Plays by Eliot Byerrum (Ellen Byerrum's theatrical pen name)
These two plays are published by Samuel French, Inc.
Contact them concerning production rights and royalties.
See the Events page for upcoming productions. Poster art
by Bob Williams. More plays on the next page.
A Christmas Cactus
A holiday mystery comedy in two acts
Published by Samuel French, Inc.
Samuel French Catalog #5901
ISBN
0-573-69517-2
Christmas Eve is no bed of roses for struggling private eye Cactus O'Riley, a fiery redhead with a bad
case of the holiday blues. It's a tough business; is she really cut out to be a detective? Should she try to scrape up the rent, or
close up shop for good? The last surprise package she needs is a lovelorn deputy D.A., a pair of armed-and-goofy fugitives hunting
some dead private eye, and her male secretary's overbearing mother, who mistakes a tense hostage situation for just the perfect little
holiday murder mystery party.
It's a Dickens of a Christmas for Cactus as she digs up long-buried mysteries, looks for a few
small miracles, and takes a second chance on love, luck, and the life of a private eye.
Remedial Surveillance As if teaching this cheap night school private eye class weren't enough aggravation for a burned-out detective
named Buzz, now he's got star pupil Irene, a bored Bloomingdale's buyer with a Bogart-Bacall obsession. She's a spunky gumshoe
wannabe who drives him nuts with her so-called "fashion clues." Buzz has her pegged as a dizzy dame who's seen too many old movies,
but Irene is full of surprises: Her surveillance homework project not only catches Buzz with his pants down, it might just save his
hide.
Deja Rendezvous Buzz and Irene: partners? The seen-it-all ex-cop trying for a comeback and the worn-it-all ex-Bloomie's
buyer living out her film-noir fantasy can't seem to agree on anything, not even on splitting up. And the detective biz isn't booming
in their shabby little office next to a singing telegram company. When a flamboyant femme fatale out of Buzz's past threatens to poison
their partnership (and a lot more), it looks like Buzz and Irene's last case. Unless they can discover that together they might just
have what it takes.
Gumshoe Rendezvous
Two one-act comedies of mystery and romance:
Remedial Surveillance
and
Deja Rendezvous
Published by
Samuel French, Inc.
Samuel French Catalog #9205
ISBN 0-573-62787-8
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