About the Play:

Strange Boarders is a full-length comedic mystery by George Batson and Jack Kirkland. Sloppy crooks and their antics are a good recipe for laughs in this classic comedy about the efforts of a band of bank robbers attempting to escape the police and get away with $1 million. The silly situations, mistaken identities and confused intentions will lead to lots of laughter from the audience.

Strange Boarders is a comic and suspenseful tale of slippery gangsters, social busybodies and a heart-of-gold protagonist who runs a seaside boarding house. Out of her goodness, Cordelia has adopted two girls – Candy and Gloria – practically adopted a delightful sea captain, and the "Professor" – both of them, like herself, impractical. Chiefly the play revolves round the efforts of an amusing band of bank robbers to elude the police in nearby Boston and get away with $1,000,000 in cash, which is brought to Cordelia's home by the Misses Amity and Priscilla Haines, who take rooms as respectable school teachers. To Cordelia's home also come Smiley, a sad-faced thug, Joey, a petty gangster, and the "Deacon," a fellow with much false piety and a benign manner. The gangsters, having seized the money stolen by the "brains" of the band, attempt to hide from their leader and keep the money themselves. Boston Benny, the "brains," unexpectedly appears, and tries to get even with his partners. Up to now Cordelia, vainly trying to organize her boarding-house on systematic principles, thinks that all the nice ladies and gentlemen who have suddenly come to her home are boarders, and she is in seventh heaven. However, the crooks cannot long keep secret who they are, and Cordelia's next problem is how to get the money, round up the crooks and get the reward for their capture. How she does this, with the help of her friends, provides comedy and suspense in generous amounts and brings all to happy conclusion.

Strange Boarders, under the title of A Dangerous Woman, premiered in 1947 at the Erie Theatre in Schenectady, New York. While the play is rarely performed professionally, it is an ideal choice for high school and community theatre productions.

Cast: 7 female, 8 male

About the Playwright:

George D. Batson (1916-1971) was a prolific American playwright specializing in comedies and farces. As a screenwriter, he contributed to several television anthology series in the 1950s, including Actors Studio, The Clock, Lights Out, The Bigelow Theater, and Climax! He also was active as a producer in England and in American stock and repertory theatre.

Jack Kirkland (1902-1969) was an American playwright, producer, director and screenwriter. His greatest success was the play Tobacco Road, adapted from the Erskine Caldwell novel.