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HOW A PLAY IS PRODUCED

Clara, something unexpected has happened to me!” bursts out Madame Y.

“But those are not your lines,” wails the producer, “You’re playing Clara, not me.”

“Oh, I thought it was a monologue,” Madame Y. explains.

“Well, it isn’t. I come in and say: ‘Clara, something unexpected has happened to me!’ Now, look out! ‘Clara, something unexpected has happened to me!’”

“What kind of a wig shall I wear?” Madame Y. asks.

“None at all. Now, once more, ‘Clara, something unexpected has happened to me.’”

“Shol ed epi gram,” Clara reads.

“What’s that, eh?”

“I can’t make out what it says here,” Clara announces.

“Oh, my God,” wails the producer. “It says: ‘What has happened to you?’ Read properly, for goodness’ sake.”

Clara calls the whole company to witness that in her copy of the play the words do

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