A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

One Toe in the Grave

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  4w, 3m

Jason Kingsley is treasurer of a billion-dollar patent medicine corporation that requires its officers to be married. Jason claims his wife has a rare disease that prevents her from entertaining or attending corporate functions.

One Toe in the Grave

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w, 3m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Farce
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences

Details

Summary
Jason Kingsley is treasurer of a billion-dollar patent medicine corporation that requires its officers to be married. Jason claims his wife has a rare disease that prevents her from entertaining or attending corporate functions. A cure is accidentally discovered in one of the company’s patent medicines, and Jason’s ecstatic boss is arriving any minute with the company doctor to administer the cure and then bask in the publicity. Jason, however, doesn’t really have a wife, so he cons his fiancée Nicki into pretending to be invalid. Other imposters appear: Poopsie Magruder, who initially refused, shows up anyhow, and Vonga the Jungle Girl was pressed into service by the helpful housekeeper. The cure involves a two-inch needle in the armpit, and it develops that the disease is contagious, which only complicates the hilarity.

JASON KINGSLEY, a rising young business executive

MONICA (a.k.a. NICKI) CHANNING, his bride-to-be

NAOMI SCHUYLER, Jason's longtime housekeeper

THORNTON MURDOCK, Jason's spit-and-polish boss

DOUGLAS PROCTER, a corporate medical examiner

POOPSIE MAGRUDER, a young lady of 20 [age and IQ]

VONGA, The Jungle Girl

  • Time Period Present Day
  • Setting Jason's apartment in Manhattan.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features Not Applicable
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol

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

Jack Sharkey

Jack Sharkey (1931-1992) was born on May 6, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois. He began writing when he was 10 years old. He graduated from college with a BA in Creative Writing and taught school from 1953 to 1955. In mid-1955, Mr. Sharkey enlisted in the Army, serving at Sandia Base ...

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