The Body in the Cornfield

In March 1978, two unemployed men, Polish mechanic Roman Wardas and Bulgarian machinist Gantscho Ganev, steal the body of Charlie Chaplin from his grave in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, and hold it for a ransom of 600,000 Swiss francs from his widow, Oona. As Swiss investigators Inspector Pierre Muller and Sergeant Anna Frei close in, and a local journalist smells a story, the Voice of Charlie himself narrates the whole absurd, poignant affair, watching his own body become a bargaining chip while Oona refuses to be frightened into paying. Inspired by the true 1978 grave robbery, the play is a dark comedy about grief, greed, and the strange afterlife of a legend.