Hope I Die Before I Get Old

Written & Performed by John Feffer

It is Sherlock Holmes’s last case.

A poet lies dead in a Moscow apartment in the cold spring of 1930. Everyone knows who killed Vladimir Mayakovsky, the bard of the Russian revolution. The poet shot himself through the heart that April morning. No one knows why he did it. The Soviet authorities have brought in Sherlock Holmes to answer that question.

But only Mayakovsky himself can really solve the mystery. Resurrected and forced to relive his life backwards, the poet delves into his past to figure out why he ultimately pulled the trigger.

Hope I Die Before I Get Old, written and performed by John Feffer, brings together the famous detective and infamous poet in a solo show that probes the mysteries of creativity and political collaboration.

John Feffer is the playwright, performer, and producer of 11 previous theater works including the critically acclaimed Clowntime, The Pundit, and Stuff. His shows have appeared at the Edinburgh, NYC, and Capitol Fringes and the One Man Standing and United Solo festivals. Hailed as a “brilliant writer and performer” by the Washington City Paper, he received a solo performance award in 2016 from the Maryland State Arts Council. His publications include four novels, half a dozen non-fiction books, and numerous articles. He works as a foreign policy analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC.