A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

A Murder Has Been Arranged

Full-Length Play, Melodrama  /  5w, 4m

Emlyn Williams

In this unique thriller that has playgoers gripping their seats, Sir Charles Jasper is an eccentric who delves into the mystical. He is due to inherit two million pounds on his fortieth birthday and plans to celebrate the occasion with a party on the stage of the St. James' Theater, supposedly haunt…

A Murder Has Been Arranged

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5w, 4m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Mystery/Thriller

Details

Summary
In this unique thriller that has playgoers gripping their seats, Sir Charles Jasper is an eccentric who delves into the mystical. He is due to inherit two million pounds on his fortieth birthday and plans to celebrate the occasion with a party on the stage of the St. James' Theater, supposedly haunted because of several mysterious deaths years ago. The merriment is interrupted by Maurice, the Sir Charles's hitherto missing nephew and the recipient of the legacy in the event of his death. Maurice, who claims to be a novelist, induces his uncle to write what he claims to be a chapter for his new book. It is too late when it dawns on Sir Charles that he is writing a suicide note for he has just drained a fatal drink concocted by the nephew. In the third act, the birthday guests employ subtle and ingenious tactics to force Maurice to confess.
History
A MURDER HAS BEEN ARRANGED was first performed at the Royal Strand Theatre in London on November 9, 1930.
MISS GROZE - about 30, pretty in a hard way
CAVENDISH - the Band Conductor, a pleasant, matter-of-fact man, the personification of ordinary
MRS. WRAGG - a cook, fat, middle-aged
JIMMY NORTH - a good-looking, boyish young man
BEATRICE JASPER - a very pretty girl of 20
MRS. ARTHUR - her mother - a handsome, sharp-faced woman of forty-five, not quite well-bred and born a bully
SIR CHARLES JASPER - a mild, professional gentleman with grey hair, near 50
MAURICE MULLINS - a young man
A WOMAN - slim and dark, with a strange irregular beauty, her hands are fine and long, of any age, surrounded by an atmosphere of unreal placidity
  • Time Period 1930s
  • Features Period Costumes

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

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Authors

Author

Emlyn Williams

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