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Murray, Peta L. (Australian playwright, 1958-____), “The Procedure,”

a 68-minute political comedy in English, set on an upper floor of The Pyramid, a high rise building in any large city, a Friday evening, 2000,

1m (+4m1f voices);

 •  © 2000 by Peta L. Murray;  •  in Peta L. Murray’s The  Procedure (Kensington, Victoria, Australia: The Author, 2000);  •  script/rights available  from Katrina Berg, HLA Management, P.O. Box 1536, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012, Australia, e-mail katrina.berg@hlamgt.com.au, telephone (work) 61 29-310-4948.  •  Peta L. Murray available at  P.O. Box 1182, Kensington, Victoria 3031, Australia, telephone (home) 61 3 9376 6789, (work) 61 3 9376 6789, fax 61 3 9376 6789, e-mail martini@netspace.net.au.  •  Cited by Peta L. Murray via ftp July 17, 2002; Murray says,

  §  Dramatis Personae Mike Newman (m), 50, State Minister for  Health; Mick the Knife (m voice), a surgeon and wine maker; Melanoma Mick (m voice), a businessman; Media Mick (m voice), a media minder and PR man; Micm McMichaels (m voice), The Premier and Mike’s esteemed brother-in-law; Ellen Newman (f  voice), Mike’s wife.

  §  Synopsis “The Minister for Health, Mike Newman, is to do one last radio interview before heading off for a relaxing weekend being wined and courted in the beachside home of a business associate. But the Minister’s evening is about to take a disturbing turn. The  Minister has been promoting a new cancer prevention programme, Gutscout, but is unprepared for the consequences when a ‘sample’ he has provided to a pathology lab—as a publicity stunt—is analysed and found to be suspicious. Faced with the prospect of further medical procedures and an imagination that runs riot, we watch the Minister and his life unravel, as Mike tries to take advantage of the publicity possibilities of a life-threatening illness, whilst covering up everything that needs to be covered up during his absence from his office.

  §  Comment “The play calls for a virtuoso performance from a  solo performer who is onstage alone for over an hour, with only an  array of telephones (and a side of rotting meat) for company. It can be performed in a single, simple set but does need audiovisual equipment for a slide show, and a good sound system for the other voices which come in by phone. It also needs an onstage shredding machine. Melbourne Workers Theatre commissioned the play, which premiered successfully for a season in Melbourne, Australia, 2000. ”

  §  Themes corporate ethics, modern politics, political satire.

See also Peta L. Murray’s
 

• “Spitting Chips,” a drama in English, 2m2f; • ISBN 0 86819 406 9; • script/rights available from Currency Press, P.O. Box 2287, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012, Australia, telephone: (61 2) 9319 5877, fax: (61 2) 9319 3649, e-mail: enquiries@currency.com.au.

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Page mounted July 17, 2002, by the Webmaster.