Bang Bang! (play)

Bang Bang! is a comedy play by John Cleese. It is an adaptation of the French play Monsieur chasse! by Georges Feydeau

Bang Bang!
Written byJohn Cleese
Georges Feydeau (original)
Date premiered24 February 2017 (2017-02-24)
Place premieredMercury Theatre, Colchester
GenreComedy

Productions

The play made its world premiere at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester from 24 February to 11 March 2017.[1] The American premiere of the play opened at the Shadowland Stages, in Ellenville, New York from 10 August to 9 September 2018.[2] A new production of the play, produced by Dermot McLaughlin, Charles H. Duggan and Brian Zucker, opened at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter before touring the UK from February 2020.[3]

Critical reception

The reviewer in The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Cleese seems to have contented himself with stuffing the original with coarse, cheap jokes. When Richard Earl's charmless doctor is rejected by Leontine, he tells her to shove it where the sun don't shine. Sorry to be prudish, but I could have done without such crudities. Characters keep breaking the fourth wall to inform the audience what a nightmare it all is, but being told a situation is getting out of control is not the same as feeling it. Disappointing".[4] The Times described the adaptation as "a production that falls short of hilarity … more creak creak than bang bang … It's Feydeau without fizz".[5] The Stage was more positive noting that "amid the... tight direction there are several laugh-out-loud moments."[6]

References
  1. "What's On". Mercury Theatre. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  2. "Bang Bang! by John Cleese". Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. Bennett, Steve. "UK tour for John Cleese's first stage farce : News 2019 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  4. Alfree, Claire. "John Cleese stuffs a Feydeau farce with coarse, cheap jokes", The Daily Telegraph, 2 March 2017, p. 23
  5. Marlowe, Sam. "A rather Fawlty farce – John Cleese adapts a classic Feydeau farce but the result is flat and creaky", The Times, 3 March 2017, p. 13
  6. Review, The Stage, 2 March 2017


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.