Chairman: Theatre Managements of SA
Dear Mr Lindberg,
… Since you are now a man of the arts, I was hoping you would be interested in producing my latest one-act play.
The curtain goes up to reveal a young man sitting on a chair. He is naked apart from a long, black coat and military boots. He looks straight ahead. After 20 minutes, he reaches inside his coat, takes out a butcher’s knife and plunges it into his chest. He falls to the floor, dead. The curtain drops.
A literate audience will immediately recognise the work as a dramatic allegory on the futility of life. I am prepared to direct it if you wish … Enclosed is ten rand to buy the props. Something with a serrated edge would be perfect.