About the Play:

Play On! is a full-length comedy by Jack Sharkey, writing under the name Rick Abbot. The is the hilarious story of a community theatre group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from an inexperienced playwright who keeps revising the script. There are many bumps along the road to opening night. Actors forgetting their lines, last-minute script changes, and more in this play-within-a-play, which has been compared to Noises Off, by British playwright Michael Frayn.

Play On! is the story of a cash-strapped community theatre troupe rehearsing to perform an original murder mystery, "Murder Most Foul" (with the same title as an Agatha Christie novel and a line from "Hamlet", which has apparently escaped the author). The good news is the haughty authoress has agreed to let them perform the show for no charge. The bad news is she constantly keeps adding new scenes, new characters, and changing who the killer is, as opening night approaches. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance in which the cast and crew learn firsthand "what can go wrong, will go wrong" as they give their best efforts for the show to go on. When the author, a haughty woman, decides to give a speech on the state of the modern theatre during the curtain calls, the audience is treated to a madcap climax to a thoroughly hilarious romp. Perfect for any performing group. Even the sound effects reap their share of laughter.

Play On! is a popular choice for school and community theatre productions.

Cast: 7 female, 3 male

What people say:

"A study of over-ambition colliding with general ineptitude ... Play On! ... offers a fly-on-the-wall view of an earnest community troupe ... attempting to stage a suspense play ... It soon becomes clear that the real suspense is whether the play will make it to the boards ... The conflicts, and laughs, only intensify as the play begins its run, and absolutely everything that can go wrong – on stage and off – does." — The Peace Arch News (White Rock, BC)

"Audience members will see what can happen behind the scenes as a community theater group prepares to open an original mystery play while the author continues to revise the script right up to opening night. Confusion reigns as the actors and technical crew try to adjust to the changes. Anything that can go wrong does." — Hudson Star Observer (Red Wing, Minnesota)

About the Playwright:

Jack Sharkey (1931-1992) was an exceedingly prolific American playwright who wrote science fiction and humour for magazines before embarking upon his playwriting career. He has 83 published plays written under his own name and four others: Rick Abbot, Monk Ferris, Mark Chandler, and Mike Johnson. Virtually all of his work was written for community theatre.