Neil Simon's comedies are written in a New York Jewish idiom that fairly crackles with ethnic rhythms and usages. The version currently at the Gaiety has been translated, as it were, to English syntax and references, and the two veteran comedians at its centre made into a double act analogous to, say, Morecombe and Wise or the Two Ronnies. It seems a reasonable proposition that a funny play can be funny in any language, and made more accessible to a local audience. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and it seemed to me that this re-orientation made the play somehow remote, a little deficient in pizzazz.
The production depends entirely on the combined talents of Ron Moody and Brian Murphy, and they do not let it down. They play Willie Clark and Al Lewis, once vaudeville partners in a famed comedy act, and now retired, whether they admit it or not. Despite the wedding of their talents, they had no private relationship other than a mutual hostility; and when they are brought together to do an item in a television special, the antipathy hits the fan.
It is a pure pleasure to watch such assured techniques at work on stage, under the direction of Mark Rayment, and the two lead actors beguile and seduce their audience with vintage performances. Moody is the volatile one, vocally and physically; Murphy brings a dry, sardonic touch to counterpoint the other's pyrotechnics. They are very funny and, if the psychological dimension in the play is not as strong as it could be, laughter helps to fill the vacuum.
Runs until Saturday; to book phone 01-6771717
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/SJQTLMCMMRC2PLALXUKEWWS6HU.png)