Underneath the Lintel

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US actor Richard Schiff in the 2007 West End production of Underneath the Lintel at the Duchess Theatre in London.

Underneath the Lintel is a 90-minute one-act play by Glen Berger which premiered in 2001. The sole character – The Librarian – embarks on a quest to find out who anonymously returned a library book that is 113 years overdue. A clue scribbled in the margin of the book and an unclaimed dry-cleaning ticket then take him on a mysterious adventure that spans the globe and the ages.

The play is published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.

1 Plot
2 Stage productions
3 See also
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Plot

The play begins with The Librarian appearing on stage, which is sparsely furnished with a whiteboard and marker pens, a magnetic bulletin board, and a table. The Librarian carries with him a battered suitcase. He informs the audience that he is giving a lecture for only one day about a discovery he has made.

The Librarian then opens his suitcase and begins to show the audience what he calls his "scraps": pieces of evidence each marked with numbered tags that provide evidence of a person whose identity is gradually revealed over the course of the play.

He starts with a copy of a Baedeker travel guide that was anonymously returned 113 years overdue to the library in the small Dutch town where he used to work. Tracking down the loan records of the book, he finds that the book was borrowed by one "A." who provided a post office box as his address. Inside the book, he finds a 73-year-old dry-cleaning ticket for an unclaimed piece of clothing in a London laundry shop. Intrigued, he takes leave from work to visit London. He finds that the laundry shop is still in business and, using the ticket, redeems a pair of trousers that has not been cleaned because of its poor condition.

Eventually, the audience learns that the person to whom all of The Librarian's items relate may be Ahasuerus the Wandering Jew, a mythical figure from medieval Christian folklore.

[edit] Stage productions

Underneath the Lintel was first produced in 2001 in Los Angeles by the Actor's Gang. Brent Hinkley directed and Brian T. Finney played the Librarian.^[1] It was produced later that same year in New York City at the Soho Playhouse. Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Dana Matthow were the producers, with Randy White directing. The play ran for 450 performances, and was voted among the Top Ten Plays of the Year by Time Out NY magazine.^[2] T. Ryder Smith played the Librarian, and received a Drama Desk Award nomination that year as Outstanding Solo Performer.^[3]

The Canadian premiere was produced in Edmonton by Shadow Theatre in 2002. The play received an Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award as the outstanding production of the year, as well as awards for actor Andy Curtis and director James DeFelice.

Orlando Theatre Project presented the US southeastern premiere of this play in May 2004, featuring Kristian Truelsen as the Librarian and directed by Doug Truelsen. The play received a 2005 production at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with US actor Richard Schiff as the Librarian. It was then staged again at Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana, between 21 March and 6 May 2006. Robert K Johansen played The Librarian, directed by John Green.^[4]

Schiff reprised the role at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End from 7 February to 31 March 2007. This production was directed by Maria Mileaf. A radio version of the play, performed by Richard Schiff, was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 5 January 2008.

The eastern Canadian premiere of the play opened at the 2007 Fringe Festival of Toronto at the Factory Theatre in July 2007. The performance was produced by By the Book Productions and starred Canadian actor John D. Huston as the Librarian.^{[citation needed]}