Overview
A delightful and hilarious entertainment awaits all in this gathering of absurdly inspired short plays. These tales of life and love feature shamelessly zany characters and locales and are full of twists and surprises—from a radio station in rural Arkansas with Bubba, a long-time on-air personality who realizes he may have gone too far when he spills some of the town’s juiciest secrets, to a year-round Christmas shop where the overworked proprietress slowly unravels as she attempts to train a new crew of seasonal ‘elves’. You’ll travel back in time to meet three sisters in the tiny town of Fayro, Texas, who are reeling from a huge family secret being revealed just minutes before Lady Bird Johnson rolls into their community for a whistle-stop picnic. Then brace yourself for a quick descent into an unusual locale—hint: it’s really hot down there—for a wickedly explosive men’s support group with Napoleon and Nero as they welcome a newbie into their ranks. Back in a slightly cooler climate—Florida—you’ll get to know a group of wise-cracking husbands who regularly gather on the benches at a discount department store as they wait for their wives to shop ‘til they drop, and watch their extreme reactions to a wife joining their group on the bench for the first time. Not to mention visits with two women having big trouble controlling a giant balloon in a nationally televised Thanksgiving Day parade, a man delivering a singing telegram who has a badly timed mid-life crisis, and a party planner desperately trying to buoy spirits during a gathering for a destination wedding on a disaster-plagued tropical isle. With all that, you have the ingredients for a delicious buffet of comedic delights. With no set required, this easy-to-produce show is perfect for smaller stages. As this flat-out funny Jones Hope Wooten comedy proves, when it comes to life and love, we’re all just sitting ducks!
Casting & Production
Casting
BUBBA SHEPHERD
ARNELLE DUNCAN
CORA SPURLOCK
VINCE
JEEP
ROGER
BECCA
EULA FUTRELLE
TREEVA BLAYLOCK
DELIA DUPREE
JOSH LEGGETT
MARY CHRISTMAS
BIG D
ED TURNER
NERO
NAPOLEON
BONNIE FRANKS
On Doubling
If a theatre chooses a cast of three actresses and three actors, we recommend this pattern of doubling roles:
ACTRESS 1 — Arnelle/Eula/Mary
ACTRESS 2 — Cora/Treeva/Big D
ACTRESS 3 — Becca/Delia/Bonnie
ACTOR 1 — Bubba/Jeep/Nero
ACTOR 2 — Vince/Ed
ACTOR 3 — Roger/Josh/Napoleon
Setting
The Man Who Knew Too Much
A radio station in Ridgetop, Arkansas.
Present Day.
You Just Keep Me Hangin’ On
A Manhattan, NYC street in the midst of the Thanksgiving Parade. Present Day.
Benchwarmers
MacElroy’s Discount Clothing Store, somewhere in Florida.
Present Day.
Lunch With Lyndon
A small town backyard in Fayro, Texas.
In the summer of 1959.
The Big 5 Uh-Oh
A banquet room in Pasadena, California.
Present Day.
The Last Noel
A Christmas retail shop in Oregon.
Present Day.
The Heat Is On
Hell.
This morning.
Lava, Actually
A Caribbean resort on the cursed island of Doruda.
Present Day.