"The Butler Did It"
by Tim Kelly

"The Butler Did It" Book Cover
"The Butler Did It" Cover

Highlights

75 mins Present Day Ensemble Cast Interior Set Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes American Comedy

Why we like it

"'The Butler Did It' humorously plays with classic tropes, leaving audiences guessing who really holds the knife."

From: Mystery and Thriller Scripts

Synopsis

This comedy parodies every English mystery play ever written: but it has a decidedly American flair.

Miss Maple a dowager with a reputation for "clever" weekend parties invites a group of detective writers to eerie Ravenswood Manor on Turkey Island where they are to impersonate their fictional characters.

The hostess has arranged all sorts of amusing incidents: a mysterious voice on the radio a menacing face at the window a mad killer on the loose.

Who is that body in the wine cellar anyway?

Why do little figurines keep toppling from the mantle?

Then a real murder takes place and Miss Maple is outraged.

She offers an immense reward to the "detective" who can bring the killer to justice.

And what an assortment of zany would-be sleuths!

When they're not busy tripping over clues they trip over each other!

Laughs collide with thrills and the climax is a real seat-grabber as the true killer is unmasked and almost everyone turns out to be someone else!

Can be played as a pure farce or as humorous satire.

Press Reviews

"Successfully interweaves all the classic elements with an imaginative approach [...] a stylish cross between Ten Little Indians and The Cat and The Canary [...] Great fun and strictly for laughs [...]"

— Green Sheet, Sun Valley, CA

"Kelly knows how to write a spiney mystery with a generous injection of wild humor [...] as good as any dramatic representation of an Agatha Christie or an Erle Stanley Gardner title would be on stage."

— Arizona Journal

Characters

Character
Rita

a social secretary.

Miss Maple

a well-known society hostess.

Father White

a mystery writer.

Chandler Marlowe

another.

Louie Fan

another.

Rick

another.

Laura

another.

Peter Flimsey

another.

Charity

another.

Mabel Dupre

an adventuress.

Pharaoh Link

a San Francisco police detective.

Haversham

a young housemaid, an ex-convict.

Publication

Publisher Samuel French
Year 2021
Pages 70
Language English
ISBN-13 9780874409796
ISBN-10 0874409799

"The Butler Did It" is a American comedy play written by Tim Kelly and published by Samuel French (2021).

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Rating

2.9

17 ratings · 55 reviews

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Performance Rights

Available for Licensing
Amateur Only
Fee: Minimum Fee: $130 per performance

Restrictions: Major Markets Only (US) / Standard Restriction (UK)

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