Minor Character

Actor Winston Chambers has been playing the same role in the same Broadway production of “Breakfast with the Ballisters” for over three decades. He is now 48 years old, and the character he portrays is 15. The show is a cultural phenomenon — audiences pack the house each night to witness a middle-aged, greying, pot-bellied actor portraying a teenager barely into puberty.

Meanwhile, producer Morris Laguna is obsessed with reaching the 10,000-performance mark, convinced it will break a long-standing “Gypsy’s Curse” plaguing the production, and there is still one more show to go.

Winston announces that tonight’s performance, the 9,999th, will be his last. Without him, the play will be forced to close, which Morris is convinced is a manifestation of the dreaded curse. Adding to the mayhem is a cast member who comes down with acute food poisoning, a hapless health inspector, and a petulant theatre critic. With an ensemble of skittery actors and a stage manager trying to keep the show from crumbling, the hijinks and horseplay in “Minor Character” merge into a comical climax that will please audiences of every age.