Kelly is an instructor of creative writing and literature at two colleges in Illinois. In this essay, Kelly examines the different variations on the idea of family that are used in the play.

It is not at all difficult for audiences to pick up on the differences between the world of Joseph Hayes's drama The Desperate Hours, written half a century ago, and the modern world. The striking difference is not, as one might expect, the observable cultural distinctions, because the play is confined for the most part, to the personal space of the Hilliard family house, which has been invaded by a gang of escaped convicts. The lack of outside influence is in fact one of the play's key points, and so there are few opportunities for dated material to prove a distraction for modern audiences. The only real notable indicators that this play takes place...