"Burn is a highly suspenseful ghost story that holds you in its fiery grip right up until the final moments”
- Onstage Ottawa
Burn by John Muggleton
Long-time friends Robert, Samira and David have gathered to toast the life of their recently deceased friend, the famed horror writer Paul Morris. Paul had also been very close friends with Robert’s wife, Tara, another horror novelist who disappeared five years earlier. Although Robert has never given up hope that Tara is alive, he surprises the others by revealing that he has decided to publish some of her unfinished short stories.
The three friends are nervously awaiting the arrival of a mysterious woman named Eve. She has contacted Robert saying she’s a daughter Paul never knew he had until shortly before his death. Apparently Paul has asked Eve to carry out one last wish – deliver a mysterious package to his three friends.
Eve arrives. She is young and friendly but there is something decidedly unsettling about her. The close-knit group welcomes her in, and they reminisce about her father and the ghost stories they used to share when they were all younger. Wine flows, and Eve reveals she was a huge fan of Tara’s writing. Then she decides to tell a ghost story of her own. The mood changes as disturbing private details are revealed – details that may have something to do with Tara’s disappearance.
Is Eve really Paul’s daughter? Why has she come? What does she know? Before the evening is over, everyone’s lives will be turned upside down, friendships will be ripped apart and forgotten memories uncovered.
Then the twist
Nominated for 16 awards
Psychological Thriller
100 minutes; no intermission (optional with permission)
4 characters (2 m, 2 f)
2 minor characters in voice over
JOHN MUGGLETON
Playwright
Breakaleg Productions
Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK
March, 2022
Pasadena Little Theatre
Houston, Texas
Oct. 15 - 31, 2021
South Simcoe Theatre
Ontario
May 5th - 22nd, 2022
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Scotland, UK
August 2022
Centre Wakefield la Peche
Wakefield, Quebec
May 2020 (postponed)
Vagabond Theatre
Cornwall, Ontario
April 2020 (postponed)
Ottawa Little Theatre
Ottawa, Ontario
Feb 2022 (If limits allow)
Curtain Club Theatre
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Jan/Feb 2020
Sawmill Playhouse
Dartmouth, N.S.
February 2019
Tsawwassen Arts Centre
Vancouver, B.C.
September 2018
The Gladstone
Ottawa, Ontario
August 17 - 26, 2017
The Avalon Studio
Ottawa, Ontario
August 2016
Nov/Dec 2016
Copyright © John Muggleton.