The Jon Blog

Word of Mouth, or The Instant Comedy Hat

Last night, thanks to an invite from Mike, I was quite lucky to discover a new off-Broadway play, The Roaring Girle.

It's an up-to-the-second adaptation of a Jacobean satire and it was the most fun I have had at the theatre in some time. The satire is quite well done, the acting is great, the comedy spot on, the cast (featuring the lovely and talented John Epperson, aka Lypsinka, among other talented folk) quite wonderfully gifted. And the writing is lovely. The main "bad guy" is the magistrate - an elected dictator who's sort of George W. Bush and Michael Bloomberg rolled into one bearded, ruffled collared, doublet wearing, offspring repressing, cigarette and theatre banning freak of nature

Basically, you know you're in for a good time when you walk in and see the set: They have those cheesy NYC bodega style store awnings - but they're all redone for Speaker's Corners (including one that advertises www.speakerscorner.com, and a revolving door upstage center - with "Post No Bills" calligraphed in an Elizabethan "font."

Then the cast comes out, in their brilliantly designed costumes (can you tell I used to be a theatrical designer?), which include an orange doublet made from quilted puffy jacket material, and an period dress enhanced by the 'jacket' part being just small enough for a hint of cameltoe to appear above the waistband - and a cut-off hooded Billabong sweatshirt (and converse hi-tops) to complete that character's look. And of course, the cod pieces and leather jackets and the Instant Comedy Hat of today's title.

Hopefully some of these images give you a sense of the comic brilliance of this show. Suffice it to say that there was much laughter. Indeed, hysterics did ensue.

If you need more convincing to get yourself to this show, Mike should be blogging about it soon enough, so see what he has to say, too. Get the hence to East 25th Street! Go, prithee.

Posted by Jon at February 25, 2004 10:34 AM | TrackBack