A Lighter Shade of Noir
by Patrick Derksen
A fabulously funny and high styling take on film noir.
Average Producer Rating:
About 75 minutes
Act 1: 35 minutes, Act 2: 25 minutes, Act 3: 15 minutes
Times given are approximate and do not include intermissions/scene changes/breaks
25
13 M | 10 W | 2 Any Gender
Simple set
62 pages
Reviews from Past Producers
In addition to traditional live stage performance rights, A Lighter Shade of Noir can also be performed under the following scenarios.
Virtual Performance
A Virtual Performance is a performance on an online web conferencing platform such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, or Google Meets where performers are geographically isolated from one another and not together on a stage.
No audience is physically present with the performers. The audience is logged in to the same web conferencing platform as the performers.
Each time the play is performed for a virtual audience of any size (whether or not admission is charged) constitutes one performance.
Livestream Performance
Productions of A Lighter Shade of Noir may be Livestreamed.
All Livestream Performances must be conducted through our Authorized Streaming Partner, BookTix. Please contact BookTix at info@booktix.com for more information about Livestreaming.
A Livestream Performance is a traditional performance that is livestreamed to the Internet as the actors are performing. Instead of watching the show live in the theatre, the audience watches virtually from their home or other location.
All Livestream Performances must be conducted through our Authorized Streaming Partner, BookTix. Please contact BookTix at info@booktix.com for more information about Livestreaming.
A Livestream Performance may be pre-recorded. Recordings for pre-recorded Livestreams may be made if the recording is destroyed at the conclusion of the production. Should the producing organization want to retain the recording for archival purposes, they must purchase a separate Videorecording License from Theatrefolk.
Theatrefolk charges no additional fees for permission to Livestream. However, BookTix will charge nominal fees to the producing organization. Theatrefolk does not have any financial interest in BookTix and does not receive any commission or fees from BookTix.
Theatrefolk cannot be held responsible for any issues, technical, financial, legal, or otherwise, arising from the producing organization’s relationship with BookTix.
Each time the show is Livestreamed (whether performed live or pre-recorded) constitutes one performance.
One license, three ways to use it
Each royalty you purchase can be used as a Traditional Live Stage Performance, Virtual Performance, or Livestream Performance. How you choose to use your performance license is up to you! Performances need not all be of the same type so long as the total number of performances given does not exceed the total number of performances ordered.
How to Order
Click on the red "Add to Cart" button, then select "A Production"
Trent Trowel is your typical gumshoe. Searching the mean streets for crimes to solve and dames to fall for. He joins some of the world’s most famous detectives at the International PD gala. There’s Shirley Holmes, Jean Louie Phillip Eustache… and Aunt Beatrice. But is this just an innocent gala? Will the world’s most dastardly villains foil them with a fiendish master plan? Will Aunt Beatrice ever get an English muffin? Everything is not what it seems.
A fabulously funny and high styling take on film noir - it’s a lighter shade of noir after all!
Click here to read production tips for this play.
Awards and Accolades
- Millhopper Montessori School - Superior Award - Florida Junior Regional Festival
Characters
25
13 Men, 10 Women, 2 Any Gender
-
TRENT TROWEL
[M]
136 lines
- A tough, but somewhat incompetent, hard-boiled P.I.
-
TRACY DYCK
[W]
64 lines
- A no-nonsense police detective who loathes private inspectors
-
SHIRLEY HOLMES
[W]
96 lines
- A confident and intelligent British detective
-
JEAN-LOUIS-PHILIPPE EUSTACHE
[M]
77 lines
- A refined inspector from France
-
MS. BEATRICE
[W]
61 lines
- An elderly lady who knows it all
-
DR. WATSON
[M]
55 lines
- Holmes’ long-suffering assistant
-
MISS FLANNIGAN
[W]
31 lines
- Trowel’s long-suffering secretary
-
MONSIEUR SILENCIEUX
[M]
0 lines
- Eustache’s long-suffering butler
-
JANE
[W]
34 lines
- Ms. Beatrice’s long-suffering niece
-
SERGEANT MALONEY
[M]
23 lines
- Dyck’s long-suffering subordinate
-
BIG BILL
[M]
12 lines
- A shadowy crime boss
-
TONY
[M]
7 lines
- A tight lipped-henchman who gives away more than he thinks
-
VINNY
[M]
7 lines
- Big Bill’s henchmen
-
CANDY
[W]
6 lines
- A good-for-nothing floozy
-
MARIO
[M]
7 lines
- Another criminal thug
-
MAUREEN ARTEE
[W]
18 lines
- A cunning villain
-
LE CAMBRIOLEUR
[M]
7 lines
- An infamous cat burglar
-
ETHEL
[W]
5 lines
- Ms. Beatrice’s good-for-nothing neighbor
-
MR. SMITH
[M]
38 lines
- A hapless postman
-
CLARICE LATRICHE
[W]
48 lines
- A femme-fatale with mysterious motives
-
MAYOR DEFEHR
[M]
48 lines
- A boisterous and personable politician
-
MRS. BENEDICT
[W]
30 lines
- A wealthy socialite and hotel owner
-
BEVERLY STEWART
[W]
6 lines
- A very famous singer
-
JANITOR 1
[A]
12 lines
- A grumpy hotel-worker
-
JANITOR 2
[A]
12 lines
- A jaded hotel-worker
- Subgenres
- Noir Mystery/Thriller Parody Melodrama
- Settings
- 1940s
- Dress
- Period costumes
- Audience
- All audiences Pre-teen Teen
- Features
- Stage combat Sound & Lighting Design
- Set
- Simple set
- Themes
- Betrayal Friendship Relationships Obedience Morality Jealousy
- Other uses
- Audition material Monologues Scene work
- Awards & Accolades
- Plays with Awards & Accolades
Prop List
Gigantic feather, Egyptian mask, Painting of Beverly Stewart, Stuffed toy dog, Dog carrier (small), Pistol (toy), English muffins, Love Letter (Snookie Wookums) and envelope filled with rose petals, Several flower bouquets, Newspaper, Coffee cup, Mop and broom, Rotary phone, Two invitations to Gala, Fancy handkerchief, Maps, Palm-tree souvenir, Notepad and pencil
Production Photos
Multimedia
Related Titles
Customer Comments
I greatly enjoyed directing 'A Lighter Shade of Noir' last year with my middle school theater students. It had everything I was looking for in a script for 6th, 7th and 8th graders: lots of parts for girls or parts that could be changed to female roles, action without lots of fighting, multiple character scenes that had things to do while other people were talking, a main story line but also sub-plots, links to school subjects (like literature and history), and most importantly - dialogue that I could stand listening to over and over in rehearsal that gave the students motivation to look deeper and deeper into their character development.
I hope you write more for theater, especially children's theater. We need more good writing for these young actors.
Sharon Boski
I sincerely enjoyed directing your creation. There were lots of wonderful characters and I had a great bunch of students with creative ideas. Many of the plays I read before I chose one have similar themes but yours piqued my interest in the first couple of pages.
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Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.
Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.
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About 75 minutes
Act 1: 35 minutes, Act 2: 25 minutes, Act 3: 15 minutes
Times given are approximate and do not include intermissions/scene changes/breaks
25
13 M | 10 W | 2 Any Gender
Simple set
62 pages