(See also Legge's comedies Shake-A-Spear and Time Was.

Cast

• ARTIE: Middle-aged. A nervous novice.
• ANNIE: A young, no-nonsense stage manager. Tart-tongued.
• RICHARD JAGGER: Middle-aged. The theater company’s resident director. Long-suffering (but who isn’t in theater?).
• MONTY DROSS: Middle-aged. High-strung. Recovering from a nervous breakdown.
• STACY TRUMBELL: Any age. A first-time reporter who can’t believe her luck at being on the scene of a fiasco.
• FLO REPOZA: Senior citizen. A veteran of the stage and somewhat grand. Prone to fainting spells.
• MAX GROVER: Senior citizen. An old friend of Flo’s. A high-priced executive in the entertainment world.
• GRANT POWERS: 30s. Tall, good-looking, with an athletic build (although a slight paunch is permissible.) Loud, cocky and completely self-centered at first. Somewhat softened in his attitude by the end.
• AL: A young man. Chauffeur. Unassuming. A nice guy.
• BELINDA: A young ingenue type. Small and pretty. Not really stupid, just in her own little world.
• HEIDI: Middle-aged. Artie’s wife. Bossy, direct and not impressed with Grant (at all).

The Setting

The scene is the backstage area of the East Pocket Community Players. There are several raw flats forming three sides which jut out. A door is on the SR side of the flats and a double terrace door is center. There is enough space for actors to go out "on stage." The back wall where the “audience” sits is black. In the backstage area is a table and chair at right, with table lamp and notebooks. There is a microphone that connects to the theater loudspeaker system. There are several chairs where actors can sit. Another door left leads to the dressing rooms and outside.

Plot Summary

A small community theater group, The Pocket Players, are excited by the home coming of local boy made good, Grant Powers. Grant has become a famous movie star specializing in action films, and he has agreed to do his home town a favor by appearing in a new play written by local playwright, Monty Dross. It's also a publicity stunt for Grant, who is trying to legitimize himself as a serious actor. Unfortunately his arrogant and crude demeanor hasn't changed over the years and he quickly antagonizes the entire theater company. To top it off, even though he's had the script in his possession ahead of time, he didn't bother to learn his lines, and was unable to show up for rehearsals. The play's director, Richard and his stage manager, Annie try to make the best of a bad situation, as they come up with schemes to make Grant not look like an idiot. Chaos ensues during the performance, driving Monty the playwright over the edge of sanity, along with the rest of the cast. Once the shambles of a play is cut short, Grant makes what little peace he can with the cast, and an unexpected twist at the end comes from an audience member.