Synopsis
American Roulette
Published by Dramatists Play Service
2 Male 1 Female
Two very privileged-looking whites, Charles and Hillary, carry out the interview. They tell him that the only qualification needed is desire to be in the firm
The interview amounts to a series of tests designed to trick Sam: Hillary tries to seduce him, Charles gives him a fake IQ test, they ignore him, they try to frighten him, Charles taunts him about his
Sam sees they are not taking him seriously but nevertheless he responds flawlessly, and it looks as though they will have to take him into the firm
At last Charles pressures Sam into a kind of cowboys-and-Indians game; they shoot at each other with blanks. "American roulette!" Charles shouts gleefully, and just then Sam's gun fires a real bullet and Charles is killed
Hillary then seizes a gun and kills Sam. The candidate is rejected, Hillary announces, because he does not show sufficient desire to be in the firm
Selected for production of the Playwrights Unit, in New York City, this remarkably original and perceptive work details a tense, contemporary American crisis
Alternately hilarious and chilling in its incisive examination of a black job-seeker being "interviewed" by two white personnel experts, the play moves swiftly, and inexorably, to an explosive unforgettable climax