The Cook Did It!
Comedy / 4 men, 3 women / 45 mins
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ISBN: 9781326533502 (acting edition)
Synopsis
The once-bustling Old Barn Country Hotel has become a suspiciously deadly place to stay. Enter Jenkins, a self-declared detective armed with determination and a handful of scribbled notes. As guests drop like flies, he’s convinced the killer is within reach. Guests and staff start pointing fingers, each with something to say and even more to hide. Everyone’s a suspect, everyone that is, except the mute cook Olsen. He’s just way too loyal. There’s absolutely no way he’s the killer.
Author notes
The Cook Did It! is a one-act comedy farce stage play featuring four male and three female characters, two are non speaking roles. The play requires only a single or minimal set and has an approximate runtime of 45 minutes.
The Cook Did It! made its debut at the Woking Drama Festival in England, presented by The Fringe Files, where it received three award nominations, including "Best Play".
The role of William appears only in a silent cameo, so casting is optional. A life-sized dummy was used in the debut tour production.
Specifications
Male characters: 4
Female characters: 3
Non-specific characters: 0
Runtime: 45 minutes
Genre: Comedy farce
Staging: Minimal
Ideal for: One act festivals
Released: 2012
Rating: Family friendly
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ISBN: 9781326533502 (acting edition)
Performance licensing
Please note that a performance license may be required for this playscript. For more details, kindly visit the licensing page.
Sample of script
(JENKINS enters S/R followed closely by MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER.)
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. You’re confusing me!
JENKINS. It’s what I keep telling you. He wasn’t dead.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. So where is he now?
JENKINS. On the grass!
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. On the grass?
JENKINS. That’s where he fell. I didn’t want to move him.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. But he was strangled.
JENKINS. Not fully. You see, it’s like this—while I was digging the hole, he moved, well, jolted. More of a convulsion, I suppose. Then, he started screaming.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. So, if he’s alive, our problem has resolved itself. Nobody died.
JENKINS. Oh no he’s very much dead.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. I’m so confused.
JENKINS. Okay, it’s like this. I was digging the hole—he moved, then screamed. I screamed. We both screamed. It was a whole thing.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. Then what happened?
JENKINS. Then he got up and ran into the kitchen like some kind of possessed ragdoll, then a few seconds later, he stumbled back out and collapsed face-first on the lawn. Dramatic, right? That’s when I saw it—a knife, sticking out of his back. It wasn’t there before. So, I figured maybe he backed into it while flailing around in the kitchen—who knows what happened in there. Anyway, he’s back on the lawn, facedown, with a knife in his back. That’s when I came to get you. But when I got back? He was still there, on the lawn, face down, but the knife? Completely gone.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. Gone? Gone where?
JENKINS. I don’t know. It’s a mystery.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. Alright. This is complicated. Let me absorb.
JENKINS. Okay.
MRS FRACKENHEISENBERGER. He was dead in the lounge. Then he wasn’t. You both screamed. He ran into the kitchen, managed to stab himself in the back, came back out, died again, and now the knife has mysteriously disappeared?
JENKINS. Yes. Oh! Maybe he pulled the knife out himself and tucked it away somewhere safe? You know, as a tidy up?
End of script sample.