See How They Run

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See How They Run is a play written in 1945 by Philip King. It is considered a farce for its screwball situations and humor, heavily playing on the old classic of mistaken identities.

[edit] Plot Setup

The stage is set in a ridiculous-sounding parody of British town names. The lead character is Penelope Toop, the American wife of the local vicar, Lionel Toop. They employ Ida, a Cockney accented maid. Miss Skillon, a churchgoer of the parish and scald, stops by to gossip with the vicar and complain about the latest 'outrage' Penelope has caused. The real havoc breaks loose when Corporal Winton, an old friend of Penelope's in the American army, stops by to visit. In order to flout army regulations, he borrows one of Lionel's backup outfits to leave and go to a play, pretending to be the vicar Humphrey who is coming to preach the guest sermon the next day. Meanwhile, a dangerous prisoner from the nearby American military base has escaped, and needs to change his clothes to have any hope of escape. To add to the confusion, both Humphery, the guest speaker, as well as Penelope's uncle, the bishop of Lax, unexpectedly show up early. Confusion quickly abounds.

[edit] Other Notes

The play's original "villain," such that there was one, was an escaped Nazi soldier. The play was later updated to use a slightly more timely escaped Russian spy.