Robert J. Wheeler, Playwright

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16 Short Synopses

----------- Harold and Hilda and The Joy Of Missing Out ----------- A Comedy in Two Acts

Harold, a senior citizen with numerous imagined physical ailments, discovers J.O.M.O. (The Joy Of Missing Out) giving him energy and optimism, the opposite of his old self. Through a bizarre turn of events Harold and wife Hilda need to dispose of the body of a local crime boss that has fallen and lies dead in their basement as well learn how to deal with life after sex as his pill has lost its potency. Dodging both police and the crime bosses’ gang sends Harold and Hilda on a thrilling adventure, resulting in some hilarious challenges.

Lusty Desires -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Mark and Eric take dance classes in the library to impress their wives for an upcoming social event. However, the women return unexpectedly to see their men practicing dance steps together and assume they have fallen in love with each other. Devastated, wives Mary and Emma, not wanting to divorce their husbands, decide not to confront, but to lure them back with hot nighttime lovemaking. Stunned, Mark and Eric struggle to understand why they are simultaneously getting more sex than they can handle. Are Mark and Eric doomed to death by sexercise? Are Mary and Emma after Mark and Eric’s life insurance money? Have Mary and Emma become unusually fond of each other? At the beginning, in the middle and at the end it’s a hilarious time for everyone.

There's A Bear Out There -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Henry, a middle-aged, wealthy man learns his wife has a boytoy, so he takes Sally, his young personal assistant for a wicked weekend to the family cottage in the offseason before he flies with her to Belize to start their life afresh. They encounter a winter storm and Anna, the queen of cottage country, and her hillbilly son, Davie. Anna and Davie love the movie “Deliverance” and have created a “Deliverance” reality for themselves and the neighborhood. Henry and Sally discover their new reality in cottage country is profoundly different from city life when a bear’s hibernation is interrupted by a couple of tender city folk. Then Big Foot appears complicating matters further.

Pippa's Pie Place -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Pippa, a restaurant proprietor, is excited to know “You’ll Want To Dine Here” will be filming in her restaurant. Harry, a sophisticated customer, enters with Jennifer, his girlfriend. Pippa soon twigs to the idea Harry is oddly mentally challenged because Jennifer is a fully inflated, elegantly dressed sex doll. Will Pippa succeed in getting Harry and Jennifer as well as other annoying customers to exit the restaurant or will she teach Harry how to experience a simple hug? Pippa needs pie lovers before Jimmy Fiuchie and his film crew arrive. Her effort in accomplishing this goal sends the audience on a compelling, hilarious journey.

The Treasure Seekers -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Ted, a savvy philosophical bank robber with a bizarre sense of humor, enters a bank late on a Friday night before a long weekend and threatens William, a young timid bank teller, to open the safe or die. Will Ted shoot stubborn William for refusing to open the safe? What happens when William’s witchy bank manager, Ms. Samuels, interrupts them? Jennifer, William’s secret office love, who is also Ted’s naïve, accomplice arrives. William’s jealous, inebriated, pistol-packing fiancé, Melissa comes by wanting to kill Jennifer. Shots are fired before the men decide to split the money and fly to Belize but again are interrupted. Teresa, Ted’s ex-wife, wants him back. The men are safe in Belize with the money, but are they safe from the women who love them?

The Sexy Weekend Millionaires -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Taylor, a bank’s loans officer, “borrows” a million dollars from his bank over a long weekend to super charge his and Jenna, his wife’s sex life. In the morning, after the money has worked its magic, the couple learn thieves have stolen the money left in the safe, including the IOU for the million dollars Taylor left in the safe. The IOU links them to the police and to the thieves, so are eager to hide the money from both. Jenna stuffs a large child’s sleeper with a doll and the million to hide the money. It’s a desperate, yet funny strategy to stay one step ahead of police and thieves

Night Heat -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Two friends take dancing lessons at the library to impress their wives for a forthcoming event, but wonder if their instructors, two young, attractive women, could offer more than dancing. Their wives are told by a friend that their husbands have been seen cavorting with sexy, young women (dance instructors), so assume their husbands have taken concubines. The wives, not wanting to divorce their husbands as their lonely mahjong friends have done, decide on a different strategy – increase nighttime sexual activity -- which has hilarious results.

Oh, Brother!!! -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Charlie and Mark, grown brothers, have polarized attitudes regarding romantic relationships. Charlie is a socially awkward accountant. Mark is an extroverted car salesman with all a family man can have including his Honeys (girlfriends). Charlie was recently left at the altar by Amanda, further quashing his ego. At Charlie’s 40th birthday party Mark gives Charlie a fully inflated and attired sex doll as a joke. Brother Billy has arranged for a woman to pop out of a cake and sing Charlie a birthday message, however, the cake crashes but Rose, the singer doesn’t, so shows up. Charlie, still inebriated after the party, prays for God to send him a girlfriend, passes out, awakes to see Rose standing where the sex doll stood, so thinks God has granted his prayer. It’s a hilarious romp, comparing family values and what it takes to make relationships last or dissolve.

I'll Miss Me When I'm Gone -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Martin, not wanting to find himself on fire in a crematorium, has signed himself and business partner Norm, up for organ donation, reasoning if he doesn’t have organs he’ll miss suffering in a crematorium. Norm dies, then through a misunderstanding, his ashes become encased in a block of cement. Martin and wife Cheryl set out on a quest is to see that Norm’s ashes are interned on the ocean at Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. Their journey incurs death and destruction, but it comes out funny.

Misadventures In Marriage -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Billy, a naïve medical student shares his apartment with Jeremy, an older, street-smart medical student. Billy becomes engaged to the love of his young life, Suzanne, a gorgeous older sports reporter who has a knack for picking National Football League winning games. Suzanne tells Billy her father was a gambler and drinker who left her mother alone with baby Suzanne, so she wouldn’t marry anyone who’d gamble or drink. Billy assures Suzanne he doesn’t do either. Billy tells Jeremy he found out Suzanne has had five marriages and five divorces, so he intends to break up with her. Jeremy doesn’t want his source of income, betting tips, to dry up, so he diagnoses Suzanne with an obsessive-compulsive disorder and promises to cure her before Billy marries her. Everything that could go wrong does, leaving the audience with many hilarious moments and an impossible to anticipate TWIST.

Let There Be Angels -- A Dramedy in Two Acts

Marvin and Wendy, a career-oriented married couple on different professional paths with festering personal issues, fall into an impossible to climb out of sinkhole in a remote city park at night while on their way to the airport. Wendy thinks Marvin has become indifferent with many fears, heights being one of them. Marvin says her mother sabotages their relationship. What really is at the core of their trouble? The sinkhole not only becomes their prison but a metaphor for what has happened to their relationship. Rafe, a troubled homeless man, happens upon the couple, enjoys talking with them so keeps them his prisoners. Rafe becomes a catalyst for them to see life as it can be, not as they have lived it.

Sinners and Saints -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Nick, a sailor returns to the family home, on leave from the Navy, only to discover Andrew, his young brother has become a priest, leaving the sailor Mom’s last hope for grandchildren. Nick plots with girlfriend Darlene to have Darlene’s friend, Caroline, a woman dedicated to seducing married men, seduce Andrew, thinking it will seduce Andrew from the priesthood. Caroline enters as an immature, rude, moral-less but physically attractive young woman, then, during numerous interactions, is transformed into a mature, caring, sensitive woman. The audience is treated to a surprising twist and a joyful ending.

Having Harry -- A Ghost Story -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Luke and Sarah, a young, newly married couple, rent their first apartment then find out the ghost of the previous tenant murdered there haunts the apartment. Luke brings out “Exorcism for Idiots,” a book he picked up from a pile of used paperbacks. The exorcism fails to budge Harry, although it is a humorous attempt. Mildred, their neighbor in the eight-plex, tells the couple it is Harry who is responsible for groaning pipes, kitchen cupboard doors opening and closing and a radio that turns on and off. When Harry appears in front of Sarah, only Sarah, he makes it clear he won’t leave until Sarah, Luke and Mildred detect who murdered him. Fear of ghosts takes a back seat to humor when the three embark on their quest.

The Last Stop -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Rob The Playwright has died and complains on and on in Playwrights’ Heaven about not being able to finish the play he was working on. God, wanting peace to return to Playwrights’ Heaven, has sent Stella, his favourite angel, to find Rob a temporary body to enable him to finish his play. Everything goes wrong for Rob and Stella resulting in hilarity for the audience.

On The Road To Eternity -- A Comedy in Two Acts

Five strangers die simultaneously in different cities. Oscar, Hell’s agent, needs to process them together. Each have had sinful lives and scored abundant Club Hell points, so processing should be routine, although . . . maybe not. Who will earn the hot seat for eternity or be saved from it – the sometimes funny but always soused comedian; the lurid, the mouthy hooker; the full-of-herself CEO of Everything Inc.; the money-driven publisher of Dirty Secrets, a trash tabloid; a gigolo/pimp with swagger, or possibly . . . an audience member? A Greek Chorus provides insights and keeps mirth moving.

Oh, Canada -- Fast Forward -- A Comedy in Two Acts

A hundred years into the future, when all countries have been drained of oil, Alberta’s oil sands have become a financial boon to Canadians. Add Sylvia, an older red-neck Newfoundlander prime minister and her young male sub prime minister, Alfred, and laughter flows faster than oil. However, there is a significant challenge -- The International Democratic Imperative Oil Treaty also known as IDIOT. IDIOT limits Canada’s oil distribution to every nation. Can Sylvia and Alfred stand up to more powerful nations who are desperate for more than their fare share of oil? Can Canada resist foreign pressure and uphold the treaty?

Love Recipe -- A Comedy in One Act

A newly married man discovers burnt meatloaf, his sexually imaginative wife, a staggering amount of hot money, on his way to finding the Recipe For Love.

Good To The Very Last Droplet -- A Comedy in Two Acts

A hundred years into the future, when all countries have been drained of oil, Alberta’s oil sands have become a financial boon to Canadians. Add Sylvia, an older red-neck Newfoundlander prime minister and her young male sub prime minister, Alfred, and laughter flows faster than oil. However, there is a significant challenge -- The International Democratic Imperative Oil Treaty also known as IDIOT. IDIOT limits Canada’s oil distribution to every nation. Can Sylvia and Alfred stand up to more powerful nations who are desperate for more than their fare share of oil? Can Canada resist foreign pressure and uphold the treaty?

The Do-Over -- A Comedy in One Act

Rob The Playwright dies and finds himself in Playwrights’ Heaven, but whines constantly about his need to finish the play he was writing, turning Playwrights’ Heaven into Playwrights’ Hell. Stella, God's Special Angel, is dispatched to find Rob The Playwright a temporary body so he can finish writing "I'll Miss Me When I'm Gone". Rob's hilarious journey is accelerated when he finds out Stella's on her last strike with God.