As the Brit who has been getting a lot of attention in Washington lately once put it: “Brevity is the soul of wit.” In other words, when it comes to comedy (particularly outrageous, over-the-top comedy), the shorter the better. (It’s no coincidence that the Marx Brothers’ funniest movie, “Duck Soup,” is also their shortest, only about an hour long.)
Scottish playwright John Byrne’s 1977 comedy “Writer’s Cramp,” which is receiving its area premiere courtesy of Scena Theatre, is a very amusing feature-length play that might have been a comic masterpiece if it had been a one-act. As funny as it is, it seems like a Monty Python sketch that has been padded to three times its proper length.
“Writer’s Cramp” is the biography of fictional Scotch poet/artist/novelist/playwrightFrancis Seneca (F.S.) McDade (Jason Stiles), whose utter lack of talent never stands in the way of his arrogance and pretentiousness. We follow McDade’s career as he goes from one failure to another, up to the point where his brief 15 minutes of fame come to a disastrous end thanks to his nervous breakdown during a live television interview.
Byrne’s script is a dead-on parody of the type of pompous hagiographies that have become even more prevalent in the three decades since “Writer’s Cramp” debuted. Fortunately, the staging is in the capable hands of Kathleen Ackerly, whose considerable gift for comedy is evident both as a director and performer. (She is currently appearing in Washington Stage Guild’s “Shaw’s Shorts.”)
Supporting the always hilarious Stiles (a regular in Ackerly’s shows) are equally talented cohorts Jim Jorgensen and Jay Hardee. Hardee’s main contribution is to provide “interpretive” renditions of McDade’s works, which he embodies as a kind of garrulous mime. (You have to see it.)
Jorgensen plays the obsequious host of the proceedings, whose fawning would put James Lipton to shame, in addition to doubling in various roles, including McDade’s mother. (The sight of 6-foot-plus Jorgensen in drag is almost worth the price of admission alone.)
Although the script doesn’t quite live up to its comic potential, you still have to give credit to a play in which a one-eyed painter is praised for “the singularity of his vision.” In any case, devotees of seriously silly humor will find much to enjoy in Scena’s “Writer’s Cramp.”
‘Writer’s Cramp’
Scena Theatre’s production of “Writer’s Cramp” runs through April 8
Venue: Warehouse Theatre, 1021 Seventh St. NW, Washington
Performances: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sundays
Tickets: $25 to $32
More info: 703-683-2824 or www.scenatheatre.org
