“The Funniest Man Alive tries to help the Most Pathetic Guy Ever make the Saddest Girl in the World laugh.”
It may sound like the beginning of a great joke, but it is also the premise of “Punch Up”, a play showing at Watermark Theatre and The Guild later this month.
Written by Canadian playwright Kat Sandler, and winner of the 2014 Best of Fringe at the Toronto Fringe Festival, “Punch Up” has it all. True Love. Life-saving missions. Hostage situations. Pies. Whoopie cushions.
But it’s not all fun and games. The Saddest Girl in the World really is sad, for reasons that are touching, unsettling, and, well, sad. So, in order to save the life of the woman he loves, Duncan, a loser who has never successfully told a joke, kidnaps his favourite comedian in order to learn how to be funny.
“Punch Up” shows at Watermark Theatre Oct. 24-26 and at The Guild Oct. 31 – Nov. 2. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.ca or at www.theguildpei.com
The show stars Benton Hartley of Popalopalots Live Improv Comedy and has recently joined the cast of Anne and Gilbert the Musical; Morgan Wagner, also of Anne and Gilbert the Musical; and Rob MacDonald, of Meanwhile in Ward 16, Annekenstein, and various other presentations of hilarity on P.E.I. The show is being produced and stage managed by Grace Kimpinski.
While studying at George Brown Theatre School, Hartley met Sandler and a classmate recommended this script as something Hartley would likely enjoy.
“He couldn’t have been more right. I was laughing for hours after I finished my first read,” Hartley says.
Hartley is playing Duncan, the Most Pathetic Guy Ever. Duncan is a bit of a sad sack. He meets a girl, falls in love for the first time, and vows to save her life by making her laugh.
“Duncan lacks rational decision-making capabilities, for sure. He definitely finds himself in a bad situation that was entirely of his own making, which is incredibly fun to play,” said Hartley.
Wagner is playing Brenda, a woman who is convinced that her love is hurting the people that she cares about the most. In an effort to save others, Brenda has shut down her emotions and cut herself off from any kind of human connection and without the ability to laugh or love, has become the Saddest Girl in the World.
“I was first drawn to ‘Punch Up’, because it is a piece of contemporary Canadian theatre by a female playwright. As I read it, I was captivated by Sandler’s dark humour and knew that I wanted a chance to bring her absurd characters to life,” says Wagner.
The logical choice to play Pat, the Funniest Man in the World, is Rob MacDonald.
“I don’t want to brag, but in my career, I have had well over two different people (it was three people) each tell me, independently of each other, that I was the funniest person on P.E.I.,” said MacDonald.
“I, of course, categorically refute such a preposterous notion, but, still, well over two people can’t be wrong, can they?”
Kimpinski said joining the team was a no-brainer.
“The script is witty and smart, balanced with very touching moments; and casting couldn’t have been more bang-on,” she said.
