Tag Archives: 1930’s film noir whodunit

Crooked Hand: Game of Cups – comical whodunit

CROOKED HAND: GAME OF CUPS – COMICAL WHODUNIT

The year is 1939. After a solid year building a name for himself as a detective, Phil Lebowski comes across a piece of evidence that will lead him to “the one that got away.” Hot on the trail, Phil gets wrapped up in a job with his ex-friend on security detail of a priceless jewel. Suddenly, they are caught in a madcap situation full of gangsters, thieves, and murder! Can Phil find the killer, retrieve a giant ruby, and wrangle all the crazy suspects before he “sleeps with the fishes” in this comical whodunit.

Crooked Hand: Game of Cups is the sequel to Crooked Hand,  also by American playwright Jeff Carlson.

Author: Jeff Carlson and Zach Triplett

Type: Two-act play

Genre: Comical whodunit, crime, film noir

Cast: 6M, 3F, 1N

Ages of the actors: Adult. No ages specified

Suitable for: All ages to watch and teens up to perform

Length: 100 minutes

Set: Detective’s office, conference hall, a radio show live from a prison which can be invisible or seen at the director’s discretion

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – cutting back and forth between the radio show and actual events happening live on stage

Read a Sample of the Script

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Cost is $6.50 for this digital script. Just Click Shakespeare!!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about Crooked Hand: Game of Cups

Copyright © January 2019 Jeff Carlson and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other whodunits you may enjoy:

All in the past – murder mystery set in 1930’s Shanghai
Merriweather’s Murderous weekend – a murder weekend goes deadly wrong
Parlor City Noir – gritty film noir whodunit

Crooked Hand – funny film noir whodunit script

film noir whodunit

CROOKED HAND – FILM NOIR WHODUNIT COMEDY SCRIPT

It’s 1938. Hot shot Detective John Samuels just wants a break after a busy week of catching criminals. When his down-on-his-luck friend Phil stops by to ask for a loan, John hatches a scheme to have Phil stand in for him at his next “easy” job. The so called job is as mediator for a merger between two feuding casino owners, but when one of the owners winds up “pushing up daisies” it is up to the absent minded Phil to crack the case in this funny film noir whodunit script.

This hilarious mystery-comedy is set at the Peppermint Pad Casino, in an unnamed city. “A Crooked Hand” was produced in October of 2009 by the Gaslight Theater Players in Georgetown, Ohio USA. It is a full length period comedy that pokes fun at Detective Stories.

Read other plays by Jeff Carlson and co write Zach Triplett – Explain the Handcuffs – a time travel adventure

Author: Jeff Carlson

Type: Three act play

Genre: Comedy, crime, film noir whodunit script

Cast: 7M, 3F

Ages of the actors: Adult characters

Suitable for: Teens up to play and watch

Length: 90 minutes

Set: The time is 1938. This hilarious mystery-comedy is set at the Peppermint Pad Casino, in an unnamed city, though the first section takes place around the office of a private detective in the same city.

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – incorporating comedy and a period feel in a full length play

Read a Sample of the Script




Cost is $6.50 for this previously produced digital play script

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Contact Off the Wall plays with any queries about Crooked Hand

Copyright © September 2018 Jeff Carlson and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other funny whodunits and film noir crime scripts:

He’s behind you! A comedy, whodunit and pantomime rolled into one
Murder and other fun things – comedy whodunit
The Duck of the Baskervilles – punful Sherlock Holmes spoof

All in the past – murder mystery play scripts

murder mystery play scripts

murder mystery play scripts

ALL IN THE PAST – MURDER MYSTERY PLAY SCRIPTS

All in the Past is a murder mystery set in 1934 Shanghai. Vera is a White Russian expatriate turned con-artist whose latest scheme is a psychic business she runs with her landlady, Lily. She is approached by a customer with a proposition to find a woman from his past, who he believes is currently in Shanghai. Vera takes the offer but soon learns that this proposition entails more than a paycheck when the missing woman is found murdered in the home of Vera’s ex-boyfriend. She then embarks on an investigation that forces her to confront demons from the victim’s past as well as her own in order to solve the mystery and exonerate an innocent man.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

NYU Shanghai’s Theatre Club, Shanghai, China – 2018

Author: Lauren Ennis

Genre: Murder mystery play scripts, whodunit

Type: Two act, 2 act  play

Cast:  11-12, 7F, 5M (small parts may be doubled)

Ages of the actors:  20’s up. The leads are in their thirties but can be 40’s as well.

Length: Two hours

Suitable for:  Pg 12 (violence)

Set: Various – various apartments, offices, backstage at a club

Level of difficulty: Building the tension 7/10

Read a  Sample of the Script

pay now shakespeare

Cost is $9.00 for the digital play script. Just Click Shakespeare!

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about All in the  Past

Copyright  © November 2014 Lauren Ennis and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other whodunits on  Off The Wall Plays

Guilty Party – whodunit three act farce
Murder and a show – whodunit comedy
The Investigation – ten minute whodunit drama script
parlor city noir – film noir whodunit