Overview
Synopsis
Barney Cashman is forty-seven, happily married, the father of three children, a successful businessman, and a man going through a midlife crisis. Barney has come to the realization that his whole life can be summed up in one word: nice. And Barney has realized that “nice” simply isn’t enough. He wants to experience his secret fantasies and dreams at least once, and so Barney determines to have an affair. He tries not just once, but three times, with three different women, and each time, something prevents the affair from happening. In the end, Barney returns to the familiar and invites his wife up to the apartment where he has been rendezvousing with the other women. Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers examines what it means to grow older, and asks the question, “What do you do when it seems as if your life hasn’t been fully lived?”
Show Information
- Book
- Neil Simon
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1969
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy, Dark Comedy
- Settings
- Unit/Single Set
- Time & Place
- an apartment in new york’s east thirties, a late afternoon in december, a late afternoon in august, a late afternoon in september
- Cast Size
- small
- Orchestra Size
- None
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Samuel French
- Ideal For
- professional theatre, university / college theatre, community theatre, amatuer theatre, Mostly Female Cast, Includes Adult, Young Adult Characters, Small Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
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Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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