THE STORY: THE SHOCK OF RECOGNITION breaks in on a difference of opinion between Jack Barnstable, an earnest young dramatist, and Herb Miller, his matter-of-fact producer. Miller doesn’t like the opening moment of Barnstable’s play. A wife is having breakfast in bed and she says something to her husband, who is in the bathroom. So he comes out, jaybird naked, and yells to her, “You know I can’t hear you when the water’s running.” The producer doesn’t think this confrontation is quite nice or necessary. The author insists that the scene is important—and, after all, it lasts only an instant. So a quarrel over taste develops, and a job-hunting actor, Richard Pawling, becomes involved. He eagerly begins to strip, demonstrating how he would handle the role.
THE SHOCK OF RECOGNITION is one of the four plays comprising
You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running.
The topic is sex, in all its mysterious and fascinating manifestations, and the treatment of this is so skillful, tasteful, and explosively funny that the plays are not only captivating and touching, but universal in appeal.
“Everything about this production of four short plays has a masterly light touch…we have a delightful gift of springtime in the Broadway theatre.” —New York Daily News.
“The best and brightest new American play of the season…” —New York World Journal Tribune.
“…notably fine comic and dramatic episodes, written with skill and insight…” —New York Post.
