The Investment

The Investment is a serio-farce or farce with an edge, set in the 50's, about three small-time business presidents who plan to make an illegal investment that will make them quite wealthy. Ajax Atwell, president of Atwell Industries, and Randolph Hubert, President of Ticonderoga Tool & Dye, have serious reservations about the investment, whereas Hubert Kendra, President of Kendra Manufacturers, is the self-assured, dominating instigator. As the "plot" develops, we can see that the burden of the investment, which never proceeds past the initial "talk stage," takes its toll on these men and their identities start to fragment, crumble and shatter. The action of the play moves from present time to past time and from real time to surreal or imaginary time as the scenes switch back and forth from offices to bar. The changes in time and space represent the changes in the personal development of Ajax Atwell, the fate of Randolph Hubert, and the logical conclusion of Hubert Kendra. The Investment is a comic tragedy packed with energy and invested with insanity. The pacing is akin to a Marx Brothers movie, though with an edge. Characters can die in this play, but that will not stop them from achieving their personal and developmental goals. Don't expect a normal plot. These characters set out to make an illegal investment, but that's not what the play is about. It's a comic-drama, with superficial thriller overtones.