Simon Patton

Awkward, what? A few delicate difficulties exacerbate a rare gathering of old friends in Absent Friends, written by Alan Ayckbourn and directed by Angela Mason. The situation is ripe for the kind of tragic comedy for which British playwrights, especially Ayckbourn, are well known.

There’s one advantage to being nescient about theatre and film; I don’t know what to expect. However, considering the cast, I predicted The Petrified Forest, written by Robert E. Sherwood and directed by Marti Baer, would be a musical comedy.

Need a laugh or two? There are lots of reasons to go to the theatre—it gets you out of the house, gets you talking to other humans about something non-work-related—but the biggest benefit comes when the play is a hoot, the actors are having a blast, and the whole experience is, well, uplifting and downright silly.

Are you one of the thirteen people left in the world who has not yet seen Arsenic & Old Lace? Well, I was one and now I’m here to tell you this is an amusing script and nicely done; so get on it and go! This performance ends February 24, 2007.

This rehearsal proved conclusively that I should stop going to rehearsals. Watching this play before it was ready for Opening Night (in order to write this review for you), I can no longer have a pristine reaction to the play when it is ready for prime time. It’s a shame because I bet, in a few days, the play will be even better.

This is going to be an extremely funny play. A play one wants to see many times. Book a seat early in the play’s schedule, so you too can see it again.