alphabetical author index

Additional Particulars

  • Ed Simpson
  • Full Length Play, Comedy, Contemporary
  • 3M, 1F
  • ISBN: 9780573663949

Explores the intersecting lives of four 'Save-a-Bundle Discount Mart' employees: Glenda Balitski, an optimistic but lonely young woman who works in housewares; Assistant Manager Warren Grippo, a generous but awkward man of unflagging good manners; Raymond Fetterman, a maintenance man and a former 'Employee of the Month;' and Kenny Hinkle, a good-natured and sympathetic younger co-worker.

  • Full Length Play
  • Comedy
  • 90 minutes

  • Time Period: Contemporary
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Set Requirements: Interior Set
  • Cautions: Mild Adult Themes

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, Dinner Theatre, Professional Theatre

  • Accolades:
  • Winner! Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award
    Winner! Backstage West Garland Award
    Critic's Choice! The Los Angeles Times

The intersecting lives of four 'Save-a-Bundle Discount Mart' employees are explored in Additional Particulars. 

In the first act, Glenda Balitski, an optimistic but lonely young woman who works in housewares, has recently moved into her tidy apartment after the death of her invalid mother. Assistant Manager Warren Grippo, a generous but awkward man of unflagging good manners, has unexpectedly dropped by Glenda's apartment after work. 

After the lonely couple discovers a shared enthusiasm for the corporate ideals of 'Save-a-Bundle,' Warren reveals that Glenda has been chosen 'Employee of the Month...' and confesses his desire to discuss with her some 'additional particulars' of a more personal nature. 

Meanwhile, Raymond Fetterman, a maintenance man and himself a former 'Employee of the Month' is having lunch with his young friend and co-worker, Kenny Hinkle. It is the eve of Raymond's 47th birthday, he's trapped in a job he hates, and Raymond has come to the painful realization that time is quickly running out on his chances of 'having a life.' 

As Raymond desperately yearns to escape the monotony of his life, the good-natured Kenny sympathetically listens...and harbors a heartbreaking secret of his own.

REVIEWS:

...Human comedy par excellence, as if Chekhov were reincarnated in America’s Wal-Mart culture....Simpson’s sympathy and affection for (his character’s) weaknesses are signs of that rare combination of a humanist with a genuine sense of humor.

Robert Koehler Los Angeles Times

Critic’s Pick

Backstage West

Critic’s Choice

Los Angeles Times

...Witty and insightful...not just a very funny show, but an unexpectedly poignant and decidedly human one as well....Simpson writes with an unusual degree of humanity...

Terri Roberts Variety

Additional Particulars Triumphs....Written with down to earth humor and heart-rending compassion...A peek at the heartland of America, this stunningly beautiful script captures the audience, and tugs at their heartstrings...

Pat Taylor The Tolucan Times

...Poignantly funny...Full of angst and unfulfilled desires, Simpson’s characters are heartbreakingly imperfect. Yet under the darkness, Simpson’s works shine with an essential sweetness that is often a rarity in modern theater” - F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times “...Enchanting...delightfully funny and heartrending...With humor and despair always just a millisecond apart, Simpson’s understated style aims squarely at the heart of working-class ennui and scores a bull’s eye. This is a playwright worth watching.

Les Spindle Backstage West

Big hearted... Additional Particulars... can easily join the ranks of those classic, timeless hymns to quiet humor and the human experience... The laughs are earned, not cheap. The tears are real, not manipulated.

Mary Burkin The Burbank Leader
Premiere Production: Additional Particulars was first produced by The Occasional Theater, in association with Hothouse Peonies, and The West End, at Third Stage in Los Angeles, on May 13, 2000. It was directed by Michael Lilly. The play was developed at Keystone Repertory Theater, at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, under artistic director Barbara Blackledge.
  • Casting: 3M, 1F
  • Casting Attributes: Ensemble cast

  • GLENDA BALITSKI – early 40s; a pleasant, plain, slightly plump clerk in the housewares department of Save-a-Bundle Discount Mart
  • WARREN GRIPPO – mid-40s; a conservatively dressed man of unflagging earnestness and good manners; the assistant manager at Savea- Bundle Discount Mart
  • KENNY HINKLE – late 20s; a simple, pleasant, agreeable maintenance worker, content to just do his job
  • RAYMOND FETTERMAN – almost 47; loquacious, dissatisfied maintenance worker desperately yearning for more from life
  • Name Price
    Additional Particulars Script Order Now

    The intersecting lives of four 'Save-a-Bundle Discount Mart' employees are explored in Additional Particulars. In the first act, Glenda Balitski, an optimistic but lonely young woman who works in housewares, has recently moved into her tidy apartment after the death of her invalid mother. Assistant Manager Warren Grippo, a generous but awkward man of unflagging good manners, has unexpectedly dropped by Glenda's apartment after work. After the lonely couple discovers a shared enthusiasm for the corporate ideals of 'Save-a-Bundle,' Warren reveals that Glenda has been chosen 'Employee of the Month...' and confesses his desire to discuss with her some 'additional particulars' of a more personal nature. Meanwhile, Raymond Fetterman, a maintenance man and himself a former 'Employee of the Month' is having lunch with his young friend and co-worker, Kenny Hinkle. It is the eve of Raymond's 47th birthday, he's trapped in a job he hates, and Raymond has come to the painful realization that time is quickly running out on his chances of 'having a life.' As Raymond desperately yearns to escape the monotony of his life, the good-natured Kenny sympathetically listens...and harbors a heartbreaking secret of his own.

    $24.95