Name: Keeping RIGHT! The New, Mostly Fake, Swedish Screwball Comedy
SKU: 31215
Price: 8.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Description

comedy about the right side of the road

KEEPING RIGHT – THE NEW, MOSTLY FAKE SWEDISH SCREWBALL COMEDY

On September 3, 1967, in Stockholm, Sweden, it is a historical fact that the Swedish people changed from driving their vehicles on the left to driving on the right: the ‘Högertrafikomläggningen’ or Keeping Right project. At that same time, a North Vietnamese delegation was also present in Stockholm, having come there the previous May for a peace conference and truth tribunal. Except for those facts, everything in Keeping Right, our fake Swedish screwball farce, will likely be inaccurate, untrue, or wholly invented but also wildly fast and funny in this screwball comedy.

Five characters vie to be in charge of Keeping Right that fateful day. Sven, the Black Swedish American assistant traffic control manager, thinks stopping the shift to driving on the right will allow him to prevent his colleague, Fanny, from having an affair with their boss, Gunnar. Astrid, a fellow worker, must conceal her real occupation as a less than competent North Vietnamese spy (and her feelings for Sven) while Gunnar and the American consultant, Roy, try to complete their secret deal. Much goes wrong hilariously but happily while keeping right in this one-act play.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Produced on Zoom December 2020 – Knowledge Workings Theatre, NJ, USA

OTHER PLAYS BY T.J. ELLIOTT AND JOE QUEENAN

The Oracle – a tongue in cheek comedy about office politics
Genealogy – comedy about that family heritage you didn’t know you had!
Grudges – American Political Satire
Alms – Dark Comedy about Catholicism

Authors: T.J. Elliott

Type: Full length one act play in 24 scenes

Genre: Screwball Comedy, Period Farce

Cast: 3M, 2F

Ages of the actors: Two middle aged, three young

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

Length: Ninety Minutes, one and a half hours

Set: Black Box stage: For almost the entire play, the five characters remain isolated in separate locations, depicted as different spaces on the stage. They cannot see each other and can only hear each other through a rudimentary radio setup with headphones. At their first cue, each character turns on a light in their post.

Level of Difficulty: 8/10 – isolating the characters from physically interacting with each other does provide the actor with some challenges and makes for a very interesting piece