Synopsis Assisted by Dr. Shifflet, Dr. Owens performs an autopsy on a writer. The two extract his plot ideas, brainstorms, and unfinished drafts. The newcomer assumes that these cluttered and chaotic musings clogging up his brain must be what did him in. But the veteran Dr. Owens knows that this is par for the core with these creative types. The doctor soon discovers the cause of death. Pressing on his heart is the late novelist’s magnum opus. The book is blank.

Production History Pulp Stage Pulp Diction IV Finalist Portland, OR South Simcoe Theatre Four Play Cookstown, Ontario, Canada Brooklyn College Gone in Sixty Seconds Brooklyn, NY Changing Scene Theatre Northwest Summerplay Bremerton, WA Byrd’s Books Garbanzofest 3 Bethel, CT Playsmiths Flash Fest New York, NY Studio4Seattle Short Listed Seattle, WA Solas Festival Solas Playwriting Competition Glasgow, Scotland Actors' Theatre of Columbus Summer Camp for Adults Performance Columbus, OH Brave New World Legacy at SLAM Kings Cross London, UK Cone Man Running Productions Five Minute Mile (5MM) Houston, TX The Rep at Orange Coast College Take Five Costa Mesa, CA iO’s Chris Farley Cabaret Generation LatinX: Chicago, IL Does My Script Have Legs? Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School Evening of One Acts Baltimore, MD

Helen Huff and Vera Khodasevich in The Author’s Autopsy at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York. Directed by Anthony Ponzio. Photographer: Rose Burnett Bonczek.

Running Time: 2 minutes Set: autopsy suite of a morgue (interior unit) Cast: 2 any gender Published by Applause, Euphony, and Seraphemera Books

To preview The Author’s Autopsy or obtain production rights, please contact Stacey@StaceyLaneInk.com. To purchase a copy of The Author’s Autopsy in 5-Minute Plays, go to Amazon or Applause. To purchase a copy of The Author’s Autopsy in Garbanzo Literary Journal: Volume 3, go to Seraphemera Books. To purchase a copy of The Author’s Autopsy in University of Chicago’s Euphony Journal: Winter 2014, go to Euphony Journal.