Assassins

The show opens at what appears to be a lively and bright carnival. The Proprietor stands behind the counter manning a "shoot-and-win" game. The targets however don’t seem quite normal. As people pass, the Proprietor hollers at them, trying to persuade them to “shoot a president and win a prize” (“Opening”).

The first to stumble upon the booth is a scruffy, brooding, factory worker named Leon Czolgosz. The Proprietor tells Czolgosz that he can fix all of his sorrows by killing a president. He tells the sullen young man that even an absolute beginner can find success in presidential assassination. Czolgosz agrees to play the game and takes a gun. Just then another young man walks in, John Hinckley, a lost and lonely 21-yearold. The proprietor tells him that he could grab the attention of his dream girl by shooting a president. Hinckley is immediately sold on the idea and takes a gun over to the range. Following the two young men, Charles Guiteau exuberantly enters the range.