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A Masterpiece of Comic...Timing!

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  1w, 3m

"There are lots of jokes in this play that make up all of the crazy action going on on stage...When it all comes to an end, the audience is still laughing uproariously." - Davis Enterprise

A Masterpiece of Comic...Timing!

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 3m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Farce
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
New York producer Jerry Cobb has invited wunderkind playwright Nebraska Jones for an all-expense-paid trip to paradise. Cobb has invested all his money commissioning Jones’ next play, which he believes will eclipse his Broadway debut – hailed by critics as a “masterpiece of comic timing.” Banking on Jones’ reputation and momentum, Cobb is disheartened to find his playwright suffering from a severe case of depression: he’s morose; he won’t eat; he can’t write – in fact all he wants to do is drink Cobb’s bourbon and sleep all day in the $250-per-night luxury room, at Cobb’s considerable expense. Right-hand man, Charlie Bascher, is charged with keeping the kid at the typewriter, distracting him from the booze, and figuring out the cause of his distemper. 

What happens when you’ve paid for the next hit comedy, but what’s coming out of the typewriter is tragedy? In this “vintage” screwball comedy skewering an artistic life in the theatre, the line between comedy and drama comes under hilarious scrutiny and is found to be much narrower – and sillier – than you’d think.

History

A Masterpiece of Comic...Timing premiered at B Street Theatre in Sacramento, CA in March 2016 under the direction of Buck Busfield.

JERRY COBB - a producer
CHARLIE BASCHER - his eager assistant
DANNY “NEBRASKA” JONES - a neurotic writer
NOLA HART - Danny’s ex
  • Time Period 1960s
  • Setting The Royal Palms Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, 1963

  • Features Period Costumes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Strong Language

Media

REVIEWS 

"There are lots of jokes in this play that make up all of the crazy action going on on stage... When it all comes to an end, the audience is still laughing uproariously." - Davis Enterprise, Read More

Videos

  • Scenes from A Masterpiece of Comic...Timing youtube thumbnail

    Scenes from A Masterpiece of Comic...Timing

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Add-Ons

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Authors

Robert Caisley

Robert Caisley is Associate Professor of Theatre & Film, and Head of the Dramatic Writing Program at the University of Idaho. He was named the 2011 Blaine Quarnstrom Visiting Playwright at the University of Southern Mississippi. His play Happy, presented at the 2011 National ...

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