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It Runs In The Family
 by
Ray Cooney
Nov.
29 - Dec. 21, 2002
Directed by Sheryl Martin
"If you're going to tell a
lie, tell a whopper," yells Dr. Mortimore as
events begin to spin deliriously out of control
in Ray Cooney's IT RUNS IN THE
FAMILY.
Inadvertently, he's
identifying, in the midst of his panic,
the motor that propels all the best farces.
Deception, mistaken identities,
double-entendres, puns and flapping doors fuel
this high octane comedy.
Set in the doctor's lounge of
a London hospital three days before Christmas, the
staff is preparing the annual holiday show. But that is only
the sideshow. The real business is a conference of neurosurgeons. As Dr.
David Mortimore is preparing his lecture that
should guarantee him a knighthood and the hospital
some badly needed funds, a former nurse bursts in with
the news that their fling some 18 years and 9 months ago made
Mortimore a father.
The boy (emotionally high
strung and under arrest for driving under the
influence) is downstairs, desperate to meet his long lost
Dad. Now the good doctor really practices what he preaches. Lies pile on
lies, as he enlists his colleagues to deceive his wife, his boss, a
police sergeant and even his newfound son. Sharp
syringes, crashing wheelchairs, squirting seltzer
bottles, doctors in nurse drag, and window ledge wrestling
matches gear the farce into overdrive.
Playwright Ray Cooney has
been dubbed England's Neil Simon. Specializing in
farce, he has penned over 13 plays, but unlike Mr.
Simon he also acts and has served as producer and
director for over 30 West End productions (the
equivalent of Broadway in London). In 1983 he founded
The Theatre of Comedy Company, and went on to write
and produce for television and film, while
keeping his hand in live theatre.
Over the years, Carpenter
Square Theatre has produced several of his
light-hearted farces - beginning with
RUN FOR YOUR WIFE in 1993, then CST's first
production of IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY in
1994, followed by FUNNY MONEY in 1997 and OUT OF
ORDER in 1998.
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