“A Rhetoric of American Popular Drama: The Comedies of Neil Simon,” in Players Magazine, Vol. 51, No. 1, October, 1975, pp. 11-15.

In the following essay, McMahon argues that Simon introduces serious themes in his plays, which challenge accepted attitudes and practices, only to later trivialize them and reinforce a conservative status quo.

Critical opinion of Neil Simon's plays during his fourteen years as a playwright has been, in general, mocking and pejorative; yet his plays just as consistently have been box office hits. Almost all of them have been converted into films, a television series derived from The Odd Couple ran for several years, and his plays are the staple of Summer Theatres and Community Theatres. Seven of his plays are listed as “long runs,” having achieved more than 500 continuous performances on Broadway. Simon's second play, Barefoot in the Park (1963), with a run of 1,530 performances, is fifteenth on that list...