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

by Halley Feiffer

“I’ve been single for so long, I’ve started having sexual fantasies about my vibrator,” riffs Karla for her captive, cancer-ward audience. The patients―her mother, who’s recovering from surgery for ovarian cancer, and her roommate behind the curtain, aren’t laughing―or even awake―but there’s someone else in the room . . .In Halley Feiffer’s “ painfully irresistible” (The New York Times) new play, a foul-mouthed twenty-something comedian and a middle-aged man embroiled in a nasty divorce are brought together unexpectedly when their cancer-stricken mothers become roommates in the 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? In A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City, Halley Feiffer slays in a work that’s dark and disturbing and yet totally hilarious. The acclaimed world premiere at MCC Theater featured Beth Behrs, Erik Lochtefeld, Lisa Emery, and Jacqueline Sydney, and was directed by Trip Cullman.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

112 pages, Paperback

Published June 19, 2018

Reviews

[Grace Leneghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Melanie Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

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’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.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 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.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 would love to see this performed.

[cal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both a funny and touching play, but a slew of grammatical and technical errors make it difficult to read. Strange, confusing dialogue choices at times (especially the punctuation!) but there’s also pockets of genius in there. The second and third scenes are miles better than the first. Overall, probably great when performed but it’s very clear no one grammar checked the script.

[Syd · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm gonna give it a four, it could easily be a five but something in my spirit is like tainted by the thought of giving it a full five. it's like the feeling i get after watching a stoner comedy, cus yeah i laughed and it was good but also what the fuck. overall, a gem. and really smart. and i want nothing but the best for these horrible, shitty, fucked up people.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Play discussion group script #10)

[bookster95 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play had some really great moments, but I wished it focused a little bit more on the mothers and the relationship they had with their children.

[Miss Stamm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much vulgarity for me, but satisfying ending.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who spent a lot of time in the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.... this hit very close to home.

[Demy Ntogka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely one of my favorite plays

[kendra]

LOVED this. extremely easy to read, and i assume it would translate just as seamlessly to the stage (given the right actors, of course). very funny, very heartfelt, very sexy at times. i look forward to reading halley feiffer's other plays, especially because all of them have similarly long-winded and funny names. def recommend to anyone who forgot how to read books and inexplicably only knows how to read dialogue (i.e., me).

[mickey m · Rating 2 out of 5]

sorry marcie but i disagree, karla is not a funny girl

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in a style that I just adored, with a perfect meet-cute and a lovely ending.