A play that is laugh out loud funny

Anybody who grew up during the cold war is more than familiar with the term Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). It is the doctrine that kept the cold war cold, by assuring that any nuclear attack launched by either the United States or the Soviet Union would result in an immediate counter-attack causing complete nuclear annihilation of both countries. Fear of our own destruction kept our missiles at bay.

Playwright Peter Lefcourt takes this doctrine and applies it to the aftereffects of a chance encounter involving three couples to great comedic affect.

Graphic designer Arnie stumbles upon his friend Herb’s wife having a tryst with his accountant Murray. The series of strategic moves and lies to cover them up that follows leads to a tense détente of mutually assured destruction should any of them let the secret slip out.

Lefcourt’s dialogue is witty and the cast of veteran actors impressive. However, it is Michael Caldwell who plays Pepe/Bret/Minh/KBC/Miles/Jeeves, basically every small role throughout the play that steals the show. Caldwell’s timing is spot on and he flows effortlessly from one role into the next infusing each with huge character.

“Mutually Assured Destruction” is laugh out loud funny, clever and well executed right down to Celine Diano’s ingenious set design that employs a series of painted boxes on wheels to transform the sparse set into a multitude of settings.

However, it is the gimmick, the crux of the entire story that drags this play down from excellent to good. Throughout the play the actors break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. Arnie, played by Kip Gilman, bears the lion’s share of these interactions and uses those opportunities to explain to the audience how the MAD theme fits the current situation and where each character falls into the scenario.

Gilman does an excellent job with these interactions, and at first they are welcomed and a well integrated part of the script. However, there are so many of them that the MAD gimmick begins to get heavy handed and by the end of the play some of the interactions have nothing to do with the gimmick, but only serve to slow down the pace of the action.

This is a play with great LA inside jokes, superb acting and memorable one-liners. Unfortunately, there is too much of what started out as a good thing, which in the end just feels old hat.

Kat Michels is a two time regional Emmy award-winning writer with an AAS in video production and a BFA in theatre.

“Mutually Assured Destruction”

Theatre Planners at the Odyssey Theatre

Through August 26th

Tickets: www.plays411.com/destruction or 323-960-5772