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The Comedy of Terrors

nytheatre.com review by Alexander Zalben
August 15, 2005

The Comedy of Terrors by Larry Brenner is a spectacularly unfunny modern morality play, clearly meant to be deliciously ribald and naughty, but instead falling well short of its intended goal.The plot, as it were, concerns a naive young man who is sent to Hell to either be tempted by sin, or learn that Hell is bad. While there, the demons in charge learn that Satan has been gone from Hell for over a year, which leads to all… Hell… breaking loose. Each of the demons tries to wrest control of Hell for themselves, leading to five or six different intersecting plots of farcical mix-ups. In the end, Satan returns, sets everything right, and the young man learns that sinning is bad.I really don’t want to focus too much on the negative aspects of this production, as it is part of a very nice program called “Big Break,” which allows local college students the chance to perform in a professional level production. For that, the show should be commended.Additionally, there is some nice acting work from Mark Metivier as Satan, who brings a low-key intensity to his role, and actually ekes out a laugh or two. Gil Parkin and Bridget Burke, as demons, also bring a laudable amount of commitment to their work, and should go on to perform in bigger and better shows.The standout, though, is Mary Elizabeth MiCari’s costume design, which manages to vary from Elizabethan to Dominatrix without missing a beat. McCari has created a cohesive vision of a Hell from many different styles and eras, even when the script clearly does not.One last little note, and this is a personal one. For some unknown reason, the curtain call is taken over the cheese-classic song “Monster Mash.” Why? Absolutely none of the elements of the play has anything to do with the song. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say it’s totally inappropriate, as the song is all about every kind of monster that demons are NOT. And this is exemplary of the amount this show just gets wrong.