Episode no. Season 2
Episode 26 Production code 173-3657 | Directed by John Brahm Original air date May 5, 1961 | |
Written by Charles Beaumont (adapted from his short story, "Träumerei") | ||
"Shadow Play" is episode 62 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on May 5, 1961, on CBS.
Contents
Plot
A man convicted of murder, Adam Grant (Weaver), tries to convince those about to execute him that the world all around them is just his recurring nightmare. The story opens with the jury finding Grant guilty of murder and the judge sentencing him to death. He laughs uncontrollably, and exclaims that he refuses to die again. He claims that the district attorney and lawyers are all people he has known in his past, selected by his subconscious to play roles in his dream.
Speaking to others, including District Attorney Henry Ritchie, he points out logical errors accepted as normal by those around him, such as the fact that his arrest, trial, and execution are happening on the same day, and the fact the prisoners seem to stereotypically look like what you'd see in a story. Paul Carson, a reporter and friend of Ritchie, is questioning his own reality (he wonders about his impossibly perfect life). He persuades Ritchie to visit Grant. Ritchie speaks to Grant, but does not believe him. He asks Grant why he cares about dying if it's all a dream. Grant explains that he cannot get a decent night's sleep because he always wakes up screaming. He predicts what Ritchie's wife is preparing for dinner.
Ritchie goes home and finds that Grant's prediction is correct. This unnerves him, and he returns to the prison to talk with Carson. Carson says that Grant's claims call into question his sanity, and that Ritchie should ask the governor to issue a stay of execution. With reservations, Ritchie calls the governor, and the governor agrees to make the necessary phone call. The stay of execution arrives too late, Grant is executed, and the world descends into darkness and vanishes.
Grant finds himself in the courtroom being sentenced to death for murder again. The same people surround him in the courtroom, but their identities and roles have changed (e.g., a fellow inmate from the previous version of the dream is now the judge behind the bench).
Cast
Adaptations
It was remade under the same title as part of the 1980s series in which Peter Coyote played Adam Grant.
It was also adapted for radio under the same title as part of The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas in which Ernie Hudson played Adam Grant.