A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Toyer

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 1m

Gardner McKay

"Strong stuff...Outlandish mind games. Riveting, breathtaking." - Herald Examiner
"A classic mystery that always keeps you guessing on the edge of your seat." - Variety

Toyer

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 1m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Mystery/Thriller
  • Suggested Use
    • Cutting Approved for Competition
    • Scene work
    • Competition or audition material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

This psychological thriller is a favorite in acting workshops. It is a mind game play. Toyer is someone who toys; he is a mass paralyzer who toys with his victims. He does not murder or rape, he seduces and then immobilizes.

From the author: "If this play is about anything, it is about our vast ability to manipulate one another. About our wondrous gift for lying. It is about our awful power of charisma. It is about our capacity to believe any truth, as it suits us. It is about our immediate power to forgive; our need to move on. It is about compromise, our willingness to sleep with our executioner. It is about our moral lawlessness: our loss of instincts, and the inner beliefs of our own. It is about our capacity to absorb mindless horror, that a crime is only a crime if it happens to us; nothing else angers us. It is about our dreadful crimes; not that they happen, that we know about them and turn the page."

History

Following productions in Los Angles and the Actors Studio, it was produced at the Eisenhower Theatre and the Kennedy Center with Kathleen Turner and Brad Davis, directed by Tony Richardson.

Keywords
Performing Groups
MAUDE CHRISTOPHER - Bright. In her mid or late thirties. Athletic body, attractive face. Hair; short. Clear-eyed, she looks at people, studies them. Definite, focused, alienated. Not easily resolved.
PETER MATSON -  Lithe. Strong, not muscular. In his early or late twenties. Light or blond haired, pale eye-brows. Neither handsome nor ugly. Striking yet indistinct. An apparent innocent; easlity written on, easily erased. A tabula raza.
JIMMY -  A pale ginger cat. Not large.

Jimmy is a cat, not a human playing a cat.

  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features Animal spot, Play w/ Music
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Animals
    • Intense Adult Themes
    • Strong Language
    • Nudity/Partial Nudity

Media

"Deeply disturbing and entirely relevant. A classic mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat, guessing." - All Things Considered, National Public Radio

"A brilliant evening of theater. A double tour de force. The most exciting play we've had all year." - Variety

"Powerful." - The Washington Post

"Superb. Riveting, breathtaking. Strong stuff...most exciting drama of the year...restores to theater what theater's meant to be." - L.A. Herald Examiner

"This has to be the most intense play between a man and a woman ever written." - Axxess Magazine

"The writing is taut with a good deal of steely wit." - The Daily Express

"Playwright Gardner McKay's script is taut, chilling...my blood ran cold..." The Daily Mail

"A classic mystery that always keeps you guessing on the edge of your seat." - Variety

Music

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

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

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Authors

Gardner McKay

Gardner McKay

George Cadogan Gardner McKay (1932-2001) was born in Manhattan, New York City. His early years were spent in France, Connecticut and Kentucky. At age 15, he published his first story. He attended Cornell University, where he edited the humor magazine, wrote a film review colu ...

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