Synopsis
Karlaboy
Published by Samuel French Inc
6 Male 2 Female
Biographer Bill Lauder has penned a ruthless tell-all about Karla Daven, a long dead legendary 1950s starlet
As a result, he is summoned in the middle of the night to the dilapidated mansion of Karla's celebrity husband, Harold Bachman, a reclusive director who makes the outlandish claim that Karla's ghost has threatened to kill him this very night unless Bill calls off the publication of his tawdry book of lies
What follows is an intense evening where memory wrestles with myth in order to find the truth
As Harold gets deeper into exposing Bill's lies about Karla, he is forced to confront the lies he's told himself lies about himself as a filmmaker, a husband, and as a man
Harold must not only save himself from Karla's ghost, but from the ghosts of an unrealized life
CHARACTERS :
HAROLD BACHMAN - 65, a movie director and screenwriter, retired for over 35 years. In recall, he is in his 20s
KARLA DAVEN - 20s, a lovely actress with star quality. Karla should not be costumed or made-up to recall any one specific famous movie star
BILL LAUDER - 30s, a journalist
TONY - 20s-30s, a good-looking movie star-in-training
STUDIO BOSS - 40s-60s, head of the unnamed major studio to which Harold and Karla are under contract
ENSEMBLE OF THREE - Made up of 2 men and 1 woman
The Ensemble plays the following roles - First Male Voice, Second Male Voice, Third Male Voice, Assistant, Olga, Olga's Partners, Super Mogul, Party Guests, Yes Man #1, Yes Man #2, Gowned Actress, Reporter #1, Reporter #2, Reporter #3, Sydney Bachman, Bill's Agent
REVIEWS
"Steven Peros' intriguing play is a well wrought tale of love and loss, set against the sweeping background of the golden era of Hollywood ... while the characters are fictional, they take on a life of their own and end up eerily reminiscent and real ... Karlaboy could rightly take its place among the more innovative and involving productions currently on the Los Angeles theatre scene" ~ Elias Stimac, Drama-Logue
"A wonderful experience ... what rings through this totally fascinating play is the brilliant dialogue. Steven Peros has an ear for dialogue of this type highly intelligent, witty and on the mark. You'll see many a show before you come across talk this stimulating" ~ Maurice Keller, The Tolucan