A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Dispatches from Hell

Short Play, Drama  /  1w, 2m

Melvin I. Cooperman

Set in the central dispatching office for the German train system during World War II, this riveting short drama explores the bureaucratic mentality that made Holocausts possible. Winner of the 10th Annual Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival.

Dispatches from Hell

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    40 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene work
    • Competition or audition material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival

Details

Summary
Set in the central dispatching office for the German train system during World War II, this riveting short drama explores the bureaucratic mentality that made Holocausts possible. A dispatcher is frightened to death when an S.S. officer comes to see him, but the officer explains that his job is secure--if he can devise a plan to transport a large amount of "waste product" via rail to cleanse the Third Reich of "toxins". The dispatcher draws up plans to carry thousands to their deaths, intent only on the logistical problems. His secretary protests, and ultimately, betrays him. Published in Off-Off Broadway Festival Plays, 10th Series.
History
Dispatches From Hell was presented in the tenth Annual Off-Off Broadway Original Short Play Festiva~ sponsored by Double Image Theatre, New York City, in May, 1985.
Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
ELSA EICHEN - Secretary to Richard Mittler. She is in her late thirties, given to mild hedonism on a small scale.

RICHARD MITTLER- Superintendent of the Southeast Directorate of the Reichsbahn (German National Railroad). A career civil servant, he is in his mid-forties, and not above opportunism. He is esentially non-politicaL regarding himself as part of the machinery.

WILHELM FRETT- An SS officer attached to the Reich Security Office ( RSHA). He is aware of his power, and makes no effort to conceal it He is, as might be expected, a Nazi idealogue.
  • Time Period 1940s / WWII
  • Setting Winter, 1942. The offices of the Southeast Directorate of the Reichbahn.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Not Applicable
  • Duration 40 minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $65 per performance
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Authors

Melvin I. Cooperman

Melvin I. Cooperman
Melvin I. Cooperman was the author of six full-length plays and more than a dozen one-acts. His drama, The Military History of the Family Gross was the first winner of the Lucy Wolpaw Award competition for the best new play on the theme of the American Jewish experience i ...
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