Whodunit…and to Whom?
A Play Within a Play Within a … in Two Acts
By Robert Frankel
Auditions July 1st, 2025 at 6:30 at Asnuntuck Community College Auditorium, 170 Elm St. Enfield, CT 06082
Performance dates: October 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th
This hilarious spoof of the classic “gumshoe story” has more twists than a neurotic pretzel. Henpecked carpet salesman, Harold Finnegan, is trying to pound out his umpteenth third-rate detective story on his typewriter. As he writes, we see the actions played out by the actors on stage, and as he corrects his writing, we see the actors forced to revise their actions! Harold’s story introduces us to the beautiful Russian painter nicknamed Anytime, and our hero, Detective Grip. As the Russian spins her tale, she faints, and when the Pizza Guy shows up, he believes that Grip has killed her, though he does pause long enough to accept a generous tip. From there, our tale really goes wild – from policemen wielding rubber bands (Harold doesn’t like violence in his plays) to a villain modeled after Harold’s arch – enemy at work, to Grip’s vengeful, genius daughter. Strange characters keep cropping up… characters with the power to stop the play and freeze the other characters. Who is really writing this play anyway?