The Puzzler is a one-act, two-person play with minimal set. The script has a short version and a long version.

• 1 male, 1 female
• Run time: 20 – 45 minutes depending on the version
• Perfect for a four-course dinner piece or stand-alone play
• Production rights: $50 per performance. Email sales@willholcombauthor.com or go to our contact page

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Blanch, a self-centered woman, has community service hours to perform for a drunk driving conviction and does so at a nursing home. She sees the easiest way of doing this is sitting with Weldon, one of the residents, and working on the puzzle with him. Weldon was a mathematician with NASA before a brain tumor took away his ability to remember his past without the help of his stack of notebooks. Each morning, he gets up and reads the parts of his notebooks which might pertain to the day. This is analogous to a computer loading a program. The following excerpt gives a great idea about the path of the play:

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Weldon: Imagine, Blanch, imagine you loved candy. But you can’t eat candy all day for every meal because it’s bad for you, no nutritional value, makes you fat, rots your teeth, and all the undesirable side effects. Now, you get a brain tumor and when it’s removed, vegetables taste like candy. You eat green beans like they were a stick of licorice. A bowl of salad is like eating a bowl of cotton candy. Brussels sprouts are like chocolate-covered cherries.

Blanch: Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Weldon: It is wonderful, Blanch. It is wonderful. All my life, I’ve loved puzzles. All sorts of puzzles. Now, with what happened to my brain, the world’s a gigantic puzzle. Every morning, I wake up, excited about solving the puzzles this life gifts me with. Tying my shoes is an adventure. My daughter brought me Velcro shoes but I threw them away. There’s no mystery in Velcro shoes. I don’t have to worry about anything in life but solving puzzles. You’ll be coming for a week. You’re a new puzzle for me. I get to solve the puzzle of your unhappiness.

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This is the full version of The Puzzler performed in July of 2021 at The Fat Cat Lounge in Smithville, Texas. This was done as a dinner theatre piece with a course of a four-course meal served between the five scenes. Jerry Winkelmann played before the show, between scenes, and after the show. As you can tell from the audience’s reaction, they loved the format and the show.

This is a video of the short version of the play. The last scene is the main difference. I won’t give away the original ending though. This work is under copyright. If you are interested in this piece, I would love to work with you to get it on your stage. Just head to the contact page and let’s get it started.

 Upcoming Productions

The Chamber Players – August 14–16 & 20–23, 2026 – Garnett, Kansas

The Puzzler heads to Kansas! The Chamber Players, who have been serving up dinner theatre in Garnett since 1991, are opening their 36th season with The Puzzler as part of a double feature. Dinner theatre has always been a natural home for this play, and this is its first production outside Texas. I couldn’t be happier about where it landed.

Bring It to Your Stage

Producing an unfamiliar title can feel like a risk, but The Puzzler has already proven itself. It won the Audience Acclaim Award at the 2023 Theatre Network of Texas TexFest. It raised over eighteen thousand dollars for a church preservation fund in just four dinner theatre performances. Theatres have brought it back for repeat runs. And with two actors, a minimal set, and rights at $50 per performance, it may be the lowest-risk show you’ll ever produce.

Audience members have called it life-changing. I’d say it differently: the show doesn’t ask anyone to change. It lets people see the world through different eyes for an evening, and that follows them home. If you’ve been looking for a piece that’s easy to stage and leaves audiences talking, get in touch and let’s get it on your stage.

 Production History

Bastrop Opera House – February 21, 2023

Bastrop Opera House took The Puzzler to the 2023 Theatre Network of Texas TexFest where it won the Audience Acclaim Award.

Bastrop Christian Church Building Preservation Committee – January 20 – January 28, 2023 – Bastrop Texas

Fundraiser for the church’s preservation committee. They raised over eighteen thousand dollars with four dinner theatre performances.

Rising Sun Vineyard – Oct 15, 2021 – McDade, Texas

Dinner theatre at Rising Sun Vineyard with actors Tom Bettes and Shelly Wynn. Music by Jerry Winkelmann.

Fat Cat Lounge – Sept 2021 – Smithville, Texas

Our second time back to The Fat Cat. Music was by Matt Torrez; the actors were Ronnie Lanier and Shelly Wynn.

Fat Cat Lounge – July 2021 – Smithville, Texas

The dinner theatre experiment was a great success at Rio Social House. We are now doing it with a four-course meal at The Fat Cat Lounge on Main St in Smithville, Texas. The music was by Jerry Winkelmann. The actors were Tom Bettes and Shelly Wynn.

Rio Social House – October 2020 – Smithville, Texas

This was kind of an experiment to see if a unique dinner theatre idea worked. The Puzzler is a one-act play divided into five scenes. Each scene represents a different day of the week, Monday-Friday. This was our schedule:

6:00 – Music by Geno Gottschall
6:30 – Intro and poem by David Jewell
6:45 – Scene one (Monday)
6:55 – Appetizers
7:05 – Scene Two (Tuesday)
7:15 – Salad
7:35 – Scene Three (Wednesday)
7:45 – Entree
8:10 – Scene Four (Thursday)
8:20 – Dessert
8:35 – Scene Five (Friday)
8:40 – Q&A with cast and playwright
8:55 – Book signing

A four-course meal was served throughout the evening with a musician playing music during the meal. The scenes of the play were done while no one was eating so the audience could just enjoy the play. The major worry about this format was wondering if the energy of the play would stay alive with the four extended meal breaks. Would the audience eat, talk, drink, and lose focus on the progression of the play or would they use the mealtime to talk about what was happening in the play and keep the energy alive? I can’t say what the audience talked about during the meal, but it was very clear the energy was still there. The format was a great success.

Hyde Park Theatre’s Frontera Fest – January 31st, 2018 – Austin, Texas

On this special Wednesday evening, ‘The Puzzler’ made its debut. The restrictions of the competition were that the play had to be less than 25 minutes. We came in at 23 with the short version of The Puzzler.