Who Shot Fred? 0 Who Shot Fred? Douglas Campbell
Who Shot Fred? 1 ArtAge supplies books, plays, and materials to older performers around the world. Directors and actors have come to rely on our 30+ years of experience in the field to help them find useful materials and information that makes their productions stimulating, fun, and entertaining. ArtAge s unique program has been featured in Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, American Theatre, Time Magazine, Modern Maturity, on CNN, NBC, and in many other media sources. ArtAge is more than a catalog. We also supply information, news, and trends on our top rated website, www.seniortheatre.com. We stay in touch with the field with our very popular e newsletter, Senior Theatre Online. Our President, Bonnie Vorenberg, is asked to speak at conferences and present workshops that supplement her writing and consulting efforts. We re here to help you be successful in Senior Theatre! We help older performers fulfill their theatrical dreams! ArtAge Publications Bonnie L. Vorenberg, President PO Box 19955 Portland OR 97280 503 246 3000 or 800 858 4998 bonniev@seniortheatre.com www.seniortheatre.com
Who Shot Fred? 2 NOTICE Copyright: This play is fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America, Canada, and all other countries of the Universal Copyright Convention. The laws are specific regarding the piracy of copyrighted materials. Sharing the material with other organizations or persons is prohibited. Unlawful use of a playwrightʹs work deprives the creator of his or her rightful income. Cast Copies: Performance cast copies are required for each actor, director, stage manager, lighting and sound crew leader. Changes to Script: Plays must be performed as written. Any alterations, additions, or deletions to the text must be approved. Permission to Film: Rights to produce, film, or record, in whole or in part, in any medium or in any language, by any group amateur or professional, are fully reserved. Royalty: Royalties are due when you perform the play for any audience, paying or non paying, professional or amateur. This includes readings, cuttings, scenes, and excerpts. The royalty for amateur productions of this show is posted online. It is payable two weeks prior to your production. Contact us for professional rates or other questions. Royalty fees are subject to change. Insert the following paragraph in your programs: Performed with special permission from ArtAge Publications Senior Theatre Resource Center at 800 858 4998, www.seniortheatre.com Who Shot Fred? 2015 by Douglas Campbell
Who Shot Fred? 3 WHO SHOT FRED? By Douglas Campbell CAST MIRIAM: The wife of the deceased MILLIE: The sister of the deceased BAXTER: The best friend of the deceased AMANDA NUTMEG: A famous detective FRED: The dead body Place The Moon Over Poughkeepsie, a residential hotel catering to seniors. Time The late 1940s.
Who Shot Fred? 4 WHO SHOT FRED? by Douglas Campbell Setting: The library of The Moon Over Poughkeepsie Hotel. The main entrance to the hall is Up Right. Just beyond the main door is a potted palm. Down Left is a door to the outside. A window is Up Left. Near Center Stage is a card table with four chairs. Down Right are a chair and a small telephone table. A chandelier hangs above, between the card table and the telephone table. A bookcase is Stage Left. At Rise: The stage is dark. SOUND CUE: A gunshot. Running feet. A door opening. The lights come up. The body of FRED is on the floor near the card table. BAXTER, MILLIE, and MIRIAM are stand nervously at the door Up Right. BAXTER: Good grief! MILLIE: What happened? BAXTER: It looks like Fred has been shot! MIRIAM: Not my Fred! (Millie runs over to the body. The others follow.) MILLIE: Freddy! BAXTER: Stand back, Millie! MILLIE: Oh, Freddy! MIRIAM: Is he breathing? BAXTER: No, he s dead! MILLIE: Freddy! My Freddy! MIRIAM: Well, who in the world shot him? (AMANDA NUTMEG enters.) AMANDA: Did I hear a car backfiring or did someone belch?) BAXTER: Fred was shot.
Who Shot Fred? 5 AMANDA: Stand back, everybody! (She crosses to the body.) BAXTER: That s right, folks. Let Miss Amanda Nutmeg take charge. AMANDA: There s a nasty bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. I had a pimple that size when I was a teenager. MIRIAM: (moving toward the telephone) Maybe I d better call the police. AMANDA: Don t touch anything! And no one should leave this room. MIRIAM: But we have to find out how this tragedy happened. MILLIE: Oh, Freddy! BAXTER: Can you find out what happened to Fred, Miss Nutmeg? You re a famous detective. MIRIAM: Retired detective. AMANDA: A detective never retires. What happened here? BAXTER: We had just finished a friendly game of cards MIRIAM: Blackjack. BAXTER: And decided to call it a night. MILLIE: As we were leaving, I asked Freddy to clean up and turn off the light. BAXTER: When we closed the door, Fred just cashed in his chips. AMANDA: So everyone was in the hallway when the shot was fired? MIRIAM: That s right. MILLIE: Someone must have crept in and shot him. (Amanda crosses to the door Down Left.) AMANDA: This door is locked and from inside. MIRIAM: Maybe the murderer came in through the window!
Who Shot Fred? 6 (Amanda crosses to the window.) AMANDA: Also locked and from inside. MILLIE: None of us could have shot him. We were all in the hallway at the time the shot was fired. BAXTER: But it was dark in the hallway! MIRIAM: One of you could have sneaked back and murdered him! MILLIE: What do you mean one of us? What about you? MIRIAM: Me? I m his wife. What reason would I have to kill him? BAXTER: You could never get him to change his stinky socks. MILLIE: That s nothing. None of us could get him to change his stinky socks. MIRIAM: That makes us all suspects. MILLIE: But Freddy was my dear brother! BAXTER: The dear brother that you always fought with. MILLIE: Only about Miriam. I don t think she made a suitable wife. MIRIAM: And you didn t make a suitable sister. You were always asking him for money. MILLIE: Pocket money. You know that I m always short of change. MIRIAM: More like penniless! BAXTER: Where is the weapon, folks? AMANDA: I m afraid I must ask all of you to empty your pockets and purses. MIRIAM: My bag is completely empty. (She opens her purse.) See? MILLIE: I refuse to open my purse! BAXTER: Ah! What do you have in there?
Who Shot Fred? 7 (Baxter grabs the purse from Millie and crosses to the card table. He turns the purse upside down on the table.) MILLIE: How dare you! BAXTER: Well, what do we have here? MILLIE: (crossing to the card table) Certainly not a gun! BAXTER: A wallet, some chewed chewing gum, a dried apricot, a half eaten pretzel, a faded photo of Warren G. Harding, and under the photo, my missing sterling silver jacket button! So you stole it! MILLIE: I did no such thing! BAXTER: Were you planning on pawning it? MILLIE: One jacket button? Certainly not. I picked it up on the stairway this morning and was going to turn it in to the front desk. BAXTER: You just conveniently forgot. MILLIE: Yes! AMANDA: Hand me your jacket, Baxter. BAXTER: My jacket? What for? AMANDA: I want to check all the pockets, especially the inside pockets. BAXTER: Oh, all right. I can tell you right off that I don t own a pistol. (Baxter takes off the jacket and hands it to Amanda. Amanda inspects the jacket and then hands it back.) BAXTER: Satisfied? END OF FREEVIEW You ll want to read and perform this show!