Mr. Punch's Dramatic Sequels

What happens to characters after the curtain falls? This is the delightful premise behind Hankin's theatrical prank: he writes the sequels to plays that never asked to be continued. Here, Benedick and Beatrice struggle with the tedium of married life. Lady Teazle and Lady Sneerwell continue their exhausting social warfare. Mrs. Tanqueray deals with her stepdaughter years later. The Melnottes finally afford that carriage. Hankin asks the questions no one dared and answers with razor-sharp wit. These are one-act comedies that imagine the untidy aftermath of theatrical happy endings. They mock the conventions of drama while celebrating them, proving that the real story begins when the lovers finally get together and discover that marriage, like the stage, is mostly rehearsal for disaster. For anyone who has ever left a theater wondering 'but then what happened?' this collection is a glorious answer.