Within three days I saw The Odd Couple, A Brand New Boise, and The Ultimate Easter Experience.
The first, by Neil Simon is, of course funny, with wit well polished by a brilliant writer and decades of performance, plus Broadway principals, distinguished regional actors, and a nice pricey set. The second, by Samuel D. Hunter, is occasionally funny (wit is not what that playwright is really aiming for), also with good regional adult actors, and (I like to think) a good set of moderate means. (At Circle Theatre.) The third, by Jeff Swearingen, is funny, witty, politically pointed, too recently written to have such a Simon-ize polish yet, but hilariously performed by mostly kids on a fun Easter-egg colored set of no budget to notice. (By my buddy Joseph.)
Nuts-fun is what it is.
There is the Easter Bunny, but there is also Uncle Sam, Robert Oppenheimer, Marilyn Monroe, a pair of slacker soldiers who become... well, ya gotta see 'em, and (my favorite) the comic stylings of Joseph Stalin.
I couldn't even begin to type the crazy plot... wouldn't want to spoil it anyway.
Of all these disparate shows - each well done in its own way - I was surprised into laughter most by the kids. Really funny stuff: sophisticated references for the adults, ridiculous (and howlingly funny) shtick for the youngsters.
I've been hearing about Jeff's shows at Funhouse Theatre and Film for a while now - glad I got to experience one.
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