Jean Perkins is just this side of frantic. It’s her husband Henry’s birthday and their best friends (Betty and Vic Johnson) are coming over for the birthday supper. Henry’s running late. When Jean opens the door, he’s inexplicably giddy. Seems he grabbed the wrong briefcase on the train, only to discover 375 (count them) 375,000 pounds. Well, it doesn’t take Einstein (or Alan Turing) to surmise it’s gangster money. Henry plans for them to flee the country, tout de suite, before the bad guys put 2+2 together. Naturally, Jean is trying to talk Henry out of this madcap scheme, when a copper shows up. Not long after that another detective and a cabdriver. Henry Perkins just can’t catch a break.
Playwright Ray Cooney has taken a simple (if not original) premise, and sets it in motion. Just like a 15-car pileup or an avalanche, the catastrophic feels unpredictable yet unavoidable. Of course, any money connected to organized crime is bad news. They’ll punch your ticket for nicking an ounce of smack. Jean refuses to leave, and Henry keeps ignoring her. The opportunities presented by remarkably large sums of money also reveal the uglier side of the characters. Another visitor arrives and chaos, once again, ensues. The trick is to keep the bedlam going without stretching our credulity beyond reason. So Cooney keeps all his dishes in the air. The more he adds, the more we love it. We can’t believe anyone would try to steal Mafia money and yet Henry’s obsession keeps everything going. Despite a parade of obstacles.
Director Janette Oswald orchestrates this trainwreck for hilarity with intuitive cunning and surgical precision. Funny Money is a comedy that keeps the turns and shocks coming, and only a conductor with Oswald’s mastery could make it easy to follow. It would be simpler to handle an uprising at an asylum. Funny Money’s agile, convivial cast (Laura Jennings, Brian Hoffman, Kathleen Vaught, Audie Preston, Anthony Magee, Martin Mussey, Russell Sims, Ted Strahan) fires on all cylinders. Pacing, timing, delivery: they sort these to full effect. One hates to reference the current dystopia that makes the Black Plague look like a day at the beach. But Funny Money is a welcome respite from those naughty blues that just keep rapping at our door.
Richardson Theatre Centre presents: Funny Money, playing from July 9th-25th, 2021. Your last chance! 518 W. Arapaho Road, Suite 113, Richardson, TX 75080. 972-699-1130. richardsontheatrecentre.net