About the Play:

Nuts has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, and Male Monologues.

Nuts is a full-length suspenseful drama by Tom Topor. A woman must defend her sanity in court. But if she is proven to be of sound mind, she will have to stand trial for murder. Nuts is a suspenseful, psychological courtroom drama that explores sexual abuse issues, family and social power dynamics, and aspects of the criminal court system. This Broadway hit has been called the best courtroom melodrama since Witness for the Prosecution and The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.

Nuts isn't typical courtroom drama. It deals with a sanity hearing, which is more like the prelude to a court case. It is set in a courtroom in the psychiatric wing of New York's Bellevue Hospital. The story follows Claudia Faith Draper, is a divorcee turned high-class call girl who killed a violent "john" in self-defense and is charged with manslaughter. When her mother Rose and stepfather Arthur try to avoid an embarrassing public trial by having her declared mentally incompetent, she launches a fierce battle to convince the court that she is sane enough to stand trial. The State, represented by a court appointed psychiatrist and an aggressive prosecutor, say Claudia Faith Draper is unfit to stand trial. As testimony from experts, physicians and her parents unfolds, with her psyche and childhood dissected, she proves to the judge that she isn't nuts and stands legally sane at trial for manslaughter. Nuts is a highly-charged drama that explores what's considered "acceptable." Either you conform to the norms of society or you must be crazy, right?

Nuts was the breakout play for playwright Tom Topor. After a run off-off Broadway in 1979 at the Workshop of the Players Art (WPA) Theater, Nuts ran successfully at Biltmore Theatre on Broadway in 1980. The show was developed into a star-vehicle film for Barbra Streisand in 1987. This success launched a screenwriting career for Tom Topor. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and has been performed in regional, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 3 female, 6 male

What people say:

"[Has] the audience rooting for the good guys and hating the bad guys, as if the whole event was the most beautifully professional wrestling match you have ever seen. Nuts is a play that moves you… you are in court watching a woman fight for what she believes is her total future." — New York Post

"...a powerful portrait not only of a dysfunctional family, but also of a society in which justice for women is still dependent on the attitudes of the men in their lives." — The New York Times

"This psychological courtroom drama has everything you'd want from this genre: a thought-provoking plot and testimony with big dramatic moments." — Scarborough Mirror (Ontario)

"Nuts remains a tour de force actor's play. Its wordy, didactic scenes are served up in dollops. Courtroom dialogue, which is usually rhetorical, is here stretched to the snapping point." — The Windsor Star (Ontario)

About the Playwright:

Tom Topor is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. His plays include Nuts, Answers, and Romance: Here to Stay, But Not For Me. His work in film began after Nuts had a successful run on Broadway. He adapted the play for the screen. His other screenplays and teleplays include The Accused, Judgment (WGA Award), World of Honor and Perfect Murder, Perfect Town. His first career was as a reporter on the crime beat mainly for the New York Post.