Plaza Suite Script ((full)) – Trusted Source
| | Scene | Characters | Time (in script) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | I | "Visitor from Mamaroneck" | Sam Nash, Karen Nash, Jean (hotel clerk, voice only), Bellhop | Saturday afternoon | | II | "Visitor from Hollywood" | Jesse Kiplinger, Muriel Tate | Sunday, early evening | | III | "Visitor from Forest Hills" | Roy Hubley, Norma Hubley, Mimsey Hubley (offstage voice), Borden Eisler (offstage) | Late evening |
Written in 1968, at the height of Simon’s prolific powers, the script serves as a time capsule of New York City life, but its mechanics remain a blueprint for writers today. Here is an analysis of what makes the script of Plaza Suite tick. plaza suite script
In this section, the script abandons subtle subtext for high-octane farce. The dialogue is shrill, overlapping, and frantic. Simon uses the physical space of the script brilliantly—the bathroom door becomes the central obstacle. The script demands physical comedy: peering under doors, shouting through keyholes, and frantic pacing. | | Scene | Characters | Time (in
Whether it is the heartbreak of the Nashes, the farce of the Hollywood producer, or the panic of the Hubleys, the Plaza Suite script offers a masterclass in how to find comedy in the specific, and truth in the absurd. The dialogue is shrill, overlapping, and frantic
From a scripting perspective, this presents a challenge: how to keep an audience engaged in a single static location for two hours? Simon solves this by treating the room not just as a setting, but as a character. In Act I, the suite represents the crumbling facade of a marriage; in Act II, it is a playground for Hollywood fantasy; in Act III, it is a bunker of parental anxiety.
If Act I is about the failure of connection, Act II, Visitor from Hollywood , is about the desperate desire for it. Here, the script shifts gears entirely. We meet Jesse Kiplinger, a slick Hollywood producer, and Muriel Tate, his former high school sweetheart.