Play Summary:
Gina Blandleigh tries to help her milquetoast violist husband, Harold, secure his
position in the Flushing Philharmonic by inviting the aging virtuoso Yevtuslav
Rostronitzin to dinner in order to urge him to do a benefit concert. The plan involves
pretending to live at Gina's boss's home (the famous Wall Street broker, Morton
Mirmelstein) while he is mysteriously out of town. Everything goes wrong, starting
with the escape of Morton's enormous, ill-tempered cat Maynard; the unexpected visit
of Morton's parents (Mimi and Malcolm) as well as Morton's estranged lover, Max.
This is a modern farce, complete with deception, mistaken identities, mayhem, and a
surprise ending. Religion, art, gay marriage, starving nonprofit arts organizations,
and insider trading--this play has it all. It may be the only play in existence in which
the Securities and Exchange Commission has a role.
Play History:
:* 1999 Maynard Dines In is chosen (one of five out of 55 entries) for
a reading critique at the Northwest Regional New Plays Conference at
Montana State University in Bozeman, MT.
* 2000 Maynard Dines In wins the Jewel Box Theatre's national
playwriting competition in Oklahoma City, OK.
* 2000 Maynard Dines In is a semifinalist (one of 17 out of 120
entries) in the Ukiah Players Theatre New American Comedy Festival in
Ukiah, CA.
* 2001 Maynard Dines In wins second place in the McLaren Memorial
Comedy Play Writing Competition in Midland, TX.
* 2002 Maverick Players of Midland, TX, produce Maynard Dines In.
* 2004 Manitou Art Theatre in Manitou Springs, CO, produces Maynard
Dines In.
* 2004 Maynard Dines In receives an analysis and consultation by noted
script doctor Linda Seger.
More info on the play's history at http://home.earthlink.net/~marnest/playnote.html
About the Authors:
Mark Arnest is a journalist, composer, pianist and playwright. As arts
writer for the Colorado Springs Gazette, he won the American
Association of Sunday and Features Editor's 2002 first-place award for
criticism. Compositions include All About Love, a musical adaptation of
Plato's Symposium, premiered by University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
Theatreworks, and Pike?s Dream, a one-act opera commissioned for the
2006 celebration of the Zebulon Pike bicentennial. Since then, the
Arnests have returned to Iron & Gold, an opera/musical about railroads,
robber barons, and labor in 19th Century America.
Lauren Krohn Arnest studied Russian language at the University of
Colorado (B.A. 1976) and law at Stanford University (J.D. 1979). She
worked in legal publishing for many years, writing materials to tell
lawyers how to practice law ? despite having never practiced herself.
Hooking up with this Mark Arnest character in 1992 opened up a whole
new world for spinning yarns, so she stopped inventing advice for
lawyers, probably to the benefit of the legal community. She has
written the lyrics to All About Love, the libretto to Pike's Dream,
and, with Mark, five plays, including Maynard Dines In, Failing
Consumption, and YourArmy?. Presently, she works as a free-lance editor
when not collaborating with Mark on theater projects and painting
(oils) in her spare time.
Click here to request a copy of Maynard Dines In
