Gordon is in Hell- the actual Hell where torture is gratefully received, although it’s called ‘Downstairs’ these days.
He’s been there for 20 years since he died of suffocation in the cleavage of a barmaid in Doncaster.
He is, as he was in life, a scheming, amoral git and he’s found a loophole in the system and managed to blag the role of ‘guide’ for his widow, Iris who is dying as the play opens.
A guide arranges a person’s ‘Limbo’- a familiar stopping off place where the dead are greeted by a loved one and given a minute to get over their death before they head off for an eternity in one of two places, hopefully ‘Upstairs’.
Iris was a lovely person so her final destination is guaranteed but Gordon is hoping she will take him upstairs with her as her ‘loved one’.
Limbo is supposed to last seconds, minutes at most, but Gordon has decided to keep Iris in the dark about the details until they both drift off into the big blue.
Even if she doesn’t he’s here, in her limbo, out of hell at last. And there’s nothing that bitch in reception can do about it!
What Gordon doesn’t realize is that the last 20 years have seen Iris grow into a very different person from the push-over that he cheated on and stole from. They’ve been mainly spent watching TV.
Now she’s dead. Old age can’t touch her here and she’s calling the shots.
MY LIMBO is a 20 minute fast-paced black comedy in 4 scenes.
There are two sets which can be set up on the stage together, side by side.
CHARACTERS
GORDON:
Mid 30s to 40s. Slimy. Alan B’stard but worn down by years of living in hell. He takes a lot of pain and humiliation.
IRIS:
30s to 40s. Lovely, Mumsy but determined. Formerly old and feeble, in death she is sharp as a tack
RECEPTIONIST:
25 to 35. Violent and psychotic but calm. Like Sue White (Michelle Gomez character) in Green Wing. She is the evil ringmaster and interacts with the audience for Gordon’s pantomime villainy.
