Winter doldrums call for hilarious theater, and the area’s production companies are offering up that and much more this season. From a case of mistaken identity to a trailer park community, you’ll find something that will have you laughing so hard you’ll forget how much snow is on the ground. —Lynn Norusis
‘The Comedy of Errors’
The Arlington Players
The Arlington Players are taking on William Shakespeare’s slapstick tale of mistaken identity. The audience is taken to Chicago, where a man, Antipholus, and his servant, Dromio, are in search of Antipholus’ long-lost family. Unbeknownst to the two travelling men, they each have an identical twin that they were separated from at birth. As their journey continues, the two are caught up in beatings, seduction, theft and a father who is about to be executed. Not like many family reunions, it is a hilarious production having you be thankful for your own dysfunctional family.
‘The Game’s Afoot’
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
It’s a game of “Clue,” onstage. Ken Ludwig’s tale begins in 1936 when Broadway star William Gillette, known for playing Sherlock Holmes, invites fellow cast members to his castle for a weekend of festivities. Then, someone ends up dead. Gillette assumes the role that made him famous and begins to unravel the murder in a fast-paced, witty production.
‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’
Dominion Stage
Welcome to Armadillo Acres Trailer Park, home to stripper-on-the-run Pippi, agoraphobic Jeannie and her tollbooth-collector husband, Norbert. After a shotgun wedding and a bad perm, Jeannie and Norbert’s baby is kidnapped, leading to the agoraphobia. Twenty years later, Norbert can’t take his wife’s shut-in life and heads out to a strip club where he meets Pippi. What ensues is an affair, a caught-with-the pants-down scene and a hurricane. The story is all wrapped up in country-rock and blues, flan, disco, spray cheese and lots of ‘80s nostalgia.
‘13’
McLean Community Players
If someone showed you a film of yourself at 13 years old, it’s highly likely you would be laughing at your adolescent self. As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. The McLean Community Players bring us ’13,’ a hilarious musical about the coming of age of the protagonist, Evan Goldman, who is moved from New York City to small-town Indiana after his parents’ divorce. He has little time to establish his social structure before heading to high school. He finds a group of middle school friends and they all struggle with trying to fit in, and stand out. The score is by Tony Award-winning Jason Robert Brown and the book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn.
(January 2015)
