The premise is simple: A man, David Barnes, misses his wife. He can talk, but can’t communicate. He certainly likes a good joke, but tonight, the pursuit of happiness slowly pulls him into the giddy vortex of modern love. When the machinery starts churning, he, like us, doesn’t know what’s coming - or going - next.
He finds himself embroiled in murder and infidelity, involving his estranged wife, his mother-in-law, his wife's new boyfriend and a total stranger.
First Produced by the Oldcastle Theatre, Bennington, Vermont, 1993. The play's Canadian premiere was at Canadian Stage, Toronto ON, 1996
Keywords: infidelity, modern love, murder
Genre: Dark Comedy
Playwright note on genre: “ In order to let people know what they're in for, this play has been called part mystery, part comedy, part farce. All descriptions are partly right, and partly wrong. There is no genre to slot it into. Ultimately, it is a play that takes comedy seriously.”
Acts: 2
Run time: 105 minutes
Cast size: 4 actors
Male roles: 2
Female roles: 2
Casting Breakdown:
David Baynes ……..early 40’s
The Man…………….late 20’s
Agatha Fitzgerald .…fifties/sixties
Dick …………………. Thirties
Annie ….……………..thirties plus
(Dick and The Man should be played by the same actor)
"Celebrating his unrivaled knack for threatening the most disturbing subjects with absurdly wicked humour is Elliott Hayes’ play “Hard Hearts”... a play that defies categorization." -- Jim Lingerfelt, Stage Door