Welcome back to The Hardcase Hotel - the hotel for the rich and famous whose bad behaviour has seen them banned from the great five-star hotels of Europe. Three months have passed since the scandal of Walter Buckley’s murder with a fish fork.
The months have not been kind to the flamboyant hotel manager Juan Carlos; his favourite assistant manager, Aileen, has left for the bright lights of the Paris Ritz, and he is not coping without her at his side. Having just managed to coax Aileen back for a visit, in an effort to restore the hotel’s harmony, all hell breaks loose with the brutal murder of Sir Harold Trout. Juan Carlos and Aileen once again must find out which of the eccentric and dangerous guests has committed the gruesome crime, how they did it, and why, before the chaos destroys our beloved Hardcase Hotel. Classic murder mystery lavished with oodles of laughs!
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Plot / Synopsis
Setting
The play takes place over three days at The Hardcase Hotel, a boutique five-star hotel perched on a clifftop at an isolated location somewhere in Italy in 1936.
Stage Set
The set consists of main entrance doors to the hotel upstage right. A long hotel front desk stretches across much of the upstage area near the back wall of the room. Upstage left is the door that leads to the dining room. Upstage centre (behind the desk) is a door to the office and wine cellar. Centre-left and centre-right are doorways to the hallways leading to the guest’s rooms. Floor-to-ceiling windows are imagined downstage from left to right that overlook the ravine and countryside from the hotel's clifftop location. The set is furnished with classic furniture and furnishings reminiscent of the 1930s.
Scenes
ACT 1
Scene 1: Morning, in the combined reception area and guest lounge at the Hardcase Hotel, 1936.
Scene 2: The same location and day, a little while later.
Scene 3: The same location and day, still later.
ACT 2
Scene 1: The same location, the following evening.
Scene 2: The same location, the following morning.
Scene 3: The same day and location, a little while later.
Cast
Juan Carlos (Male) Aged forties to fifties. Spanish, the flamboyant and indomitable manager of The Hardcase Hotel.
Aileen (Female) Aged twenties to forties. Irish, assistant manager. Competent, quick-witted, fun loving.
Madame Gazda (Female) Aged fifties to seventies. Eastern European. Thick accented, and forthright. She believes she has psychic powers. Long-term resident at The Hardcase Hotel.
Sir Harold Trout (Male) Aged fifties to seventies. English, upper class, pompous and snide.
Margaret Sallow (Female) Aged twenties. English, middle class, intelligent. Sir Harold’s aide.
Colonel Wainwright (Male) Aged forties. English, upper class, polite, charming. A hero from the Great War.
Pearl Robertson (Female) Aged thirties to forties. New Zealander. Enthusiastic, brash, not to be crossed but not unkind.
Franky Robertson (Male or female) Aged from 10 years to early teens. Oldest of the Robertson children.
Lilly Robertson (Female) Aged from 10 years to early teens. The middle Robertson child.
Ruby Robertson (Female) Aged from 10 years to early teens. The youngest Robertson child.
Aggie Woodrow (Female) Aged seventies. From the South of the USA. Aggie hides her intelligence and dark spirit behind a strong southern accent and apparent frivolous demeanour. Sister to Gertie.
Gertie Woodrow (Female) Aged seventies. Gertie hides her intelligence and dark spirit behind a strong southern accent and apparent frivolous demeanour. Sister to Aggie.