Wrong Box, The

A masterpiece of farcical comedy by the author of Treasure Island sees two brothers about to inherit a fortune, if only one pesky relative would adhere to the rules… The Wrong Box is a black comedy novel, co-written by Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne. Morris and John Finsbury stands to gain a lot of money if their Uncle Masterman dies, but none if Uncle Joseph dies first. So when Joseph seems to have come to an untimely end in a railway accident, a farcical sequence is set in motion. Determined to conceal the death, Morris hides the body in a barrel which he then ships to London. How will the situation resolve itself and how long can the deception continue for…? First published in 1889 and adapted several time for film and musical, The Wrong Box is Stevenson at his funniest. The farce moves at a tremendous pace with Stevenson rapidly piling up train crashes, missing uncles, cases of mistaken identity and surplus dead bodies.