Title

Where There's a Will...

Type

"black" farce

Length

full length

Cast

3m 5f or 4m 4f (two slightly different scripts - please specify your choice)

Set

single set

Scripts

£6 per copy

Performing rights

£40 per performance

The play opens amid a lengthy blazing row between Linda and husband Derek. Linda accuses him (quite rightly) of being unfaithful, but during the row it transpires that the other woman is Linda's younger sister. Derek is unaware that Linda is also having an affair - with Derek's younger brother! Each avows revenge, and as the result of a series of bungled murder attempts the bodies fall thick and fast. The vicar is the first to go, if only they can get rid of that annoying body - and his bike! Despite their attempts to dispose of one another, Linda and Derek survive to the close, where, perhaps inevitably, they manage to murder each other. Two versions are available, to suit casts.

Cast

Character Lines (approx)
Linda 361
Derek Linda's husband 446
Mary their housekeeper 154
Vicar 23
Colin Derek's brother 160
Carol Linda's sister 173
Julie, a friend or Margaret, "maiden aunt" 24
Peter, a friend or Barbara, "maiden aunt" 21

Author's Notes

Several things spurned this play. Firstly, I wanted to see if I could kill an entire cast without using WMD. Secondly, I had seen so many plays that take an age to get started, which is why the argument that starts this one begins before the tabs open. One inspiration for this play was a scene in a pretty dreadful movie called "A Weekend at Bernie's", which seeded the idea of two of the characters making the most of a dead vicar. It's interesting that every time we've watched this play, the vicar manages to steal the show long after he's dead. And the idea that someone could get rid of a vicar's corpse by strapping him to a roof-rack atop a Porsche sports car still makes me smile.

In May 2010, the Eydon Players, of Northamptonshire won the NODA regional "Best Play" award for their production of "Where There's a Will..." Congratulations to Eydon Players.

Past Productions

 I have recently started adding production photos, posters, etc. If your group has done this play and have any I can use, please contact me.

Some past productions