Underneath the Lintel

Underneath the Lintel
Promotional poster of US actor Richard Schiff in the 2007 West End production
Written by	Glen Berger
Characters	The Librarian
Date premiered	2001 (2001)
Place premiered	Los Angeles
Original language	English
Genre	Monodrama

Underneath the Lintel is a play by Glen Berger that premièred in 2001. The sole character—the Librarian—embarks on a quest to find out who anonymously returned a library book that is 113 years overdue. A clue scribbled in the margin of the book and an unclaimed dry-cleaning ticket then take him on a mysterious adventure that spans the globe and the ages.

The play begins with the Librarian appearing on stage, which is sparsely furnished with a whiteboard and marker pens, a magnetic bulletin board, and a table. The Librarian carries with him a battered suitcase. He informs the audience that he is giving a lecture for only one day about a discovery he has made.

The Librarian then opens his suitcase and begins to show the audience what he calls his "scraps": pieces of evidence each marked with numbered tags that provide evidence of a person whose identity is gradually revealed over the course of the play.

He starts with a copy of a Baedeker travel guide that was anonymously returned 113 years overdue to the library in the small Dutch town where he used to work. Tracking down the loan records of the book, he finds that the book was borrowed by one "A." who provided a post office box as his address. Inside the book, he finds a 73-year-old dry-cleaning ticket for an unclaimed piece of clothing in a London laundry shop. Intrigued, he takes leave from work to visit London. He finds that the laundry shop is still in business and, using the ticket, redeems a pair of trousers that has not been cleaned because of its poor condition.

Eventually, the audience learns that the person to whom all of the Librarian's items relate may be Ahasuerus the Wandering Jew, a mythical figure from medieval Christian folklore.

Underneath the Lintel was first produced in 2001 in Los Angeles by The Actors' Gang theatre company. Brent Hinkley directed and Brian T. Finney played the Librarian. It was produced later that same year in New York at the Soho Playhouse. Scott Morfee, Tom Wirtshafter and Dana Matthow were the producers, with Randy White directing. The play ran for 450 performances, and was voted among the Top Ten Plays of the Year by Time Out NY magazine.T. Ryder Smith played the Librarian, and received a Drama Desk Award nomination that year as Outstanding Solo Performer.