Sorry, Wrong Number

In the preface, Lucille Fletcher provides readers with an intimate look into her process of writing Sorry, Wrong Number. Her original intention for the play was a challenge to herself: to write something that was best suited for an aural medium, not a visual one. However, she explains that “in the hands of a fine actress like Agnes Moorehead, the script turned out to be more the character study of a woman than a technical experiment” (3). Throughout the play, the tension builds as the woman reveals more about her life a little bit at a time.

Fletcher writes that the version in this volume is the original radio script performed by Moorehead. She elaborates on the telephone as the primary source of conflict for Mrs. Stevenson, and further explains that the success of the “mounting horror” (3) is dependent on what the audience can’t see and/or hear, much more than it depends on what they can see.

The preface also includes suggestions for directors who are interested in producing this script in two different mediums: a radio drama, or a stage play. If the director is to produce the piece as a radio drama, the stage directions, which are included in brackets in the script, should be omitted.