Louis Phillips may be one of the great undiscovered playwrights of our day. The imagination, humor, and variety of his many plays is truly astonishing. THE ENVOI MESSAGES is a perfect example of his great talent. Set in the Midwest during the Depression, this play is about a twelve year-old girl who works for Western Union, delivering messages both real and imaginary. As Stanley Kramer has written in a special foreward for this edition: "The problem with Louis Phillips is that he is an obscure poet and brilliant playwright. In most ordinary people, one or the other of these blessings is possible, not both.... "