Last Call at the Aardvark

by Paul Stroili

The Bronx, 1935. The end of prohibition turned all the speakeasies into legitimate nightclubs, if you want to call The Aardvark Club legitimate. Honey has worn nearly every hat you can wear; slinging drinks, cooking the books, but at the end of the day, she’s a stripper.

Most people come and go like ghosts, but it’s hard to miss Zack, an aspiring comic who performs at the club. Zack’s got some talent. He...

The Bronx, 1935. The end of prohibition turned all the speakeasies into legitimate nightclubs, if you want to call The Aardvark Club legitimate. Honey has worn nearly every hat you can wear; slinging drinks, cooking the books, but at the end of the day, she’s a stripper.

Most people come and go like ghosts, but it’s hard to miss Zack, an aspiring comic who performs at the club. Zack’s got some talent. He might even amount to something. So why did he have to tell that joke? One bad joke, about Frankie’s girl, no less – and club owner Frankie is not known for his sense of humor.

Now Frankie has given Honey one more job to juggle. She’s got to help Zack build a whole new act for an audience of one. And as they say in comedy; “You either kill, or you just die up there.”

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Last Call at the Aardvark

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  • Kerr Lockhart: Last Call at the Aardvark by Paul Stroili
    “

    Sure, the magician never actually appears on stage in LAST CALL AT THE AARDVARK, but playwright Paul Stroili keeps pulling the rabbits out of his hat until the Twist (you know, the dame, the frail) pulls a final twist.

    Stroili has a finely tuned ear for the Broadway rat-a-tat-tat talk of Hecht and MacArthur, Damon Runyon and the like, and he leads the audience down the garden path with a wheeze about a broken-down comic and a big-hearted stripper. But the climax is a coup de grace that is a coup de theatre.

    A great vehicle for three sharp actors.

    Sure, the magician never actually appears on stage in LAST CALL AT THE AARDVARK, but playwright Paul Stroili keeps pulling the rabbits out of his hat until the Twist (you know, the dame, the frail) pulls a final twist.

    Stroili has a finely tuned ear for the Broadway rat-a-tat-tat talk of Hecht and MacArthur, Damon Runyon and the like, and he leads the audience down the garden path with a wheeze about a broken-down comic and a big-hearted stripper. But the climax is a coup de grace that is a coup de theatre.

    A great vehicle for three sharp actors.

    ”
  • Carey Crim: Last Call at the Aardvark by Paul Stroili
    “

    Loved this play. Dark, gritty and truly funny. Mr. Stroili captures an era and creates engaging and dynamic characters we can get behind. The female character is very well written. Lovely twists and turns. It's a fast-paced exciting ride. Would love to see this produced.

    Loved this play. Dark, gritty and truly funny. Mr. Stroili captures an era and creates engaging and dynamic characters we can get behind. The female character is very well written. Lovely twists and turns. It's a fast-paced exciting ride. Would love to see this produced.

    ”

Development History

  • Reading, Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2020