It’s bad enough when the characters in the play realize that they’re not real, but fictional. When the audience is informed that they’re also fictional, it’s enough to disgust one theatre goer (a planted actor in the audience) so much that he storms out of the venue. This is how Woody Allen’s creative mind works. Not many of his works are very typical.
The play is based in ancient Greece where the main characters, Hepititis (who coincidently resembles Mr. Allen) and Diabetes, are struggling to write the ending to their play for the upcoming theatre festival, where writer Hepatitis is hoping to win an award.
Throughout the course of events, an audience member (another plant in the crowd) Debbie Smith from St. James, is called onto the stage by Hepatitis, which upsets Diabetes so much that he phones Woody to complain. It is also mentioned that some of the audience members came from strange lands, like Transcona.
The ending of the play is finally written and the ultimate question “is there a God?” is answered. With a nice little twist that surprises all.
Woody Allen wrote the play ‘God- A Comedy in One Act’ in 1975, and published it in his book ‘Without Feathers’.
There are three more performances of this at Winnipeg’s Fringe Festival, on July 22nd (3:45pm), 24th (7pm) and the 26th at 2pm at Venue 4 – Alloway Hall at the Manitoba Museum.
Photos by Doug Kretchmer
