A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  4w, 2m

Neil Simon

Neil Simon’s gut-busting comedy about a Manhattan executive’s nervous breakdown and subesequent recovery is a laugh-a-minute look at middle age and modern life.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w, 2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Nominee: Three 1972 Tony Awards, including Best Play

Details

Summary
Mel Edison is a well-paid executive at a high-end Manhattan firm. But when the firm hit the skids, Mel gets the ax. His wife Edna takes a job to tide them over, but she too is sacked. Thanks to the air pollution killing his plants, and the paper-thin apartment walls allowing him a constant earful of his neighbors’ private lives, Mel's life can’t seem to get any worse. Then he’s robbed, and his psychiatrist dies with $23,000 of his money. Mel does the only thing left for him to do: He has a nervous breakdown – and it’s the best thing that ever happened to him.
History
The Prisoner of Second Avenue premiered on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on 11 November 1972. Directed by Mike Nichols, the production starred Peter Falk, Lee Grant and Vincent Gardenia. A 1975 film adaptation, directed by Melvin Frank, starred Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft.
Keywords
Performing Groups
MEL EDISON
EDNA EDISON
HARRY EDISON
PEARL
JESSIE
PAULINE
  • Time Period 1970s
  • Setting A 14th floor apartment on NYC’s overpriced East Side. 1971.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes, Period Costumes
  • Duration 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol

Media

“Full of humor and intelligence... Fine fun.” – New York Post

“Creates an atmosphere of casual cataclysm, an everyday urban purgatory of copelessness from which laughter seems to be released like vapor from the city’s manholes.” – Time

“A gift for taking a grave subject and, without losing sight of its basic seriousness, treating it with hearty but sympathetic humor... A talent for writing a wonderful funny line... full of humor and intelligence. Fine fun.” – New York Post


Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

    Please submit a license request to determine availability.

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Authors

Neil Simon

Neil Simon

American playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon (1927-2018) is widely regarded as one of the most successful, prolific and performed playwrights in theatre history. In addition to Lost In Yonkers, which won a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize, his plays and musicals include Come ...

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