Comedian and Griefcast podcaster Cariad Lloyd is one of the stars of a new play opening in London next month.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynaecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City is the European premiere of the latest play from acclaimed American playwright Halley Feiffer.
Lloyd plays Karla, a foul-mouthed twentysomething comedian going through a messy divorce with middle-aged Don. They are brought together unexpectedly when their cancer-stricken mothers become roommates in hospital. Together, this unlikely duo must negotiate some of life’s biggest challenges, while making some of the world’s most inappropriate jokes.
Can these two very lost people learn to laugh through their pain and lean on each other, when all they really want to do is run away?
Lloyd will be joined by Rob Crouch (Oliver Reed: Wild Thing (nominated for the What’s On Stage Award for Best Solo Performance 2014), St James Theatre, Gilded Balloon and UK Tour), Kristen Milward (Plunder, National Theatre; A Little Chaos) and Cara Chase (Mountain Language, The Royal Court).
Halley Feiffer comments: "The play is a romantic comedy in many senses, that just happens to be set in a cancer hospital. It was very loosely inspired by my experience being with my own mother at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. I was inspired by being in the hospital with someone you love when they’re suffering, when there’s a lot of unanswered questions and when you feel pretty powerless to take their pain and fear away. Certainly to take your own pain and fear away is a humbling experience and I found that I was drawn to a lot of self-soothing behaviours which ultimately provided a good deal of relief and ultimately some comedy."
A Funny Thing Happened... received its critically acclaimed New York Times Critic’s Pick world premiere Off-Broadway in 2016 at the MCC Theater at Lucille Lortel Theatre before its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse.
Performance Dates
Tuesday 2nd – Saturday 27th October 2018, Tuesday - Saturday, 7.30pm Sunday, 3.00pm
Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
Call 01223 357 851 or book online here.
