Building Madness

FULL LENGTH Screwball Comedy
WINNER - PANOWSKI PLAYWRITING AWARD

The year is 1930. The stock market has just crashed. Max and Paul are just trying to keep their architecture company afloat, but they accidentally hired the mob to build a police retirement home. With the "help" of their dizzy secretary, Trixie, they may never get the project done, but they are most definitely building madness.
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Building Madness

Recommended by

  • Jerry Polner:
    5 Jul. 2021
    Kate Danley doesn’t miss a screwball comedy trick in this wonderfully funny story about two architectural partners doing business with the police commissioner’s daughter while they’re in hock to the mob. Set in 1930 with all the right dialect, it runs like eggs in coffee. Produce this play!
  • Margaret O'Donnell:
    6 Apr. 2021
    What fun! Trixie the secretary is guileless...or is she? The witty dialogue is pure 1930s Hollywood snappy, and the complications arise naturally from the situation and characters. The scenes where Trixie manages everything, right in front of her clueless bosses, are intricately and beautifully written. Life at an architecture has never been more engaging.
  • Cheryl Bear:
    23 Aug. 2020
    Shenanigans ensue as that little accidental hire spirals everything out of control for these guys and it's hilarious! Highly entertaining!

Character Information

  • Trixie Fuller
    20s - 40s,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    Dizzy secretary at TF Architecture. Crazy like a fox. (Strong comedian)
  • Paul Fielding
    20s - 40s,
    Any
    ,
    Male
    a down-to-earth, easy-going architect with a casual charisma
  • Max Marshall
    20s - 40s,
    Any
    ,
    Male
    A dashing, passionate, and ridiculously insecure architect desperate for love. Vulnerable in the bluster. A beta dog put into an alpha position.
  • Gwen Gladwell
    20s - 40s,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    a witty, smart socialite who is a fool when it comes to love
  • Ruby Deleoni
    30s - 50s,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    the va-va-va-voom head of the Deleoni family
  • Vito Deleoni
    20s - 40s,
    Any
    ,
    Male
    Ruby's nephew. A tough but dim mobster.

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Parson's Nose
    ,
    2023
  • Reading
    ,
    TheatreLab UK
    ,
    2017
  • Reading
    ,
    Seattle Playwrights Salon
    ,
    2017
  • Reading
    ,
    Theatrelab UK
    ,
    2015
  • Reading
    ,
    Eclectic Theatre
    ,
    2015
  • Reading
    ,
    Friday Night Footlights Reading presented at the Frederick Lowe Room of the Dramatists Guild, NYC
    ,
    2015

Production History

  • University
    ,
    Freed-Hardeman University
    ,
    2020
  • High School
    ,
    Woodstock High School
    ,
    2018
  • Community Theater
    ,
    Grande Prairie Live Theatre
    ,
    2017
  • University
    ,
    Northern Michigan University
    ,
    2017
  • Workshop
    ,
    Grove Theatre Center
    ,
    2016

Awards

Winner
,
2016 PANOWSKI Playwriting Award
,
Northern Michigan University
,
2016