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Act 1, Scene 1 and Analysis

• Oscar Madison and four friends are playing poker in his stiflingly hot apartment.

• The four friends are Speed, a very sarcastic man, Murray, a police officer, Roy, Oscar's accountant, and Vinnie, who competes for one-liners with Speed.

• Oscar's wife recently leaves him. Oscar is a slob, and his apartment gets even messier when his wife leaves.

• Felix, Oscar's fastidious friend, is late for poker for the first time.

• Oscar and his friends are worried about Felix. Felix's wife recently leaves him, and he sends her a telegram threatening to kill himself.

• The poker players decide to act as if nothing is wrong when Felix shows up. They begin to worry that he has either taken his own life, or is thinking about doing so.

Act 1, Scene 2 and Analysis

• Felix shows up at the poker game. It is clear that he is very depressed. His...

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