The $30,000 Bequest June 21, 2009

Organic Theater Company's Mark Twain's eerily modern work 'The $30,000 Bequest' to life. The distinctly American voice of Mark Twain reaches across the years with a tale that is as resonant today as it was when it was written in 1906. A letter from a distant uncle arrives at the home of Saladin and Electra Foster, announcing that the uncle is dying and has bequethed the Fosters the magnificent sum of $30,000 cash -- on the condition that upon his death they can prove they never inquired after his health, never told a soul about the gift, and did not attend the funeral. Financial whiz Electra immediately goes to work planning how she will invest the money, and before long has spun the original investment into a vast fortune on paper. As the years tick by, the Fosters become accustomed to their imaginary high-life funded by their imaginary fortune. But perhaps they should have taken more notice of the bizarre conditions their uncle put on their bequest.