A Funny Thin Happened on the Way to Sloan Kettering Cancer Route 66

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· 75 ratings · 8 reviews

Start your review of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City: A Play

Mar 03, 2019 Grace Leneghan rated it really liked it

Oh boy. This play is a trip. Halley Feiffer's humor is unapologetic, crass, and at times borderline offensive. Yet, her writing is witty and well-constructed. The four characters each continue to surprise you in subtle and hilarious ways. An unexpected heartwarming ending.

Oct 17, 2018 Melanie Page rated it really liked it

Wow, the title sure is a mouthful, and if it gets chosen for the 2020 season at my civic theater, what would the poster look like?! A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City by Halley Feiffer is off its leash. It's wild. It's raunchy. It requires four actors, two of them on their deathbed.

Karla, a young woman in her 20s, goes to the gynecologic oncology unit to visit her mother, who is almost always sleeping. It'

Karla, a young woman in her 20s, goes to the gynecologic oncology unit to visit her mother, who is almost always sleeping. It's there that Karla practices her stand-up routine — she's an aspiring comedian — that is filled with rape jokes. One joke ends:

"I just have visions of like, my vibrator standing in the archway, backlit by silvery moonlight, sometimes wear a fedora (sometimes not), and lovingly fucking me 'til sunrise."

This is a weird first 4 pages to read because A) it's the beginning of the play, so where can it go from here? and B) this is the era of #MeToo for crying out loud! Karla and her mother are on the left side of a hospital curtain (when you're looking at the stage), and on the right side is another woman in a hospital bed, asleep. Then enters her son, Don, a man in his 40s, disheveled, a terribly sloppy dresser but kind of handsome. He overhears Karla's jokes and gets into an argument with her.

Keep in mind the curtain is still separating the individuals and their dying mothers, so Don doesn't realize how young and innocent-looking Karla is compared to her dirty mouth. As the arguing dies down, Karla and Don continue to poke at each other, but we also learn that Don's son doesn't want to see him and that Karla's sister committed suicide some time ago. You're not supposed to laugh, but you can't stop.

While the first 4 pages are very "ew" and there is a scene during which Don is supposed to go down on Karla (how are theaters doing this??), it is terribly fun to read, and I found myself giggling at odd moments. When Don tells Karla to keep it down while practicing her comedy routine, she continues her dirty jokes quietly. He repeats himself, but Karla doesn't understand that when Don says keep it down, he doesn't mean talk softly, but to act appropriately in the setting. Karla challenges him, noting how funny it is that someone you love can suddenly die, pointing to the absurdity of death. Like corpse-puppets, the dying mothers occasionally deliver lines with their eyes closed, which proves they are mostly playing possum so they can avoid their children and still interfere in their lives.

Definitely a rom-com, but also rough around the edges, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City may ostracize a number of viewers, but it would have everyone else in stitches for a good 90 minutes.

This review was originally published at Grab the Lapels.

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Oct 28, 2020 Adam rated it liked it

I really like the concept and conceit of this play, I just feel like it sits uncomfortably in this middle ground: there are some plays for which the dialogue is written fairly realistically, and there are some for which the dialogue is deliberately stylized and it's okay to kinda separate yourself from the reality of the play.

This particular play sat in an uncomfortable middle, where it's realistic-ish but also stylized-ish. I'm sure that is a perfectly happy place for some folks but it doesn't

This particular play sat in an uncomfortable middle, where it's realistic-ish but also stylized-ish. I'm sure that is a perfectly happy place for some folks but it doesn't work for me all that well.

But again, I liked the conceit of the play and I'll probably take one of the monologues for future use.

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Oct 20, 2021 Kylie rated it it was amazing

Who do I have to fuck around here to get a fizzy water?

Content Warnings: cancer, death of a mother, death of a sister, drug use/overdose, sa, irreverent/crase humor.

This play is absolutely hysterical (and sad, and awkward, and emotional). I was ready to enjoy an absurd comedic premise and was very pleasantly surprised to find real heart to the show as well. And even more pleasantly surprised to find that the heart did not erase the irreverent, dark tone. It simply works, and works well. I w

Who do I have to fuck around here to get a fizzy water?

Content Warnings: cancer, death of a mother, death of a sister, drug use/overdose, sa, irreverent/crase humor.

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Jan 18, 2021 Ali Pinkerton rated it it was amazing

This is most definitely a play written toward my sensibilities. The morbid and irreverent jokes, the comedy as disguise for pain, the shared neuroses. A+. And the writing is wonderful. Natural, but not at the expense of the themes. A fave. Would highly recommend.