Playwright Mike Johnson (1931-1992) is known for his carefully crafted, suspenseful crime stories. The Premature Corpse is a masterfully plotted crime thriller with lots of twists and turns. The scene is a remotely located motel room, where we meet Evan Jorris (played by Eric Abrutyn), a mob tax consultant who is now in the government witness protection program and has agreed, under duress, to testify for the FBI against his former boss. His not-so-loving wife Francine (Dana Applegate) is getting weary of the trial delays. The mob is on the hunt for Jorris and nerves are beginning to fray. Francine’s lover Larry Craig (Keith Cline), who is also the Jorris’ best friend and attorney, would just as soon see the witness killed by the mob (for a number of reasons). The gung-ho FBI agent Roberta Marshak (Nairn Cutten) is determined to protect her witness at all cost, or so it would seem, and the tension between the little group grows as Evan Jorris thinks about changing his mind or even trying to disappear. The cast is rounded out by Phyllis McNaughton, playing Thalia Broderick the Medical Specialist and Agniya Verbeke as the motel maid Angie Hoffmeier.
In usual Mike Johnson fashion, the audience will be in store for lots of surprises as the plot thickens, leading to a surprising finale in The Premature Corpse. As all the characters of the murder mystery moved through the story line, the audience followed easily. Federal Agent Roberta Marshak juggled the cranky federal witness Evan Jorris and his volatile wife Francine through a variety of touchy encounters. One did wonder at the unlikely curiosity of the motel maid Agie Hoffmeier as she came and went through the performance. You also had to wonder why the unseen Agent Mason was never at his post outside the secret exit door leading out of the hidden operating room, where plastic surgeon Thalia Broderick later took Evan for his appearance altering surgery. The real shocker came when the Jorris’ attorney Larry Craig threw a huge lip-lock on Francine Jorris while hubby Evan was busy in the shower!! All of a sudden, the relationships all changed. OK…so you finally thought you had all the characters figured out and all you had left to know was how Larry and Francine would eventually knock off Evan and get away with the $2 million???
Keith Cline & Dana Applegate plan the crime!
Now, you thought you had the surprise ending in hand when it was revealed that Agent Marshak intended to knock off the Jorris’ and run with the dough. BUT WAIT!! The REAL head slapper came when it was revealed that everyone (except Agent Marshak) was in on the surprise plot!!!! That’s because they were all Internal Affairs Agents who were out to catch the corrupt Agent Marshak, at her dirty deed!! That’s right…nothing you had seen up to that moment was true. No, the Jorris’ weren’t in the witness protection program…..no, Larry Craig was not the attorney….and even Dr. Broderick was an agent. She and Jorris had been in the secret operating room playing cards for four hours, pretending to do the facial reconstruction. Bad Agent Marshak was taken away in handcuffs, on to her great reward! WOW…what a surprise. Typical of playwright Mike Johnson, The Premature Corpse was a delightful surprise.
Nairn Cutten, Keith Cline, Agniya Verbeke, Dana Applegate, Eric Abrutyn & Phyllis McNaughton
