The Maltese Falcon

A mystery-thriller based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett

A special note on availability of this play:

AMERICANS!
As of January 1, 2025,
performance of this adaptation is 100% legal in the U.S.
The first performance of this show after the original became public domain was
JANUARY 3, 2025!

Other American productions are lining up -- will your group be next?
It's going to be very popular south of the 49th Parallel.
In other countries, it has been legal for years.

Sam Spade is a world-weary private dick, running a not-very successful operation with his partner Miles Archer. Enter Miss Wonderly (if that is her real name), who offers cash for them to tail a man who has abducted her young sister.

Then Archer ends up dead.

Fast-moving scenes introduce the characters of Casper Gutman (The Fat Man), Joel Cairo, Wilmer the gunman, Iva (Archer's amorous widow) and, of course, Effie, Spade's efficient and sexy secretary. Not to mention, Brigid O'Shaughnessy (if that is her real name) who twists men around her finger to deadly effect.

And, all in pursuit of the black bird.

This adaptation puts the sizzle back in The Maltese Falcon,

sizzle that was lost in the Hays Code movies.

View the script in Modified London format

Above: What's better than a little sax between scenes? Steve Clark, 2019

Cairo Sam Effie Narrator Howick Little Theatre

Above: "I mean to search your office." Cairo gets serious. Howick Little Theatre, 2021.

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What would you do for the Black Bird?

Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel is considered by many to be the ultimate hard-boiled detective story and is listed as number 54 on The Guardian's list of the Top 100 books of all time. Adapted for the screen three times, most famously in 1941 with Humphrey Bogart, which makes the AFI's Top 100 Films list at number 23.

Unrestricted by the 1930s "Hollywood code", our new adaptation
puts the book's sexy sizzle back into the show -- it's hot!

Above: Effie and Sam -- just what is their thing, anyway?

Left: "She was in his arms when the police arrived." Sam and Brigid -- their final moments.

Our new adaptation moves as fast as a desk or a chair can be slid on- or off-stage. We augmented that with some live, hot sax -- even the scene changes were part of the entertainment.

A fast, fast script, a lot of action, a bit of sex and a gripping story made it a real audience-pleaser.

Above: Sam takes just a little too much pleasure in cold-cocking a disarmed Cairo.

Below: "Fifteen feet down the slope, Miles Archer lay sprawled on his back." Howick Little Theatre, 2021

Above and below

What was a fade-out and a cut in the 1941 movie is a whole new morning in our adaptation

"Well choreographed ... delightful ... community theatre at its finest..." Z.F. New Brunswick
"A masterful adaptation." J.D. Perth
"Brilliant! ... as usual." R.J. Ottawa
"What a great play!" M.F. Perth
"Even the scene changes are part of the entertainment." D.B. Perth
"More bodies and dames than you can shake a black bird at.
A fabulous way to spend a few hours before the lights go out." S. C. M. Perth
"Every thing works in this well-directed play. The seamless, in-character set changes, the narrator and sax player balancing the wings, the physicality and the rapid fire dialogue. Thoroughly enjoyed ..." J.S. Perth

"What really matters is the fictional world itself … to bring that to life, playwright David Jacklin cleverly sprinkled Hammettesque narration throughout his adaptation of the book, so we’re treated to delightfully dramatic descriptions of the smell of rain and the sound of heavy footsteps. Most of the play’s stylized lines are a hoot ... Maltese Falcon, with its haze of masculinity and mystery, is sure to be seen by noir connoisseurs as dark, enjoyable entertainment." Oregon Artswatch

2 acts; approx. 100 minutes plus intermission

6 men / 3 women

(5 men / 4 women possible)

1 open setting with movable pieces.

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