Tag Archives: 90 minute comedies

Jake Revolver, Freelance Secret Agent – Radio Noir play

radio noir play

radio noir play

JAKE REVOLVER, FREELANCE SECRET AGENT- RADIO NOIR PLAY

In this radio noir play, private detective Jake Revolver fights against conspiracy, double cross and self-reference to uncover the killer of his own narrator. Meant to be performed as the premiere episode of a nineteen-forties live radio broadcast, complete with foley artistry and on-stage stand-up microphones, Jake Revolver, Freelance Secret Agent is a parody packed with puns, play on words, oodles of self-referential absurdity (and Beatles references?) In the tradition of Firesign Theater, Jake Revolver, Freelance Secret Agent combines slapstick, screwball humor, commercial spoofs and a murder mystery for a stylish and ridiculous tour de force comedy.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Milwaukee Entertainment Group, Milwaukee, WI – June, 2015
Wolf Pack Theatre Company, DC Metro – July, 2015
The Village Playhouse, West Allis, WI – August, 2016
Upstart Crows, Madison, WI – July/August, 2016
Artesia Community Theatre, Artesia, NM – August, 2016
Lancaster Community Players, Lancaster, WI – October, 2016
Waitara high school, Taranaki, New Zealand – 2019
Coachford Players, Cork, Ireland – 2020
Generations Dance Academy, GA, USA – 2020
Darlington High School Theatre, WI, USA – 2021
Le Mars Community Theatre, IA, USA – 2021
Yorkville High School, IL, USA – 2021
Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre (BDACT),WI, USA – 2022
Young Actors Company, Richmond Shakespeare Society, Twickenham, United Kingdom – 2022
Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, NJ, USA – 2023
Buffalo High School, WY, USA – 2023
Ockley Dramatic Society, Surrey, United Kingdom – 2023

Jake Revolver, Freelance Secret Agent was a finalist in the Rover Dramawerks Comedy Play Contest and received its world premiere production in Milwaukee, WI produced by Milwaukee Entertainment Group, June, 2015. This hilarious noir parody has delighted audiences in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Washington, D.C.  

“Beyond the superficial silliness there’s a deeply playful exploration of dichotomy and duality. The show tumbles through a narrative that plays with the fourth wall in a weird existential funhouse, dizzyingly drenched in a semi-automatic barrage of humor.”     -Russ Bickerstaff, Shepherd Express Shepherd Express Review of Jake Revolver, Freelance Secret Agent

Author: Matthew Konkel

Type: Full length one act play

Genre: Radio noir play

Length: 90 minutes

Cast: 5M, 3F. There are actually 12 characters, but some should/could be played by the same actors.

Ages of the actors: Teens up

Suitable for: All ages

Set: Radio play with cast on stage with microphones and people doing sound effects

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – radio plays are an interesting and fun genre for the cast and audience. The whole thing could be done without seeing it, or the cast could perform the play in front of the audience with the people making the sound effects visible which is also very enjoyable.

Read a Sample of the Script

pay now shakespeare

Cost is $10.50 for this finalist digital play script. Just Click Shakespeare!

pay now shakespeare

Cost is $15.00 for the printed book version. Just click Shakespeare!

Contact Off the Wall Plays with any queries about Jake Revolver

Copyright © February 2019 Matthew Konkel and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? other radio plays and film noir plays for you to enjoy:

Honesty – British drama – a radio play
Cancelled – a 1940’s farce set in a radio station whilst the cast are broadcasting
Crooked hand – funny film noir script

Sassafras Cannon – Civil-war black comedy play

civil-war black comedy play

SASSAFRAS CANNON – CIVIL-WAR  BLACK COMEDY PLAY

Sassafras Cannon is a civil-war black comedy play highlighting and satirizing the follies of human nature, at its base. Featuring a set of characters ranging from the offbeat Bloodworth family, holding the reigns to a chocolate manufacturing corporation like the world has never seen, a lampooning version of President Jefferson Davis, a butler who seems a bit, well, evil, and even down to investors from overseas, all whom make their appearances, the show exaggerates America’s time-tested fascination with all characters wild and strange, all while twisting history into it’s own new version, all in a style reminiscing to the days of vaudeville shows and the Ziegfeld Follies.

Did you know that cocaine, now considered a drug, was in the original mix of Coca-Cola?
Did you know that Jefferson Davis is rumored to have been fleeing from the Union at the time of his capture in his wife’s clothing?

These are all facts and rumors that the play uses to perpetuate it’s story and satire, combined with intentional historical inaccuracies and rumors. Attendance at the production is recommended for those with both a sense of humor and a grasp of history.

Review from The Charlotte Observer:

The play, like many of my other script ideas, simply came to me one day out of the blue,” Starnes said. “I wanted to do a comedy on some sort of Willy Wonka-esque character and his especially eclectic family set during the Civil War, which would appeal to young adults and adults.

“Many of the details in the show were inspired by real-life facts found during my prewriting research. However, the play is not a documentary or historically accurate, following my motto that people – when attending an event such as a play – are seeking to be entertained rather than taught.”

Audiences are advised to bring a sense of humor, and parental guidance is suggested.

In Starnes’ play, there is no “fourth wall” between the audience and the storyline. The playwright said attendees “become part of the storyline” in the Museum of the Waxhaws’ auditorium.

Read about playwright Timothy Starnes.  Other plays (Tune in – TV comedy) by Timothy. 

Author: Timothy Starnes

Genre: Civil-war black comedy play

Type: Two-act play

Cast: Cast of 10-12 M 1-4F  (Housestaff can be played by either sex)

Ages of the actors: Adult

Suitable for: Parental guidance advised

Length: One and a half hours long

Set: A desk in the middle of the performance
space is necessary, desk chair included. Other
furniture is entirely optional.

Level of difficulty: 7/10 – dark comedic characters 

Read a Sample of the Script





Cost is $6 for this well staged digital stage play

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any queries about Sassafras Cannon

Copyright © September 2015 Timothy Starnes and Off The Wall Play Publishers

Like this play? Other historical plays and dark comedies:

A house divided – four act civil war drama
Lies you can’t make up – drama script about JFK
Wilson – one act dulogue – a dark comedy
Death’s no laughing matter – two act black comedy

DEDICATIONS:

For Ryan Fay, who is going on to do the great things everyone was expecting. If it wasn’t for him, this script would have been complete 6 versions ago.

For Beth Killion, whose amount of effort put into the costumes must have bailed out the entire craft industry. Homeschoolers and old ladies rejoice.

For Anna Claire, who listened to my weekly arguments with Ryan Fay in the car, citing that we sounded like an old married couple. Accurate.

For Hoke Pittman, who has been keeping my leading male characters rightfully sassy since 2013.

For Jasper Boykin, the original black butler.

For Lucas King, who made sure that the houseboy humor couldn’t be any bawdy or funnier.

For Katherine Pierce, whose realistic onstage wine-drinking couldn’t have come from no previous real life experience.

For Noah Tepper, the original Victorian emo. His hair color changes were part of those script versions.

For Carlos Vargas, whose constant mention of his male Cinderella adaptation never ceases to silence a room.

For Kevin Brennan, who has flashed more people than even the biggest career flashers, wearing his Jefferson Davis dress.

For Jessica Boyles, who died more times than anyone can count, in the show.

For Shawn Jones, the scariest investor in the ensemble.

For Camarin Chargualaf, who said “inherited chocolate empire” correctly on both running nights.

For Savannah Jillani, who maintains to look better in my clothes than I do.

For Tommie Wall and Sandra Glenn, who supported the project all the way to the stage, hiding some of it from the arts council along the way.