“What fresh hell is this?”

On the day of her death, Dorothy Parker faces a terrifying choice: She can remain in a strange room with an unknown guide from the netherworld, far from all her old friends—even her beloved Robert Benchley. Or she can discover and admit her own truth. She reviews the highlights of her past through her own 50-plus years’ worth of writing—a surprisingly diverse collection of political, literary, and theatrical works along with her better-known poems and bon mots. As she appraises her work, she discovers that her own harshest critic was always herself.

Pardon My Dust takes place at various places and times between 1893 and 1967, as portrayed on a single set consisting of a couch or chaise, a desk, chairs, and assorted trunks, bags, and boxes. Its characters are Dorothy Parker, female, any age, but capable of depicting 30s-60s, and Janus, male or female, any age but capable of depicting same range. (Two actors, 1 woman, 1 man.)

Pardon My Dust was produced in Denver and received its premiere in Wichita, Kansas.