GUILTY LAUGHS IN TROUPE’S LATEST

Torquay Theatre Troupe’s current production, Any Given Monday by American playwright Bruce Graham, is outrageously funny.

The fact that its plot revolves around a moral dilemma makes its edgy, dark humour even more surprising.

Set in Philadelphia, the play opens with Sarah (Siobhan Linde), a college student majoring in philosophy, talking directly to the audience about her father, Lenny (Fred Preston).

He teaches ethics at high school and never fails to cry at the end of Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch in the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird, despite watching it numerous times.

After many years of happy marriage, Lenny’s wife Risa (Lisa Berry) left him four days ago for vile property developer Frank, an action that sparks what follows.

If Lenny is a pillar of predictability, virtue and white-collar privilege, his lifelong friend Mickey (Michael Baker) is the opposite – a volatile, blue-collar Catholic who commits the illegal act at the heart of the plot.

How each of the four characters respond provides plenty of laughs amid a robust, and often politically incorrect, discussion of morality in the 21st century.

TTT stalwart Gay Bell once again proves her directorial chops.

Her talented cast all distinguish themselves in their respective roles and the high-quality production values are what audiences have now come to expect from the troupe.

The program cover warns about ‘plenty of coarse language’, but that is not the most potentially offensive aspect of Graham’s biting script. Some of the views expressed, particularly by Mickey and Sarah, may trouble certain audience members.

It is however these politically incorrect moments that make the play so deliciously funny. One leaves the theatre still laughing with plenty to ponder about Any Given Monday’s moral dilemma.

Any Given Monday opened on November 5 and has performances on November 8-10 at 8pm, November 11 matinee, and November15-17 at 8pm.

Tickets at trybooking.com (Search “Monday”).