Plays produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
A simple enough plot…
Weeks before a presidential election, Senator Henry Douglas, a smooth-talking candidate who has based his entire campaign on the issues of morality and family values is given an unusual opportunity. Arranging for his wife, Lois, to be away for the weekend, he realizes that with a little luck he may be able to break everyone of his campaign promises before the votes are even counted. Once his wife is safely on her way to the airport, he invites his voluptuous secretary, Veronica, to spend the night in his Washington D.C. townhouse. To his abject disappointment, she is unavailable. He then contacts the Capitol Escort Agency, and arranges for an “escort” for the evening.
But, this is a farce....
Unfortunately, his neighbor, an elderly congressman, Clyde Salt, locks himself out of his townhouse and has to spend the night. Harry solves the problem of Congressman Salt, by slipping large quantities of sleeping powders into his brandy. He will be sound asleep all night.
What else could go wrong?....
Jack Maguire, his nephew and a young first-term congressman, arrives to discuss Harry’s presidential
Campaign. He drinks the brandy intended for Salt.
Fiona, the “escort” girl, arrives and mistakenly assumes that Maguire is her client, and he, in a drug-induced
state, is unable to resist her advances.
Veronica changes her mind and arrives ready for a romantic evening.
A reporter, from the National Intruder, Betty Morrison, having heard the rumor that the Senator’s Office
staff is known as “Harry’s Harem” arrives with her camera to investigate.
MORRISON: I think I can produce proof of the Senator’s infidelities. Please believe me.
SALT: Believe you? Why shouldn’t I believe you? After all, in the past three months, I have read, on the front page no less,
of your smutty little publication, how a man in upstate New York has given birth to his own twin brother. How
Cleopatra is alive and well and living in Utah. How Adolf Hitler survived WWII, had a sex change operation and
married the mayor of Philadelphia. Do you want me to go on?
MORRISON: I suppose not. However I’m glad to see you read The Intruder, Congressman.
SALT: Ah, yes – well – I don’t really. I just notice the headlines when I’m standing in line at the supermarket.
MORRISON: I understand. However, if you could just bring yourself to trust me in this one case –
SALT: Trust you? Madam, if you’ve ever been in the trust department of a bank, you’ll notice that’s the one place where
all the pens are chained down!
And if that isn’t enough….
Maguire believes Fiona is from the C.I.A., not the C.E.A. “Capitol Escort Agency”, and is persuaded bySalt to “Do everything she asks.”
Salt, (An endearing character who inevitably steals the show) is up and down the stairs continually interrupting Harry’s amorous endeavors.
Fiona, getting nowhere, decides to take Maguire out for a breath of fresh air, and puts him in Lois’s pink
robe.
A police officer assigned to protect the senator, spies a man in a pink robe entering the townhouse and insists
on inspecting the rooms.
Chaos ensues as Harry tries to hide Veronica, Fiona, and a sleepy, pink-robed Maguire.
And you know the airport is snowed in and Lois returns.
A surprise ending…
Lois’s return should be the end, but this is a Michael Parker play. There is always a twist!
Scripts available from Samuel French, Inc. catalogue # 20952
CHARACTERS
SENATOR HARRY DOUGLAS: (Age 45-65) As a candidate for President of The United States, he presents a character with the careful combination of the external politician, and the real Harry who is, of course, "The Sensuous Senator." A man whose libido has him constantly in trouble, he is, by his very nature, not only the philanderer the title suggests, but something of a natural clown. (Suave, elegant, imposing.)
LOIS DOUGLAS: (Age 40+)The Senator's long suffering wife, who is blissfully unaware of her husband's continual infidelities. The impeccably groomed, ever attentive and smiling politician's wife. (Kind, caring, motherly.)
CONGRESSMAN JACK MAGUIRE: (Age 20-30) A first term congressman. Early in Act I he inadvertently takes a massive dose of sleeping pills and spends the rest of the play falling asleep andavoiding the clutches of Fiona, who is fiercely determined to get him into bed. (Young, idealistic, naive.)
CONGRESSMAN CLYDE SALT: (Age 60-80) An elderly congressman, a cynic and wit. A pivotal character whose dry sense of humor creates laughs galore as he sees, (when he can find his glasses) yet does not see, all the incredible happenings occurring around him. (Old, almost senile, a natural comedian.)
FIONA: (Age 20-25) A high class call girl who, in her own words, "specializes in members of Congress." While she spends most of the play in her underwear, she should not be seen as cheap or tawdry. (Young, bright, perky, sexy.)
MISS MORRISON: (Any age) An investigative reporter for "The National Intruer," she keeps 'popping up' throughout the play. Her ever present camera is always poised as she seeks that elusive photograph of the Sensuous Senator "Caught in the act." (Serious, businesslike, humorless)
VERONICA: (AGE 25-40) Harry's secretary and lover. When Harry asks her on the phone, "Can your hormones come over tonight?" She can, and they do! Playing the role of the sexy temptress, she is totally frustrated throughout the eveing by all the action going on around her. She finally gives up and 'blows the whistle'. (A stunning, voluptuous seductress)
THE POLICEMAN: (Any age) The closest anyone comes to being 'the straight man.' Constantly appearing at the most inappropriate times (for Harry and his paramours) to do searches and security checks, his rather serious manner creates many opportunities for laughs. (Serious, buisnesslike)
REVIEWS
"THE SENSUOUS SENATOR”… IN THE NEWS
“Cheers for this Senator, through split second timing and repetition, the
humor in this play builds.”
“The first night audience laughed so long at the end, that we hardly
collected ourselves to applaud the actors at their curtain call – this is a
play you must see.”
The Davis Enterprise/ Woodland, California
“What could be more fun?”
“Witty humor sprinkled throughout the script”
“This show is a must-see”
“The audience leaves still laughing”
“Hysterical laughter”
“Fast paced and fun”
The Racine Journal Times/ Racine,Wisconsin
“It’s solid as a rock. It has all the classical farce elements, including six
doors, and they’re always busy. There’s not a wrong move in the play.”
Boca Raton News/ Boca Raton, Florida
“The laughter never stopped at Friday night’s opening of Michael
Parker’s hilarious and timely American farce, “The Sensuous Senator”
at the Little Theatre of New Smyrna Beach. The sold-out audience
barely had time to catch a breath between laughs as the cast romped
from one escapade right into the next.”
The New Smyrna Beach Observer/New Smyrna Beach, Florida
“We, here at the Little Theatre of New Smyrna Beach, salute you with a
standing ovation.”
The Little Theatre of New Smyrna Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
“If possible, patrons would have been literally rolling in the aisles as the
Flint Community Players opened a production of Michael Parker’s
“The Sensuous Senator.”
Flint Journal/ Flint, Michigan
“ In a good farce, you must have a certain number of visually humorous
situations. The “Sensuous Senator” lives up to this intention.”
The Naples Daily News/ Naples, Florida
