About the Play:

The volume Sorry, Wrong Number and The Hitch-Hiker contains two one-act thrillers by Lucille Fletcher. Sorry, Wrong Number is a noir thriller. Alone in her Manhattan apartment where the telephone is her only companion, a woman accidentally overhears a murder plot. Will she be able to stop the murder? The Hitchhiker is about a young man who embarks on a life-changing road-trip. His encounter with a mysterious hitch-hiker will change his life forever. A double dose of suspense, these thrillers may be performed separately or as an evening of entertainment.

Sorry, Wrong Number: A mystery thriller, the tale of a neurotic bedbound invalid, whose only contact with the outside world is her phone. Over this, one night, because of a crossed telephone line, she accidentally overhears the telephone conversation of two men plotting a murder, which turns out to be her own. Will anyone take her seriously? Can she get help before the time runs out.... Her frantic efforts to enlist help through the only means at her disposal, her growing terror and realization of the truth, and (along the way) the hints about her own life and personality she lets drop, make this a full character portrait not only of herself but of the unseen murderer, whose identity and motivations are surmised but never revealed. A tour de force of acting for the female star, who commands the stage throughout, this play also picks up through the many phone calls, personality vignettes of the outside world, including gangsters, phone operators, a police sergeant, etc., each of which is distinct and of vital importance to the storyline. (Cast: 4 female, 3 male, plus extras, voices, etc.)

The Hitch-Hiker is a spine-chilling story which was originally written for Orson Welles and became an episode of The Twilight Zone. Ronald Adams is an average motorist who sets out to drive from Brooklyn to California, and early on his journey encounters a strange and inexplicable hitch-hiker dressed in black. Who is the hitch-hiker, what does he want and how can Ronald escape him? The questions alone have driven Ronald to distraction – what might the answers do to him? His efforts to explain, then avoid, and finally destroy the constantly appearing figure along the highway carry him through several episodes and many states until the adventure finally culminates in an amazing and terrifying climax in New Mexico. The play, like good ghost stories, hovers between reality and unreality. Its mood of deepening horror makes it a fine display piece for a young male actor, and its episodic bits of human reality give opportunities for strong acting among the supporting players. (Cast: 8 female, 4 male, plus extras, voices, etc.)

Sorry, Wrong Number is a radio classic, originally broadcast in 1943 on CBS Radio drama series Suspense. It received the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America, was one of radio's ten "bests" and is still being repeated as an outstanding study in suspense. The Hitch-Hiker was originally broadcast of The Orson Welles Show on CBS Radio 1941. The radio plays have been adapted by the author for an easy stage presentation and they remain as compelling and shiver-inducing as they ever were! Community and high school theatre groups are attracted by Lucille Fletcher's fine characters and lively writing in Sorry, Wrong Number and The Hitch-Hiker.

About the Playwright:

Lucille Fletcher (1912-2000) was an American screenwriter of film, radio and television best known for her scripts from the heyday of radio drama. Her path to professional writing began when she took a job at CBS, then the largest broadcasting company in America, as a typist, and became convinced that she could write better scripts than those she was copy-typing. She proceeded to write one of the enduring classics of American radio, The Hitch-Hiker, written for Orson Welles and adapted by Rod Serling for a notable episode of The Twilight Zone television series. She also wrote the legendary one-act Sorry, Wrong Number, one of radio's most famous plays, which she adapted and expanded for the 1948 film noir classic of the same name.