Staff Favorite: Cops

COPS
by Terry Curtis Fox

Here at the Drama Book Shop, we come across a title now and again that falls into the category, "an oldie but a goodie". Maybe we've never read the play before. Maybe we never even knew it existed. But after giving it a try, we're convinced: our customers should give it a try, too.

One such undiscovered gem is Cops.

Set in the mid-1970s, Cops focuses on a group of ordinary Chicago police officers who have ducked into an all-night diner to grab a quick bite and engage in some shop talk. The tales they tell are fast-paced and colorful, and filled with ‘cop-speak’.

And then...disaster.

A gunman appears and kills a cop. A showdown develops as the gunman barricades himself behind the counter. The suspense increases. Who will live? Who will die? Will the gunman listen to the cops and surrender -- or will his next stop be a slab in the morgue?

Cast: 8 M, 1 W.

Scenes/Monologues: A short, tense drama featuring a mostly male cast (only the role of the waitress is written for a woman), Cops has lots of monologues for actors.

Recommended by: Stu

Interesting sidebar: One of the stars of the play's 1976 Chicago premiere was ‘professional T.V. cop’ Dennis Franz (Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue), who played Barberson. If you're familiar with Franz's work at all, you'll hear his voice in everything Barberson says!