Sorrows of Stephen is a play by Peter Parnell, and was originally published in 1980.
Stephen tells him not to and leaves, accidentally driving away in a taxi with Howard's gun.
As a rebound, Stephen has a short fling with a waitress named Sophia Pickle from a diner he eats in.
Stephen goes to the Plaza Hotel to have lunch with Mrs. X, the woman he met at the opera.
They start to walk to the zoo, and Christine realizes she has left the book that Stephen lent her.
She returns to the park bench to find a note telling her specific lines to read in the book, signed “Love, Stephen.” She smiles and walks away.
In an almost identical situation, William then interacts with the bum Howard Fishbein, who threatens with him a gun for money.
It is quite apparent that Stephen is the culprit, revealing facts like that he met her at the Minimalist exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and that she is “very much like Christine.” Then, in another visit to the opera, Christine sits between Stephen and William, holding hands with William.
Stephen writes a note and asks Christine to pass it to the man.
William and Christine have a romantic evening, and he eventually confronts her about being with another man, which she confesses to, but will not reveal his identity.
Just as they are kissing goodbye, William enters, realizes it's Stephen, and punches him.
He gets of the taxi, and the driver returns the copy of Sorrows of Young Werther he left before.
Back at his apartment, Stephen struggles to write a note to Christine, and eventually settles on leaving another book page reference and the words “There is no hope.” He reads out of his book how the character eventually commits suicide.
Stephen and he converse, and Howard explains that he has sold the stories he's been writing, he and his high school sweetheart Marissa are seeing each other again, and he's successful overall.
The cast included John Shea, John Del Regno, Sherry Steiner, Kathy McKenna, William Duff-Griffin, Barbara Williams, Richard Backus, Anne De Salvo, and Pamela Reed.