OH, MARY! - Lyceum Theatre (07/11/24)

It is often said that humour is highly subjective, and it’s what tends to make comedy such a tough genre to sell, as not everyone laughs at the same things. Judging by the almost complete lack of comedic appeal of Oh Mary, it was rather a surprise to hear anyone laughing at all during what was only around 80 minutes, but felt like an absolute eternity.

To highlight the positives, visually this play had plenty to enjoy, the scenic design by dots was impressive, especially the set of Abe Lincoln's office and that of the ill-fated box of the Ford's Theatre. Holly Pierson's costume design was excellent as well, dresses worn by Escola and Bianca Leigh were particularly ornate.

Cole Escola and Conrad Ricamora (credit: Sara Krulwich)

The show certainly had promise, there is no doubt about that, the setting of a historical farce is one that often lends itself well to comedic performance, along with characters that are over the top caricatures of real life figures from history, and a sense of those on and off stage not taking themselves too seriously. Unfortunately, whilst the quality of the set, costumes and everything visual was good, the humour style employed was largely brash, obvious, and delivered with all the subtlety of an elephant trying to roller skate.

Cole Escola themself is a fairly dominant presence on stage, their natural stage presence very much the central focus of this play, especially in the final cabaret section where they get to really let loose. A real cabinet of curiosities of supporting characters join Escola on stage, including, bizarrely, a closeted homosexual Abe Lincoln, which felt very much like a half baked idea, and could have worked far better were Conrad Ricamora’s idea of comic acting not shouting his lines at the top of his lungs.

Cole Escola and James Scully (credit: Sara Krulwich)

In short, I wish I could say Oh Mary was a delightful, laugh-out-loud Pythonian romp that had me rolling in the aisles, but the issues with the quality of humour and its delivery were too glaringly evident to overlook, and what I ended up witnessing, regrettably, was probably one of the most dull, unfunny pieces of theatre for which I have ever been present.

★★☆☆☆

"Oh, Mary!"currently plays at the Lyceum Theatre in New York