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Bad Play

Three Stars

Woody and Mabel are awaiting the return of their prodigal sons, Noble and Bad Brad. Woody is a gambling man, and neither he nor anyone else can remember the name of the only woman on stage, as homecomings take an absurd turn in this wild pastiche of that once much sought after beast, The Great American Play. 

Where such epic endeavours once upon a time swaggered into view like a wounded bear, the Los Angeles based sketch comic quartet behind Big Tobacco theatre company are having none of it. Like an extended improv game, the show ticks every cliché-laden box of its inspirations’ terminally dysfunctional family affairs before demolishing them with absurdist abandon. 

The spirit of Mad magazine and Saturday Night Live abound throughout, with Brian Fitzgerald, Lyndsey Kempf, Eli Lutsky and Brad Beiderman hamming it up like billy-o. Clocking in at fifty-five minutes, it’s mercifully shorter than any of its overbearing inspirations. If only Jack Nicholson had showed up as billed, they coulda' been contenders. 

The Space @ Surgeons Hall until 26th August, 7.05pm.


The List, August 2023

ends

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