially an annoying bureaucrat, but ultimately a timely dessert. Albert, claiming to own one of the largest chicken farms in the U.S. arrives to negotiate a deal. For using William's picture on the logo of his product Albert will pay Betty a percentage of the profits on each bird sold and ancillary rights on tie-ins. The deal is struck. When Dorothy, Albert's sister, appears claiming she is the true owner of the chicken farm, a struggle between the siblings ensues for control of William and the potential fortune at stake. But it is Doctor Martin who brings the tragic coup de grace to Betty and her plan for achieving her goals of motherhood.

Cast Attributes

Keywords

Performing Groups

BETTY SMITH - wiry and sloppily dressed; tough as nails, heavily made up; hard to tell, but probably in her late 40’s, early 50’s
CAROL SMITH - Betty’s younger sister; small, wizened, tight-faced, looks self-righteous and is
CAPTAIN LEONARD - slightly moronic look, but feels selfimportant; wears a bloody apron and carries an attaché case
DOCTOR MARTIN - played by the same actor as Captain Leonard; looks like a doctor; he has a stethoscope around his neck to prove it
ALBERT - looks sleazy and is; a five-dollar body in a thousand-dollar suit
DOROTHY - Albert’s sister; oozes money and craftiness
WILLIAM SMITH - off-stage voice and various gaseous emissions

The play also requires an off-stage male voice capable of deep, gutteral, intestinal noises.

Time Period Contemporary
Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
Additional Features Physical Comedy
Duration 90 minutes
Cautions
- Mild Adult Themes

Media

"Henry Meyerson's one-act is a classic, well-constructed, three-door farce. Its subtext may be a critique of American capitalism, but Meyerson keeps the complaint subtle and focuses instead on recognizable family dynamics: The situation is inherently absurd, but the characters all act with their own skewed logic." - Columbus Dispatch

"Edgy...shocking...uncomfortably funny and bizarre...outrageous black-as-midnight comedy...sublimely ridiculous end result of being enormously entertaining." - The Times-Standard, Eureka, CA

"Think The Honeymooners meets Little Shop of Horrors...fans of theatre, even vegetarians, should make a hearty meal of this superlative evening...headlong romp...edgy absurdity and laugh-out-loud humor" - The North Coast Journal, Eureka, CA

"A play about gluttony, cannibalism, human waste and greed. It is a satire with the potential to gross-out the audience...A comedy that was 75 minutes of sheer delight." – Stageways, Spokane, WA

Music

Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

Available Formats:

Get the Script

Add-Ons

Take a look below at how you can enhance your show!

Ticketing

Authors

Henry Meyerson

Henry Meyerson's publications with Samuel French include the full-lengths Beware the Man Eating Chicken, Shtick, and The Secret Life of Seagulls; and the short-play collections Fresh Brewed: Tales from The Coffee Bar and Proceed to Check-Out. Other publications include the on ...

View full profile

Beware the Man Eating Chicken