Synopsis

This absurd one act play features five characters : a 'cool guy', a woman in a hurry, a neurotic, a 'doom merchant' and an amateur sleuth. They have no need of forenames or surnames and are referred to in the script simply by their character trait (except for Dick, the amateur sleuth).

It is a lovely spring day in an urban conurbation. Cool Guy is settling on a park bench to read the paper when Woman rushes on with a box. Before Cool Guy can say no, the box has been left on the bench with instructions that the box cannot be moved, knocked, tilted or opened.

A series of motley characters then begin to arrive, each with a theory about the contents of the box. Neurotic, spurred on by a Government leaflet recently received, is convinced it contains a bomb. Neurotic contacts the police, but they are busy dealing with a cat up a tree! Doom Merchant is equally convinced (because of the same leaflet) that it contains anthrax. They phone the police again, but they are now dealing with a threatened suicide jumper in the local apartment block. So they take it on themselves to warn the public, much to Cool Guy's amazement and amusement.

Duration

Characters