FARCES ON STAGE!

By Bobby Martinez

Deck the Halls with loose wires and falling hazards, Peter Pan Goes Wrong has officially opened here at the Ahmanson Theatre. The Mischief Company has our audiences cackling in their seats, but how do they do it?

Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a prime example of a farce, a comic dramatic piece that uses highly improbable situations, stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration, and violent horseplay. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and explore other farces that have shocked audiences at Center Theatre Group.

The Most Happy Fella (1991)

This musical tells the story of a blossoming romance between an older man and a younger woman using music and dance to move audiences through this musical comedy! When Tony makes a mail order marriage proposal, his bride-to-be mistakes the photo of a young, handsome foreman to be her intended husband. When she finds out the truth, their relationship is on course to end before it begins. But through the goodness that shines through him, Tony manages to enchant and win the love of his city bride.

THE MOLIÈRE COMEDIES: The School for Husbands AND The Imaginary Cuckold (2002)

This double-bill production gave audiences an inside look into the world of Molière in one jaw-dropping, laugh-inducing night. The first of the two, The School for Husbands follows the whacky suitors Sganarelle, who is controlling and overbearing of his intended wife-Isabella, and Arise, Sganarelle’s older brother who treats his intended wife Leonor more as an equal. The Imaginary Cuckold follows Sganarelle, who appears in many of Molière’s works. The story focuses on the consequences of jealousy and hasty assumptions in a series of misunderstandings and arguments that involve Sganarelle, his wife, and the young lovers, Celie and Lelie.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1971)

Though this was shown at the Ahmanson for some reason (picture it:“I’m gonna go watch A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum at the Mark Taper Forum!), this musical by the legendary Stephen Sondheim was inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright, Plautus. The show follows Pseudolus, a slave who attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. A farce wouldn’t be complete without the classics-puns, slamming doors, your typical mistaken identities-and A Funny Thing... surely delivers. The original 1962 Broadway production won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and was later produced into a successful movie adaptation with the stage musical's original lead, Zero Mostel. Just be careful whenever you go and watch a production of the show, a funny thing could happen.

A Flea In Her Ear (1982)

This production marked the Taper’s 15th Anniversary Celebration and was a part of The Repertory Festival. The play was written by Georges Feydea in 1907, at the height of the Belle Époque era in France—characterized by optimism, peace, and economic prosperity. The show follows Raymonde Chandebise, who questions her husband’s fidelity. With the help of her old friend, Lucienne, she hatches a plan to forge a letter penned by an ‘anonymous admirer’, inviting her husband to a rendezvous at the Hotel Coq D’or. The show was first performed in Paris and was reviewed as “a piece for which we need to invent a new description” by critics, for it was so explosive and comedic that “the audience cannot catch their breath for even a second.”

Measure for Measure

(1985)

Often cited as one of Shakespeare’s iconic problem plays, Measure for Measure features comedic elements such as wordplay and irony, as well as tragic elements like executions and soliloquies, which has made it difficult to categorize the piece. The play features Duke Vincentio of Vienna, who steps out of public life to observe the city’s affairs under the governance of his deputy, who abuses the power of his office. Having originally been performed in 1604, the piece has been adapted into multiple forms of media and continues to be one of Shakespeare’s successes.