Sorry, Wrong Number

Crime is a major theme in the play Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher. Crime involves the commission of acts that are immoral and/or illegal. In the play, the crimes are conspiracy to commit a murder and murder.

Mrs. Stevenson, attempting to contact her husband in Murray Hill, overhears a murder plot instead. A man named George and his boss are planning the murder. George later carries out the crime by killing Mrs. Stevenson. Ironically, it is murder that Mrs. Stevenson has been trying so desperately to avoid.

The play also touches on a hint of irony between crime and law, noted by Mrs. Stevenson. She bemoans the fact that there is so much legal red tape when she attempts to stop a murder. To stop crime, the laws become suffocating. However, when a crime is being committed, the laws are simply ignored. Mrs. Stevenson is very frustrated by this.