Summary:
Fender, and old Jewish nightwatchman, suffers bitterly from the cold and is unable to afford one of the luxury sheepskin overcoats sold by his boss, so he asks Morry, a Jewish tailor to repair his old one. “ ….. dies even while his friend is making him his first good overcoat. He has waited all his life for such a coat but dies in grief beforehand.” (Concord Theatrical).
Fender returns as a ghost. In a drunken stupor, the tailor sees his dead friend.
“The ghost of Fender has returned to take his due of the living - the harsh employer who dismissed him for being too old. Nothing will satisfy him but a coat from his employer's stock, and Morrie in his dream helps his friend to raid the warehouse.” (The Play Bureau)
BESPOKE OVERCOAT
Written by Wolf Mankowitz
Directed by ..... ? 1974
CAST
Bud Abbott …. Morrie
Phil Foster … Fender
Terry Green … Ranting
Randy Birch …. Clerk
CREW:
Mas Bando … Stage Manager
“This play was the first production ever rehearsed at the Studio.
As you can see from the photo of Bud and I, we rehearsed down stairs. The space upstairs had not yet been developed.
The festival was held at Mt Baker Auditorium and we did one other performance at the High School Auditorium in Kimberley.
The production won three acting awards but an original show from Creston won best production – the only production in my time from Creston.”
(Phil Foster, CCT Lifetime Member)
Bespoke Overcoat was entered into the 1974 East Kootenay Drama Festival's (Theatre BC)
One Act Plays, held in Cranbrook
AWARDS
Adjudicator’s Award of Merit: Bespoke Overcoat
Best Actor: Bud Abbott & Phil Foster (shared) for Bespoke Overcoat
Best Supporting Actor: Randy Birch for Bespoke Overcoat
