A Bad Year for Tomatoes

By John Patrick

Directed by Thurmond Whatley

July 11-19, 2025

Fed up with the pressures and demands of her acting career, the famous Myra Marlowe leases a house in a tiny New England hamlet to write her autobiography. She is successful in turning aside the offers pressed on her by her long-time agent, but dealing with her nosy, omnipresent neighbors is a different matter. In an attempt to shoo them away and gain some privacy, Myra invents a mad, homicidal sister who is kept locked in an upstairs room but who occasionally escapes long enough to scare off uninvited visitors. The ruse works well but complications result when the local handyman develops an affection for “Sister Sadie” (Myra in a fright wig) and some of the more officious ladies decide it is their Christian duty to save the poor demented Sadie’s soul. In desperation, Myra announces that her imaginary sibling has suddenly gone to Boston, which brings in the sheriff and the suspicion of murder!