The Key to the Great Gate and Other Plays

Here are four plays by the well-known American dramatist, Frank J. Morlock. THE KEY TO THE GREAT GATE, based on a novel by Hinko Gottlieb, is set in 1942 Vienna, where four Jews have been imprisoned by the Nazis. The newest inmate, Tarnopolski, has learned to manipulate the space-time continuum. His ability to shrink and expand objects--including people--creates consternation among both the prisoners and their guards. This is a moving story about the power of the human spirit to survive the most appalling conditions. HEROES AND ROMANTICS OF OUR TIMES, based on a play by Henri Duvernois, is set in small-town America, where the corrupt Sheriff gets his kicks by having his girlfriend pretend she's a whore--until she becomes disgusted with the way he handles a homeless man who finds a fortune on the street. LADY LIBERTY, another adaptation from Duvernois, focuses on an inmate in a sanitarium who's placed himself there deliberately to escape his nagging wife--until, that is, she decides that she can't live without him! THE WRITING LESSON, based on a story by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov, is a comedy of the difficulties of writing professionally under the Stalinist regime. Four great plays focusing on the plight of the underdog!