FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM by Bert Shevelove, Larry Gelbart and Stephen Sondheim, directed by Des McAnuff (Stratford/Mirvish). At the Canon Theatre (244 Victoria). Runs to January 16, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 2 pm, holiday schedule at mirvish.com. $40-$120. 416-872-1212. See listing. Rating: NN
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, based on scripts by the Roman playwright Plautus, has a wonderfully convoluted plot in which the slave Pseudolus finagles to get his freedom by arranging his lovestruck master Hero’s eloping with Philia, the woman Hero adores.
It also has lots of lowbrow physical comedy, suggestive of a music hall or vaudeville show, balanced by the witty rhymes and tuneful melodies of a young Stephen Sondheim, for the first time writing both music and lyrics for a Broadway show.
But underlying the laughter and the wit is a heart, which director Des McAnuff and his dramaturge James Magruder both talk about in the program notes. Too bad you won’t find much heart in this Stratford production, presented by Mirvish Productions.
No, this is more like the Three Stooges gone wild, with all subtlety consciously – and foolishly – thrown out the window.
Pseudolus (Seán Cullen, alternating with Bruce Dow), in trying organize a happy ending for Hero (Mike Nadajewski) and Philia (Chilina Kennedy), has to deal with his master Senex (Randy Hughson), Senex’s tyrannical wife Domina (Deann deGruijter), Senex’s frantic head slave Hysterium (Steven Sutcliffe), the procurer Marcus Lycus (Cliff Saunders) with his household of courtesans and the boastful soldier Miles Gloriosus (Dan Chameroy).
Lots of opportunity for plot twists and guffaws, which writers Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart supply in a book filled with mistaken identities and disastrous confrontations. But McAnuff applies the shtick too thickly, rarely letting up and having much of it delivered at full volume. Being hit over the head – comically speaking – works so much better when it’s not happening all the time give it a rest once in a while.
The director’s encouraged Cullen to milk every scene he’s in, and the result is rarely funny. Cullen’s comedy would be better if it were grounded in character.
Still, there are some worthwhile moments and performances. Wayne Cilento’s choreography for the presentation of the courtesans is vivid, and the trio of Proteans (Jordan Bell, Stephen Cota and Julius Sermonia) play their multiple roles energetically. The Everybody Ought To Have A Maid number, which goes from a duet to a quartet, has a winning soft-shoe quality.
Nadajewski makes a charmingly naïve Hero, Hughson a properly henpecked husband and Saunders a sleazy, skittish businessman. DeGruijter contributes some farcical moments in the second act, and Kennedy gets laughs out of her dumb blond stereotype. Sutcliffe’s transformation into a dead Philia – don’t ask – is also sweetly comic and, rare in this show, warm and human. Chameroy sends up the self-impressed Gloriosus mercilessly, but again, a little less would be funnier.
Brian Tree contributes a splendid running gag – literally – as Erronius, an old man who in recovering his lost family brings a satisfying narrative close to the increasingly chaotic action.
But the production generally tries too hard, forcing fun down the audience’s throat rather than letting them appreciate the entertainment. Hammering the laughs relentlessly just doesn’t work.
