Mike ‘Hard As’ Nails

Georgia Tuxbury
3 short comedies in a series
2 men, 4 women

CASTING NOTICE: You may use as many as 4 men and 4 women. However, since the shows work well with double casting, you can use as few as 2 men and 2 women to play all the characters in the three shows. See the plays listed below for specific information.

About the series: A series of three short, humorous plays to perform singly or together! They all star a private eye and his cronies. They’re done like the hard-boiled private investigator dramas of the 1950s with all the characters we’ve come to know and love.

Included in the Series:

• Mike ‘Hard As’ Nails and the Case of the Wandering Buck
  15 minute comedy
  1 man, 1 woman
  Mike stays away from cases of unfaithful spouses, but Joy Buchanan is so charming and convincing he takes her on as a client. Besides that, he needs the money. Joy hires him to follow her husband Buck and catch him and his paramour in “the act”–of eating and drinking
• Mike ‘Hard As’ Nails and the Case of the Missing Mink
  15 minute comedy
  1 man, 2 women
  Mike has had a bad year. What he needs is a well-heeled client. Who should knock on his door but the diamond-flashing Suzette Swank who hires Mike to find her missing mink coat
• Mike ‘Hard As’ Nails and the Case of the Loving Lozanos
  15 minute comedy
  2 men, 1 woman
  As a private eye, Mike has seen some pretty sleazy characters in his day but none as bad as Louie ‘the Louse’ Lozano, bug exterminator and owner of the House of Pestitution. Louie feels his marriage is falling apart so he hires Mike to find out what his wife wants in a man.

Here’s what they’re saying about the shows:

• These are three of the funniest plays that I have seen. Anyone looking for a good laugh will enjoy them. – Colette Brown-Clark
• I had the honor of playing Mike in all three of these productions. It was such fun. The plays are clever and keep the audience laughing. – Jim Grotenhuis

About the playwright: Georgia Tuxbury retired from public relations and advertising before she was one of the reporters for Southwest Farm Press. She is currently a freelance writer of plays, short stories, poetry, and novels. Fifteen years ago she started a drama club in the over-fifty community where she lives.

Check out other plays by Georgia Tuxbury: Angel in Disguise–or How to Get Your Husband to Wear a Costume and All I Want is the Recipe