About the Play:

Murder by Misadventure is a full-length drama by Edward Taylor. What happens when two two television crime-writing partners who have worked together for years start to hate each other? Murder would seem to be the only solution to their troubles. Murder by Misadventure is a cat-and-mouse thriller filled with enough twists and turns to keep audiences guessing right up to the final curtain.

Murder by Misadventure explores what happens when two highly successful and greatly mismatched television crime-writers start to hate each other. Harold Kent and Paul Riggs have been writing partners for years, winning awards and making money. Harold has made clever investments and lives with with his glamorous wife in an ultra-modern condo overlooking the English Channel, where the play is set. Paul, on the other hand, has squandered his hard-earned cash on booze, fast women and betting, and lives in debt. Harold wants to break the partnership that is Paul's lifeline, but Paul knows a sinister secret from Harold's past. They are locked together in a dance from which murder seems the only answer to their problems and they have just plotted the perfect crime for their latest TV film. With only four characters and one the police inspector, Murder by Misadventure is an ingenious play that updates the classic thriller genre while paying homage to the great stage mysteries of the past.

Murder by Misadventure premiered in 1992 at Theatr Clwyd, a regional arts centre and producing theatre near Mold, Flintshire, in North East Wales. It transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in 1992 and then the Whitehall Theatre in the commercial heart of British theatre, London's West End. Since then the play has been successfully staged at professional theatres and has been mounted by high schools, colleges, and community theatres.

Cast: 1 female, 3 male

What people say:

"This edge-of-the-seat thriller keeps the heart racing to the bitter end. A sure-fire winner." — The Stage

"The last-scene denouement turns every available table, until you are left giddy with bewilderment...." — Evening Standard

"The play is a snazzy joke with more twists and turns than a Pennsylvania road map ... Taylor's dialogue is crisp, modern and insightful and full of humor." — Los Angeles Times

"All murder mystery fans, whether casual observers or dedicated sleuths, will find much to ponder in ... Murder by Misadventure. They should also enjoy frequent chuckles while ferreting out clues." — Baltimore Sun

About the Playwright:

Edward Taylor is a British dramatist and radio producer. Originally intending to seek a career in acting, he was then invited to join the BBC in 1955 as a writer-producer on a twelve-month contract. He accepted, and stayed for thirty-six years, during which he wrote a total of 2,300 program. He also wrote the stage thriller Murder by Misadventure that was a success in London's West End.