Beyond a Joke: Four Short Plays: Acting Edition S.

Characters: 4 males, 4 females

Scenery: Combined interior and exterior

Jane and Andrew's pleasant country house is accident prone. Six people have already died there in unfortunate and embarrassing accidents. When daughter Sally's young man Geoff arrives for the weekend unaware of the house's reputation, he mistakenly deduces from conversational confusion that the deaths were due to sinister circumstances. A body is discovered in the cupboard and a visiting vicar passes peacefully away in the garden just as Geoff's parents call unexpectedly. Jane and her sister-in-law persuade Andrew to keep up appearances by hiding evidence, which involves trundling around with bodies in wheelbarrows. Geoff is nearly convinced that he is mistaken, unaware that one of the bodies has been mistakenly stowed in the trunk of his parents' car.