A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Wreck on the 5:25

Short Play, Drama  /  2w, 2m

In this play, which represents "Sloth" in Wilder's projected cycle on
The Seven Deadly Sins, Herb Hawkins, a jovial New Jersey-New York City
commuter with iron-bound habits, questions the meaning and purpose of his life.

The Wreck on the 5:25

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    30 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Mystery/Thriller
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene Work
    • Competition or Audition Material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

In this play, which represents "Sloth" in Wilder's projected cycle on The Seven Deadly Sins, Herb Hawkins, a jovial New Jersey-New York City commuter with iron-bound habits, has called to say he is coming home late. This news sets his wife and daughter on edge, a condition heightened when a neighbor informs them that an unidentified man is hiding in the shadows of their front lawn, staring in at them. The police arrive to arrest the supposed prowler, only to find Herb, quietly observing his family through the windows of his own home. It seems that earlier that day, he received word of a surprise inheritance, left to him by a kind, lonely elderly woman. This sudden gift of a large sum of money prompts Herb to question the meaning and purpose of his own life. He returns to his place in the family with touches of humor, irony and despair.

Published in Thornton Wilder One-Act Series: The Seven Deadly Sins, representing "Sloth."

Cast Attributes
MRS. HAWKINS – 40
MINNIE – her daughter, almost 16
MR. FORBES – a neighbor
MR. HERBERT HAWKINS – Mrs. Hawkins’s husband
  • Time Period Present Day
  • Setting The Hawkins home. 1956.
  • Duration 30 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

“Because so many of the plays we see nowadays are really suited to the small screen, it is easy to forget that a stage, no matter its size, can contain the cosmos. No one understood this better than Thornton Wilder, whose plays show us how to see the infinite in the utterly mundane.” – Howard Kissel, New York Daily News

Videos

  • Thornton Wilder: It’s Time youtube thumbnail

    Thornton Wilder: It’s Time

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £40 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

    Please submit a license request to determine availability.

Scripts

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Authors

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Yale and Princeton, was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one ...

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