Nose, The

One-Acts 45

By: Arthur Reel
Cast: 3 M, 1 F, 1 flexible, optional extras
Performance Time: Approximately 45 minutes, 38 pgs.

SATIRE/FARCE. In this adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s classic short story (1832), Alexey Kovalyov, a mid-level government bureaucrat, awakens one morning horrified to discover that his nose has run off. Kovalyov wanders the streets searching for his lost nose when, by chance, he spots his nose riding in a coach dressed as a high-ranking government official. Not only has Kovalyov lost his nose, but now his nose outranks him! Determined to get his nose back, Kovalyov trails the nose to a cathedral. There, Kovalyov confronts his nose, demanding that it return to his face immediately. But the nose rudely rebuffs him and escapes. Meanwhile, the runaway nose has become fodder for the town’s rumor mill, which threatens to destroy Kovalyov’s reputation. This adaptation preserves Gogol’s whimsical and humorous writing style and pokes fun at the incompetence of bureaucrats and the superficial nature of society’s “respectable” classes.

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Arthur Reel founded the Drama Repertory Theatre in 1973 and has co-produced more than 200 shows, many of which he directed. Mr. Reel has adapted for the stage many prose classics, including Voltaire’s Candide and works by Gogol, Gorky, and Chekhov. He currently resides in New York City, where he teaches acting, voice, and communications.