About the Play:

Not Enough Rope has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female/Male Scenes.

Not Enough Rope is a one-act farce by Elaine May. A lonesome woman is insistent upon hanging herself with rope, until she changes her mind. But her new neighbour seems oblivious and uninterested in the depths of her plight. While accommodating to a fault, he remains more interested in unpacking and playing his drums which drowns out her pleas for help and wakes up the elderly neighbour who joins the fracas. Chaos ensues!

Not Enough Rope is set in a rooming house, where three neurotics strive to be heard. A young man is unpacking when in walks a depressed young lady looking for rope since she does not have enough to hang herself with. Well, the man hasn't any, but has some twine; so in desperate seriousness, they barter. Finally she takes the twine to her room and prepares to hang herself; while he unpacks his drums. The first effort fails, but the second is succeeding nicely, and she can not move without the danger of strangling. Then knowing that the other tenants are out, she calls to him for help. But he remains more interested in unpacking and playing his drums which drowns out her pleas for help and wakes up the elderly neighbour who joins the fracas. Both the young man and the awful old woman who wheels herself into view will not lend a hand to help her. It's only because he decides to move out of this crazy place, and needs the twine to pack, that the girl finally is freed.

Not Enough Rope premiered in 1962 at the Maidman Theatre off-Broadway in New York City. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and has been performed in regional, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female, 1 male

What people say:

"In Not Enough Rope, Miss May's ideas and written lines are as funny and disconcerting as ever ... her quirky, watertight logic, her ability to maneuver an audience from laughter to dead silence and even tears, and her deceptive lucidity identify her as surely as her fingerprints." — The New Yorker

About the Playwright:

Elaine May has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a highly regarded writer, director, and performer. She began her career with the comedy troupe Second City, where she first met Mike Nichols. The duo went on to become one of the most successful comedy teams of the day, headlining a year-long run of An Evening With Nichols and May on Broadway. She has also written plays for the stage and was honoured with an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay for the comedy Heaven Can Wait, which she co-wrote with the film's star Warren Beatty.