Playwright Jeff Gould hits a funny nerve again with his latest, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Divorce. Sky Pilot Theatre Company delivers this confection with an even-handed production, helmed by Marc Antonio Pritchett, with consistently good performances from the cast. The play is double cast, giving maximum opportunity to the membership.
Operating upon the premise that the things we used to love about someone are the very things that drive us apart, Gould shoves three couples together in a room to await an elusive mediator. In the performance I saw, Angie (Marie Pettit Gregson ) is a marriage counselor whose marriage to Doug (Corbin Timbrook) has gone stale; Brian (Ian Nemser) and Carol (Laura Walker) can’t agree on anything, much less the terms of their divorce; while Ken (Anthony Backman) and Tanya (Bri Ana Wagner) can’t stop having revenge sex. In a situation somewhat reminiscent of Jean Paul Satre’s No Exit, the couples grind and growl against one another while waiting….for the mediator.
Director Pritchett keeps up the tension with his actors kaleidoscopically moving in and around against the serviceable, uncredited setting, lighted by veteran Douglas Gabrielle. Performed without an intermission, Gould’s insightful truths about love and marriage never prevent the laughs from rolling along.
Sky Pilot Theatre Company presents A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Divorce, playing Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm until September 11, 2022, at Two Roads Theatre, 4348 Tujunga Ave., Studio City. Tickets, $40.00. Make reservations at https://divorce.brownpapertickets.com
