About the Play:

Used Car for Sale is a one-act drama by Lewis John Carlino. The story of a lonely man named Charlie who lives outside of town. He advertises his vintage car for sale in the local newspaper and attracts people to come out on Sundays to look at it. But he has the price too high or some other excuse because he really just wants visitors, and folks complain to the newspaper editor, who sends a reporter out to tell Charlie that he has to stop advertising.

Used Car for Sale is a lonely older man seeks friends by offering his car for sale. Charlie Ingersoll lives alone on the outskirts of a Midwestern town. His only companions are a parakeet that refuses to talk, and Desdemona, a vintage Ford; still bright and shiny under Charlie's careful hand. Charlie refuses to grow old from loneliness. He runs an ad in the town paper offering Desdemona for sale, with the sole purpose of getting people to come out and talk to him. Sunday of each week, when the paper comes out, Charlie gets his visitors. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Charlie suddenly finds himself confronted by the classified ad clerk of the newspaper, who has come to tell him people have been turning in complaints. He must either sell his car or the paper will cancel his ad. After he leaves Charlie feels a bitter loneliness crashing down around him. His thoughts are interrupted by the appearance of a young girl who has come to inquire about Desdemona. Charlie pulls the tarp off the car, and for the first time someone sees Desdemona just as he does; not as just a car, but as "A fine lady all fit out for a ball." The price for Desdemona is one hundred and fifty. The girl confesses she only has twenty dollars and can make payments of only two dollars a week which she promises to bring out every Sunday. Charlie's eyes twinkle. "That'll take a long time," he muses. The classified ad man returns breathlessly to tell Charlie his editor wants to use the story of his loneliness. He has even offered to let Charlie continue to run the ad free. Charlie smiles. Desdemona has been sold. And it looks as if he's not going to be needing the ad anymore.

Used Car for Sale was originally produced at the Ivar Theatre (now part of the LA Film School), in Hollywood, California and by the Los Angeles Chapter of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA). It is an ideal choice for one-act festivals.

Cast: 1 female, 3 male

About the Playwright:

Lewis John Carlino (1932-2020) was an American director, screenwriter, and playwright. He first gained attention as a novelist and off-Broadway playwright. He worked as a director and screenwriter on a number of movies during a career which has spanned five decades. He was nominated for many awards, including the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and is best known as the writer and director of The Great Santini that starred Robert Duvall as a bullying U.S. Marine Corps pilot.