About the Play:

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

Whiskey is a one-act comedy by Terrence McNally. An outrageous hilarious spoof of a beloved, but boozy, television cowboy troupe. Whiskey is a dark satire on American moral complacency and ambivalent attitude towards alcohol consumption.

Whiskey is about a group of alcoholic country-western stars, whose very success is a biting commentary on contemporary society and its standards. The title character Whiskey (who remains unseen) is the equine star of television's longest-running and most popular show, in which he is partnered with "The Lush Thrushes," a cowboy troupe whose members bear the names of the various brands of booze ("Tia Maria," "Johnny Walker," "Southern Comfort," and "Jack Daniels") they guzzle so copiously. The group makes a rare live appearance at the Houston Astrodome, only to flop disastrously, and then retreats to their hotel where each member then reveals his (or her) innermost thoughts in hilarious detail. When the hotel catches fire they are too far gone to notice, and the epilogue finds them all in heaven – dressed in white western finery, and lamenting the fact that Whiskey, who miraculously survived the inferno, is about to become the star of a new series.

Whiskey premiered in 1973 at The Theatre in St. Clement's Episcopal Church Off-Broadway in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan.

Cast: 2 female, 4 male

What people say:

"Terrence McNally's best and funniest comedy so far." — The New Yorker

"…fresh, funny and touching." — Village Voice

"Terrence McNally has hit on a number of targets perfect for his brand of comic scorn." — Cue Magazine

About the Playwright:

Terrence McNally (1938-2020) was an American playwright whose career has spanned six decades. Initially active in the burgeoning Off-Broadway theatre movement in the 1960s, he is one of the few playwrights of his generation to have successfully made the transition to Broadway, and, in the process, passed from avant-garde to mainstream acclaim. In addition to four Tony Awards for his plays, he received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller grant, and was a recipient of the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Tony Awards' Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Honor. He is considered one of America's great playwrights.