The Wizards Of Odds - Paperback

by Theom (Author)

A play set in 1890s San Francisco about the rich of Nob Hill (very rich indeed), insulated (by choice) within their world of wealth and pedigree, and the indigent bohemian poor (very poor indeed) and similarly isolated (though not by choice, both groups coexisting with an unspoken agreement that one group never intrudes upon the territory of the other. What happens when one subset of the poor group (five bohemian artists) decides unilaterally to spread some of the wealth of the rich into their own group. Since there's no possible means evident for achieving their intention, they embark upon some creative larceny involving the impersonation of a real scion of a very rich family living mostly abroad while the son is abroad studying natives in the jungles of the Amazon. How the attempted impersonation is manages is partly a study in manners and partly a study of the ill-planned attempts of amateurs to invade the stratosphere of the wealthy. While such scheming might appear doomed to failure, still with stops and turns the bohemians to manage a foothold, diverting all potential roadblocks through wit and luck until the moment when it appears they're about to be unmasked. And then what? To jail? Or perhaps to a very different sort of punishment.