By Liz Mitchell
A Funny Thing Happened…
It’s a bit bawdy, albeit with some underlying social commentary, and it’s great entertaining dramatic fun. Brunswick Little Theatre will present the farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, February 18-21.
The show takes place around 200 BC in ancient Rome and revolves around a slave who will do almost anything to gain his freedom. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, cases of mistaken identity with characters disguising themselves as one another and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from the line that vaudeville comedians often used to begin a story: A funny thing happened on the way to the theater...
The play’s director, Thom Clemmons, approached this play with the old traveling theater companies in mind. They were often high in talent, but low on money, and the troops had to improvise to pull off their shows. Often their sets were minimalistic, their costumes a mixed bag of some very good and some mere representations of what a character would wear, and their props a collection of whatever they could find that might work.
Cast members here today are talented and versatile playing a variety of roles, as did the old acting troops. They represent a combination of slaves, soldiers, sailors, eunuchs, Roman citizens and a Roman ladder. The set and costumes are charming combinations of the whimsical, cartoonish and elaborate representation of the farcical and satirical attitude of the time and place.
This is the Brunswick Community College resident theater company, and performances are at Odell Williamson Auditorium on the campus. It’s quite convenient if you are visiting anywhere in our coastal region this winter or just passing through Brunswick County.
Won’t you join us? We’ll be laughing!
Ticket prices: $15 for adults; $10 for students 12 and over $6 for children under 12. Special offer for opening night: Groups of 10 or more for $12 each. For tickets call Odell Williamson Auditorium at 1-800-754-1050, ext 416, or visit
www.bccowa.com. For more information about the play or Brunswick Little Theatre, see
www.brunswicklittletheatre.com.