THE STORY: Having achieved recognition and some success as a playwright, after a long period of struggle and apprenticeship, Scott has undergone a breakdown and memory loss. Released from a hospital in Los Angeles, he is taken in by Greg and Laura, the young couple with whom he had been living before his illness. Greg, who is concerned and sympathetic, had hoped to produce the brilliant new play (now apparently lost) which Scott had written before his memory lapse; while Laura, seemingly cold and calculating, is an actress who had starred in Scott’s earlier plays. Also present is Carol, a beautiful young actress whom Scott had brought with him from New York some months earlier. The interaction of these four, their differing versions of Scott’s life before his breakdown, form the intriguing heart of the play, and lead to its surprising conclusion—in which Scott, without regaining his memory, comes to understand more about himself, his past, and his supposed friends, than he did before his senses failed.
This ingenious and witty play poses some tantalizing questions about the demands of contemporary American life and the self-delusion that these can engender.
“The play is often very funny—but the jokes have a dark and corrosive streak in them.” —Stage Ticket.
“Brightness and skill in the writing…” —Village Voice.
“…Mr. Patrick’s style and wit are well showcased in his new work.” —Show Business.
