Each of the three plays is 25-30 minutes long. Along with elementary schools, senior citizens, Girl and Boy scout troops, community theatres and professional theatres have produced them, as they have our other "Quickie" melodramas, such as The Saga of Sagebrush Sal. These are superb money-makers because they can be inexpensively produced with just four to six rehearsals, and audiences love them.

High Noon in Gloomtown. A Wild-West shoot-em-up, with a mean villain, brave hero, delectable heroine, and lots of handsome guys and pretty gals. (8m, 4w, extras)
The Sword in the Styrofoam. A King Arthur slice-em-up. The villainous King kidnaps the beautiful Princess and locks her in a tower. Then along comes the Knight in Shining Armor to save her and set everthing right in the world. (4m, 1w, extras)
How Timely Nick and Betty Brown Formed a Conglomerate. A 1920's gangster stick-em-up. Betty Brown, the heroine, is a bag lady and the hero, Timely Nick, shows up in the nick of time. (7m, 2w, extras)

The plays were originally presented at a U. S. Army base in West Germany. The author, a graduate of West Point, explains: "Every battalion in the Darmstadt military community was responsible for putting on a party at the officer's club once a year. My battalion chose the original path of putting on an annual melodrama, which was presented at a theme party, with partygoers invited to dress appropriately—cowboy duds for "High Noon in Gloomtown," medieval stuff for "The Sword in the Styrofoam," and 1920's outfits for "How Timely Nick and Betty Brown Formed a Conglomerate."

You may do one, two, or all three. Specialty numbers and entr'acts may be added, and the playbook gives some great suggestions for opening with a singalong, including a lot of audience-participation foolishness.

There are a number of add-ons to the basic formula that can add to the fun: Use music to underscore the melodrama. Each play has a fairly transparent place to put in some dancing.

Final words-of-advice for beginners: Let actors pantomime the action as the Narrator describes it (don't let them just stand there and listen, as if they paid to see the show). Pick up cues rapidly. Remember that fast pickup of cues doesn't mean fast speech. Once the cue is picked up, the bumpkin can drawl, the beautiful girl can be seductive, the villain can sneer, and the hero can be heroic.

You'll be a hero, too, when you choose these plays for your audiences to enjoy.

See also: Melodramas