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The Return of Herbert Bracewell or (Why Am I Always Alone When I'm With You?)
Author(s):
Andrew Johns
It's 1909 and Herbert Bracewell has retired to the attic of his New York home with plans to stage a comeback in a one-man review of his long, if undistinguished career. He assembles five antique match-lit footlights to mark a playing area and proceeds to ad-lib ideas for his show, straining to pull down dusty manuscripts from atop overflowing shelves of vintage souvenirs, using a stunt dummy to play off of, and conferring often with his pet, a stuffed crow. Herbert's wife, Florence, thirty years his junior and once a great success as an actress, comes to call her husband to bed and is caught up in his production plans, first with good-humored derision, then with the suggestion that she join him in the comeback attempt. Through a series of barbs, playful reminiscences, and impromptu "performances," we learn of the strains this relationship has endured--Florence's infidelity and success--and that Herbert is endearingly closer to losing his mind than we thought. But we also sense that, through it all, husband and wife have been sustained by the magic of theatre, their first love.
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| Genre(s): | Comedy
| | Time Period(s): | Not Available | | Play Type: | Play | | Runtime: | Not Available | | Acts: | Not Available | | Set Complexity: | Not Available | | Set Information: | Not Available | | Year First Published: | Not Available | | Total Characters: | 2 | | Male Characters: | 1 | | Female Characters: | 1 | | Androgynous Characters: | Not Available | | Minimum Cast: | Not Available | | Maximum Cast: | Not Available | | Cost: | FEE: $50 per performance Royalty/cost information prone to change. Please check with the publisher for the most accurate information. | | Publisher: | Dramatists Play Service Click on the publisher's name above for additional information, including updated prices. | | ISBN: | Not Available |
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