History Theatre / ThinkTwice

* YourCheatingHeart: For a while, it seems to be leading to this, with Steve kissing Helen passionately just as Walter, Sergei, and Adrienne walk in. And then Walter is murdered, and Greg chalks up the incident as more proof that Steve ''didn't'' do it, as it'd have been too stupid of him to commit the two acts so close to each other. [[spoiler: Turns out, of course, Steve simulated the trope for that reason: to give himself a stupidly obvious motive.]] Steve admits he does regret putting Helen through that.

-> "Incidentally, many good detective stories have the same flaw (which is not a technical flaw)--namely, that [[TheVillainMakesThePlot the villain initiates the action.]] (An exception is my play ''Think Twice''.) In a murder mystery, a detective acts only because somebody was murdered; then he must take action to solve the mystery and avenge justice. I personally dislike stories in which the evil side is the motivating factor; but that is predominant in literature today, because of the culture."

In 1939--four years before ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' was published--Creator/AynRand wrote her {{Reconstruction}} of the classic detective story, where her "beef" with the vast majority of murder mysteries (TheVillainMakesThePlot, as noted in the quote above) would be dealt with.

--> "Incidentally, many good detective stories have the same flaw (which is not a technical flaw)--namely, that [[TheVillainMakesThePlot the villain initiates the action.]] (An exception is my play ''Think Twice''.) In a murder mystery, a detective acts only because somebody was murdered; then he must take action to solve the mystery and avenge justice. I personally dislike stories in which the evil side is the motivating factor; but that is predominant in literature today, because of the culture."

In 1939--four years before ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' was published--Creator/AynRand wrote her {{Reconstruction}} of the classic detective story, where her "beef" with the vast majority of murder mysteries (TheVillainMakesThePlot, as noted in the quote above) would be dealt with. The resulting play almost comes across as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'', in that ''all'' of the suspects have a viable--and in most cases, ''justifiable''--motive to do in the murder victim.

But there, the comparison ends. The detective is almost a secondary character, as opposed to the actual hero, and the play's strength comes more from the relationships among the many suspects--with each other, and to the murder victim. And ultimately, the solution is ''not'' that [[spoiler: "EverybodyDidIt"]]...even though most of them note that they're grateful to whomever the murderer might be. Various tropes common to MysteryFiction are [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], [[DiscussedTrope discussed]], [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]], and [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]]--all with an [[UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} Objectivist]] [[AnAesop Aesop]] driving everything. Rand herself was especially proud of the TwistEnding--which, as is stands, is the entire reason for the title, ''Think Twice''.

In 1939--four years before ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' was published--AynRand wrote her {{Reconstruction}} of the classic detective story, where her "beef" with the vast majority of murder mysteries (TheVillainMakesThePlot, as noted in the quote above) would be dealt with. The resulting play almost comes across as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'', in that ''all'' of the suspects have a viable--and in most cases, ''justifiable''--motive to do in the murder victim.

* AssholeVictim: Walter is a subtler version of this than most. As per most AynRand villains, he's an altruist--and constantly presumes to run the lives of those close to him, which everyone comes to chafe against. The mystery involves whether or not ''this'' is what led to his murder, or whether someone whacked him for the invention.

** ThoseWackyNazis: As the play was originally written in 1939, Segei's character was a German who might be a Nazi, prior to Rand updating it for the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.

* FramingTheGuiltyParty: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in an especially unique way: [[spoiler: The ridiculously obvious clues pointing to Steve leads Greg to rule him out, and he orients his case around who would've framed him. Of course, Steve framed ''himself'' so he'd be free of suspicion...and then framed Sergei with much subtler, elaborate clues. As it turns out, Sergei ''did'' try and kill Walter once before, so he ''is'' guilty, sort of.]]

--> '''Hastings:''' ''(Leans back in his chair, disgusted)'' Is there anyone here who does ''not'' want to be the murder?

* TheDitz: Flash is indicated to be a ridiculously slow-witted dunce...who for some reason was hired by Walter to be Billy's ''tutor''--an example of BlackComedy and, subtly, a demonstration of Walter keeping everyone "down" so they can "rely" on him.

Sometime during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, on July 3rd, engineer and humanitarian Walter Breckenridge invites his wife, son, and friends and associates to a lavish house he's recently bought. He will demonstrate his latest invention--a generator of free energy--that night, in a fireworks display. The next day, he intends to give the invention--and all its secrets--to the world.

That night, his demonstration is interrupted--and he is found murdered by the machine. The next day, DA Greg Hastings and his detectives arrive to answer whodunit and ''why''. His investigation will ''not'' be a typical one, because...aside from Walter's Russian friend Sergei (who may or may not be a [[DirtyCommunists Soviet operative]]), ''no one'' is shedding a tear over the man! Why would the beneficiaries of a humanitarian's generosity wish him dead? And how many secrets does this group have? Think you know the answer to the mystery? ''[[TitleDrop Think Twice]]''.

But there, the comparison ends. The detective is almost a secondary character, as opposed to the actual hero, and the play's strength comes more from the relationships among the many suspects--with each other, and to the murder victim. And ultimately, the solution is ''not'' that [[spoiler: "Everyone did it"]]...even though most of them note that they're grateful to whomever the murderer might be. Various tropes common to MysteryFiction are [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], [[DiscussedTrope discussed]], [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]], and [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]]--all with an [[UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} Objectivist]] [[AnAesop Aesop]] driving everything. Rand herself was especially proud of the TwistEnding--which, as is stands, is the entire reason for the title, ''Think Twice''.

--> "Incidentally, many good detective stories have the same flaw (which is not a technical flaw)--namely, that the villain initiates the action. (An exception is my play ''Think Twice''.) In a murder mystery, a detective acts only because somebody was murdered; then he must take action to solve the mystery and avenge justice. I personally dislike stories in which the evil side is the motivating factor; but that is predominant in literature today, because of the culture."

In 1939--four years before ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' was published--AynRand wrote her {{Reconstruction}} of the classic detective story, where her "beef" with murder mysteries (as noted in the quote above) would be dealt with. The resulting play almost comes across as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'', in that ''all'' of the suspects have a viable--and in most cases, ''justifiable''--motive to do in the murder victim.