The Foundry Theatre Major Bang

"Major Bang proves that laughter in the dark need not be desperate.."--NEW YORK TIMES

$5 tickets for teens (ages 13-18) are available through High 5 Tickets to the Arts. Click here for details. Major Bang details our collective anxieties about the looming prospect of nuclear terrorism then swiftly disarms them with an abundance of wit. Produced by New York City's acclaimed Foundry Theatre and written by Kirk Lynn (of Rude Mechanicals, the Texas ensemble who brought you Lipstick Traces), Major Bang contemplates the dangerous and scary side of that backpack left behind on the subway with hilariously pointed satire.

There's a wry nod to the paranoid Cold War comedy of Dr. Strangelove, a hip riff from Lenny Bruce, and even a surreal side trip with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner's so-bad-it's-good The Bodyguard. Adding to the mix is the real-life tale of a Boy Scout who built a nuclear device in his garage trying to earn an atomic energy merit badge.

All of this is skillfully shuffled like the deck of cards wielded by skilled magician/actor Steve Cuiffo (last seen here with The Wooster Group). He and comic counterpart Maggie Hoffman, who lectures the audience about nuclear horrors using a Geiger counter as beat box, juggle multiple roles and razor-sharp lines in this riotous suspense thriller. As the Village Voice, says, Major Bang is "a two-person amalgam of history primer, farce, and magic tricks that in 75 minutes makes a case for laughter trumping fundamentalism."