Stage Plays by Ian Hornby

The Winter of Discontent
Thriller - single set - 4m 4f

Synopsis
Mystery novelist and womaniser Brian is obsessed with the murder games he writes. Wife Pam and three other couples turn up to his latest epic "The Winter of Discontent" with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Cynical Steve, Brian's publisher, simply does not want to go, whilst wife Ros seems quite keen, despite Brian's reputation. Hard-up Andy is convinced that Brian fancies his attractive wife Zoe. Apparently happily-married Colin and Marie are the least reluctant. Finally Pam has been cast as the dowdy cook one time too often. We witness the couples' preparations for the game, and see their worst sides displayed. Then we attend the game itself, set in Brian's much-modified house (complete with thunderclaps, dead phones, secret panels and plenty of hidden cameras and microphones). Nobody is surprised when Brian is poisoned during the meal - but is this part of the game or has one of the guests enacted revenge? Brian's fondness for special effects means they are locked in the isolated house with no outside communication, so they must solve the crime - if indeed it is a crime - for real. 

Author's notes
For a few years a group of eight of us met every so often to do one of those buy-in-a-box murder games. I actually wrote three of them too, but most were bought. I started thinking about what could happen if someone got so addicted to them that they were prepared to make modifications to their house to make the game more profound, and you can't think about that kind of thing for too long before you remember "Ten Little Indians" and the like. This play explores that theme, hopefully making the audience wonder whether there has been a real murder or is it just another twist in the game?

Each character plays two roles - their actual selves and their parts in the game.