The Levine Comedy

Synopsis:

A biting comedy on the poisoned chalice that is hope.

Asher Levine and Bonny Dow-Jones live with her ageing father, Ned, and their newborn son, Felix.

Bonny is an optimist, Asher a pessimist.

As Ned loses his teeth and various other appurtenances and faculties, Felix accumulates them.

At intervals, the family is visited by Asher’s father, an indomitable entrepreneur and adventurer, who loses his will to live when he’s finally made his fortune, and hope – embodied in the person of Bob Hope – appearing by turns as an insurance salesman, a doctor, a TV show host and a priest.

And then tragedy strikes, confirming Asher’s worst fears and hitting Bonny like a bolt from the blue.

Character Breakdown:

ASHER LEVINE 34 – 36
BONNY DOW-JONES  32 – 34
EDMUND DOW-JONES (NED) 75 – 76
BARUCH LEVINE  70s
BOB HOPE

Production History:

World Premiere  1986.  Melbourne Theatre Co.,Russell St. Theatre.

Other Productions 

1987.  Sydney.  Ensemble Theatre.

1990. Melbourne.  St. Martin’s Theatre.

Publication  1987.  Yackandandah Playscripts.

Awards:  Nominated for AWGIE for Best Stage Play 1987.

Reviews:

“.. peppered with Jewish humour.. complex.. challenging.. a play that should be seen.”
Andrew Urban, The Australian

“.. the laughs come in almost every line.. an ambitious play, one that stays with you long after you’ve left the theatre.”
Graham Sharp, Catholic Advocate

“.. great onslaughts of humour, coming thick and fast.. we can only admire the writer’s nerve..”
John Larkin, Sunday Press

“.. sparkling one-liners.. well worth seeing..”
Dionysus, Australian Jewish Times

“.. the most stimulating play to appear at North Sydney’s Ensemble theatre for a long time.. a very funny work about far from funny matters..
Frank Gauntlett, Daily Mirror

“.. mighty questions spring from the action articulately and passionately enough to actually get at me, to insist on a dialogue with the set of my own heart and head.  That’s not only a rare theatrical experience, it’s an immensely valuable one.”
Russell Walsh, Emerald Hill & Sandridge Times

“.. immensely amusing.. masterly..”
Anthony Rainer, Australian Jewish News

“.. abounds with superbly funny one-liners.. a probing, thoughtful work.. received one of the most enthusiastic and thoughtful responses that I’ve experienced from a first-night audience for a while..”
Geoffrey Milne, CentreStage Australia

“.. very funny.. very clever..”
Clark Forbes, The Herald

“.. a very funny play which requires as much work from the audience as it does from the cast.  It is well worth the effort!!!”
Sunday Observer, Melbourne

“.. intrigues and challenges.. well worth a look.”
Karen Booth, Financial Review

“.. sharp.. witty..very funny quips and one-liners..”
Leonard Radic, The Age

Running-time: 100 minutes.

This play exists only in hard copy:  0 86805 064 4