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Tough City, Prone to Rain by Alan Haehnel play script cover

Tough City, Prone to Rain

by Alan Haehnel

In a city like this one – cold, dark, cynical, and often rainy – there are more places to hide than to be found. And let’s not forget about the shark-infested waters.

Donna Rockbridge needs the women (not dolls, dames, or sweethearts) from the Broadly Speaking Detective Agency to find her twin brother before trouble does. They’re ready to take on the case. Just don’t ask their secretary to answer the door; he hasn’t quite mastered doors and phones yet.

This noir is perfect for a competition piece – easy to stage, with a large cast and fun to play!

Comedy

Average Producer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 35 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
25 Characters
10 M 5 F 10 Any Gender
Set
Simple set
Length
29 pages
Production Tips
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Free Excerpt
Classroom Study Guide
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Performance Royalty Fees

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.

25 Characters

  • 10 Males
  • 5 Females
  • 10 Any Gender

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.

  • NEWSIE Any gender 4 lines
    Telling how it is in the big city.
  • DONNA Female 63 lines
    Looking for help in the big city.
  • PASSERBYS 1, 2 & 3 Any gender 7 lines
    Three city dwellers sharing deep thoughts.
  • AMERICAN SPY Any gender 17 lines
    Dogs bark at midnight.
  • RUSSIAN SPY Any gender 19 lines
    Cats bay at moon.
  • MYRNA Female 68 lines
    Detective. Don’t call her a dame.
  • LILAC Female 68 lines
    Detective. Don’t call her a doll.
  • ROSE Female 64 lines
    Detective. Don’t call her sweetheart.
  • EARL Male 59 lines
    Secretary. Can’t tell the difference between a door and a phone.
  • LILAC’S MOTHER Female 2 lines
    Thinks Lilac was born to be a nun.
  • MR. GOLDMAN Male 2 lines
    Thinks Myrna was born to be a singer.
  • HAROLD Male 2 lines
    Thinks Rose was born to be his wife.
  • LEON Male 9 lines
    Member of “The Gang”. Not great at coming up with passwords.
  • RATTIE Any gender 3 lines
    Member of “The Gang”.
  • FRANKIE Any gender 5 lines
    Member of “The Gang”. Likes Christmas.
  • BUTCH Male 3 lines
    Member of “The Gang”. Knows the #1 rule of the establishment.
  • BUSTER Any gender 4 lines
    Member of “The Gang”.
  • SLADE Male 18 lines
    A squared-jaw, wise-cracking difficulty.
  • MR. SUGAR Male 14 lines
    Nightclub owner. Not happy with Myrna.
  • ROCKO Male 13 lines
    Works for Mr. Sugar.
  • DONNY Male 10 lines
    Works for Mr. Sugar.
  • COURIER Any gender 2 lines
    Was never here.
  • WILLIAM Any gender 11 lines
    Donna’s twin brother.

Praise for Tough City, Prone to Rain

5 out of 5 stars
Audra Bocksnick
Alma Middle School
FANTASTIC! It is such a fun and clever show. Students were able to really embrace their characters and had very insightful performances -- even with the tongue-and-cheek style. It is truly a fun show. You can really make it your own -- and we did!
5 out of 5 stars
Tara Cyganowski
Temple ISD Lamar Middle School
The students absolutely loved it! It was a lot of fun getting to mix the comedy and the seriousness of the actual story.
5 out of 5 stars
Maryellen Paquette
Burncoat Middle School for the Arts
This was the perfect play for our state’s middle school drama festival. At 35 minutes, it challenged our students with both the style and staging and received wonderful audience feedback. Several festival directors even said they’d love to work on it with their own students. With fun opportunities for blocking, costuming, set design, and choreography, it’s an excellent introduction to film noir!

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