In the year 1941, five actors are on their lunch break on the set of the film The Wolf Man. Maria, who plays the Gypsy Woman, is a Russian refugee, a student of Stanislavsky who has her own acting school and supports it by playing soulful old Russian women in the movies. She is a bit touchy about her pet monkey. Claude is an accomplished British actor who because of his short stature and lack of good looks is doomed to play villains and character roles, but wishes he could play Errol Flynn. He is supporting three ex-wives. Bela is a Hungarian trapped by his thick accent and famous portrayal of Dracula in a series of increasingly stupid horror movies, although this one is better than most. He is also a morphine addict, but he is philosophical about doing promotional work dressed in a cape, with fangs, accompanied by a man in a gorilla suit. Evelyn is a young, lovely British ingenue whose problem at the moment is that she is afraid to run lines with Lon, the Wolf Man, who is the son of a great actor who had a thousand faces. Lon drinks because he only has one, and doesn't much like that one. As Lon confronts the futility of making foolish horror movies in the shadow of his famous father, the others try to help him find a way to deal with his unhappiness and somehow do good work, while the war rages in Europe, and America will soon be pulled in. A funny and touching play about how to play the role you're cast in.
Published in the collection Curse of the Wolf Man and Other Plays