Comedy/ 6 characters, 3 men, 3 women/ One Act
Synopsis: You Can Try It is a brisk comedy set in the eccentric Manion household, where the domineering presence of the late Judge Ezra Manion looms large—literally, in the form of an oversized portrait.
Widow Christine is convinced Ezra still haunts her, while her grown children, Lorraine and Delmore, struggle to exorcise his grip on the family. Lorraine’s fiancé Peter devises a faux séance, hoping to free them all from the Judge’s psychological stranglehold, but chaos—and hypnosis—ensue.
Daisy, Peter’s spunky sister, manipulates both minds and hearts, while Captain Ole Olsen, a bumbling suitor from Christine’s past, arrives to declare his long-simmering love. As tempers flare and identities blur, the living must face their ghosts—real or imagined.
This farce pokes affectionate fun at grief, guilt, and the absurd lengths people go to for love and liberation. In the end, healing may come . . . but not before a little havoc.
Amateur and professional rights:
George Freek
515 Douglas St.
Belvidere, IL 61008
Ph.: (815) 484-3938
gfreek@juno.com
About the Playwright: George Freek’s plays have been produced by the Organic Theater in Chicago, the Milwaukee Repertory, the West Coast Ensemble in Los Angeles, and the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, as well as the 13th Street Theater, Love Creek Productions, and the Theater-Studio in New York. He has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts—the latter for a Residency at the New American Theater in Rockford, Illinois—and has also enjoyed residencies at Southern Methodist University and Southern Illinois University.
You Can Try It was first produced by Eclectic Theatre in Chicago, IL, USA, in August, 2022.