NEIL SIMON: UTILIZING CHARACTER EXAGGERATION "Neil ("Doc") Simon stands alone as by far the most successful American playwright of this century and most probably in the history of the American theater" (Litz 573). He has entertained audiences for over thirty years with many Broadway productions, screenplays and television scripts. "He has been hailed as the most formidable comedy writer in American theater" (Geitner 253). Despite his great success, the majority of critics have refused to look past Simon's "detonatingly funny" quips and punchlines to the subject matter in his plays (Geitner 253). "He has been virtually ignored by these literary critics,