If I Were You by Douglas James
Quick answer: If I Were You by Douglas James, Class 9 Beehive: summary of the one-act play with the ending, Gerrard and the Intruder, the cupboard trick, themes and exam answers.
A man enters a cottage with a revolver, tells the owner he will kill him and take his name, and finds the owner more interested in his grammar than his gun. If I Were You, a one-act play by Douglas James, closes the Class 9 Beehive textbook.
The play in brief
Gerrard, a playwright who lives alone and deals in theatrical props, is packing a bag when the Intruder slips in. The Intruder is Gerrard's build, has killed a policeman, and plans to shoot Gerrard and live in the lonely cottage under his name. Gerrard stays calm, offers a drink, and asks polite questions the Intruder is pleased to answer.
Then Gerrard turns the plan around. He claims to be a criminal himself, that an accomplice has talked, that the police are expected any moment, which is why his bag is packed and a car waits. Taking his identity would mean hanging for his crimes. The rattled Intruder agrees to flee with him. Gerrard opens a door he says leads to the garage; when the Intruder peers through, Gerrard shoves him into the cupboard, locks it, takes the gun and telephones the police, noting the incident will make a useful plot.
The characters
Themes and meaning
Exams expect presence of mind, intelligence over force, and the gap between cunning and cleverness. The sharper observation is that Gerrard wins by being the better storyteller. The Intruder has a plan; Gerrard improvises a plot with motive and a ticking clock, and the Intruder accepts it because it is a better story than his own. A writer defeats a killer with fiction.
The craft of the one-act play
The turn comes when Gerrard stops answering questions and starts asking them, taking control while apparently submitting. The props are planted in plain sight, bag, telephone, cupboard door, each explained innocently before it becomes a weapon. A contest story that improvises its ending from objects the reader has already seen would score well on Structure under Writory's five-part rubric.
For the exam
Summary in 100 words: Gerrard, a playwright living alone, is packing when an armed Intruder enters. The Intruder, wanted for killing a policeman, resembles Gerrard and plans to shoot him and assume his identity. Gerrard remains calm and questions him. Then he claims that he too is a criminal, that the police are coming for him and that a car waits outside. Taking Gerrard's identity, he says, would lead the Intruder to the gallows. Frightened, the Intruder agrees to flee with him. Gerrard shows him a door, pushes him into the cupboard, locks it, takes the gun and calls the police.
What writers can take from this
- Say clearly that this is a one-act play and that Douglas James is the author.
- For the presence of mind question, quote the sequence: calm answers, questions of his own, invented backstory, cupboard.
- Explain the double meaning of the title in one sentence.
- Writers: let the character in the weaker position take control by asking questions.
- Plant every prop innocently before it becomes a weapon.
Try it yourself
Write a scene in which an unarmed character talks an armed one into a trap using nothing but three objects the audience has already seen on stage and an invented past that turns the villain's own plan against him.
Questions
Why did the Intruder want to kill Gerrard?
He had killed a policeman and was being hunted. Since he resembled Gerrard, he planned to kill him and live as Gerrard in the lonely cottage, free from suspicion.
How did Gerrard trick the Intruder in If I Were You?
He pretended to be a criminal himself, expecting arrest, so that taking his identity would lead to the gallows. He offered to help the Intruder escape, then pushed him into a cupboard and locked it.
What is the theme of If I Were You?
Intelligence and presence of mind defeat violence. Gerrard uses calm, humour and quick invention to turn the Intruder's plan into a trap.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
Enter a Writory story contest
Enter the Writory Short Story Contest and have your own story read and scored out of 100. Entries close 25 November. That first entry makes you a Writorian.