A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Meanwhile, Back on the Couch

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  4w, 4m

Psychiatrist Victor Karleen is financially pressed between the rental of his posh office apartment and his fiancée’s expensive tastes.

Meanwhile, Back on the Couch

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

Details

Summary
Psychiatrist Victor Karleen is financially pressed between the rental of his posh office apartment and his fiancée’s expensive tastes. A colleague has written a best-selling case history book and is now rolling in royalties. Good friend Parker Donnelly has rejected Victor’s similar work because the public is tired of such things and prefers torrid fiction. Needing cash, Victor reluctantly takes on a new patient who, due to love frustration, is grinding out a rip-roaring sex novel. By mistake, his nurse gives the patient’s manuscript to Donnelly believing it to be Victor’s work. Suddenly Victor has an enormous advance royalty check, a Book of the Month Club selection, and a potential Pulitzer Prize. When he discovers that it is his patient’s inviolate confidences and not his clinical casebook that has saved the day, Victor determines to keep his patient crazy until he dreams up the final chapter. Meanwhile, Back on the Couch is fast-paced, hilarious, and zany.
History

Meanwhile, Back on the Couch was first presented at the Abbey Stage Door in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was directed by Howard Pell.

GABRIELLE WINGATE, a talented interior decorator
ROY TERRIGAN, an affably unpleasant psychiatrist
CHARLOTTE HENNEBON, nurse/receptionist to Victor Karleen
VICTOR KARLEEN, psychiatrist and would-be novelist
PARKER DONNELLY, publisher and friend of Victor's
ALBERT BROCK, a young man with an old problem
DOROTHEA MELNIK, a disgruntled client of Roy's
JINGLE JABLONSKI, Victor's next door neighbor

  • Time Period Present Day
  • Setting Victor's office/residence on Park Avenue, 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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