The Finborough Theatre is a dainty little theatre off West Brompton known for producing high quality Fringe productions, and ‘A Funny Thing..’ is no exception. Halley Feifer’s follow up after her 2017 sell out ‘I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard’ looks set to be another, having been a success Off-Broadway in 2016. I personally can think of nothing worse than watching my mother on a deathbed, and this play delves into that nightmare scenario.
The basic premise is that Karla, a foul-mouthed twenty-something comedian, and Don, a middle-aged man embroiled in a nasty divorce, are brought together unexpectedly when their cancer-stricken mothers become roommates in the hospital.
A typical struggle with any play is how do you start it and make it memorable, especially with a memorably unmemorable name like ‘A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan Lettering Cancer Center Of New York City’, and author Halley Feiffer knows exactly how to do that. Karla’s (played by the sensational Cariad Lloyd) opening line certainly makes the most memorable opening and sets the tone with ‘I’ve been single for so long I have wet dreams about my vibrator’. However anyone thinking this show is pure crudity and vibrator jokes are wrong. This play covers a multitude of realistic and heartbreaking emotions and taboos, from feminism, to what is socially acceptable to make jokes about, to dealing with grief, and to broken relationships. Each element is thoughtfully written about, acted with true raw emotion and skilfully layered due to brilliant oversight from director Bethany Pitts. My only major criticism is that the play felt about 10 minutes too long, and a couple of times the dialogue didn’t sustain enough, but this doesn’t stop a fantastic show.
