THE STORY: Randolph Hackmeat, fresh out of law school, is already a partner in his father’s law firm. He is also about to be married to the sexy Susan; he is buying a twelve-bedroom house; and one by one his partners begin to die off—moving him up a step each time. But, as we learn in a series of brief and very funny vignettes, there are problems, too. His wife leaves him (and then comes back); his house burns down (he buys another); and his brother (the jealous one) overdoses on pool table cleaner. As the pace of the play quickens, Randy is besieged by all manner of intruders, from a psychiatrist to a crooked investment counselor, not to mention a curvaceous employee who seduces and then blackmails him. But the mad whirl suddenly stops when his doctor advises Randy (as he is looking over his retirement options) that he has terminal cancer—leaving his widow to weep—and then smile—at the vagaries of this odd thing called life.
First presented at the Philadelphia Festival for New Plays, this brilliantly inventive play uses surrealistic techniques to compress the dazzling rise and fall of a Yuppie-like young lawyer who would seem to “have it all” in prospect.
Included in the collection
Uncle Lumpy Comes to Visit and No Time.
