There really is nothing new under the sun, and this applies doubly so to STICK TO THE SCRIPT!, written by Amy Losi and directed by Lauri Rae Waugh. On the surface, STICK TO THE SCRIPT! is a new entry of the tried and true genre of what I’m going to start calling Theatrical Workplace Comedy (TM). If you’re familiar with Noises Off or literally any of the multitude ‘shows that go wrong’, you’ll probably be able to sketch out 90% of the show on a napkin. But the best comparison to make for this production would actually be Channel 4’s Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (2004).
Unfortunately for Losi and Waugh, this comparison works on multiple levels. Getting into the weeds about discussing the show is going to get a little confusing as the many issues with
the production as a whole, ironically, overlap with the problems that plague THE MISSING LETTER, our sin-eating show within the show. Losi, the playwright, plays Amanda Howard, the playwright of THE MISSING LETTER, who has also cast herself as the prima donna role of Theresa within her ownshow. It’s turtles all the way down.
Much of the comedy from the genre derives from the poor choices and mishaps that befall the show within the show. A lot of typical production issues are often catastrophized to absurd heights, or an artist’s lack of expertise results in big swings and spectacular misses. Unfortunately, much of the comedy within STICK TO THE SCRIPT! is a coin flip between jokes that land and bits that don’t, and it’s difficult to ignore the gags that fall flat due to how intertwined some of them are with the characters themselves.
Quick examples: Howard, the playwright, is constantly writing and rewriting the script, and will insert new pages into the
rehearsal at less-than-opportune times. It works very well as one of the throughlines in the show, and we’ve all worked with people like that. However, Howard, playing the character of Theresa, also constantly flips back and forth between multiple accents to “test them out”. It’s a weird joke that gets a chuckle the first time, and gets very obnoxious very quickly when it becomes a focal point of the entire character.
Brad Pytt, the stage manager (played by Johnny Leavitt), needs to sub in last minute as a French maid, so the gangly techy rushes backstage to throw on some skimpy, ill-fitting fetishwear. Pytt’s reveal in the second act pays off big, and Leavitt does really well as the exasperated (and off-book) newly minted understudy. This runs parallel to a miserable recurring gag that Pytt is trying to be a TikTok influencer, and will grind the production(s) to a halt to painfully bust out some already out-of-date dance moves.
Losi and Waugh’s instincts are all correct, but sloppy writing on THE MISSING LETTER seems to trickle up a level, and we are stuck with a “Just OK” script on the production as a whole. An otherwise funny cast does very well with the jokes that work, but even a great comedian can’t make a bomb any less groan-worthy. The core concepts are intriguing, but it’s overburdened by a bloated script, middling jokes, and several pacing issues. Trim the fat, tighten up the humor, give it a workshop, and once you’ve done all that, stick to the script!
The Independent Artists movement 