''Hidden in This Picture'' is a one-act play by Emmy Award-winning playwright

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime ...

. The play consists of a single scene with four male characters.

Plot

The plot concerns Robert and Jeff, two old friends who are taking their theater partnership (Jeff writes the plays, Robert directs them) to the big screen in their first film. They've saved filming the final and most important scene of their movie for last; a complicated outdoor sequence involving hundreds of extras portraying disillusioned marines jogging at sunset. All is going seemingly well, until suddenly yet slowly, three

cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

walk directly into the shot. In response to this, some colorful language is exchanged. After some deep contemplation of whether or not one could feasibly find cows on a marine compound, let alone in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

at all, Robert has somewhat of a mental breakdown as the sun continues to set "seemingly faster than it's ever set before". This causes Robert and Jeff to question their work, their relationship, the artistic health of contemporary film-making, and the ethics of shooting cows with firearms. The other two roles are a hard-nosed manager (Reuben) and a geeky production assistant (Craig).

References

{{Aaron Sorkin 1988 plays One-act plays Plays by Aaron Sorkin